timdsmith72
Well-Known Member
Yep. That should do it I reckon.
Man, I love Apfelwein
- Thread starter EdWort
- Start date
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Well, it is chugging away.
If I had to describe the smell, it would be something along the lines of... a rhino that only consumed apple juice for a week, then got some gas - doesn't smell all THAT bad, but it does smell. Apple juice rhino farts? Lol...
If I had to describe the smell, it would be something along the lines of... a rhino that only consumed apple juice for a week, then got some gas - doesn't smell all THAT bad, but it does smell. Apple juice rhino farts? Lol...
My order of a bunch of stuff from BMW was delayed shipping due to a backlog from the holidays and won't be here till Monday so I got Antsy and went down to my LHBS to get some Montrachet to make a batch. They said they stopped carrying it because it was too stinky and they didn't get much demand for it and suggested two alternatives.
Prise de Mousse (EC1118)
Epernay II
Anyone used either of these before for Apfelwein? If so how'd it work out?
They were cheap enough that I picked up both and will make 1g test batches with each. When my junk from BMW gets here I'll make a proper batch with Montrachet soon.
Prise de Mousse (EC1118)
Epernay II
Anyone used either of these before for Apfelwein? If so how'd it work out?
They were cheap enough that I picked up both and will make 1g test batches with each. When my junk from BMW gets here I'll make a proper batch with Montrachet soon.
I've seen several reports in this thread of using EC1118 on this with good results. I haven't personally used it, but it should work just fine. I can't speak regarding Epernay though. I'm sure it'll be good too, just haven't seen anyone report using it.
Pitched both last night into side by side 1g batches. The EC1118 is already chugging away, not much to see in the Epernay side but it may just be a slower starter. My order from BMW arrived so off to Costco to buy 6gal of juice and start a full batch.
OpenContainer
Well-Known Member
Correct.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Yep! No need to rack a secondary, in fact, it would hurt the outcome. It needs at least 4 weeks, but if you can hold out for 12 weeks before bottling the final product is much better.
KWKSLVR
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't say it hurts the outcome. If you were gonna leave it for a year, I don't see any harm in racking it to secondary after several months.
There are a lot of people on the cider side of things that will rack two, sometimes three times before bottling (bottling flat) to try and leave behind as much sediment as possible.
There are a lot of people on the cider side of things that will rack two, sometimes three times before bottling (bottling flat) to try and leave behind as much sediment as possible.
My batch with Safale 33 is about two months into primary now; might be about time to keg it. The sample I drew today came out around 1.004, so definitely not as dry as the original Montrachet (which was my hope). The apple flavor is also *much* more pronounced, although I also used a bunch of frozen concentrate instead of the simple sugar I usually do. My next batch, I may use S-33 again but roll back to dextrose to see how that changes things. That said, I'm loving where this batch is so far, and it's still around 8-8.5%, which is certainly sufficient for me.
I'm curious how the flavors will concentrate further when I ice a few bottles to get some applejack. I have some bottles from the last batch that I can stand against them to see how things proceed.
I'm curious how the flavors will concentrate further when I ice a few bottles to get some applejack. I have some bottles from the last batch that I can stand against them to see how things proceed.
KWKSLVR
Well-Known Member
I would think that concentrate would definitely be the reason for a more pronounced apple flavor this early on. I chilled the crap out of a couple of bottles for New Years Eve (Bottled on December 19th) and it wasn't half bad. Granted:
1) It wasn't fully carbonated
2) Only sat in primary fermentation for less than 7 weeks
Adding the Cider Extract (my version of more concentrate, only with some different flavors) is going to make it interesting in a good way. There are definitely lots of ways to get some apple notes to come out, but nothing will let it mellow like age will.
I'm sure the extract contributes the lion's share of the extra apple, but I think this strain also helps highlight it. Denny reported a similar result earlier in the thread, which is why I chose it. We'll see how time mellows it, but I'm pleased with its progress thus far. I probably won't tap it until the summer at the very least, so it's got some time to develop.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
This isn't cider, it's wine, and will only benefit from remaining on the yeast. Racking it off is completely unnecessary and will affect the outcome in a negative way. Negative meaning your final product will not be as good as the one left alone.
KWKSLVR
Well-Known Member
That's what I was trying to say in a convoluted way. My beer gets in the way of my complete sentences sometimes. Thank God I have spell check at least.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Ramitt
Well-Known Member
If you plan to bulk age longer than 3 months racking to secondary is something you may want to do.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Why
Ramitt
Well-Known Member
Most of what I have read on wine recommends racking every 3 months, somewhere I am pretty sure Edwort also recommended 3 months, but my search-fu is failing me..
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Kind of a debated area. Most wines you are racking at three months is fruit wines.
Ed kegs after three months and allows them to age in the keg.
Ed kegs after three months and allows them to age in the keg.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
1.5-2in is all i ever leave.
BrewPirate
Well-Known Member
You don't need much extra space if you are using the Red Star yeast. I have two carboys going full force right now and there is nothing going on up top. It just gets cloudy.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Nottingham forms a thick head, but the 1.5-2 in is plenty there also
Ramitt
Well-Known Member
Sure, like I said "may want to", not had to.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
For the record Apfelwein is the only wine I will ever keep on the lees longer than 3 months.
Well I mad 5 gallons of original recipe a few weeks ago and I'm taking edworts advice and starting another one today. I bought 4 gallons of apple and 1 of cranberry raspberry and this time I might use 3 lbs of dextrose. What do you guys think? Anyone done a combo like this? I tried a search and couldn't come up with anything. Also I will be using montrachet yeast again.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
No need for 3lbs of dexatrose, thestuff is potent enough
BrewPirate
Well-Known Member
For dry yeast you can just throw it in.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
chevs15 said:
Its fine yeast will get into suspension and find the food
I'm guessing occasional autolyzed yeast issues but prob not a terrible prob or the danger sirens would be frequent.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Not needed.
tellish33
Well-Known Member
Just made my first batch of Apfelwein. I used brown sugar instead. Can't wait.
lizandnick
New Member
anyone used coconut palm sugar in their batch before? i'm guessing it would provide a similar flavor as brown sugar. thoughts?
There's eleventy billion posts, I don't know if anyone has used that type of sugar but I think YOU should give it a try. Make a batch of the original AND a batch with the coconut palm sugar, compare the two, then post the results!!
Happy brewing!
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Skagdog said:
Yep!!!
