I think I used 2/3 a cup and it worked out fine.
Graff (Malty, slightly hopped cider)
- Thread starter Brandon O
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timcadieux
Well-Known Member
that's what I did thx.
Bottled Last night. Used 2/3 cup of priming sugar. Hopefully that was enough, im going to let it sit for a few weeks and then ill check one out. Hopefully it'll sweeten up, it was still a little tart/sour. Ill give an update and let you know. Thanks
How much krausen does this recipe usually produce? I just brewed today and it is currently bubbling away in a 5 gal better bottle with a 3 piece airlock.
I currently only have the standard tubing that came ith my Midwest kit, and I don't think it will fit in the bung for a blow off tube. I've heard you can place sanitized aluminum foil over the carboy, anyone have experience with this?
I currently only have the standard tubing that came ith my Midwest kit, and I don't think it will fit in the bung for a blow off tube. I've heard you can place sanitized aluminum foil over the carboy, anyone have experience with this?
SilverZero
Well-Known Member
Mine produced about an inch if that in my 8 gallon bucket. Less than any of my full beers have ever produced. It started fast and went fairly quick, it was down to 1.010 within a week on a fresh pack of Notty.
Thanks for the quick feedback. I'm a new brewer and I'm a bit worried using 5 gal carboy with not a lot of headspace. I'm using US04 in about 64 degrees.
My primary bucket is 6.5 gallons and an airlock has been working great with an IPA using US05 in around 64 degrees.
SilverZero
Well-Known Member
At 64F you should at least be protected against the yeast "going crazy" before you notice . . . no promises on that, though.
Are you controlling based on internal temperature, or at least a fermometer? Or just ambient temps (which will be lower than the brew itself by a number of degrees)? I'd just keep an eye on it, especially the first 48 hours. In a carboy, the head space goes quickly due to the tapering volume. I'd put it on a towel or something just in case it goes off while you're in bed. Honestly, I'd put foil on it or just leave it open until it's settled. You can always re-sanitize the mouth of the carboy after you've cleaned up a blow-off. I'd rather do that than clean the ceiling if an airlock got clogged and blew off under pressure! I stopped using my glass carboys anyway, though, so I just use a bucket with a lid, without anything in the airlock hole (like you said, it's too small for a decent blow-off tube).LeverTime
Well-Known Member
I don't want to freak you out, but I used S05 in my most recent batch at an ambient temp of ~60 degrees, and the five gallon batch blew the airlock off the 6.5 gallon carboy it was fermenting in. You may want to consider a blowoff tube.
Looks like I'm at 65 ambient, I can't check the fermenting temp just yet as I need another LCD thermometer. I ended up adding the tube from my siphon to the carboy bung to rig a blow off tube just to be safe.At 64F you should at least be protected against the yeast "going crazy" before you notice . . . no promises on that, though.
Thanks for the heads up, 05 was for my IPA but I'm okay there. I'm currently using 04 for the graff. I decided to rig a blow off just in case, don't want to come home to a mess.
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
While watching the Brewing TV episode on Graf and drinking a home brewed sour Saison, I thought "This tastes really tart and apple-like (probably primed the ole brain with the content of the video, but what the hell), I wonder what it would taste like if I mixed my Apfelwein and Bretted Saison... WOW!!! So good, so complex and rich, so dry and refreshing. The tartness of the beer is a perfect complement to the dry apple character of the cider. I will have to try to replicate this as a graf recipe. I'll try to ferment it together, but even as a blended drink this is phenomenal!
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
Pics of my sour graf concoction...any ideas for names?
You can also take the center out of the 3 peice air lock and put the tubing on the post inside.
Thanks for the tip, after setting up the blow off tube last night I saw another post using the airlock piece.
renderman
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Just brewed a Graf up on Saturday. Brewed a 50/50 for 60 min as follows
Wort:
2.5 Gallons H2O - Heat to 160 degrees
Steep the following grains for 30 min:
8 oz Crystal 120
16 oz Crystal 60
4 oz Chocolate Malt
4 oz Cara Pils
Bring to a boil and add:
3 lbs Dark DME
1 oz Saaz 4.0 AA - 60 min
1 warfloc - 5 min
Crash cool to 70 degrees
In carboy or BB pour sterilized cider (the containers), we used 2.5 Gallons Zeiglers All Natural Apple Cider no additives
Add wort to cider
Mix
Add yeast, we used Saf-04 Dry Yeast
Our plan is 30 days in the primary
And bottle ferment for an additional 75 - 90 days
And we'll take it from there
We're looking forward to the ride!
Wort:
2.5 Gallons H2O - Heat to 160 degrees
Steep the following grains for 30 min:
8 oz Crystal 120
16 oz Crystal 60
4 oz Chocolate Malt
4 oz Cara Pils
Bring to a boil and add:
3 lbs Dark DME
1 oz Saaz 4.0 AA - 60 min
1 warfloc - 5 min
Crash cool to 70 degrees
In carboy or BB pour sterilized cider (the containers), we used 2.5 Gallons Zeiglers All Natural Apple Cider no additives
Add wort to cider
Mix
Add yeast, we used Saf-04 Dry Yeast
Our plan is 30 days in the primary
And bottle ferment for an additional 75 - 90 days
And we'll take it from there
We're looking forward to the ride!
Made a batch tonight... 2.5gl worth... Now I know why you guys use DME and steep the grains. Boiling down to a decent gravity is not all that much fun. Ended up with a half gallon of 1.100 and after mixing it was 1.054. I used the extra leftover grain I had laying around, two row, munich, white wheat malt, flaked wheat, C40 and C80. Pitched on S-04, so now we wait.
woknblues
Well-Known Member
So I am about 3 weeks into the ferment... I pulled off a sample to taste. Seems pretty dry and a little harsh at this point. My gravity is at 1.023 from an OG of 1.065. Seems to be going a bit slow..
I made a high gravity cider with 5 gallons of store bought aj , 2 vpounds of light brown sugar, 1 pound white sugar, 4 tbls of cinnamon, and dry pitched champagne yeast.
The airlock was bubbling good for three days when i got the urge to boil up 3.3 pounds of hopped dark lme.I let it cool to the same temp as the cider and in it went. that was 4 days ago and it is still going strong.
Is this going to be drinkable?
The airlock was bubbling good for three days when i got the urge to boil up 3.3 pounds of hopped dark lme.I let it cool to the same temp as the cider and in it went. that was 4 days ago and it is still going strong.
Is this going to be drinkable?
hopmonster2189
Well-Known Member
rand3rd said:
Only you shall find out haha but I'm guessin it's gonna be pretty darn dry. Keep us updated for sure!
woknblues
Well-Known Member
True... three weeks and i am chomping at the bit!!
renderman
Active Member
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woknblues said:
Yeah I have mine going now Saturday will be 1 week fermenting ... I'm interested to see how a 50/50 will turn out ... We're going to let it go for a month in primary and condition til may then bottle ... Sigh patience sucks
daggers_nz
Well-Known Member
sorry, why would you not want either or both milled, is it because you have your own mill?
NashamBrewer
Member
I just pulled a sample of this that is 1 week into fermentation. IT TASTES AMAZING. Great smell, not too dry, and has a body of an ale. 7 more days in the primary then I prime and carb er' up for a few weeks.
Brandon O- Thank you for this recipe. I'm a huge DTS fan and this recipe is what actually got me into homebrewing.
Brandon O- Thank you for this recipe. I'm a huge DTS fan and this recipe is what actually got me into homebrewing.
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
Keep us posted! I just discovered this recipe after a couple years of brewing but I read my first DTS book when I was 10 or 11...now I have to go read them again! But this time I can wash em down with real graf!
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
BTW...anyone tried making a sour graf? I blended a Brett Saison and Apfelwein and it was fantastic but I wonder if it will be as good brewed together rather than blended post fermentation.
Your yeast will do that for you. If you add a small amount of sugar and bottle. The yeast eats the sugar and produces CO2. The CO2 can't get out of the bottle and disolves into the beer.
Welcome HBT
I just racked my first Graff and it tasted like apple lemonade with no sugar. When this melows it will be amazing!:rockin:
NashamBrewer
Member
More specifically, once fermentation is complete, you'll add priming sugar to your Graf. From what I have read 4oz appears to be the correct amount for a 5 gallon batch. Once you've added the priming sugar this will restart fermentation (which as previously mentioned produces CO2 and alcohol). Once your Graf has reached the levels of carbonation you like you can pasteurize it to kill off any active yeast. Keep in mind that you can produce bottle bombs by:
1) Going overboard with your priming sugar.
2) Adding adequate priming sugar but not checking your carbonation levels.
3) Not pasteurizing your Graf
As stated I'm new to this game also, so if I've provided inaccurate information someone PLEASE correct me. My wife will go nuts if she finds broken bottles in our office.
More specifically, once fermentation is complete, you'll add priming sugar to your Graf. From what I have read 4oz appears to be the correct amount for a 5 gallon batch. Once you've added the priming sugar this will restart fermentation (which as previously mentioned produces CO2 and alcohol). Once your Graf has reached the levels of carbonation you like you can pasteurize it to kill off any active yeast. Keep in mind that you can produce bottle bombs by:
1) Going overboard with your priming sugar.
2) Adding adequate priming sugar but not checking your carbonation levels.
3) Not pasteurizing your Graf
As stated I'm new to this game also, so if I've provided inaccurate information someone PLEASE correct me. My wife will go nuts if she finds broken bottles in our office.
4 oz is fine to prime with. Points 2 and 3 are not accurate as there is no need to pasturize this drink.
NashamBrewer
Member
BrewerBear said:
Thank you sir. That's the type of instruction I need.
NashamBrewer
Member
Zuzu said:ahh. thanks a lot guys for the info!
No worries brother. I've learned us new guys have a little learning curve to figure out. I've figured out just enough to get me in trouble and HOPEFULLY produce a good quality product. Lol
So my Graff Cider has been in the bottle for almost three weeks after 2 weeks primary and one in secondary. I followed recipe to the "t", except racking to secondary, using 120l crystal as suggested when using cheaper juice. I used Motts. I used Fuggles for hop addition. I made this for the wife since she is the cider person in the house. Tried one today to see the carb level and check flavor. All I can say is I was disappointed. It's still a little tart and carb levels were still not where I want them to be. I used 3/4 cup corn sugar to prime in a 5 gal batch. As for the flavor, I opted to make this because some said it was compariable to Woodchuck and the wife is a big fan of Woodchuck Cider. I know this recipe is like comparing apples to oranges since Woodchuck is a true cider, but IMO,this is nothing like Woodchuck. The flavor is still a little tart and there is little to no apple flavor. I am gonna let this sit and age for a bit to see how the flavor comes through but I can honestly say that I probably won't brew this again.
LeverTime
Well-Known Member
<you may already know this>
You probably need to let this sit longer if it's not even carbed yet.
</you may already know this>
I really like this stuff, but I don't think it tastes very much like Woodchuck cider. A pretty good apple flavor comes through in mine, but I also used some relatively expensive organic apple juice. All the regular apple juice I could find was from China, and I didn't like the idea of drinking Chinese apple juice.
Yeah I already knew that. Lol. It is carbed but not to the point where I want but then again most ciders are not carbed like beer. It's going on three weeks in the bottle and we are leaving town for week this coming Saturday. I figured I would let it sit til the before I checked again. That would make five weeks bottle conditioning.
NashamBrewer
Member
I just finished bottling 24 22oz'rs of my Graf. I primed with 4oz priming sugar now it's time to play the waiting game. I had enough to top off a pint glass for some immediate indulgence. I have to say its still AMAZING. Now I'm ready to get these bad boys carbed up.
