Graff (Malty, slightly hopped cider)

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brokenanchor said:
I don't think anyone responded but I'm curious as well to adding fall spices (either pumpkin or apple pie spices) to the Graff. Anyone tried this or have ideas? I'm thinking the perfect cider for a hayride. Let me know what you think
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I made a batch with canned pumpkin that turned out great. I think the canned pumpkin had pie spices already added. I'll post the recipe if anyone is interested.
 
I had to use most of my DME to make up for poor efficiency in my first attempt at AG, but still have 1/2lb-1lb left. I'm hoping to brew some graff in about a week or so, and am wondering how it would turn out without all the DME. I'm guessing it's not just about boosting ABV, but about adding flavor and body. Would I need to reduce the hops as well to keep the balance?
 
jamesnw said:
I had to use most of my DME to make up for poor efficiency in my first attempt at AG, but still have 1/2lb-1lb left. I'm hoping to brew some graff in about a week or so, and am wondering how it would turn out without all the DME. I'm guessing it's not just about boosting ABV, but about adding flavor and body. Would I need to reduce the hops as well to keep the balance?
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depending on the hops, I'd reduce to ~.25oz unless its a really low AA hop.

But, if it were me, I'd just buy some more DME :D
 
AZ_IPA said:
depending on the hops, I'd reduce to ~.25oz unless its a really low AA hop.

But, if it were me, I'd just buy some more DME :D
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Agreed... it's just that buying DME means a trip to the LHBS, which can only happen on Saturdays because of my schedule, and that may be 2 weeks from now... hmm....
 
jamesnw said:
Agreed... it's just that buying DME means a trip to the LHBS, which can only happen on Saturdays because of my schedule, and that may be 2 weeks from now... hmm....
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make an inferior product and save two weeks?

versus

wait 2 weeks and make liquid gold?

You answered your own question, unless you're like me and don't want to wait for things! :)
 
im new at this:rockin: and would like to know what torrified wheat is. i hand harvested 110 gallons of wheat this summer so will some of this work or is it special wheat?
 
I made a batch with canned pumpkin that turned out great. I think the canned pumpkin had pie spices already added. I'll post the recipe if anyone is interested.
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I'm interested. Give it up, please.

Vic
 
loofey said:
im new at this:rockin: and would like to know what torrified wheat is. i hand harvested 110 gallons of wheat this summer so will some of this work or is it special wheat?
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From Homebrewheaven.com:
Torrified Wheat, pregelatinized can be used as a cereal adjunct. The torrified kernels will give a higher yield and a more trouble-free brew than a conventional raw wheat. Increased foam and longer head retention.

This being the case you could increase the ammount of wheat used for the batch to achieve the head retention properties of the torrified.
 
I was trying to figure out what to do with this years cider but I had already done cysers and a variety of different sugar additions in previous years. Then I remembered this thread, so I figured I would give it a shot. I whipped up a batch last night with .5lb of Muntons Crystal (45-65L) and one oz of carapils. I used 2lbs of light DME cause that is what I had and a half ounce of 4.8% Willamettes. The whole thing came in at 1.050, I oxygenated for one minuet and pitched a slurry of lager yeast I had ready to go. I'm fermenting this at 50F, so we will see how cold fermentation effects it.
 
Took a sample of mine last night. Wonderful stuff. I got it cold crashing now, I'll keg next week sometime. Lots of apple flavor! I was pleasantly surprised.
 
I popped a 1/2 bottle that was the end of the batch I just bottled a few days ago. I'm now angry at all of you for not insisting that I make this a long time ago. The taste is hard to describe but it certainly maintains it's apple flavor while picking up some malty and hoppy flavors.

Why didn't you guys tell me how great this stuff was a long time ago?!
 
Lunarpancake said:
Using my 6 gal. Betterbottle following your recipe will I have too much air-room in my betterbottle? I do not want to be inviting in infection.
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Here's how it looked in my 6.5 gal carboy. If you had any less headspace, you'd need a blow off tube. You will be fine.


Recluse said:
Wow!! My batch was made with similar headspace ( ~3.6 gal/5 gal carboy). I fittted a blowoff, but it turned out not to be necessary. The foam I had wasn't NEARLY as high as yours. It also finished a little high gravity (1.011) so maybe the Nottingham packet I had wasn't all that healthy. Still, it made a nice bass drumbeat as the blowoff tube bubbled into the jug of sanitizer!
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Oops, the pic didn't show up. It's a few pages back if you're curious.
 
I've been following this thread for a few weeks and wanted to try to make something nice for the family to drink during the Holidays.
While at the pumpkin patch last Sunday afternoon I picked op 4 gallons of fresh pressed cider. I steeped .5lb of crystal 40L and 1 oz. of torrified wheat. Added 2lbs. amber DME and 1/3 oz of Tettnager hops (I love the orange peel aroma of these hops). Boiled for about 15 minutes, cooled it down added to the fermenter and pitched WL english ale yeast. Planning on cold crash at about 1.020 and kegging it up. It sure was tasty this afternoon though.
 
Aminal said:
I'm interested. Give it up, please.

Vic
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Basically followed the stock recipe with a few changes.

4 oz puffed millet
4 oz torrified wheat, (worked great for me, I may use 8 oz next time for experimentation sake)
2 30 oz cans pumpkin Pie Puree (Roasted in the oven for an hour or so @ 400)
2 gallons water
4 gallons apple juice
8 oz crystal 120l (Maybe one pound next time)
3# Wheat Malt
Vanguard Hops, you can use any you want really
Nottingham Yeast.

I steeped the grains as usual, put the pumpkin into a grain bag and boiled for the duration. Some of the pumpkin made it's way into the fermenter which was no big deal. That's the base recipe I'm working off of.
 
I'm kegging this today, anyone know what level of carbonation this should have?
 
Took a gravity sample tonight just because I was curious. Its down to 1.006. The taste is reminiscient of apfelwien, probably because I used crappy apple juice from the store. It has a slight apple sweetness on the end instead of the dry puckering quality of apfelwein.
 
Made some today. Substituted LME for the DME, and upped the amount slightly. It was a lot cheaper. Threw it on a yeast cake- looking forward to trying out this new sensation!
 
Kegged mine tonight. I was drinking it straight from the siphon hose and even poured half a glass flat. This stuff is delicious! Can't wait till it's carbed. Thanks for the hard work on this recipe!
 
I want to do mine with very light carbonation, the way a dry cider is. What would be comparable to some different dry ciders? 1.0?
 
MarshyTheKid said:
I want to do mine with very light carbonation, the way a dry cider is. What would be comparable to some different dry ciders? 1.0?
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http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/carbonation.html lists both standard and new england style ciders anywhere from 1-3.5 volumes.

I recently did a southern english brown using 1.5 volumes and it was a very delicate carbonation to my eyes and taste "just above flat" but beautifully smooth. If you're kegging start with 1vol then move up based on your taste.
 
FYI....I added HALF of the recipe for the Thunderbrew spiced tea at kegging.

Let me tell you what. This tastes like something MADE for the fall.
Spiced apple with a slight pumpkin note. I'm positive the pumpkin notes are coming from the Cinnamon Plus.

But boy o boy. A week under pressure in the fridge, and those flavors will mellow out a bit, and this brew is going to be amazing.
 
Does anyone else find this too Malty? It tastes like someone dumped a bunch of Smirnoff Ice in my watered down Apple Juice. I have never been a fan of Malted drinks nor beer. I tried this because I wanted something different. It's not bad, just not my style of drink.

I have alot of DME left over because my LHBS only sells 2 or 3 lb bags depending on the brand. I am going to try this again, but with only 1 lb of DME to see how it turns out. I think I can churn something out based on Brandon O's recipe that will be to my liking.
 
Ciderbarrel said:
Does anyone else find this too Malty? It tastes like someone dumped a bunch of Smirnoff Ice in my watered down Apple Juice. I have never been a fan of Malted drinks nor beer. I tried this because I wanted something different. It's not bad, just not my style of drink.
.
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YES! I have the same feeling. I thought maybe the juice I used was too cheap, but it tasted really good during bottling. After 3 weeks of conditioning, a lot of the apple flavor seems gone and it tastes more like a bland beer. I didn't use any hops either. Also for some reason it didn't carbonate very well :( Used ~1 oz by weight Dextrose per Gallon, but even after 3 weeks in the bottle, there isn't much of a fizz to it. I think a higher carbonation level would improve it. I am a fan of Woodpecker Cider, and was hoping this would turn out to be a slightly sweeter version of that. I suppose some more aging might help as is often the case with ciders.
 
So I made a batch of Graff last Thursday and the OG was 1.062 and after pitching the yeast (I used a rehydrated Safale-05) there was little to no activity from the airlock or from the primary. I checked the SG again today and it was 1.061. Should I be worried about it not fermenting? The yeast was alive during the rehydration with bubbles and everything so I don't know what to think.
 
Mumford said:
So I made a batch of Graff last Thursday and the OG was 1.062 and after pitching the yeast (I used a rehydrated Safale-05) there was little to no activity from the airlock or from the primary. I checked the SG again today and it was 1.061. Should I be worried about it not fermenting? The yeast was alive during the rehydration with bubbles and everything so I don't know what to think.
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I used the same yeast and it takes a bit to get started. Give it a few days and you will have foam out the yin-yang.
 
MarshyTheKid said:
So are people using a secondary with this or not?
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I didn't. As soon as it was done in the primary, I threw it into the keg and force carbed it at 12psi @ 4C (my lab thermometer is in C only). The two weeks should be up in a few days. I've tasted from the keg every 3-4 days and it's getting better with every tasting.

I used 3.3% Saaz and it was VERY hoppy/bitter when I kegged. It's mellowed out alot, but that maltyness I mentioned a few posts ago is a bit overpowering now.
 
Wow. I just took my first sample of this after 11 days. This stuff tastes amazing. It has a tart flavor, but sort of a sweet after taste.

Just curious, there is a layer of brown sludge covering the top, shouldn't this have sunk to the bottom already. Hydrometer reading 1.007. I was going to bottle in like 3 days, but I'm wondering if I should wait till it sinks. Any thoughts?
 
drevilz4l said:
Wow. I just took my first sample of this after 11 days. This stuff tastes amazing. It has a tart flavor, but sort of a sweet after taste.

Just curious, there is a layer of brown sludge covering the top, shouldn't this have sunk to the bottom already. Hydrometer reading 1.007. I was going to bottle in like 3 days, but I'm wondering if I should wait till it sinks. Any thoughts?
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You're good. That's just caked on krausen.
 
I've got the same thing happening to my first batch right now also. I have another question, though. I brewed just over 2 weeks ago, and my primary is STILL bubbling through the blowoff. I'm going to secondary, always do. Can I syphon it to secondary now, Or should I wait till it stops?
 
Pitched it on a yeast cake from a brown ale, and WOW! After just 24 hours, down to 1.030 from 1.062. It's petered out after about 4 days. Crazy fermentation on this.
 
I have some apple/grape juice that I was going to use for a batch of apfelwein, but now I'm thinking I want to make graff.

You think using the apple/grape will be good, or will it make it funky?
 

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