adejesus
Member
I have been fermenting a batch of Apfelwein for 3 months. I just bottled it up and took a reading and it read 1.000 - 0%. I dont understand why this would happen any suggestions on what could have happened?
Man, I love Apfelwein
- Thread starter EdWort
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kc9eci
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Don't know about others, but I use the Indian Summer brand. I've also got some frozen concentrate from Aldi's that I plan to use in the near future.
Grumpybumpy
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adejesus said:
It fermented.... Don't read the potential alcohol scale when you've fermented. It's all about the og vs the fg. 1.000 means it dried out, which is a good thing!
So im deploying for a year pretty soon. Good thing comijg out of it. The inlaws will let me ferment...so im doing a 5gal batch of apfelwein, and one batch with 3gal apple juice and 2gal cranberry juice!! Should i use 2 lbs of sugar in the cranapfel batch as well or more or less? Its gonna age for a whole year!! I cant wait
CreamyGoodness
Well-Known Member
Best of luck and thanks for the service odh.
So I had my parents over for a bit last night and we were playing around with some drink recipes. We came up with this it's simple, easy, and delicious. 8oz apfelwein, 1oz Bacardi silver, and 1/2-1oz triple sec served on the rocks! It was delicious! Also my apfelwein is carbed and kegged. Anyways I encourage everyone to give it a try but be careful it'll sneak up on you real quick!!! Anybody else make any cocktails with this stuff?
rwagner23
Well-Known Member
Mixed with Butterscotch schnaps.
Assistance with back sweetening.
My method up to this point has been to let it ferment down to 1.016 and bottle. At 1.01 pasteurize. For this batch, I wanted to add bourbon and oak, ala woodchuck private reserve from the fall.
So, if it ferments all the way down to 1.00ish, how much sugar do I add to back sweeten to 1.01. I figure add that amount plus the normal carbing amount, let it carb then pasteurize.
My method up to this point has been to let it ferment down to 1.016 and bottle. At 1.01 pasteurize. For this batch, I wanted to add bourbon and oak, ala woodchuck private reserve from the fall.
So, if it ferments all the way down to 1.00ish, how much sugar do I add to back sweeten to 1.01. I figure add that amount plus the normal carbing amount, let it carb then pasteurize.
musicawal said:
1 part glass
5 parts Apfelwein
1 apple juice ice cube
seanthefreak
Member
Just came back from the wine store with supplies to make my first batch. So excited, this will be my 3rd wine im making ever, so i hope it works. thanks ed
seanthefreak
Member
Okay just finished making my first batch, the starting sugar was 1.6 or 1.61, if it finishes dry, what will be the abv
jeepinjeepin
Well-Known Member
seanthefreak said:
Do you mean 1.060? That down to 1.000 would be 8% abv
seanthefreak
Member
yea im dumb i was reading it wrong, lol, 1.06 yea
rico567
Well-Known Member
Bottled my first batch this week, a little over three months after putting it in the carboy to ferment. FG 0.998. Tasted great; did everything according to recipe, except for using 5 gal. of the local orchard's apple cider instead of apple juice. They had a late Fall blend of 13 apples, pretty tart (which is what I wanted), and nothing at all in it, just flash pasteurized. I primed it with 5 oz. dextrose. Now to wait until June, and we shall see.
dlgolladay89
New Member
I would just like to add that I made a batch of this recently, and for some reason or another, it tastes quite good if you plop 2 ice cubes in with 12oz of it. It's definitely going to be one of my regulars from now on.
Lazarous
Well-Known Member
Made my first five gallons one week ago, following Ed's recipe exactly. So what is the consensus on time in the carboy? I only ask because the instructions say one month in primary then keg/bottle, but I've read on this thread that it can benefit from a little age. So my question, how long are you all leaving this to age? I'm thinking that since this is my first batch I'll bottle it at the 4 week mark, but what do you all think? I'll probably have to make another batch and age it longer to compare..
General consensus in this thread seems to be you should try and forget about it for 6-9 months if possible. You should be able to bulk age it in a carboy for up to a year, but I'd personally be inclined to rack it to secondary before doing so.
Brewcrew86
Well-Known Member
Started my first apfelwein fermentation Sunday. Question...is the fermentation supposed have an overpowering smell? You can smell it within ten feet of my bucket. It's not the worst smell, but definitely not the best. A little help please.
Prepare for it to get worse! Reports indicate that yeast nutrient helps with the rhino farts. If nothing else, I'd recommend placing a damp towel over the bubbler, as it at least reduces their circulation.
Grumpybumpy
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smagee said:
Yeast nutrient worked for me! Mine has been sitting since new years in the carboy. I think I'll bottle this weekend and try it late april
slingshot81
Well-Known Member
Got a 1 gal batch of this going... just took a sample. Pitched yeast 5 days ago. reading was .999
Tastes like a white wine.
Tastes nice, definite lil alcohol bite to it but I don't mind. Suprised at how little time it took.
Tastes like a white wine.
Tastes nice, definite lil alcohol bite to it but I don't mind. Suprised at how little time it took.
My first batch was done to exact specifications and it clocked in at 1.069. It'll vary depending on the type of juice, but it should be in that vicinity.
Worked for me as well.... Step fed mine like a mead and it's been very active and no sign of Rhino Farts....
tennesseean_87
Well-Known Member
After doing a batch with half apple-cranberry blend and then another with half blueberry-pomegranate-apple blend, but with and extra half pound of sugar, the latter batch came out to 1.07, just like the first. I then looked at the sugar content on the nutrition label, and they were different. This varies from apple to apple juice as well, depending on manufacturer.
Brewcrew86
Well-Known Member
Grumpybumpy said:
Thanks guys. I was going something unusual wasn't going on. I have carboys but they are full of beer at the moment. I got a bucket specifically for apfelwein. I can't what is happening and don't want to open the bucket. Thanks again.
I'm curious....a number of people seem to be adding yeast nutrients purely to control sulphur odor production (da "rhino farts"). Has anyone noticed any difference in the end product such as changes in flavor, aroma, body/mouthfeel, yeast sedimentation, aging time, etc.? Any side-by-side nutrient/no-nutrient comparisons?
Read SEVERAL pages of this and it sounds very good. I will start a batch this week. One thing I never ran across was approx. how much Splenda would be added to a five gallon carboy to cut the edge of this stuff just a tad? And at bottling or beginning of fermentation? TIA. Had some apfelwein many years ago in Sachsenhausen outside Frankfurt. Can't wait to relive the moment.
Grumpybumpy
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DarkBrood said:
I don't have any experience in tasting both methods, but I imagine the end product will end up the same given enough aging
Same for me.... I would think anything that keeps the yeast productive and happy would not be a problem....
I wasn't thinking about problems...maybe that more active yeast may scrub out more flavor/aroma....wondering more whether the nutrient might speed up conditioning any or if the happier yeast might showcase the flavors more...
rico567
Well-Known Member
I just bottled my first batch earlier in the week. I belatedly (after several days) added some yeast nutrient after reading about it in this thread. Didn't seem to make a whole lot of difference in the odor coming from the airlock, as far as I could tell. It's about 62F down there, and the Montrachet just chewed away at it nice and steady, not at all like a beer fermentation. I checked the FG and racked after 7 weeks, and it had fermented out to 0.998. Good apple flavor when I bottled it, I'll post back in June when I crack the first tube.
Grumpybumpy
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befus said:
I'd wait and see how it turns out before sweetening with splenda
befus said:
No need to be pissy about it....there are nearly 1000 pages of posts in this thread and your particular questions have been asked and answered repeatedly. If you had read more than "SEVERAL" pages of posts or searched the thread, you would have easily found several answers to your questions.
That said, backsweetening should be done at (or near) the end of fermentation, hence the name (after a wine has fermented out completely dry, vintners will use additives or heat to kill the yeast and then add new sugars "back in" to sweeten it....this allows for variations in how dry a particular fermentation may be and allows for adjusting to taste).
Jimbob904
Active Member
befus said:
Well worth the effort. Tastes like your sitting at an outside cafe on the platz in Frankfurt am Main
I've read every single post in this thread and while there were a couple discussions about back sweetening, there is not one that discusses adding non-fermentable sweeteners when assembling the recipe. I also asked about it and never received a response.
Chap
Well-Known Member
I am sipping on a carb'd 15 month old Apfelwein right now... I don't think back sweetening is necessary. I use 2lbs of brown sugar in my recipes, the tartness, dryness and sweetness is just right. I wasn't a huge fan of Apfelwein when I first made it but now that this batch has aged for a while it is excellent. I have another batch in the "beer closet" that I made in Sept, will put that on tap around Thanksgiving 
