Messed up apfelwein

Hello, I messed up my batch of apfelwein. I used 14 cans of frozen apple juice and mixed with 3 cans of water instead of 2 as stated in another thread. I pitched montrachet yeast and got some activity and then found out I did it wrong.

Can I go get 5-6 more cans of frozen apple juice and rack the fermenting apfelwein onto them without adding any more water? This will bring the sugar levels back to what they are supposed to be.

Is this okay after fermentation has already started?

Did you take any gravity readings? I doubt one can of water will make much of a difference in a 5 gallon batch. What size is the can? About 14 ounces? That's not enough to make much of a change at all in the OG.

It is 14 extra cans of water, not one.

Ah. That's alot of water. Did you take any gravity readings?

I think...go for it!

If you're really concerned what the alcohol content is...just make another batch will all the ingredients that you used (collectively) in the first batch...take a reading on that...and compare to your final reading on the experimental batch. It'll be close enough.

YooperBrew said:

Ah. That's alot of water. Did you take any gravity readings?

Click to expand...

No, I didnt take any gravity readings because my friend dropped my hydrometer. I just got a new one though, should I bother taking one now or just rack it onto the new concentrate? .. It won't be for a few days, my primary is full and I need more bottles

I don't know. If you added almost 200 ounces of extra water, that's quite a bit. Without any gravity readings, or knowing the SG of the apple juice, it'd be just a guess as to tell you what to do.

Bringing the sugar levels back to the original recipe by adding more concentrate wouldn't work?

There is not nearly enough sugar, and I would love to save the batch. Would taking a gravity after 2 days of pitching the yeast be useful? If it is I will go take one

I don't recommend raking. Just thaw and warm the extra concentrate to the fermentation temperature, then pour it in.

If the concentrate is mixed to the instructions on the can, (it's usually 3 parts water, 1 part concentrate) the resulting juice should wind up between 1.040 and 1.050. Most likely really close to 1.045, at least according to the various apple concentrates I've messed with.

So 14 cans * 12oz * 4 volumes each = 672oz or 5.25 gallons. If that's a 6 gallon carboy you've got there, you've got plenty of space! Eight 12oz cans would top it off.

If you did that... 672oz now * 1.045 est. og + 8 more cans concentrate * 12oz each * 1.180 est. sg of concentrate = 815.52 -- Divided by 6 gallons or 768oz, gives an estimated resulting effective original gravity of 1.062, if you'd started out this way. Just a guess. YMMV.

If you're feeling empirical, pick up an extra can of the same brand you've been using, mix up a pitcher, and plop in the hydrometer to see where it winds up. That'll tell you anything you can know at this point. Then, for a 3/1 water/concentrate ratio, subtract 1 from the resulting sg, multiply the remainder by 4, then add the 1 back to the result to get the gravity of the concentrate. IE, 1.045 juice started out as 3 cans of 1.000 water and one can of 1.180 concentrate.

5 gallon better bottle, not enough room to add more cans, I have to rack or leave it. I am going to rack.