Hi all from Halifax Nova, Scotia
I recently tried making my very first batch of apfelwein. This is my first attempt of brewing anything other than wine kits and fiesta brew so i'm a newbie.
My batch consisted of the following;
- 5 gallons of wal mart brand "great value" apple juice from concentrate.
- 1 pound of brown sugar
- 1 pound of dextrose
- Lavlin yeast, pretty sure it was 17b-122. The person at the local brewing center said it is the closest to the montrachet yeast.
I plan to add more dextrose at bottling time to carb it for more of a cider drink.
I was going to go with two pounds of brown sugar but I had problems with it mixing and dissolving in the applejuice. It must have been old. It was a bit dry and chunky. So I cut it down to 1 pound of brown sugar and dextrose.
I mixed it all up as suggested by most of the threads and youtube vids I have watched.
This was completed on March 24 and my initial gravity reading was 1.056. Completed at my parents house.
It was slow starting, but after a day or so it started working. The airlock looked like it was boiling from all of the bubbles.
Yesterday I went to check on it yesterday (April 8), and my father had told me that it has stopped working. (bubbles once about every 5 min or so). It has cleared quite a bit, however not as much as other finished products that I have seen on the threads. I realize that mine will be a bit darker because of the brown sugar, but I am unsure how clear it should get. I have posted a pic of that it looks like, taken yesterday. This means that it has been in the carboy for 15 days as of today.
My question is this. Due to the fact that it has pretty much stopped working, should I bottle it right away or should I leave it for the month (or longer) as suggested in the directions.
What should I do to achieve the best results?