Man, I love Apfelwein

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Justintoxicated said:
Ok so my apfelwein has been sitting in the carboy in my fermentation chest for 2 months 64-68 degrees. I need space for more brews. Can I remove the carboy and let it age the last month at about 85 degrees?

85 is a bit warm. Can you find a spot in the low 70s at least?
 
Ok so my apfelwein has been sitting in the carboy in my fermentation chest for 2 months 64-68 degrees. I need space for more brews. Can I remove the carboy and let it age the last month at about 85 degrees?

A nearly 20-degree jump will do unpleasant things to any fermentation - if you must, transition over a few days somehow (big bucket of water?). 85 will likely be higher than desired (depending on your yeast), resulting in harsher off-notes and potential for hot fusel alcohols.
 
DarkBrood said:
A nearly 20-degree jump will do unpleasant things to any fermentation - if you must, transition over a few days somehow (big bucket of water?). 85 will likely be higher than desired (depending on your yeast), resulting in harsher off-notes and potential for hot fusel alcohols.

Even when almost all of the sugars have fermented out?
 
DarkBrood said:
A nearly 20-degree jump will do unpleasant things to any fermentation - if you must, transition over a few days somehow (big bucket of water?). 85 will likely be higher than desired (depending on your yeast), resulting in harsher off-notes and potential for hot fusel alcohols.

Even when almost all of the sugars have fermented out?

Short answer: YEP.

Analogy Answer: If a busful of kindergarteners stops at a McDonalds and everyone eats and then everyone except one kid uses the bathroom - if he craps his pants once back on the bus, will the stink change if the others kids are there or not? Sure, extra bodies MIGHT dilute the scent a little...more activity/movement will cause greater circulation, but the stink will still be the same captive stink. :(

The same works for your yeast, the fewer there are, the more stressed they will be. The fewer nutrients and fermentables left, the more stressed they will be. Piss off your yeast and it'll start crapping things in your drink that you don't want there. ....And it's all captive in your fermentor.
 
Ok, made my fourth batch, started on 6/1/12, using Mott's Apple Juice instead of Cider, per Ed's recipe, fermentation was fine, racked it once to a clean 3 gallon carboy and although I got some additional slight yeast settling, it is slightly cloudy. Any ideas? I was planning to let it sit for 6 months or so, should I add anything to clear it or just let it be?

Thanks,

Tony
 
DarkBrood said:
Short answer: YEP.

Analogy Answer: If a busful of kindergarteners stops at a McDonalds and everyone eats and then everyone except one kid uses the bathroom - if he craps his pants once back on the bus, will the stink change if the others kids are there or not? Sure, extra bodies MIGHT dilute the scent a little...more activity/movement will cause greater circulation, but the stink will still be the same captive stink. :(

The same works for your yeast, the fewer there are, the more stressed they will be. The fewer nutrients and fermentables left, the more stressed they will be. Piss off your yeast and it'll start crapping things in your drink that you don't want there. ....And it's all captive in your fermentor.

Quite the analogy.
 
Just popped open my first bottle. I made it by the original recipe, except I backsweetened with lactose and carbed in bottles. And this stuff is incredible. Tastes so smooth, goes down easy, nice fizzy carbonation, not so much in the way of apple flavor, tastes more like white wine to me, but it's awesome otherwise. :mug:
 
So I may have just found a full keg of near 4 year old apfelwein.....



image-989824947.jpg
 
Taste report on that 4 yr old keg please!! If you purged the O2 out in '08, I bet it will be out of this world fantastic. Makes me wish I had starting hiding away kegs of brew like a squirrel back when I started this hobby.

About to start my annual fall batch. This time I am adding 2 cans of frozen concentrate & 1 lb brown sugar to the 5 gallons of apple juice. Hopefully just a little extra apple flavor from the concentrate as it ages. Once its ready for bottling, I will likely carb with a can of frozen concentrate also.
 
So whats the best way to speed this to clear up? Im not looking to drink asap, just looking to get it nice and clear so i can bottle it and store it away and get my carboy back.

I have had it in a swamp cooler the last 2 days @ 50-56ish degree's but doesnt seem to be making much of a dent. I noticed a layer of sediment at the bottom, not sure if i should rack off this into another carboy to continue chilling? Or is this nothing like a beer and transferring to secondary/cold crashing it wont help clarify it at all?
 
So whats the best way to speed this to clear up? Im not looking to drink asap, just looking to get it nice and clear so i can bottle it and store it away and get my carboy back.

I have had it in a swamp cooler the last 2 days @ 50-56ish degree's but doesnt seem to be making much of a dent. I noticed a layer of sediment at the bottom, not sure if i should rack off this into another carboy to continue chilling? Or is this nothing like a beer and transferring to secondary/cold crashing it wont help clarify it at all?

Cold crashing and racking will help it to clarify, but it'll slow down your aging process considerably, as you're removing the yeast early.
If you need the carboy, you need it... but more time on the yeast means more yeast working on cleanup detail. Cut their staff, and it's going to take longer ;)
 
:off: NUTELLA stout??? ...I gotta hear more about this...any issue with oils?

Its more of a sweet chocolate stout with Hazelnut extract added...but close enough?
Everyone asks me if i used real Nutella lol, for the reason you mentione(fat oils) i dont think it would work....it still comes out damn good.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/6549/nutella-stout

Only difference to his recipe i made was adding 3/4ths cup Nestle Cocoa powder with 15 mins left on boil...as per his topic on it on Reddit he thought it needed more chocolate.

Only need to be on the cocoa nibs for about a week before you keg it, i just racked on top of the hazelnut extract in my keg. It came out with an amazing head @ like 8-10PSI, i uploaded a picture onto that site.
This was before i went to AG recently, so when this is tapped i may try an AG version.

Also boo on aging, ugh i may just let it sit in the carboy i guess :)
 
So I finally(!) got around to bottling a batch that I started in January or February. I didn't think the batch had a chance; it was on the cake for over 6 months, all of the vodka in the airlock had evaporated for who knows how long. On inspection the batch looked crystal clear and smelled pristine except for a smudge on the waterline which looked like an orphan yeast raft. Primed with 5oz corn sugar and lucky for me, there was an odd bottle that was only 70% full so I decided to partake sans carbonation -- it was tasty and I slept like a baby :D

I have family already wondering if I'll be giving out bottles again for Christmas and this batch should be about a year old when they get it. Prost again Ed Wort!
 
S0 is the consensus now not to have the this stuff sit on the cake that long? I have a batch that has been sitting since FEB and I'm not motivated to bottle it yet lol. Will it still be good?
 
Short answer: YEP.

The same works for your yeast, the fewer there are, the more stressed they will be. The fewer nutrients and fermentables left, the more stressed they will be. Piss off your yeast and it'll start crapping things in your drink that you don't want there. ....And it's all captive in your fermentor.

There are some truths in what you're saying (stressed yeast make unpleasant flavor compounds, underpitching can stress yeast) but I think your answer to the question is incorrect. After two months of fermentation the remaining yeast activity is negligible. Fermentation is done, the gravity won't budge a single point lower regardless of how long you wait. There aren't enough yeast cells doing anything (producing alcohol, kicking out flavor compounds etc) to matter at this point. Ramp up the temperature if you need to, your fermentables will be just fine -- contrast this with ramping the temperature outside the yeast's recommended range during the first (say) week of fermentation when the bulk of the yeast is actively fermenting/producing flavor by-products when the cider/beer/wine could be ruined.
 
There are some truths in what you're saying (stressed yeast make unpleasant flavor compounds, underpitching can stress yeast) but I think your answer to the question is incorrect. After two months of fermentation the remaining yeast activity is negligible. Fermentation is done, the gravity won't budge a single point lower regardless of how long you wait. There aren't enough yeast cells doing anything (producing alcohol, kicking out flavor compounds etc) to matter at this point. Ramp up the temperature if you need to, your fermentables will be just fine -- contrast this with ramping the temperature outside the yeast's recommended range during the first (say) week of fermentation when the bulk of the yeast is actively fermenting/producing flavor by-products when the cider/beer/wine could be ruined.

You are absolutely correct. However, IMHO, apfelwine is such a lightly flavored product that subtleties that are normally hidden easily in beers, wines, even ciders can show themselves after extended aging. Personally, I'd be patient and wait it out - and probably pony up and buy a new carboy/bucket instead. Could be an interesting experiment, though....pull half out and age at 80, transfer the rest into something smaller and keep colder....compare results at 6 months, 12 months, 18 months, etc....
 
Short answer: YEP.

Analogy Answer: If a busful of kindergarteners stops at a McDonalds and everyone eats and then everyone except one kid uses the bathroom - if he craps his pants once back on the bus, will the stink change if the others kids are there or not? Sure, extra bodies MIGHT dilute the scent a little...more activity/movement will cause greater circulation, but the stink will still be the same captive stink. :(

The same works for your yeast, the fewer there are, the more stressed they will be. The fewer nutrients and fermentables left, the more stressed they will be. Piss off your yeast and it'll start crapping things in your drink that you don't want there. ....And it's all captive in your fermentor.

:( I don't want the yeast to do their duty in my carboy.

No way I can find a spot consistently in the 70's this time of year. Maybe in another 2 months though...Guess I will just have to put other brewing on hold until this one finishes. I wish I could do more than one batch at once but it takes up 1/2 my fermentation chamber as it is.

Don't get me wrong, I would not mind getting more carboys if that was the issue, but I can't just run out and buy more chest freezers with temp controllers....
 
Usually use tree top, but which walmart juice would be better? No sugar added or regular? One has maltodextrin.

ForumRunner_20120825_080549.jpg



ForumRunner_20120825_080616.jpg
 
Usually use tree top, but which walmart juice would be better? No sugar added or regular? One has maltodextrin.

View attachment 73092



View attachment 73093

I did a trial batch two years ago, a gallon using the Sam's Club juice (probably the same stuff as Wally World, just with a different label), and wasn't particularly impressed. Came across as a dry white wine with just the barest hint of an apple flavor.
Last December, however, I decided to give it a go with some apple cider instead of juice. The local orchard had their end-of-season blend of 13 apples in stock, and I went down and bargained them down from $7 / gal. to $5 if I bought 5 gallons. I had learned that the late season apples are the more tart varieties, and I thought this would be a good plan.
I followed the recipe way back in the OP (except for using cider instead of juice), threw all that stuff into a better bottle Dec. 3, racked in March, largely to incorporate some pectinase (pectic enzyme) to help clear it up, as it was pretty cloudy. Bottled in May, still took a while to clear. Now it's quite clear, dry but with an excellent apple taste. I don't necessarily prefer apfelwein to beer, but I'll probably make this again, just because it's so dirt simple & easy to do. I will also probably leave out the 2 lb dextrose. I'm the only one around here who will drink it, and I can't really do a whole 750ml bottle by myself....so making this into a regular 6% hard cider sounds about right.
 
Hi, question here
i made my first batch following the exact ingredients and the original process,it is now almost two months since i brew it and in the first 30 days it was just a dry white wine with just a hint of apple in the aftertaste, so im planning bottling in a few days with bottling condition, so
will improve the flavor in the bottle?

thanks!
Al
 
About a week ago I made some Apfelwein with 4lbs of sugar instead of two. It was an accident. I am using EC1118 yeast. Can anyone tell me if the EC1118 can power through 4lbs of sugar in a 5 gallon carboy before reaching its alcohol tolerance or will I end up with super sugary, undrinkable stuff? I am hoping to taste this experiment around the first week of October.
 
About a week ago I made some Apfelwein with 4lbs of sugar instead of two. It was an accident. I am using EC1118 yeast. Can anyone tell me if the EC1118 can power through 4lbs of sugar in a 5 gallon carboy before reaching its alcohol tolerance or will I end up with super sugary, undrinkable stuff? I am hoping to taste this experiment around the first week of October.

I'm no expert but EC1118 has an alcohol tolerance of 18%.

My guess is that you'll have to leave it on the cake for a long, long time. And you might need to occasionally spike it with yeast energizer and yeast nutrient like the skeeterpee folks do.
 
About a week ago I made some Apfelwein with 4lbs of sugar instead of two. It was an accident. I am using EC1118 yeast. Can anyone tell me if the EC1118 can power through 4lbs of sugar in a 5 gallon carboy before reaching its alcohol tolerance or will I end up with super sugary, undrinkable stuff? I am hoping to taste this experiment around the first week of October.

It will turn out fine,may take a little extra time to mellow out but not much.
 
I'm no expert but EC1118 has an alcohol tolerance of 18%.

My guess is that you'll have to leave it on the cake for a long, long time. And you might need to occasionally spike it with yeast energizer and yeast nutrient like the skeeterpee folks do.

Thanks. I will go out and buy nutrient and energizer. I haven't used those things before but I guess now is about time.
 
Boom, just got my first batch going! So much great info in this thread. Thanks EdWort & everyone else for the input.

I had an extra 64oz apple juice so I made a 5.5 gallon batch, other than that, followed the recipe precisely.
 
I doubt you really need nutrient or energizer. Four lbs is not that much. A lot of wine uses ten pounds pf sugar. 1118 will plow a deep forough. Mike

This is what I was hoping. I am hoping that the 1118 will take care of the problem for me. If it tastes too alcoholic I will just cut it with apple juice. I will post taste results in mid October
 
This is what I was hoping. I am hoping that the 1118 will take care of the problem for me. If it tastes too alcoholic I will just cut it with apple juice. I will post taste results in mid October

Normal apfelwein is about 8%. Yours will be about 10%. Give it some extra time to age, but I doubt that it will be intolerable.
 
I ended up starting my first batch of apfelwein on Sunday. I ended up 7 ounces short on sugar at 25 ounces and also boiled 3 cinnamon sticks and a clove and added to primary.

Should I add the extra 7 ounces of sugar? I won't be able to hit the brew store until Saturday if so. How will 7 ounces of sugar short affect this? I'm assuming less alcohol content.

I didn't check my gravity either. Not terribly concerned at this point, but I am guessing I am a point or two below 1.066 to start.
 
Nice, I just got a very small batch going. I found a gallon of organic apple juice at the store in a glass bottle, so I bought it, poured a little out, poured in some sugar, and added some champagne yeast. She's bubbling away right now. I know I need to get more started now!
 
Used a different champagne yeast this time almost had a blow off... I caught it in time and carefully removed some of it from the carboy to give a little more breathing room, and added new starsan to the airlock after cleaning it out. Did I make it too full? It was really close to as full as possible. Maybe I was pushing my luck, or maybe montrachet is just less bubbly. I have another very full carboy of juice and sugar just waiting for yeast, wonder what I should use.
 
I have a question about the carbonating process (Sorry if it's already been answered... I couldn't seem to find the info)

When you say you add the extra sugar before bottling, like you would when carbonating beer, how exactly does that work? Do you add the sugar directly to the primary fermenter, or do you add a bit into each bottle?

Also, with the amount of sugar in the recipe that you add for carbonation, is there any risk of the bottles exploding from the pressure?

Thanks! Can't wait to try this out next week!
 
I believe the extra sugar would go directly into the bottle. Bottle explosion is always a real risk in this case. If you add it to the primary ferementer most likely the yeasts will eat it unless you have so much sugar they die off from the alcohol level.
 
I have a question about the carbonating process (Sorry if it's already been answered... I couldn't seem to find the info)

When you say you add the extra sugar before bottling, like you would when carbonating beer, how exactly does that work? Do you add the sugar directly to the primary fermenter, or do you add a bit into each bottle?

Also, with the amount of sugar in the recipe that you add for carbonation, is there any risk of the bottles exploding from the pressure?

Thanks! Can't wait to try this out next week!

Do you have a bottling bucket? Ideally you would transfer yoru wine to a bottling bucket. Then add dissolved sugar to the bottling bucket and stir well before bottling.
 
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