Ageing in carboy vs. bottles

My apfelwien has been fermenting for a week and I was wondering if i could free my carboy sooner than a month. I really want to try real brewing. So I was thinking I could age the apfelwien for another week in the carboy then bottle and prime with sugar. Then age it some more in the bottles.

So the big question is what is the difference?

The difference is that you get more consistency with a larger volume, however I don't think that home brewers deal with volumes large enough to make a noticeable difference. Let it sit for another week then bottle it.

it has been siting for one week and i was thinking about one more. so are you saying 3 weeks total or 2?

Make sure the cider is finished fermenting, you don't want bottle bombs! I think it might around two weeks for the yeast to completely eat the sugars and start to flocculate. I would let it sit for at least two weeks, take a hydrometer reading and go from there. If the hydrometer reads around final gravity you can bottle, if it is reading higher than let it sit for a couple more days and take a reading again. You might want to invest in a secondary fermenter, so you can age your stronger brews.

lol i am a noob.

i don't have a hydrometer and i do need a second fermenter.

Go to your LHBS and buy a hydrometer, it is probably one of the most essential tools in a brewer's tool kit. Don't rack the beer until you get one to confirm a low finishing gravity. The thing is you can probably get away with bottling at 3 weeks or so, but don't risk it, it's just not worth having bottle bombs. As soon as you have some time and money go and get one, the cider will only get better with time anyway.

Edwort recomends 6 weeks in the carboy. You want to be sure that fermantation is complete. If you add more sugar (priming sugar) to cider that is still fermenting, you might have exploding bottles!

I've only made one batch of Apfelwein so far, but it took 4 weeks to clear. I didn't bottle until 6 weeks.

I'd leave your Apfelwein in the fermenter for at least a month before bottling.

Go get yourself another fermenter for beer. :rockin:

a brewer without a hydrometer is like a carpenter without a tape measure.

sure you can wing it and make something, but if its cock-eyed, you know who's to blame