Sparkling Apfelwein in Champagne bottles

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Shonuff

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I have some Apfelwein in the primary at 5 weeks today. I was planning on bottleing at 7-8 weeks with a cup of priming sugar in champagne bottles and corking them.

Has anyone else done this? Do you think one cup is too much or less? Does anyone think I should bottle sooner? Do you think I should have to add a little yeast at bottling time?

Thanks for the help in advance.
 
I tried naturally carbonating a cider after over 2 months in the fermenter, and it really didn't work well. Based on that experience, add a couple of grains of champagne yeast to each bottle to ensure carbonation. A cup of corn sugar to ~5 gallons of apfelwein sounds just about perfect.
 
No question that Yuri's suggestion will work.

The question becomes is it necessary? I've bottle carbed 3 batches (parts of 3 anyway) and I have never had a problem.

I guess as Yuri Said, If you want to be 100% positive, add some more yeast.
 
Do you have a champagne corker? I don't have one, but I always thought having a sparkling cider or apfelwein would be such a nice holiday drink. I know that some LHBS rent corkers, but we don't even have a LHBS around here! I just have a regular corker for wines, so anything sparkling or carbonated has to go into beer bottles or soda bottles. I know it tastes the same, but it just seems like it would taste better after popping a champagne cork!
 
So I put a cup of corn sugar for the five gallon batch and bottled/corked the apfelwein in 12 champagne bottles (with 3-4 grains of yeast per bottle) and 12 22oz bottles with no yeast. The 22 oz bottles are pretty carbed. Haven't opened any of the champagne bottles but they should be even more so.

I also kegged a 5 gallon batch with 3/4 cup of corn sugar along with 4oz of rasberry wine flavoring.

If anyone is interested I'll update when I crack/tap either one of them open.
 
I bottled in 2 champagne bottles and capped them with crown caps. I have also bottled with champagne stoppers. They are plastic and don't need to be compressed. with a little force they can be pushed in by hand. sometimes a lite tapping with a rubber mallet. I bottled a few as tests with champagne stoppers and it was fine when pushed in by hand. Add the wire so it doesn't come out and your all set.
 
i am bottling apfelwein in 12 champagne bottles this weekend. the rest will be still. I want to sweeten this a little, do you think i should use maltodextrin or lactose? which one do you think will taste better?
 
So I put a cup of corn sugar for the five gallon batch and bottled/corked the apfelwein in 12 champagne bottles (with 3-4 grains of yeast per bottle) and 12 22oz bottles with no yeast. The 22 oz bottles are pretty carbed. Haven't opened any of the champagne bottles but they should be even more so.

I also kegged a 5 gallon batch with 3/4 cup of corn sugar along with 4oz of rasberry wine flavoring.

If anyone is interested I'll update when I crack/tap either one of them open.

I'm very interested in how this turned out. BTW, what yeast strain did you use at bottling? I'm thinking along the same lines & will give it a shot if I like Ed's orig recipe. Regards, GF.
 
Out of curiosity, what do other folk use to bottle their apfelwein? I will be making some soon, but my only real options are beer bottles... I dont brew enough wine (nor do I think I will in the future) to warrant a wine corker... but it just kind of seemed, well, wrong to be putting the apfelwein in beer bottles, but I guess thats the best option for me, yea?
 
I'm just curious, since I used ale yeast for my apfelwein. I put it in primary for 4 weeks and I racked it over to secondary on top of a flavoring I made by boiling sweet orange peel with cinnamon and grains of paradise in about a quart of water for 15 minutes. I was going to follow someone else's advice and use a thawed can of pasteurized apple juice concentrate to prime it. Should I use champagne yeast for carbonation, or another package of the same ale yeast? I also have some yeast saved from my first brew stored in the fridge (it's been 2 months or so) using the same strain. Would there be drawbacks to using a different yeast, or the saved yeast? Or should I go with the rest of the thread and not add any?
 
In case anyone was interested It's been about four months since I put the Apfelwein in champagne bottles.

I used a 1 cup of priming sugar and then added about three little yeast grains(champagne yeast) to each bottle then corked and caged.

They were pretty damned carbed with little, tiny bubbles. Pretty cool when you pop the cork you get the whoosh. They turned out really well. Six of the bottles were for the bridal party to drink before a wedding.

After renting the corker and buying the bottles I wouldn't do it again. Too much of a pain in the ass.

As for the apfelwein with the raspberry wine flavoring it was okay. Probably wouldn't do it again though.
 
In case anyone was interested It's been about four months since I put the Apfelwein in champagne bottles.

I used a 1 cup of priming sugar and then added about three little yeast grains(champagne yeast) to each bottle then corked and caged.

They were pretty damned carbed with little, tiny bubbles. Pretty cool when you pop the cork you get the whoosh. They turned out really well. Six of the bottles were for the bridal party to drink before a wedding.

After renting the corker and buying the bottles I wouldn't do it again. Too much of a pain in the ass.

As for the apfelwein with the raspberry wine flavoring it was okay. Probably wouldn't do it again though.

Thanks for the update. BTW, how bad was the sediment in your bottles? Was it stirred up easily upon opening the bottle? Did you make any attempt to remove sediment? I don't mean to hammer you with questions, but I'm planning on bottle conditioning in champagne bottles & at champagne levels with a batch I just pitched. Designed the recipe to be a sparkling wine with an ABV of 11.5% Any pointers would be appreciated. Regards, GF.
 
Thanks for the update. BTW, how bad was the sediment in your bottles? Was it stirred up easily upon opening the bottle? Did you make any attempt to remove sediment? I don't mean to hammer you with questions, but I'm planning on bottle conditioning in champagne bottles & at champagne levels with a batch I just pitched. Designed the recipe to be a sparkling wine with an ABV of 11.5% Any pointers would be appreciated. Regards, GF.

I had 12 champagne bottles and gave away 6. The six that I have I put in the fridge for a long time. There was sediment at the bottem (green bottles you could easily see it) but from being in the fridge so long the sediment dropped and when I poored into a glass the apfelwein was crystal clear.
 
Hi all!

I made 3 6-gallon batches of cider this fall, in hopes of using them at my wedding in May. This is my first venture at cidermaking, and I used cider from a local mill, sulfited, added honey/corn sugar, then pitched with champagne or white wine yeast. The first 2 batches are sitting in secondary fermenters and I will probably leave them there for a few more months, but this past weekend I went ahead and bottled my 3rd batch, thinking I would compare how they aged in the bottle versus in the secondary.

Anyway, I used 12 champagne bottles and about 30+ beer bottles, and 6.5 oz of corn sugar for priming. I also added a couple grains of champagne yeast to all but a couple of bottles for insurance (and left a few alone for comparison).

I sure hope they turn out good! They are very sour and tart now, which is good. I think the carbonation will add a needed dimension. They have a subtle apple flavor, but definitely some aftertastes which are not great and that I am hoping will mellow out over the next 6 months.

My biggest worry at the moment is that as this this was my first time using champagne bottles, which I wanted to use cause I think they look so much better. However, being my first time, I am a little nervous about them. I have been saving them for awhile and had a variety of different bottles. I used the plastic corks, most of which I had to hammer in. I used the cages on all of them, but was unsure how to properly attach them, and I have to say, the do not seem very secure. I broke some of the cages, twisting them too enthusiastically, but added wire to secure them. In general, the cages seem like they would allow the corks to move some, but I am not sure if that is normal, and I could not get them to be any more secure. I put the bottles up in the second bathroom, in the shower, in case. I am a little nervous of the unknown, but hoping for the best!

Also, I used a bottling "wand" to bottle them, but that leaves more head space in the champagne bottles than in a beer bottle. I am guessing it is almost 2 inches of head space. Is that bad?

Thanks for any feedback!
 
So, from reading a little on the forums, it doesn't seem like 2 inches of head space would be a problem, but now I am worried about the amount of priming sugar I used. The cider was pretty cold when I bottled it as I left it outside overnight. I would imagine it was 40-50 degrees. It was about 5.5 gallons, and I added 6.5 oz of corn sugar. I was ooking at a calculation site, like this: The Beer Recipator - Carbonation
And realized that that amount of corn sugar is putting me on a path to about 3.5 Volumes of CO2. That seems high. Should I be worried, especially on top of my most likey "less than ideal" corking/caging??
 
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