good bottles for apfelwein? gallon jugs?

I'm trying to get my hands on some glass 1-gallon bottles for a batch of Apfelwein I'm planning to make and hand out as gifts. I'd rather not buy empty bottles since I know it should be possible to find them with something in them that I would want to drink.

I've seen jugs of wine, but nobody I know has a taste for it. I thought I'd be able to find glass jugs of apple juice but all the supermarkets that i've searched (pathmark, wegman's stop & shop, shoprite) are using plastic jugs now.

Where have you found your glass gallon bottles? Or for that matter, what have you found to be the 'just-right' size for bottles of apfelwein?

You better drink a couple or 3 glasses before you decide to bottle in gallons.

You might just decide the beer bottle is a good control method.

You COULD (not my recommendation) use growlers from the local....or you can order 1/2 gallon or gallon jugs from any on line store like Austin Home Brew. Flip top bottles are expensive, but can't be beat for appearance and show.

I was going for gallons for ease of bottling...are you thinking it will go too fast, or that it will spoil/oxidize if not emptied fast enough?

I have some half-liter swing-top bottles I might be able to use, but not enough and they won't be coming fast enough to have the whole batch bottled by Christmas...

Also, I hate buying empty bottles, I'd really rather find them with something tasty in them and recycle...

hexmonkey said:

...are you thinking it will go too fast,

Click to expand...

you have been warned!

I too prefer full bottles, however there is someting cool about brand new bottles.

Not sure if Whole Foods is in Jersey (had them in VA) but I noticed that they are selling organic apple juice in gallon glass jugs in the organic food area. They go for about $6, so not much more than empty gallon jugs are going for, and you have your juice for your apfelwine too. I didn't check on the ingredients to make sure it was pure juice, but figured it would be based on the organic concept. I planned on picking up the juice for apfelwine and using the jugs as secondaries for mead myself.

When you open a bottle of apfelwein, you will find a nearly irresistible need to empty said bottle. So, when the bottle is one gallon in size...

I think EdWort's name doesn't need to be cursed THAT much.

DuckAssassin said:

Not sure if Whole Foods is in Jersey (had them in VA) but I noticed that they are selling organic apple juice in gallon glass jugs in the organic food area.

Click to expand...

There aren't many near me, but they do exist here. I'll see if I can swing by one and check that out. That might be the perfect solution really, if the juice is suitable...

Unless you can sit down and drink the entire gallon in one sitting...don't bottle that way.

if you don't down it in 24 hours, it'll lose carbonation, and will start to get oxidized.

A decent compromise is 1/2 gallon growlers. Climax Brewing (Roselle, NJ) only sells their beers in that size containers and it's tasty stuff. Check out Buy Rite on Centennial in Piscataway.

malkore said:

Unless you can sit down and drink the entire gallon in one sitting...don't bottle that way.

if you don't down it in 24 hours, it'll lose carbonation, and will start to get oxidized.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I'm talking about apfelwein, not beer. The recipe I read seemed to imply a still beverage, not carbonated...?

If it's not carbonated, will it still get oxidized? Does that rule even apply to apfelwein?

Bobby_M said:

A decent compromise is 1/2 gallon growlers. Climax Brewing (Roselle, NJ) only sells their beers in that size containers and it's tasty stuff. Check out Buy Rite on Centennial in Piscataway.

Click to expand...

I was thinking of clear containers originally so I forgot about Climax. Their beer definitely falls under the category of "something in them that I would want to drink".

They even use paper labels, which are less of a pain to remove than the painted-on kind...

To answer your other question, yes, even still beverages are subject to oxidation. You could get away with drinking half, then the latter half the following day but I wouldn't leave half a jug for a week.

BigKahuna said:

You better drink a couple or 3 glasses before you decide to bottle in gallons.

Click to expand...

I just picked up 5 1-gallon jugs of the organic juice at Whole Foods.



These things are utterly enormous! I totally get what you're saying now.

Maybe a mix of half-liter and half-gallon bottles would work...

hexmonkey said:

I totally get what you're saying now.

Click to expand...

No You Don't

and you won't till you shout the words...."DAMN YOU ED WORT!"

It's good for ya though.

Hexmonkey, did you note the ingredients in the apple juice? Is there anything other than juice in there?

DuckAssassin said:

Hexmonkey, did you note the ingredients in the apple juice? Is there anything other than juice in there?

Click to expand...

Nothing but juice. The ingredients list says:

BigKahuna said:

No You Don't

and you won't till you shout the words...."DAMN YOU ED WORT!"

It's good for ya though.

Click to expand...

I imagine it as more like Shatner in Wrath of Kahn.

KAAAAAAHHHHNNNN!

errr.. I mean.

EEEEEEDDDWOOOOOOOOORRRRRT!

Drive to Corrados, they are nearby and have the 1 liter ez-cap bottles that may work nicely for you. Here is their info:

Corrado's Market
Address 1578 Main Ave
Clifton NJ 07011
US
Phone 1.800.232.6758
Fax 1.973.340.2052
Email [email protected]



600 Getty Avenue
Clifton, NJ 07011
Wholesale Warehouse
1.973.340.8590

Garden Center
1.973.340.3393

Beer & Wine Making

hexmonkey said:

Nothing but juice. The ingredients list says:

Organic, pasteurized, unfiltered apple juice​

Click to expand...

I've made it with this. The brand I used was Knudsen's. I just poured out a little juice from the 1 gallon glass jug to allow room for corn sugar, put in the corn sugar (solution) and pitched yeast. I got about 8-10 small Duvel bottles (11.2 oz) out of it.

One thing to note is that because it's unfiltered, there will be a lot of pectin floating around in the end product. It will be slightly cloudy, but most of the pectin will settle to the bottom, but it doesn't "flocculate" well. So,it looks a little odd, but still delicious.

menschmaschine said:

One thing to note is that because it's unfiltered, there will be a lot of pectin floating around in the end product. It will be slightly cloudy, but most of the pectin will settle to the bottom, but it doesn't "flocculate" well. So,it looks a little odd, but still delicious.

Click to expand...

I see there's sediment at the bottom of the jug, is this what you're referring to? Maybe if I carefully decant off the top of that...

I'm planning to ferment this in a carboy anyway, so hopefully I can reduce some of this. Or get some pectinase?

hexmonkey said:

I see there's sediment at the bottom of the jug, is this what you're referring to? Maybe if I carefully decant off the top of that...

I'm planning to ferment this in a carboy anyway, so hopefully I can reduce some of this. Or get some pectinase?

Click to expand...

Yeah, maybe pectinase... I don't know, but I'm sure there's a wine maker on here who does. Otherwise, just let it in. Believe it or not, the bottles I've made with it came out pretty clear in the glass. You just have to handle the bottles a little more carefully before pouring so the pectin doesn't swirl up from the bottom, pour a little more carefully, and let a little more in the bottle than you would with homebrewed beer.

I bottle apfelwein in whatever I've got a round.

Just keep note of what can hold pressure and what can't. Don't try and carb a milk jug or something stupid like that.

Some people like it flat, some like it carbed, I try to go 50/50.

As far as an appropriate serving size... 8oz coke bottles? I find that anything larger than that I end up overdoing it :O .

I just got done bottling some apfelwein into a flip top bottle that i got at the local "health food" store. It had some sparkling lemonade in it, good lemonade and a awesome bottle for apfelwein, basically the same size as a wine bottle but clear and flip top.

no its carbonated

hopsalot said:

no its carbonated

Click to expand...

what's carbonated?

The flip top Sangria bottles from Whole Foods are perfect for this application. Check it out.

hexmonkey said:

what's carbonated?

Click to expand...

When it's all bubbly.