Man, I love Apfelwein

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I am bottling a 5 gallon batch which has been sitting in a carboy (on the yeastcake) since the 1st week in December '09. The carboy has been in an air conditioned house and covered with a t-shirt. There may have been a couple of points over the summer in which the carboy reached 80 degrees F.

Hope it turns out okay!
 
I am bottling a 5 gallon batch which has been sitting in a carboy (on the yeastcake) since the 1st week in December '09. The carboy has been in an air conditioned house and covered with a t-shirt. There may have been a couple of points over the summer in which the carboy reached 80 degrees F.

Hope it turns out okay!

That's pretty impressive, having it in there for -2.5 months... :cross:
 
started my batch tonight 2.5 gallons in a MR.Beer keg

Used 2 gallons apple cider

1 can frozen apple juice
.5 gallon mots 100% juice
1 pound dextrose/corn sugar


og 1.070

hope all goes well
 
I am bottling a 5 gallon batch which has been sitting in a carboy (on the yeastcake) since the 1st week in December '09. The carboy has been in an air conditioned house and covered with a t-shirt. There may have been a couple of points over the summer in which the carboy reached 80 degrees F.

Hope it turns out okay!

typically wines and wine yeasts work better in higher temps. most wine yeasts can handle up to 85-90 degrees. not saying i would ferment that high but the 80s shouldnt have done much damage and if so a few months of conditioning and it should have washed all away.
 
Yeah, I'd have to agree. What yeast did you use? Did you use an ale yeast or a wine yeast? Those wine yeasts are able to ferment all of the sugars where I think most ale yeasts couldn't handle fermenting really dry like the wine yeasties do.

I used coopers, I'm not planning on doing anything with it till it clears so we will see what it ends up at.

Richard
 
Be careful with the cinnamon. I used three sticks and found that it had reached about the right level after about 3 days. The apple flavor is very delicate so you do not want to over power it.

Richard

I figured with 5 gallons you'd hardly taste it. It's been about 3 days so I'll probably go ahead and remove it just to be safe. Thanks for the advice!
 
I forgot to post photographic evidence!

YapbThumbnailer.php
 
well its Defently acctive fermentation my brewing closet smells like rotten as* but that is a good thing I am hoping that this will be table ready by Christmas
 
I use star-san. It won't hurt if it gets sucked in, and it kills anything that falls in.

Thanks for the advice, I ended up buying some cheap vodka as it was a shorter trip than to my LHBS...I didn't realize that you could get a pint for under 5 bucks!

On another note, my batch is bubbling away happily....this wait is going to kill me! Haha
 
I have two questions about the Juice
1) Is juice that is labeled "from concentrate" usable?
2) A lot of the juices I see have vitamin C, ascorbic acid added, is this ok?

Thanks for the help!
 
I have all the ingredients together for my batch of Apfelwein. I'm also brewing beer tomorrow, so in shopping for my water, I came across 2.5 gallon container, like the one found here:

http://www.foodservicedirect.com/pr...-Springs-Original-Spring-Water-2.5-Gallon.htm

Would one of these containers be okay for brewing a batch of Apfelwein, Cider, or beer in? I've seen posts on the cider form where people just take a one gallon container of cider, and pop a stopper in the top with an airlock, and ferment right in the plastic gallon. The spigot is slightly up the side, so there's room to remove the liquid without removing any trub, or the container could be slightly tilted to the back. Has anyone ever tried one of these vessels, and how did it turn out? Thanks for any help anyone can offer.
 
I read somewhere... I can't remember where, that when you're fermenting in plastic, only use recycle code #1 and #2. I think the type of bottle you're talking about is #7. I've had good luck using #1, that's what 'Better Bottles' are made out of. I've used 3L Deer Park bottles for making starters and I've also used 5G water cooler bottles (which are #7) I guess the bottom line is that its less than ideal but will probably still do the job. For a long fermentation like this one though, I'd try to stick to a higher quality plastic like #1 or #2.
 
I checked the bottom of the container and it had a recycling symbol with a number 2 in it with the letters HDPE next to it. is this a safe medium for fermenting? It's an America's Choice 2.5 gallon spring water container. I believe America's Choice is Stop and Shops brand, but either way, that's the recycling code, so does anyone have an opinion, or any experience with these containers?
 
Biggest issue I know of with plastic jugs is oxygen permeability. I buy spring water in gallon jugs, pour off enough to make room for my ingredients, and do my primary in the jug. Same with apple juice in the jug for apfelwein & graff. If I'm going to do a secondary I rack to a glass carboy. So far I've had perfectly acceptable results. You're usually not in primary that long and while you are you're actively making CO2, so oxygenation isn't usually a problem. I haven't yet decided about doing a secondary in a water jug, but I may try a gallon batch one day just to see how it works.
 
I saw the question but not sure I ever saw the answer so here goes:

* What is the difference between Tree Top apple juice and Tree Top apple cider?

The only difference between these two 100% juices is the acidity content. The apple cider has a more tart flavor than the apple juice. In other words, we use a tarter blend of apples to make our cider than we do for our juice.

Hope it helps

Bob
 
I just got some Apple-Grape juice, gonna try that next.

My Original apfelwein has been bottled for almost 2 weeks. I tried one the other night and it was good, but I definitely want to let it age more.

I think I'll try one at 1 month, then 2 months, etc. just to see the progression.
 
took a reading today started on 10/11/2009 og was 1.070 now its at 1.020 does it usualy ferment this quick or maybe my og reading was off what do you guys and gals think ?
 
Sounds reasonable. Wine yeasts will often go about 10 gravity points/day.

My Apfelwein went from 1.062 to 0.999 in 9 days, but it may have been quicker since I didn't get to take a gravity measurement until that time. Pretty much all airlock activity was done after about 7 days.
 
I'm getting ready to bottle my first batch of apfelwein in wine bottles.

My wife loves dry, still wines.

The 5 gallon batch is 7 weeks old.

But I'm still getting a thin stream of bubbles (only one) ... which appears to be coming off the lees.

The apfelwein is clear and the sg has been consistant for several weeks.

Would it be safe to bottle in wine bottles at this point? Or should I rack off the lees.

Thanks
 
I have one question about apfelwein.

Should one get on the liver transplant list before or after making the first batch?
 
My apfelwein has been in the primary for 2 weeks now. should i rack it off to my secondary or is it good to just sit there? i dont plan on bottling for at least another month
 
My apfelwein has been in the primary for 2 weeks now. should i rack it off to my secondary or is it good to just sit there? i dont plan on bottling for at least another month

Leave it.. I left mine in there for 3.5 months before kegging it, and I have another batch in the primary for 4 months (as of next week I think it is). Tastes great!!
 
Yeah... my fiancee and I had our house warming party last weekend. Copious amounts of homebrew & apfelwein were consumed, things were broken, mistakes were made, ups were hooked and a great time was had by all.

:mug: to Ed & his Apfelwein!
 
Yeah... my fiancee and I had our house warming party last weekend. Copious amounts of homebrew & apfelwein were consumed, things were broken, mistakes were made, ups were hooked and a great time was had by all.

:mug: to Ed & his Apfelwein!

Yeah the times before wife and kids.
 
edworts-apfelwein2.png


Apparently 5gal doesn't really mean 5gal. My second batch of Edwort's Apfelwein — first time I used a 6gal carboy, this time a 5gal.

I couldn't fit all the cider in — see the pic, I'm concerned I'm going to get some blow-over on this batch.

What do you guys think?

First time I used the Red Star Montrachet yeast, this time I'm trying out White Labs English Cider Yeast.

Should I prepare a blow-over tube?

Thanks,
Ben
 
ok i am a newb just sayin, but if my 5 gallons of apfelwein looked like that when fermentation started it would have blown my airlock clean off. i didnt get alot of kreusen, but definitely more then can fit in there.l but remember, I AM a newb so who really knows haha
 
I'm having the same problem, my bubbler is full of juice, I emptied it but now when I woke up its full again and still gurgling. What should I do?? what is the risk of contamination? I put vodka in the air lock
 
Apparently 5gal doesn't really mean 5gal. My second batch of Edwort's Apfelwein — first time I used a 6gal carboy, this time a 5gal.

I couldn't fit all the cider in — see the pic, I'm concerned I'm going to get some blow-over on this batch.

What do you guys think?

First time I used the Red Star Montrachet yeast, this time I'm trying out White Labs English Cider Yeast.

Should I prepare a blow-over tube?

Thanks,
Ben
I always put one on at first just to be safe.I don't see it would hurt to do it just save the trouble of a blow off.
 
edworts-apfelwein2.png


Apparently 5gal doesn't really mean 5gal. My second batch of Edwort's Apfelwein — first time I used a 6gal carboy, this time a 5gal.

I couldn't fit all the cider in — see the pic, I'm concerned I'm going to get some blow-over on this batch.

What do you guys think?

First time I used the Red Star Montrachet yeast, this time I'm trying out White Labs English Cider Yeast.

Should I prepare a blow-over tube?

Thanks,
Ben


I had a "blow over" issue on my current batch on Apple cider. I also used the English Cider yeast and had to install a blow off tube for about a week....
 
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