Man, I love Apfelwein

high5apparatus said:

I have the original recipe from Page 1 of this post in a fermenter. Coming up on 1 month. I cannot wait for this to be done because I had some a neighbor made.

Instead of tying up a glass carboy for so long, I'm thinking of a Lowes food grade (white) bucket.

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I believe I left my first batch of this in the fermenter only as long as it took to clear up and then just bottled it for longer term aging. I don't think it really matters as to how you age it because it really don't come into its own for at least six months. I made the mistake of drinking most of it at the 3-5 month mark. While still good, I left about 10 bottles sitting which are now 11 months and they are really good. Still dry but with much more flavor.

high5apparatus said:

Instead of tying up a glass carboy for so long, I'm thinking of a Lowes food grade (white) bucket. When the time comes to bottle the cider I'll throw the next batch right over it. Has anyone else re-use the yeast?

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Yes, it was fine. Others have claimed that it gets better.

tennesseean_87 said:

I just had a taste test of some apfelwein made with the following recipe:

OG: 1.070
1 lb cane sugar
3 rolls concentrate
~4 gallons Juice
3056 yeast
3+ months in primary (I am about to get it off the yeast).

I just took a gravity sample: 0.996
taste: pretty bad. Bland, very dry, the wife said yeasty, and not really much character. A similar recipe with half cran-apple juice blend and montrachet finished at 1.008 and has more wine character. I won't use the 3056 again (though it smelled wonderful coming out of the airlock), and am curious if the juice blends (not pure apple) have more unfermentable sugars somehow, or if the last batch was just a fluke.

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I decided to sweeten, add some spice, and pasteurize when properly carbed according to the sticky in the Cider forum. I might have overdone it a bit, but it'll be a good experiment and it was pretty much a dumper.

garnede said:

The only way that it should still be bubbling is if you have a cool spot for it to sit, low 60's or lower. The lower temps slow it down a lot, but leave it with more flavor when the ferment is done.

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It's in a closet in my house which gets down to about 60 during the day.

Has anyone ever tried to carb using sugar cubes?

jarett said:

Has anyone ever tried to carb using sugar cubes?

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As in, a cube per bottle? A sugar cube is plain sugar. If it is the correct amount it would work just fine.

1 cube of sugar is ~4g (per the nutrition facts on a package of domino cubes). In 12 oz this gives about 4 vol of CO2... which is a LOT of carbonation. One cube in a 22 oz bottle leads to about 2.6 vol CO2, which is an 'average' beer.

I doubt sugar cubes are sterile though, and so I would be leery of priming with them. You may get away with it here though, since the ABV is relatively high.

An update on my current batch:

Recipe: 5 gal glass carboy, 2# dextrose, 1 pkt Lalvin 71B-1122, Wal-Mart brand apple juice
January 19: O.G. = 1.060

March 15: Decanted (1) 750mL bottle for tasting.
S.G. = 0.997, ABV = ~8.2%, Age: almost 2 months
Tasting notes: fairly tart (nicely so), distinct apple flavor and aroma, body a little thin, very drinkable straight-up, pleasantly warming
SWMBO Blending with Sierra Mist: 1AW:1SM too sweet/bland, 2AW:1SM wonderfully delicious!!!, 3AW:1SM flavors didn't mix "right"

March 16: Decanted (2) more bottles...one to drink and one to (try) to age
Boiled 1/2 tsp Wyeast Yeast Nutrient in 5.5oz water; chilled and added to carboy.
Added 1# lactose and 1# dextrose in 1/2gal apple juice
Airlock popped up almost immediately....we'll see how long it takes to rouse and clear again!

Happy St. Pat's Day, all-y'all brewers!

Just made 2.5 gal. Now wait for 3 months.

maak_d said:

It's in a closet in my house which gets down to about 60 during the day.

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Yes, the cool temps are dragging out the ferment. Once it is dry, .099 or lower, and clear you'll have a fine tasting apfelwein. Mine took 5.5 weeks at 68 degrees, so you might be looking at a 2 month ferment.

If you want to bottle and carbonate, ¾ cup of corn sugar will work fine. Use as you would carbonate a batch of beer.

i know this has probably been replied to a thousand times...i appologize in advance for the repetitive inquiry if thats the case.

-- You say "if you want to..." is there an advantage ot carbonation over not carbonating? I generally am not a fan of carbonated anything unless its beer. I just was wondering if it can go without carbonation, and if so how that tastes? I really like the idea of the brown sugar as well.... any other feed back on that recipie? Thanks!

dpeloso said:

-- You say "if you want to..." is there an advantage ot carbonation over not carbonating? I generally am not a fan of carbonated anything unless its beer. I just was wondering if it can go without carbonation, and if so how that tastes? I really like the idea of the brown sugar as well.... any other feed back on that recipie? Thanks!

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It is whatever each person prefers. I personally have tried both ways and I like carbonated.

Thanks!

I tried an experimental 1 gal. batch of apfelwein over a year ago. I tasted the flat product before bottling, then threw about 6 carb tabs into each 750 ml. bottle. It was under-carbed, but I decided I definitely prefer apfelwein carbonated. I bottled my first full batch a few weeks ago, used 3/4 c. (5 oz) dextrose, pretty much what I put in a batch of beer. We'll see how this works out......

Ok so i finally tried my Apfelwein with brown sugar, it's very.....bland. Not too pleased. Fermentation and all went well, it just doesn't have the flavor that the original does. Just bland.

How do I make this stuff carbonated? If I do carb it... Do I bottle and cork it differently?

chevs15 said:

How do I make this stuff carbonated? If I do carb it... Do I bottle and cork it differently?

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I force carb'd mine just like I do beer... first batch has been on gas for nearly a week

I've never made beer... So not sure what you mean by force carb. Do I need special equipment?

chevs15 said:

I've never made beer... So not sure what you mean by force carb. Do I need special equipment?

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Yeah. Kegging equipment.

chevs15 said:

How do I make this stuff carbonated? If I do carb it... Do I bottle and cork it differently?

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wine bottles can corks will blow and explode under carbonation. You need to use beer or champagne bottles.

After watching bread yeasties lazily eating honey, its pretty amusing watching notty or champagne yeasts go after corn sugar. I would not want to be a molecule of corn sugar up against notty... its a blood bath.

I just loaded two carboys up with Biermunchers centennial blond last night. Fairly low gravity beers with notty from a starter. Both blow-offs were going crazy...so much so, that I poured about half the sanitized water out of each jug because I was afraid they might overflow before the end of the day...

And on topic, the two batches of Apfelwein I threw together yesterday were happily bubbling, too.

Hokay, time for a report. I threw together 3 separate gallons, 1 each with lavin 1118, montrachet, and bread yeast. SWMBO and I have been thieving drinks for the past week, so I did not have much to bottle this morning.

I have 2 bottles of each lavin 1118 and montrachet. One of each has been carbed with 1/2 tsp sugar and put into regular bottles, and the other of each into 375ml champagne bottles with 1 tsp sugar (to see just how sparkling it'll get).The remainder of each was poured into one container to settle.

The bread yeast was interesting. Even with most of the yeast dropping out, it was still pretty hazy. Anytime the lees were stirred up (as in I poured a glass) the blowoff tube would start bubbling again. It didn't taste too bad, but have a definite pong to get past. I drank as much as I could, and now the bit left is headed for the trash.

The 1118 cleared up faster than the montrachet, and SWMBO liked it better. She prefers to have it with a little sugar, but not bubbly. All 3 tasted similar to what I drank in Frankfurt 20 years ago, and were well within the range of the multiple brands and brewing establishments I remember.

I have been looking for this in the States for many years. Now I have it.

So I forgot about this in the corner of my fermentation chamber for about 7 months. Finally transfered it to a keg tonight. Tastes like white wine but with apple flavor. I guess I got lucky with the long aging in the primary.

I made my 5 gal batch on 2/20 following Edwort's directions 100%. I was hoping to bottle it next week so I took a gravity reading and sampled tonight. The SG was 1.006, which seems a bit high. It tastes great! I'm worried that I shouldn't bottle it next week unless the gravity goes down. Is the 1.006 gravity reading normal after four weeks of fermentation? Temps have been around 67 the entire time.

BeerDoctor5 said:

I made my 5 gal batch on 2/20 following Edwort's directions 100%. I was hoping to bottle it next week so I took a gravity reading and sampled tonight. The SG was 1.006, which seems a bit high. It tastes great! I'm worried that I shouldn't bottle it next week unless the gravity goes down. Is the 1.006 gravity reading normal after four weeks of fermentation? Temps have been around 67 the entire time.

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Just check the gravity again before you bottle. If it's still at .006, you're fine.

smagee said:

Just check the gravity again before you bottle. If it's still at .006, you're fine.

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Yup - when considering bottling anything, the FG number is less important than the stability of that number. If your gravity hasn't changed in a few days (or better, in a week), then your ferment can be considered complete - if it's still dropping on its own, then continue watching and waiting. Cheers!

BeerDoctor5 said:

I made my 5 gal batch on 2/20 following Edwort's directions 100%. I was hoping to bottle it next week so I took a gravity reading and sampled tonight. The SG was 1.006, which seems a bit high. It tastes great! I'm worried that I shouldn't bottle it next week unless the gravity goes down. Is the 1.006 gravity reading normal after four weeks of fermentation? Temps have been around 67 the entire time.

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If your not in a hurry. Let it age up to 3 months. What temp you fermenting at?

smagee said:

Just check the gravity again before you bottle. If it's still at .006, you're fine.

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I'll do that. Just wondering if anybody else has had this high of a FG reading with EdWort's Apfelwein.

kapbrew13 said:

If your not in a hurry. Let it age up to 3 months. What temp you fermenting at?

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About 67F. I don't know if I can wait 3 months on this batch I was planning on bottling and then starting another batch right away. That batch should have a better chance of aging 3 months...SHOULD

BeerDoctor5 said:

About 67F. I don't know if I can wait 3 months on this batch I was planning on bottling and then starting another batch right away. That batch should have a better chance of aging 3 months...SHOULD

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I think people notice more apple flavor as it ages. My aged one takes like white wine with hints of apples. Mixed with sprite, wonderful.

So I have a batch that I transfered out of the primary bucket and into a carboy after 2 months. It was already clear and has remained that way since.

Im about to keg it and I wanted to try and naturally carbonate with dextrose.

Do you think there will be enough yeast left to carbonate naturally? If not, any advice other than force carb?

TommyB said:

So I have a batch that I transfered out of the primary bucket and into a carboy after 2 months. It was already clear and has remained that way since.

Im about to keg it and I wanted to try and naturally carbonate with dextrose.

Do you think there will be enough yeast left to carbonate naturally? If not, any advice other than force carb?

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I've bulk aged for 4 months and there was still enough yeast to bottle carbonate. I think you'll be go to go as long as you wait in treatment bottle a good month or so at least.

Apfelwein report: opened a bottle that is just about 3 months old. I couldn't wait! The weather is warm and it sounded refreshing. Well, it sure has a bite to it! I added a splash of apple juice and it was yummy! I hope the flavor just keeps getting better. I may have to start another batch

Soooo...I made two 5 gallon batches of Apfelwein on Sunday. They stink. Horribly. They look fine, but I literally spent the first 20 minutes of my day (between 4:50 am and 5:10 am) looking for a decomposing animal in the house. I grabbed a ladder and crawled up into the attic. I searched our unfinished basement. I grabbed a flashlight and looked up the chimney. The smell started yesterday.

SWMBO asked if it was the beer. I didn't think could be. Today after work, I checked the cfermenting closet. I checked the beer first (two 5 gal batches of centennial blond also from Sunday). I stuck my nose right over the gallon jugs the blow offs were in. Smelled like a beer. I then stuck my nose over the top of the air locks of the wine. Yup...that was the dead smell.

WTH could it be? I did not notice any kind of odor whne the first batch was fermenting back in january...let alone a smell that sent me looking for dead racoons.

Rhino farts it's normal

america said:

I've bulk aged for 4 months and there was still enough yeast to bottle carbonate. I think you'll be go to go as long as you wait in treatment bottle a good month or so at least.

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Any experience with using Apple Juice concentrate as carbonation sugar?

Xtant said:

Soooo...I made two 5 gallon batches of Apfelwein on Sunday. They stink. Horribly. They look fine, but I literally spent the first 20 minutes of my day (between 4:50 am and 5:10 am) looking for a decomposing animal in the house. I grabbed a ladder and crawled up into the attic. I searched our unfinished basement. I grabbed a flashlight and looked up the chimney. The smell started yesterday.

SWMBO asked if it was the beer. I didn't think could be. Today after work, I checked the cfermenting closet. I checked the beer first (two 5 gal batches of centennial blond also from Sunday). I stuck my nose right over the gallon jugs the blow offs were in. Smelled like a beer. I then stuck my nose over the top of the air locks of the wine. Yup...that was the dead smell.

WTH could it be? I did not notice any kind of odor whne the first batch was fermenting back in january...let alone a smell that sent me looking for dead racoons.

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HAHAHA!! You, sir have a case of the Rhino Farts. Put a little yeast nutrient in next time and it won't happen.

TommyB said:

Any experience with using Apple Juice concentrate as carbonation sugar?

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Yes. Check sugar content on nutrition label, do the math.

I've never messed with yeast nutrient. Does that mean my little yeasties are overtaxed and unhappy? Will the fermentation be ok? Should I throw some nutrient in there, now?

I always think of the Rhino farts like regular farts. Unpleasant at the moment, but they'll go away...