Man, I love Apfelwein

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Can it really be this easy? This is my first ever Cider/Wine attempt and it was painless and simple. Thanks Edwort for posting this and everyones input into this thread. I've learned a lot and now have some fermenting away.
 
EHV said:
Can it really be this easy? This is my first ever Cider/Wine attempt and it was painless and simple. Thanks Edwort for posting this and everyones input into this thread. I've learned a lot and now have some fermenting away.

Yes it really can be,and it is!
 
Finally bottled a batch that fermented for a little over six months. I usually get too impatient and bottle after three months. Whew, you could smell the burn coming off of it. Can't wait to try this in about 4-6 weeks.

image-572610931.jpg
 
Crack one open and give it a try...

I am very curious to see if your 7 teaspoons is enough for 2 gallons. I am about to carbonate just 1 gallon and maybe I can figure out how much I will need depending on results like yours...


Cracked one open last night, I'm not a beer drinker but it was pretty good. Well carbonated however, for 2 gallons I would say 7 1/2 to 8 Tablespoons would be perfect...
 
Anyone tried mead yeast? Also, should i play it safe and use a larger carboy because of the krausen (assuming i dont use montrachet)?
 
Cracked one open last night, I'm not a beer drinker but it was pretty good. Well carbonated however, for 2 gallons I would say 7 1/2 to 8 Tablespoons would be perfect...


OK cool - so for my 1 gallon I am looking at most 4 tablespoons...

Was yours sweet at all - or did the yeast eat most of it up?

Also, how did you add yours to the batch? Did you just dump the dry dextrose straight into your carboy or bottling bucket, or did you add a little water to it first?

Thanks!

ND
 
Lots of factors involved, so it's hard to say. You probably have very low yeast content in the bottles. After that it's mostly a matter of temperature. With relatively high yeast contents and temps around 75-85f, 48 hours is usually enough. I've also seen batches take 4-5 weeks at temps in the mid 50's and low yeast populations.

I guess I'll just have to pop one and see :)
 
Prepared my second batch last week. I changed one thing. I used Lalvin ec-1118 and aerated prior to pitching.

Only filled 5g better bottle right up to the neck since last ferment was uber tame (looked like a fizzy soda).

Whoops. Day one, OK. Day two, OK just went cloudy, good activity. Day three, OK cloudy, lots of airlock activity. Day four, sticky mess all over, airlock blown off. And remnants of Apfelwein geyser all over the place.

SWMBO was not impressed. Like I said...whoops.
 
Well carbonated however, for 2 gallons I would say 7 1/2 to 8 Tablespoons would be perfect...

I have never carbonated anything before. Judging by this, I would use about 3/4 of a tablespoon for a wine bottle (750ml).

Do I just put the dextrose in the bottom of the bottle and rack onto it?
 
lpsumo said:
I have never carbonated anything before. Judging by this, I would use about 3/4 of a tablespoon for a wine bottle (750ml).

Do I just put the dextrose in the bottom of the bottle and rack onto it?

No!! You can't carb in wine bottles. You will blow corks and Apfelwien EVERYWHERE. You can use clean coke bottles or bottle it like beer
 
OK cool - so for my 1 gallon I am looking at most 4 tablespoons...

Was yours sweet at all - or did the yeast eat most of it up?

Also, how did you add yours to the batch? Did you just dump the dry dextrose straight into your carboy or bottling bucket, or did you add a little water to it first?

Thanks!

ND

No, I mixed the dry dextrose with a little bottled water then poured it into an empty racking bucket. Next I siphon the apfelwein in the the bucket, the sugar solution mixes in to the aplewein as it filled (you don't want to stir or agitate it much - no extra oxygen). Then I bottled, capped and store for 3+ weeks, should be good at the 3 week mark. The longer the better. Like I said sampled a bottle the other night, it has been carbonating 2 days past 3 weeks and it was good and well carbonated. Will let the bottle sit for about two more months before I farm out a few. I don't drink just make wine and now this stuff as a hobby.
 
Started my second batch on 1/14/2013

Here's the progress

603964_10200687401971459_2144575179_n.jpg
Day 1: After the addition of a dextrose and a good mix the OG is 1.066

71434_10200687414651776_1702414141_n.jpg
Day 7: Nice cloudy fermintation

377696_10200687453052736_738410178_n.jpg
Day 25: Garvity check and a taste. Good apple flavor, nice and dry

580458_10200687464293017_901939239_n.jpg
Day 25: SG 1.001 - 8.6% ABV. needs to go another month or two maybe Saint Patricks Day.
 
No, I mixed the dry dextrose with a little bottled water then poured it into an empty racking bucket. Next I siphon the apfelwein in the the bucket, the sugar solution mixes in to the aplewein as it filled (you don't want to stir or agitate it much - no extra oxygen). Then I bottled, capped and store for 3+ weeks, should be good at the 3 week mark. The longer the better. Like I said sampled a bottle the other night, it has been carbonating 2 days past 3 weeks and it was good and well carbonated. Will let the bottle sit for about two more months before I farm out a few. I don't drink just make wine and now this stuff as a hobby.

Wait...aren't you going to pasteurize to stop the carbonation from building up? I think you will start to have your bottles explode if you don't?

I did exactly the same thing. I took 1 cup of bottled water, 3 tablespoons of corn sugar, AND I added 9 small packets of sweet 'n low and brought to a boil on the stove. I am hoping the yeast will eat up a lot of that corn sugar because it came out pretty sweet.

I filled one plastic sprite bottle to test for pressure, and I got 8 others in capped glass beer bottles. I bottled last night and checked the plastic one today and it already had some resistance to squeezing it...

ND
 
Adrenaline-Junkie said:
You shouldnt have to pasturize as long as you didnt add to much sugar.

+1

Unless you back sweetened. If you just added the correct amount a priming sugar, there's no need.
 
I'm thinking of brewing up a batch of Edwort's Apfelwein. I used to live in Frankfurt and really enjoyed the apple wine. But looking at Edwort's recipe, he adds sugar and gets the ABV up to ~9%. I seem to remember the ABV of apple wine being around 5%-6% - and even then I'd off mix it with sparkling water, so the ABV went down to ~2.5%, i..e I could drink the stuff all day.

Anyway, I'd prefer to make a batch that matched the Frankfurt-style apfelwein as opposed to a higher alcohol style. If I don't add the sugar, will the ABV come in around 5% and be closer the German style?

Thanks.
 
EdWort said:
What is the difference between Apfelwein and hard cider?
EdWort says, “Most ciders are a bit sweeter. Ciders and Apfelwein are about 6% abv, but I like the little boost I give it with 2 pounds of Dextrose. It adds no body or flavor and still tastes like Possmann's Apfelwein, only it will kick your butt much quicker.”

Rockin
 
I'm thinking of brewing up a batch of Edwort's Apfelwein. I used to live in Frankfurt and really enjoyed the apple wine. But looking at Edwort's recipe, he adds sugar and gets the ABV up to ~9%. I seem to remember the ABV of apple wine being around 5%-6% - and even then I'd off mix it with sparkling water, so the ABV went down to ~2.5%, i..e I could drink the stuff all day.

Anyway, I'd prefer to make a batch that matched the Frankfurt-style apfelwein as opposed to a higher alcohol style. If I don't add the sugar, will the ABV come in around 5% and be closer the German style?

Thanks.

Absolutely. You can even go the other way and replace some of the apple juice with water. I'd hold off on that though, brew it with just applejuice, and add extra water to your priming sugar solution if the wine is too much for you
 
Assuming a typical dry ferment, and a typical gravity of 1.050 for your OG you should get about 6.7% ABV out of straight apple juice. You would want an FG of about 1.037 if you are aiming for a 5% ABV. I've had FG's slightly under 1.0 with this stuff.
 
I've not experienced any sizable amount of krausen when fermenting cider.
I think that's more dependent on the yeast strain, and possibly temperature. I've had some really serious krausen doing cider, though that was in a hot house in summer with distillers yeast....
 
Apfelwein Started 1/5/13 Bottled 2/2/13
(5 gallons White house apple juice w/ 1lb. corn sugar and 1 packet of Red Star Montrachet yeast)
OG: 1.056
SG: 1.020 1/12/13-4.5%
FG: 1.002 2/2/13-7.1%

Apfelwein Started 1/12/13 Bottled 2/11/13
(6 gallons Great Value apple juice w/ 1lb. corn sugar and 1 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 packet of Red Star Montrachet yeast)
OG: 1.058
FG: 0.998 2/11/13-7.9%


These are my first attempts at this!!! I like the 2nd one better since it has a better taste. The first one didn't have a lot of apple taste. I tried the apple juices first and liked GV's better I think the White House used more water than GV. Next batch is going to have some concentrate added as well. My calculations maybe off but its close enough for me. Hope this helps anyone!:mug:
 
So im gonna give this a go. Im looking to get a slightly higher ABV than what the recipe is designed for. Does anyone have any suggestions on how much sugar to add to a 5 gallon batch if i want to get like 12-15% ABV? Should i double pitch because of the high abv or will i be fine if i use a yeast that can handle the higher abv well?
 
First of all, this is my first post - thank you all for being awesome and opening my eyes to what I know will soon be an obsession! :)

My question is simple - is this mold? I lifted the bottle up, and see similar "white circular growth" on the bottom as well; so I'm not sure if it's yeast growth or something more nefarious! This is roughly 12 hours after having pitched the yeast.

This is my first batch of Apfelwein (1 gallon, using ~1/4th the recommended Montrachet yeast packet, ~.3lbs corn sugar), and only my second fermentation so it's likely user error, but I just wanted to get some verification!

apfelwein1.jpg


apfelwein2.jpg
 
First of all, this is my first post - thank you all for being awesome and opening my eyes to what I know will soon be an obsession! :)

My question is simple - is this mold? I lifted the bottle up, and see similar "white circular growth" on the bottom as well; so I'm not sure if it's yeast growth or something more nefarious!

This is my first batch of Apfelwein (1 gallon, using ~1/4th the recommended Montrachet yeast packet, ~.3lbs corn sugar), and only my second fermentation so it's likely user error, but I just wanted to get some verification!

When did you start the batch?

What kind of juice?

Do you have an air lock on that jug? If not it could be an air born bacteria which may not ruin the batch but it would make it a sour apple wine.

Did you sanitize everthing (jug, yeast packet, sissors, Juice container, everything)?

It may not be mold but you will definitly know when you drink it. I would let it go. It looks like its fermenting if its got alcohol it ok.
 
When did you start the batch?

What kind of juice?

Do you have an air lock on that jug? If not it could be an air born bacteria which may not ruin the batch but it would make it a sour apple wine.

Did you sanitize everthing (jug, yeast packet, sissors, Juice container, everything)?

It may not be mold but you will definitly know when you drink it. I would let it go. It looks like its fermenting if its got alcohol it ok.

I accidentally left it out of the original post - started roughly 12 hours ago! 100% Apple Juice (from Whole Foods, iirc the 365 organic brand), I did sanitize all the things you mentioned (maybe not thoroughly enough, we'll see!), and there is a 3-piece airlock on it, outside of the photo.

Thank you both BrewerBear and Skydog60 for the quick replies!
 
My wife has an app on her phone that she uses to track her calories with and Ed Worts Apfelwein is in it. I think it's called my fitness pal or something like that.

That one only estimates calories, I was more concerned with the carb count. But thank you! Do we know who figured out the calorie count, or how they worked it out?
 
I'm working my way through this thread in anticipation of making this as written Friday. It's funny around page 40 people are talking about a long thread.
 
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