Apfelwein ++++?

Has anyone tried to change this up? I'm not talking about making it sweet, I'm talking about making it different.

I was thinking of maybe doing 4 gallons of apple and one gallon of cranberry.
I was also thinking of doing this same recipe without apple at all and just use something like concord grape.
Has anyone tried this?

Cranberry makes things oddly sour, IMHO. I'd steer clear of it in apfelwein, if I were you. Using grape juice...umm...no sure. Concord makes really, really bad wine when used in traditional methods---but I'm not sure what'd happen if you used bottled grape juice. The color alone would scare me.

We had a 1/2 gallon of some cranberry pomegranate juice lying around the house unopened, and I had corn sugar and yeast, so I scaled down the amounts and into the juice they went!

It should be ready in a few weeks ....

Edit - I didn't mix it with apple juice, it's just a tiny batch of just the 1/2 gallon of cranberry/pomegranate juice.

Evan! said:

Cranberry makes things oddly sour, IMHO. I'd steer clear of it in apfelwein, if I were you. Using grape juice...umm...no sure. Concord makes really, really bad wine when used in traditional methods---but I'm not sure what'd happen if you used bottled grape juice. The color alone would scare me.

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I do agree that concord wine is not "good wine" but my wife likes it and so do all my non-wine-drinking-friends.
I may have to give it a shot and see. worse case, I'm out $15.

Blasphemy!!!!

Actually, that's what makes this hobby great. Experimentation!

Just don't come crying to me cause you created an abomination out of my wonderful elixir.

Evan! said:

Cranberry makes things oddly sour, IMHO. I'd steer clear of it in apfelwein, if I were you. Using grape juice...umm...no sure. Concord makes really, really bad wine when used in traditional methods---but I'm not sure what'd happen if you used bottled grape juice. The color alone would scare me.

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ah, i was out at costco the other day and saw the two-pack of cranberry juice. just reopening the brewery here, and have got two 1-gallon growlers of apfelwein and one of the cran. it's actually fermenting a lot slower than the apple, but smells pretty good so far! another one of those "wait and see" type experiments. like fsr says, worst case, i'm out a few bucks.

Here are a few palces to start looking for ideas:

Concord Grape Wine, I have tryed a version of this and it is relly good.

Many variations and additions to Apfelwein.

Cheers

EdWort said:

Blasphemy!!!!

Actually, that's what makes this hobby great. Experimentation!
Just don't come crying to me cause you created an abomination out of my wonderful elixir.

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Well that's why I'm going to make a normal batch at the same time so if one is crap, I still have one that is not. Or two, if you count the one I'm drinking now.

I remember reading in the main Apfelwein thread that someone had tried 4 gallons of Apple Juice and 1 gallon of Cran-Apple. If I remember right I think they said it was good but they were going to do 4 Apple 1 Cranberry next time.

Mutilated1 said:

I remember reading in the main Apfelwein thread that someone had tried 4 gallons of Apple Juice and 1 gallon of Cran-Apple. If I remember right I think they said it was good but they were going to do 4 Apple 1 Cranberry next time.

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sweet, I may have to read thru all 100+ pages of that thread.

I have yet to try one with different juice, but I have tried one with a different yeast and less sugar. I used a a Bavarian hefe I think (its written somewhere) and 1lb dextrose. I made it 10 days after my original batch and am getting ready to bottle it as we speak. I'm not sure I like it as much, but then again it is a bit younger. I'll chill some and give it a another chance. If it ends up not being so hot, a little aging will be in order.

I have one that I'm bottling this weekend. I used the same recipe that I did for my last one, I just substitured out 1 gallon of apple juice with 1 gallon of cranberry/raspberry juice.

I have everything except the dextrose (should arrive Tuesday) to do another batch that will consist of 3 gallons of apple juice and 2 gallons of cranberry/strawberry juice.

If they turn out anything like the original I'll be a very happy man.

I don't know about cranberry additions but I can tell you that pear or apricot juices do not make good fermented drinks. They are nasty.

But, isn't "perry" a pretty established liquor?

I just made a recipe that I go from a friends uncle handed down from gen to gen.

1 Gal. batch
64 oz. Welches grape juice
32 oz. welches cranberry cocktail juice
4 cups of sugar
5 grams montrachet yeast
2cups warm water.

Mix it all together and tape a ballon to the top. Put it in the bathroom and wait till the ballon deflates before drinking. I put an air lock on it and the wife is not cool with wine fermenting in the bathroom so I got it in the closet. Hopefully its not going to do this http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=37297 Ouch!!! Uncle Geno and great grandpa loved it.

Experienced guys, I got a question for you! How could a little acidity be added into this apfelwein. A friend tried mine and she liked it, she said however she would care for a little more acidity. Makes me want to experiment more. I think this stuff if pretty darn tasty. So darn tasty that those two cold 22oz's in my refrigerator went missing :cross: . The stuff I'm drinking is almost 2 months and I want to see what happens as it gets a little time under its belt. I did not add any stabilizers to the bottles (although perhaps I should have), but I put 6 normal apfelwein and 6 apfel-weizen (basically apfelwein but I used a weizen yeast and 1lb less dextrose) into a wine crate and nailed it shut. I'm not too sure when I want to open them but maybe Christmas time, or perhaps new years. If Costco is open tomorrow I'm going to have to add another 5 gallons on the board.

Acid blend simple as that. 1/2 teaspoon to a whole teaspoon of acid blend per gal. the LHBS should carry this, its not expencive.

mike

I made a gallon batch with cote de blanc and a quart of cranberry juice. It was suprisingly not that different. A little tart, but not all that different. I wouldn't say it was bad, but it wasn't worth doing again.

Gallon batches are great for experimenting, and it only cost me 5 bucks.

OK, can anyone help here? What's the OG for Ed's 5 gals apple juice and 2 lbs corn sugar? I didn't take a reading because I knew it would be wrong.

I made a semi-batch of Apfelwein today. I say semi because I only used 2 gals. I need to pick up 3 more gals tomorrow morning to add to the carboy, but I already pitched the yeast.

Thanks.

homebrewer_99 said:

OK, can anyone help here? What's the OG for Ed's 5 gals apple juice and 2 lbs corn sugar? I didn't take a reading because I knew it would be wrong.

I made a semi-batch of Apfelwein today. I say semi because I only used 2 gals. I need to pick up 3 more gals tomorrow morning to add to the carboy, but I already pitched the yeast.

Thanks.

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Mine was 1.061 and FG was 0.99

knarfks said:

Gallon batches are great for experimenting, and it only cost me 5 bucks.

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On this note, my swmbo wants me to expirement with a cran/raspberry juice. I am going to make a single gallon batch to try it out, but I am unsure how to scale down the yeast for that size batch. All I have is the packets. Any tips on doing this?

Just add the entire packet, I'm not to concerned about over pitching, it just ferments really fast. I didn't get any odd flavors or anything as far as I can tell when I used a full packet. And again worst comes to worst you just wasted 5 bucks.

Good point.

What do you make your 1 gallon "expirements" in?

I make 1 gallon batches right in the Kroger apple juice bottle with a rubber stopper and an airlock. I do it that way because I don't have any more carboy space. For 5 gallons, get 5 stoppers and 5 airlocks. If Grandma wants cranberry in her's she can use it as a mixer. I am not changing the recipe one bit!

Bobby_M said:

I don't know about cranberry additions but I can tell you that pear or apricot juices do not make good fermented drinks. They are nasty.

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This is incorrect. (Well, as much as an opinion can be.)

Pear is traditional (and quite lovely) in perry, which is basically hard cider made from pears instead of apples. It's not extremely popular in the US, but you can probably find an imported commercial example if you look around.

Apricot wine is also something that I enjoy rather a lot. Though commercial examples always seem to be semi-sweet to sweet, it is light and refreshing when fermented to dryness.

Anyone ever tried a spiced Apfelwein?

I was thinking about making a batch with spices used in hot/mulled ciders for the coming winter season. Probably cinnamon, clove, orange peel (maybe) and nutmeg.

Edcculus said:

Anyone ever tried a spiced Apfelwein?

I was thinking about making a batch with spices used in hot/mulled ciders for the coming winter season. Probably cinnamon, clove, orange peel (maybe) and nutmeg.

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I was thinking of doing the same thing, but only after I finish my first batch (started two days ago). I think the spiced Apfelwein will be for next year. I'm pretty sure that some people have tried it and written about it in the huge Apfelwein thread, so try searching the thread.

Ive thrown a couple cinnamon sticks in one, it didn't come through that strong, but it does give a little hint that was quite tasty. In the closet right now I have one with some nutmeg and cinnamon, well see how that goes...

mrfocus said:

I was thinking of doing the same thing, but only after I finish my first batch (started two days ago). I think the spiced Apfelwein will be for next year. I'm pretty sure that some people have tried it and written about it in the huge Apfelwein thread, so try searching the thread.

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haha, yea I wanted to avoid that. I did a general search for spiced apfelwein and didn't find anything though.

Edcculus said:

Anyone ever tried a spiced Apfelwein?

I was thinking about making a batch with spices used in hot/mulled ciders for the coming winter season. Probably cinnamon, clove, orange peel (maybe) and nutmeg.

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I used cinnamon and cloves, as well as 2 lb brown sugar in mine. I chose Nottingham yeast. It's been fermenting for 3+ weeks, slowly but surely.

I am quite glad I decided to wait until after my first batch of apfelwein before experimenting. Cinnamon sounds great with apples, and it's delightful in apple juice, but it would be out of character for apfelwein, IMO.

My first batch was Apple Juice + Brown Sugar which (I learn now) makes the wonderful tartness that I liked a lot.

So, when I kicked my keg (Sadly, I didn't follow Ed's advice and start a second batch after 2 weeks) I went to the store and got about 20 gallons of apple juice (you should have seen the cashier's eyes bug out of her head) and a few... extras.

I've currently got a 5 gallon batch of Cranberry apfelwein going, at the request of SWMBO.

My idea, however, was Peach Apfelwein, which I've now got a 6 gallon batch of bubbling away quite happily.

I just wanted to add that any non-fermentable can be added after the fact as well as any sweetner that you do not wish to have ferment out. Wikipedia details these post apfelwein strategies.

I prefer to make the Ed recipe and do all of the experimentation afterwards. It provides the most flexibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apfelwein

Kevin Dean said:

My idea, however, was Peach Apfelwein, which I've now got a 6 gallon batch of bubbling away quite happily.

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Hmm, peach apfelwein. That sounds kinda tasty. What did you use for peach flavoring? Whole? Canned? Juice? I may have to try something like this in a week or two.

EDIT:

olllllo said:

I just wanted to add that any non-fermentable can be added after the fact as well as any sweetner that you do not wish to have ferment out. Wikipedia details these post apfelwein strategies.

I prefer to make the Ed recipe and do all of the experimentation afterwards. It provides the most flexibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apfelwein

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This is probably the best route, but the curiousity in me won't be satiated until I ruin (hopefully not) a few batches with experimenting. Then I'll probably come to the conclusion that Ed's recipe is best.

shunoshi said:

That sounds kinda tasty. What did you use for peach flavoring?

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Organic Peach nectar, which is essentially water and peach puree. This one had a dab of lemon juice, which worried me a bit but I figured that the acidity of lemon juice dispursed in a 6 gallon batch wouldn't be any worse than the ascorbic acid in the apple juice anyway.

I think I was right, since that's the more active fermentation between that and my cranberry. And since the nectar is a bit thicker than the juice, I actually had a yellow/orange krausen for the first 18 hours or so. By morning it was totally gone though, and bubbling away.

[Edited to fix typos, but Peace Pure is a great thing...]

Kevin Dean said:

Organic Peach nectar, which is essentially water and peach puree. This one had a dab of lemon juice, which worried me a bit but I figured that the acidity of lemon juice dispursed in a 6 gallon batch wouldn't be any worse than the ascorbic acid in the apple juice anyway.

I think I was right, since that's the more active fermentation between that and my cranberry. And since the nectar is a bit thicker than the juice, I actually had a yellow/orange krausen for the first 18 hours or so. By morning it was totally gone though, and bubbling away.

[Edited to fix typos, but Peace Pure is a great thing...]

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Hmm, definitely let us know how it turns out. I'm curious as to how the two flavors will mingle. I should really make another "by the book" batch of apfelwein since my last batch is an experimental and I don't want to run out of the good stuff should this turn out poorly.

Maybe I'll make my next experiemental batch with peaches and weizen yeast (which is something else I wanted to try).