Apfelwein question

So I have a 5 gal carboy of EdWort's apfelwein that I made in January of 2009...For reasons more involved than I have time or space to get into, I was never able to bottle it, so it's been sitting in the primary fermentor (in my cool and dark cellar) for a year and a half. I have tried to keep the airlock full, and to the best of my knowledge it's never dropped too low to lose the lock.

So the question is, should I bottle it? There has been no evaporation (apfelwein is still at the 5 gal line) and it doesn't look moldy or funky.

Am I wasting my time if I bottle? Should I just mix up a fresh batch?

I've never made apfelwein before, so I don't even know what it should taste like if I try to taste it before bottling...

Any thoughts are appreciated!!!

Thanks,
Jeff

Mine sat for 6 month in the carboy before bottling. It is great. I would bottle it
without a doubt.

Bottle it for sure, it only gets better with age, I am jealous. Enjoy!

i say bottle it, taste it and smell it. if its not funky then go ahead and bottle it.

So I'm going to bottle it, but now the question is do I carbonate? Per EdWorts post:

"If you want to bottle and carbonate, ¾ cup of corn sugar will work fine. Use as you would carbonate a batch of beer."

***https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f81/edworts-apfelwein-33986/


I'm a little confused by the "if you want to bottle and coarbonate"

Does this mean that it can just be bottled without corn sugare, or if I bottle I should use corn sugar as usual?

Is apfelwein supposed to be carbonated?

The wife and I prefer it carbonated.

The carbonation is a matter of preference. There was a poll a while back, most people (myself included) prefer carbonation. Makes it more like a dry champagne.

If it's really been a year and a half since you pitched, and if you are going to carbonate, I would rehydrate another packet of Montrachet and add that to the bottling bucket along with the corn sugar.

I would rehydrate another packet of Montrachet and add that to the bottling bucket

Click to expand...

Thanks Frazier, good advice.

I'll give it a go...