Man, I love Apfelwein

I've been lurking this thread for some time, and I wanted to try this, but didn't want to take a carboy out of action for 6 months. So, I couldn't take it anymore and started a 1 gallon batch 2 days ago, she's bubbling away! SG was 1.060

HessenHelles said:

I've been lurking this thread for some time, and I wanted to try this, but didn't want to take a carboy out of action for 6 months. So, I couldn't take it anymore and started a 1 gallon batch 2 days ago, she's bubbling away! SG was 1.060

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Alternately, you could leave it in primary for 3 weeks or so. Then bottle, and age in the bottle.

Leadgolem said:

Alternately, you could leave it in primary for 3 weeks or so. Then bottle, and age in the bottle.

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I might try that too. I saved the original bottles from the juice plus have a ton of corked whiskey bottles.

I made a 6 gallon batch back in may, bottled 3 months later (carbonated). Only substitution used 2# brown sugar. Was not very pleased with it at bottling. Tried again at 5 months and still had a nasty aftertaste. Was certain would wind up getting rid of it. Tried it this past weekend and Wow!! what a difference. It is really fantastic now. Will be getting another batch going tomorrow.

mpride1911 said:

I might try that too. I saved the original bottles from the juice plus have a ton of corked whiskey bottles.

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That would work. No other flavors absorbed in the plastic but the apple cider. You can also bottle in beer bottles. That works very well if you want to naturally carbonate some.

Leadgolem said:

Alternately, you could leave it in primary for 3 weeks or so. Then bottle, and age in the bottle.

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There's a lot in this thread about the benefits of bulk aging.

mike_in_ak said:

There's a lot in this thread about the benefits of bulk aging.

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If you need the space though.

Just bottled my cherry cinnamon apfelwein after 5 months. It finished at 1.001. The cherry is very subtle but noticable at this point. I plan to let as much sit as possible.

The recipe was 1 gallon trader joes cherry juice cocktail, 4 gallons of apple juice, 2 lbs of sugar, montrachet, and two cinnamon sticks. Next time I will go ahead and bump up the cherry juice to 2 gallons.

It should be ready to drink by sxsw.

rideincircles said:

Just bottled my cherry cinnamon apfelwein after 5 months. It finished at 1.001. The cherry is very subtle but noticable at this point. I plan to let as much sit as possible.

The recipe was 1 gallon trader joes cherry juice cocktail, 4 gallons of apple juice, 2 lbs of sugar, montrachet, and two cinnamon sticks. Next time I will go ahead and bump up the cherry juice to 2 gallons.

It should be ready to drink by sxsw.

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You might want to try RW Knudsen Black Cherry Juice instead. It maintains its color and cherry flavor extremely well post fermentation.

Being from Germany from the Apfelwein region I was never able to find a real dry cider here in the US. And I can only get Possmann Apfelwein at Worldmarket around Christmas time. Plus the Possmann is really expensive too.
Thanks for this recipe. I started mine last week and I can hardly wait for another 5 weeks.

1 gallon batch after 5 days, and fermenting Strong!!!

I got a batch of this going last week. I went cheap and did it this way (Click Here)just up scaled it to 4 gallons using 10 cups of sugar and two packs of the three pack strip of yeast.

We'll see how it goes, but it was bubbling like crazy about 8hrs in and is still going strong.

This weekend I started my first 3 gallon batch in a better bottle. The airlock is making mouse noises

Hey guys it's currently 1:07pm here in Ohio and I'm buzzing off EdWort's Apfelwein! My second batch I decided to jugg it up today. I decided since I am still newish to homebrewing that I would just let it go for how ever long i felt. Well I started this batch in april of 2012. I just now jugged it up so it has been in the primary fermenter for 11 months or so on the yeast cake. It tastes amazing! I was a bit worried aboit it sitting on the cake but said wtf let's give it a go. It's in bottles and juggs now to age untill the summer or long but just wanted to say 11 months on the yeast cake was fine for me. I seen ppl say 6 months or longer so yeah.
Cheers

Hi All, Im posting from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
I am pretty much brand new to brewing. Just a few baisc beer and wine kits but looking to experiment now that i'm into it. I have stumbled across this recipe and it looks fantastic. What I would like to do is to make something that is a medium-dry finish, and I plan on carbonating it to make it more of a cider. I have read many pages and there seems to be a wide variety of ways to do this so I have some questions for those who are the veterans of brewing this product.

1. Judging from the posts, the montrachet brews very dry. I am looking for a medium to dry finish that still packs the high ABV. Any suggestions?
2. I'm seeing that aging is key to a really great product. Would it be better to let it age in a carboy or in bottles?
3. Has anyone messed around with pressing their own juice from fresh apples? Ive seen in some posts that this might not give you as much ABV. Any way to boost this up?

Any help would be awesome. Thanks

I'm so excited!! I've been reading this thread for quite some time and finally decided to go and get a gallon jug and give it a whirl. The guy at the LHBS recommended Windsor Dry Yeast. I used regular old Motts apple juice, added 1 1/8 cup of sugar per recipe (except I let it dissolve with some apple juice in a small pan), rehydrated the yeast and pitched!! I filled the airlock with some moonshine instead of vodka ; ) Which I bought legally!! OG was about 1.070 so I'm hopin to get around 8% or maybe even 9% out of it?? I plan to add some concentrate after it's all done with fermentation, then a bit more aging. Idk. It's my first time makin cider so I will def be experimenting a bit with the 1g batches till I come up with one the SWMBO and I like. She likes it VERY sweet!! Lol. So I'm not entirely sure she would like EdWort's original recipe.

You could always do a nottingham yeast packet. Attenuate down to 1.010 or so or use posttasium sorbate to stop at a certain gravity.

mdpickle said:

Hi All, Im posting from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.
I am pretty much brand new to brewing. Just a few baisc beer and wine kits but looking to experiment now that i'm into it. I have stumbled across this recipe and it looks fantastic. What I would like to do is to make something that is a medium-dry finish, and I plan on carbonating it to make it more of a cider. I have read many pages and there seems to be a wide variety of ways to do this so I have some questions for those who are the veterans of brewing this product.

1. Judging from the posts, the montrachet brews very dry. I am looking for a medium to dry finish that still packs the high ABV. Any suggestions?
2. I'm seeing that aging is key to a really great product. Would it be better to let it age in a carboy or in bottles?
3. Has anyone messed around with pressing their own juice from fresh apples? Ive seen in some posts that this might not give you as much ABV. Any way to boost this up?

Any help would be awesome. Thanks

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1. Yes. Ferment it dry, then sweeten to taste just before bottling. Keep some in a plastic bottle of about the same volume as the glass bottles. When the plastic bottle is hard, pasteurize the glass bottles in a pot on your stove. The amount of sugar you lose to co2 is actually very small, so you don't need to compensate for the lost sugar in your sweetening.

The presence of potassium sorbate does not necessarily prevent fermentation, it's effectiveness depends on the PH of the liquid and a couple other things. It also does not kill yeast, it blocks yeast reproduction. Pasteurization will definitely halt the fermentation,as it kills the yeast outright.

2. Aging in bulk is preferable, but IMO frequently over emphasized.
3. No, but if you want to bump the finished ABV you can up the gravity with just regular table sugar. Remember though, the higher the gravity the longer you are going to want to age the final product. If you add a lot of sugar, you also can run into more serious nutrient shortfalls. So, a tsp or so of yeast nutrient per gallon would be a good idea. You could also up the gravity with apple juice concentrate.

If you are going to press your own apples and want a clear finished product, make sure you use pectin enzyme. Otherwise the pectin will suspend particles in the brew and make it cloudy. They also need to be cold pressed apples, hot pressing apples sometimes sets the pectin and will give you something vaguely resembling apple jelly.

should I add bottling yeast to this? Usually I only do that for anything over 10%abv

Man I got the same q but wasn't gonna ask the whole Internet about it but sure gonna listen to answers to your q

No need to add bottling yeast unless it has been aging a loooong time.

Any reason I shouldnt prime and bottle in the pint and a half size guinness bottles?

CreamyGoodness said:

Any reason I shouldnt prime and bottle in the pint and a half size guinness bottles?

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I've never used that brand of bottle but had had no problems with bottles that size or with ones bigger/smaller for that matter.

CreamyGoodness said:

Any reason I shouldnt prime and bottle in the pint and a half size guinness bottles?

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I use a half pint sake bottle all the time with no problems. It is great for getting the last drop from the bottling bucket and I don't feel so bad when I open one early to "test" the batch.

Is there a recipe for making this in the mr.beer keg it's just sitting here wanting to ferment some more. I'm on our iPad and i can't find a search thread tool so figured some one can point me in the right dirrection

1fast636 said:

Is there a recipe for making this in the mr.beer keg it's just sitting here wanting to ferment some more. I'm on our iPad and i can't find a search thread tool so figured some one can point me in the right dirrection

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Let's see, a Mr. Beer is designed for 2 gallon batches I believe. So 40% of the ingredients would be.

2 Gallons 100% Apple Juice (No preservatives or additives)
0.8 pounds of dextrose (corn sugar)
2 grams of Montrachet Wine Yeast

I would just use about 1/2 a packet of Montrachet Wine Yeast. That's only 2.5 grams and is no where near over pitching. Then tape the packet shut and stick it in the fridge/freezer for later use.

I would also probably just add an entire 1lb bag of corn sugar. The result will be a bit stronger, but in 2 gallons of liquid you aren't going that high. Should be about 1.073, depending on the juices OG before the sugar addition.

Happy brewing.

Sweet thanks

I have been through quite a few of the pages and searched and I seem to be finding two different theories.

Can someone chime in again.

Do I need to take this off the yeast ever or can I go 6 months on the yeast cake?

If I need to take it off how long should I leave it on?

I bottle if that makes a difference.

Thanks

You can go 6 months if you like,if you transfer to secondary wait until it clears first.It really does not matter if you get it off the yeast or not,mainly preference.

I'm getting ready to make a batch of this with the original recipe. Has anybody done this with grapefruit juice? SWMBO loves grapefruit crushes. Just thinking it may be a "win" for me to make a grapefruit concoction. Thinking of getting a one gallon jug and experimenting. Any thoughts?

I know citric acid can really wreak havoc on yeast but give it a shot by all means.

You might want to check out the skeeter pee thread for ideas on how to get citrus to ferment though.

bleme said:

I know citric acid can really wreak havoc on yeast but give it a shot by all means.

You might want to check out the skeeter pee thread for ideas on how to get citrus to ferment though.

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Skeeter pee. I'm on it.

Thanks!

STJonesin4 said:

I'm getting ready to make a batch of this with the original recipe. Has anybody done this with grapefruit juice? SWMBO loves grapefruit crushes. Just thinking it may be a "win" for me to make a grapefruit concoction. Thinking of getting a one gallon jug and experimenting. Any thoughts?

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I did something kinda similar with pink grapefruit.

This is from my notes:
5 cans great value pink grapefruit juice 46oz.
5 bottles grapefruit perrier 750ml.
5.74 lbs sugar.
3.5 tsp yeast nutrient.
3.5 tsp yeast energizer.
1.75 tsp pectin enzyme.
20 oz bottle of harvested distillers yeast.

OG: 1.1
FG: 0.99
ABV: 14.7%

I thinks this was a 3.5 gallon batch. It's been a while. It really needed sweetening before it went in the bottle, which I didn't do. I usually add a little simple syrup to the glass before I drink it. It's still very sour otherwise.

When this was young it was absolutely horrible. It took about 4 months in the bottle before it was good. Though it is now very good indeed. Much more complex and smoother then I expected.

bleme said:

I know citric acid can really wreak havoc on yeast but give it a shot by all means.

You might want to check out the skeeter pee thread for ideas on how to get citrus to ferment though.

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That's a good idea. A lot of the fruit bases for the skeeter pee recipes are really acidic.

Leadgolem said:

I did something kinda similar with pink grapefruit.

This is from my notes:
5 cans great value pink grapefruit juice 46oz.
5 bottles grapefruit perrier 750ml.
5.74 lbs sugar.
3.5 tsp yeast nutrient.
3.5 tsp yeast energizer.
1.75 tsp pectin enzyme.
20 oz bottle of harvested distillers yeast.

OG: 1.1
FG: 0.99
ABV: 14.7%



I thinks this was a 3.5 gallon batch. It's been a while. It really needed sweetening before it went in the bottle, which I didn't do. I usually add a little simple syrup to the glass before I drink it. It's still very sour otherwise.

When this was young it was absolutely horrible. It took about 4 months in the bottle before it was good. Though it is now very good indeed. Much more complex and smoother then I expected.

That's a good idea. A lot of the fruit bases for the skeeter pee recipes are really acidic.

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Thanks for the info. I want to give something a try - possibly a 1 gallon batch. Sorry for the off-topic. It was sorta "on-topic".

I had a batch that I started on 7/25/2012 using EC1118. This was a set it and forget it batch - it was in primary the entire time and never got racked to secondary. I decided this past Saturday (3/2) that it was time to package. Kegged it and dropped it in my keezer. It finished at 1.001 and the sample was incredibly clear, not to mention ludicrously good. It is so much better than the first batch I made which was bottles after a month (though that was quite tasty as well).

Luckily, I had the foresight to start another batch about a month after this one do I can refill the keg when it kicks. Heed the advice early in this thread - keep a batch going, you won't be sorry.

This thread is killing me. I started a gallon of apfelwein last week with the sugar substituted with honey. I haven't even tasted it yet, but this thread is making me consider buying another 5 gallon primary and loading it up with apfelwein and just ditching it in my equipment room for 6-9 months, just in case it is awesome.

I'm not a fan of commercial ciders because they are all too sweet, but a dry apfelwein sounds really good. I think with using honey this will be super dry. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Thunder_Chicken said:

This thread is killing me. I started a gallon of apfelwein last week with the sugar substituted with honey. I haven't even tasted it yet, but this thread is making me consider buying another 5 gallon primary and loading it up with apfelwein and just ditching it in my equipment room for 6-9 months, just in case it is awesome.

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One thing to be aware of about this: since what you have just made is more like a cyser (apple mead) than an apfelwein (apple mead) it may take longer to ferment and it WILL require more ageing. Patience will pay off though!

devianttouch said:

One thing to be aware of about this: since what you have just made is more like a cyser (apple mead) than an apfelwein (apple mead) it may take longer to ferment and it WILL require more ageing. Patience will pay off though!

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It would figure that I'd make something a) that I never heard of before, and b) will require more patience on my part.

EdWort's original recipe uses 5 gallons apple juice and 2 lbs of corn sugar. My scaled recipe with honey was 101 oz (about 0.8 gallons) of juice, and about 3/4 cup of honey, with Montrachet yeast. Is this going to require any other special handing as a cyser, other than longer aging? What would be an appropriate temperature range to age this?

If possible, after fermentation is good and done, can I cap the carboy and safely hide it someplace out of sight for a few seasons? It's on top of my fridge now and is going to be too much temptation if I have to sit and watch it age.

Thunder_Chicken said:

It would figure that I'd make something a) that I never heard of before, and b) will require more patience on my part.

EdWort's original recipe uses 5 gallons apple juice and 2 lbs of corn sugar. My scaled recipe with honey was 101 oz (about 0.8 gallons) of juice, and about 3/4 cup of honey, with Montrachet yeast. Is this going to require any other special handing as a cyser, other than longer aging? What would be an appropriate temperature range to age this?

If possible, after fermentation is good and done, can I cap the carboy and safely hide it someplace out of sight for a few seasons? It's on top of my fridge now and is going to be too much temptation if I have to sit and watch it age.

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Hmm, I don't think using honey instead of sugar is going to really take much longer. I've done mead to FG in 14 days. You can, you just need to use twice the normal amount of nutrients as the directions for must say.

I kinda doubt you are going to have to bad of a nutrient shortage issue given what the apple juice is bringing to the party. I've made similar stuff with table sugar, and it was fine. Took just over two weeks to hit FG. Table sugar is pretty much pure fermentable, no nutrients to speak of.

Once it's good and done, yeah sure. Cap it and stash it somewhere it won't tempt you.

That's what I hear from the cider forums as well - not really enough honey to really mess with ferment times or aging. As for nutrients, there is a whole packet of Montrachet in there for just one gallon, plus with whatever is in the juice, so there is a lot of stuff in there to chew on.

I'll leave it on airlock until it drops out clear, then I'll cap it and try to forget it someplace that I'll be sure to stumble upon in a few months.

Is using a HDPE bucket for long-term aging of this stuff a good idea or no? I've heard that oxygen diffusion can be a problem. The 1-gallon is a glass jug, but if I wanted to do 5 gallons of this I'd have to get another bucket or carboy.