Man, I love Apfelwein

txlonghorns23 said:

Quick question: my wine is done and it was clear. The last bottle however looks really cloudy. I used Simply Apple and it is made out of pure pressed apples and I think it all sank to the bottom. If this is true, is this bottle safe to drink? If not, what can I do with it?

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If it is only in the last bottle it will probably just be sediment from the bottom of your fermenter/bottling bucket. This will mostly be yeast and maybe any other solids that were in the juice. It'll be safe to drink, but it may taste a little yeasty if there is a lot in there.

I just checked mine after 2 months fermenting, it finished at 1.001 or so. It is definitely pretty dry.

I think I will let it keep aging instead of bottling right now for thanksgiving. Hopefully 3 months aged will be good and bring out more apple. My batch had a few cinnamon sticks and a clove. I was considering backsweetening, but will roll with the regular way this batch. My cherry batch will be kept in primary until next year or so.

Also, If I used frozen concentrate to add some more apple when bottling, how much would be needed for 5.5 gallons?

I started my 5 gallon batch about 7 weeks ago. Fermented just like everyone said it would.

What do i do now? I have some kits i'd like to brew. It's tying up my fermenter and (while i do need another one) i can't fund another one now.

Should i just leave it in there for a little longer, or bottle it?

The original recipe staid leave it to ferment for at least a month. Any longer is up to you. I would probably bottle it and set it aside until you hit that 6 month mark and get back to brewing in the meantime.

beersurgeon said:

I started my 5 gallon batch about 7 weeks ago. Fermented just like everyone said it would.

What do i do now? I have some kits i'd like to brew. It's tying up my fermenter and (while i do need another one) i can't fund another one now.

Should i just leave it in there for a little longer, or bottle it?

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If you are at 7 weeks you should be fine to bottle, it will just be clearing from here on out anyway. Mine sat in primary for 7 weeks and then in the secondary for 10 but constant sampling took it from 5 gallons to 3 at bottling time. We are at 25 weeks total, it was good at 7 better at 17 and getting better all the time but everyone liked it at 7 weeks so?? Why wait.

slugdoug said:

If you are at 7 weeks you should be fine to bottle, it will just be clearing from here on out anyway. Mine sat in primary for 7 weeks and then in the secondary for 10 but constant sampling took it from 5 gallons to 3 at bottling time. We are at 25 weeks total, it was good at 7 better at 17 and getting better all the time but everyone liked it at 7 weeks so?? Why wait.

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It cleared a few weeks ago, and looks like apple juice

I guess it's time to start bleaching my empties so i can start bottling.

This hobby rocks.

beersurgeon said:

I guess it's time to start bleaching my empties so i can start bottling.

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Get some Star San, my friend.

Bleach is a poor choice for a sanitizer. Time to get a nice food-grade no-rinse sanitizer like the aforementioned starsan or iodophor.

Kegged. Now wait 2 months.

Starsan rocks. 1oz = 5gal of sanitizer. Mix up a gallon or two and then put it in a spray bottle. Just before bottling, get the bottles laid out and start spraying the insides, usually 5-10 squirts, let sit for 2-3 mins, dump and then bottle. Couldn't be easier. Alright, Starsan in a Vinator Bottle Rinser might be easier.

I'm going to keg a five gallon batch of this within the next hour or so. M question is can I make another batch using the old yeast cake? Or should I just clean and sanitize the carboy and use fresh yeast? Sorry if this has been asked I couldn't find it anywhere.

Hi I just mixed up my first batch of Apfelwein. I followed EdWort's recipe to the letter. The only issue is that my space allotment for playing with fermentables is in an unheated coal cellar. I just measured the temperature of a bottle of water sitting in the same room as my fermenter and it read about 55 F (Which I believe is the lowest recommended temp for Montrachet yeast.) Outdoor temp has been pretty constant in the low 40s for the past week. In the dead of winter the temp in this room might drop to the mid to high 40s.

I mixed everything up last night. After 8 hours it looked as though nothing at all had happened. The yeast was just laying on the bottom of the jug. After 20 hr it appears that some movement may be beginning. Some of the yeast granules are now suspended about an inch off the bottom of the jug and the yeast on the bottom of the jug is beginning to swell a little.

So here's my question: Do I have to warm it up? If the yeast will work at low temp but just take a long time to finish it doesn't necessarily bother me. If it's not going to work at all then I'll negotiate for a warmer place to keep the carboy or I'll try to come up with a heating solution, but frankly I'd rather just let it be.

What do you think?

ypbradford said:

I tried this and got good results but very very dry. I am a huge Apfelwein fan after living in Germany for a couple of years, so although I like the way my batch turned out it seemed to be missing the tartness of Frankfurter Apfelwein. I talked with the guys at my local brew store and they told me that the tartness would need to come from the juice. So I am going to try an experiment. . . I have some jonathon apples just getting ripe and I am going to juice them and try a mix of fresh juice along with the bottled stuff (I don't have the bushels of apples necessary to produce 5 gallons of juice). Hopefully this will boost the tartness I am striving for.

Any thoughts?

Also could anyone suggest how much additional sugar to add - for example how much sugar is in the bottled juice; if I use a 2:3 ratio two gallons tart juice to three gallons bottled juice, how much more sugar should I add to get the fermentation I want?

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update:
I racked this batch today and had a taste. I really believe this is what I was striving for to get as close as I can to Possmann's Frankfurter Apfelwein. It has the tartness I am looking for and should be very good after some aging.

bigbeergeek said:

Bleach is a poor choice for a sanitizer. Time to get a nice food-grade no-rinse sanitizer like the aforementioned starsan or iodophor.

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I have starsan for sanitizing.

The bleach is pretreatment/deep cleaning because my empties are at various levels of cleanliness.

And it'll get the labels off too.

I just need to get strict on post-drinking rinsing.

first post....
I found the love of apfelwein so intriguing I had to try it....
batch #1: Ed's exact recipe, back sweetened with 2 cans concentrate and 16oz agave nectar
I added 2 cinnamon sticks at kegging and it lasted 8 days in the keg and got sweeter till the end. Absolutely delicious!
batch #2 kegged now had one vanilla bean, one clove, and two cinnamon sticks added at fermentation, I think it's better.
Due to the fact of increased sweetness i may reduce or exclude the nectar on future batches. IF IT LASTS THAT LONG...
more to come..

Oh BTW SWMBO thought it was perfect......

first post....
I found the love of apfelwein so intriguing I had to try it....
batch #1: Ed's exact recipe, back sweetened with 2 cans concentrate and 16oz agave nectar
I added 2 cinnamon sticks at kegging and it lasted 8 days in the keg and got sweeter till the end. Absolutely delicious!
batch #2 kegged now had one vanilla bean, one clove, and two cinnamon sticks added at fermentation, I think it's better.
Due to the fact of increased sweetness i may reduce or exclude the nectar on future batches. IF IT LASTS THAT LONG...
more to come..

Oh BTW SWMBO thought it was perfect......

Has anyone ever infused fruit into their Apfelwein, maybe like strawberries? I’m trying some right now, in a 750 mason jar and 6 good sized strawberries.

beersurgeon said:

I have starsan for sanitizing.

The bleach is pretreatment/deep cleaning because my empties are at various levels of cleanliness.

And it'll get the labels off too.

I just need to get strict on post-drinking rinsing.

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I've been using Oxyclean for cleaning/delabeling. Get a rope tub and your in business.

ive looked at my grocery store for the dextrose and can't find it do you have to go to a brew shop for it?

Rigger103 said:

ive looked at my grocery store for the dextrose and can't find it do you have to go to a brew shop for it?

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To quote Yooper, "try the homebrew stores first, and then call around to some hippie stores. I pay about $.99/pound for it."

LHBS, "Hippie Stores", Online Brewshops, and Amazon is a solid list.

Oh man, my batch has been sitting for close to 2 months now. Have yet to try it, but I snuck a whiff of it just now.

Certainly smells like apple. And wine. Lots and lots of wine.

Well, broke down and snagged a sample. The flavor is incredibly light, but it's still a nice apple flavor. No real taste of booze at all to me. This could be dangerous. I'm sure this has been asked about a million times in this megathread, but what should my next move be? It will be 2 months old on the 14th, and I would like to bring some of this to some Christmas gatherings if I can. When should I bottle for optimal results?

duecedad said:

and it lasted 8 days in the keg

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You kicked a keg of Apfelwein in 8 DAYS?! You're a mad man!

Also, 1Q84, in response to your question on bottling in time for Christmas. Do you plan on carbonating it? If so, I would bottle sooner than later.

Update from my modified "spiced" recipe. It's been about 4 weeks in bottle and I had my first one last night that finally carbonated. I'll just flat out say it: this **** is amazing. The carbonation gives it a full mouthfeel and there's this almost light biscuity smell (not sure what that's from, maybe the yeast?). The spices and honey came together to knock out any issues with it being young. I think I've found my new favorite holiday drink. I will try to post a pic of it soon. I'm very happy with the results!

Also thank goodness my cloves were old. I don't think I could have survived 8 fresh cloves in this beer

bknifefight said:

You kicked a keg of Apfelwein in 8 DAYS?! You're a mad man!

Also, 1Q84, in response to your question on bottling in time for Christmas. Do you plan on carbonating it? If so, I would bottle sooner than later.

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Eh. As a mostly beer drinker, I was pretty satisfied with my uncarbed sample. Plus, since apfelwein is traditionally uncarbed, I'm gonna stick with that.

Been drinking our first batch the last couple weeks. Used two lbs brown sugar plus one heaped cup regular sugar with 1116 yeast. Added two cups sugar for the back sweeten job. This stuff is great. Five gallon might not last that long. Glad I took Edwort's advice and have five more ready to bottle and five I just started after the bottle job a couple weeks ago. Mike

Bottled this yesterday, around 2 months old. Its pretty good, going to age it probably till christmas now before drinking anymore, but I'm going to start another 5g batch soon.
I have a few questions though.
Am I okay using apple juice from concentrate, as long as it has no e numbers in?
What 'easy' flavorings can I add? The kind I can just throw in with little to no extra prep?
Last time I used a yeast from a homebrew store (sn9), I'm not sure how this has affected it, but next time I'm planning to use EC-1118. Would that most likely be an improvement?

dumb question.... i've carbonated my Apfelwein off the CO2 canister like i do all my beers.... but there's no head on my apfelwein. Do ciders and things of that nature just not get a head? Or do I need to carbonate it at way higher PSIs? or what

sorry if that is a stupid question

jotakah said:

dumb question.... i've carbonated my Apfelwein off the CO2 canister like i do all my beers.... but there's no head on my apfelwein. Do ciders and things of that nature just not get a head? Or do I need to carbonate it at way higher PSIs? or what

sorry if that is a stupid question

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great question. head has a lot to do with contents of the drink. how old is your apfelwein, is it actually carbonated?

Mine is well carbonated and pours with a huge head, but this quickly settles down to almost no head. If i swirl it up it gets creamy again with bubbles, though.

I had a hard lemonade that, while it did eventually develop a head, it took FOREVER.

My 9 month aged Apfelwein tastes awesome!! I let it sit on the cake that long too as I was too lazy to bottle it up. The apple flavor really is coming through.

I added a bit of cinnamon... gives it a nicer spicy note.

How much cinnamon did you add?

I just put one 2 inch stick in there and let it be for a month.

You should try this on your own though, as the strength of cinnamon sticks differs in different places.

I am from India and I thought that this one was particularly weak.

Only place we buy Cinnamon anymore is directly from Penzeys spices. They have a retail store in Omaha and peddle sever different types and all sizes....I mean all sizes.

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscinnamon.html

fosgate said:

Only place we buy Cinnamon anymore is directly from Penzeys spices. They have a retail store in Omaha and peddle sever different types and all sizes....I mean all sizes.

http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyscinnamon.html

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Penzeys Spices Rocks.

Have 5 gallons fermenting nicely. Only 3 days old, can't wait to try it. Im addicted to this hobby already haha! I bought some medium toast french oak, has anyone tried oaking this wine? It intrigues me, but im scared the oak will overshadow the apple flavors. Any experience with oak+edwort's wine?

n00b brewer here so I apologize if this question is dumb but how do you go about bottling this? Should I move it to a bottling bucket or just bottle straight into bottles from the carboy? If you move it to a bottling bucket I assume you don't need to mix any sugar with it? When moving it to the bottling bucket do i need to slowly move it with a siphon hose as well or is it ok to just dump it in? Or is it like beer where you don't want to dump because of potential contamination/adding extra o2?

Carefully rack to a bottling bucket so as to not disturb yeast cake on bottom of carboy. Then if you wanted to bottle still, go into wine bottles with cork (research degassing though or you may blow corks). If you wanted to use beer bottles for still wine, no need for degassing. If you wanted them sparkling, add 4-5 oz of boiled & cooled corn sugar in bottling bucket before starting racking. Then bottle into beer bottles and cap.

Has anyone tried refermenting a new batch right on top of the old yeast cake after racking to bottles? I saw this in the early pages but did not read where it worked.