Man, I love Apfelwein

EdWort said:

You can also make a batch without any of the Dextrose. That will yield a batch at about 6% depending on the juice.

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What exactly happens with using MaltoDextrine instead of Dextrose?

DeadDoc said:

What exactly happens with using MaltoDextrine instead of Dextrose?

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You may be tossing it since you added 2 lbs. Here's what I've found out about it. Then again you could sell it to body builders.

Maltodextrin -

Good for adding mouth feel, body and head retention to brews without affecting flavor. Maltodextrin is a chain between 4 and 20 dextrose units in length making it only 3% fermentable by brewer's yeast. Popular among sportman for making energy drinks. Direction: Mix 4 oz with 1 kg Dextrose in making light beer or 8 oz for a that thick creamy stout.

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Maltodextrin is a non-fermentable sugar obtained from corn starch and an additive used as a texturiser or bulking agent commonly used in commercial confectionery, snacks and desserts. Maltodextrin has been found to help fuel the early stages of muscle growth and recovery.

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Maltodextrin adds additional "body" to your beer. Use 4-8 oz. per 5 gallons. Contributes no taste of its own, and does not add alcohol. Also called Bru-Body

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Food grade Maltodextrin. Maltodextrin is less than 5% fermentable. Use up to 8 oz in 5 gallons of beer to increase body and mouthfeel. Often used as a supplement by endurance athletes.

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EdWort said:

You may be tossing it since you added 2 lbs. Here's what I've found out about it. Then again you could sell it to body builders.

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Wow, with 2#'s of that in there, you may need to chew it first. That thing is going to be THICK...

better off opening it and throw some dextrose in there? tht would explain why it was going to overflow.... gahhh! Can I not go a batch without doing something wrong..... grrrr.

I had a brief question on priming my Apfelwein.

I fermented with the Lavatin(sp?) champagne yeast, and I pulled off a quick sample to taste. Tasted great, and was bubbly. Should I still prime with sugar?

Thanks!

HCNate said:

I had a brief question on priming my Apfelwein.

I fermented with the Lavatin(sp?) champagne yeast, and I pulled off a quick sample to taste. Tasted great, and was bubbly. Should I still prime with sugar?

Thanks!

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Yeah, if it is done fermenting. Did you check the gravity yet?

My batch has been in the fermenter for about 3 weeks now. Its gone from clear apple juice colored, to a cloudy pumpkin color, and now its a clearer orange kool-aid color thats starting to smell pretty good. Haven't checked the gravity, but the bubbling is slowing down some and its clearing up again. Just judging from the smell I would definitely probably drink a glass of it now, but I'm going to give it another week maybe two.

EdWort said:

Yeah, if it is done fermenting. Did you check the gravity yet?

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I checked the gravity, came in right at 1.000. It was perfect! I can see what all the fuss is about.

HCNate said:

I checked the gravity, came in right at 1.000. It was perfect! I can see what all the fuss is about.

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You are probably good to go. Use 3/4 cup of corn sugar for priming. Boils a pint of water, let cool a bit and dissolve the sugar, then pour it in the bottom of your bottling bucket. Rack the Apfelwein on top and be sure to stir with a a sanitized spoon while not agitating it. You want an even distribution of the additional sugars for carbonation. Be sure to leave about an inch of head space in the bottles before capping.

Enjoy!

I still haven't made a batch, but my equipment comes in Friday so this weekend I probably will. I ended up buying preservative free juice with no additives for my first batch, but juice at my local supermarket is much cheaper.

It has a few additives though:
-Ascorbic Acid(Vitamin C): a preservative I've heard this should not be a problem
-Dextrin: i think this is what adds fiber to the juice. This is the questionable ingredient. someone mentioned maltodextrin adds body, would this also affect the body of the apfelwein in some way? If people say it won't be a problem I may try it as an experiment for a second batch.

Here comes another 20 gallons of apfelwein

gpogo said:

I still haven't made a batch, but my equipment comes in Friday so this weekend I probably will. I ended up buying preservative free juice with no additives for my first batch, but juice at my local supermarket is much cheaper.

It has a few additives though:
-Ascorbic Acid(Vitamin C): a preservative I've heard this should not be a problem
-Dextrin: i think this is what adds fiber to the juice. This is the questionable ingredient. someone mentioned maltodextrin adds body, would this also affect the body of the apfelwein in some way? If people say it won't be a problem I may try it as an experiment for a second batch.

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I will let you know with the dextrose...... I guess I'm a guinea pig. Just decided to make a holiday beer so I wont have a free fermenter until the apfelwein finishes.

Hemi said:

Here comes another 20 gallons of apfelwein

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Sweet! Now I know why the Tree Top Juice section is always low at Costco. Last time I was there they may of had 8 of those boxes left.

I think going with yeast nutrients is the way to go with this stuff. This batch is going crazy compared to my last batch. I guess it could be also do to the lb, less sugar I used.

EdWort said:

Sweet! Now I know why the Tree Top Juice section is always low at Costco. Last time I was there they may of had 8 of those boxes left.

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If it wasn't for Apfelwein I wouldn't get any use out of my Costco membership. I only use it to buy apple juice . If only they sold dextrose and brewing yeast. Every time I load my cart and leave the store, I get both customers and employees a like commenting on the quantity of juice I'm getting. I think when Costco reviews their sales for certain items, they for sure have seen a nice increase nationwide on their apple juice sales.

Hemi said:

If it wasn't for Apfelwein I wouldn't get any use out of my Costco membership. I only use it to buy apple juice . If only they sold dextrose and brewing yeast. Every time I load my cart and leave the store, I get both customers and employees a like commenting on the quantity of juice I'm getting. I think when Costco reviews their sales for certain items, they for sure have seen a nice increase nationwide on their apple juice sales.

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It seems that way. I shop there all the time. They are only 5 minutes from my office and I go there and pick up their chicken ceasar salad for $3.79 at least once a week when I'm in town. They started carrying lump charcoal too which goes great with my egging.

They are hard to beat on Apple Juice!

We all know that this stuff is wicked dry and unfortunately, SWMBO wants it sweet, but with more apple flavour. I back sweetened my first 3 gallon batch with Splenda (1 cup/3 gallons works great!) and I think it turned out wonderful and it's getting better and better. But "someone" likes it, but still isn't happy...

So, to achieve an enhanced apple flavour, I was thinking about racking my next batch onto a can (or two?) of apple juice concentrate at bottling, but I am hesitant because I don't want to create bottle bombs. I assume there is quite a bit of fermentable sugar in such concentrate... I searched the thread, but I came up with a ton of responses, so, has anyone had success in doing this? If not, how have you that bottle your potent potables boosted the apple flavour using the Montrachet yeast?

Thanks!

For the next batch you could try out Cote des Blancs, which will leave you with a better flavor and make it less dry, but it does require nutrients. You could also toss in a campden tablet which would kill all the yeasties, and then rack onto a can or two of concentrate and bottle, but you won't be able to carb unless you force carbonate.

You can also throw in some lactose and use Cote des Blancs, while still being able to bottle carb. Not sure on the amount, but I know others have used lactose.

Started fermentation on Monday and going strong or same at least.... hundreds of small bubbles all around the sides... at one point it had a bit of krasen(sp?) that made it up past the top of the orange top and about 1/2" into the blow off tube... kinda glad I used one now. I will have pictures online in a day or so... just gotta upload them and all.

I can't believe this thead is fast approaching 2,000 posts.

Man, I love Apfelwein!

hoplobster said:

We all know that this stuff is wicked dry and unfortunately, SWMBO wants it sweet, but with more apple flavour. I back sweetened my first 3 gallon batch with Splenda (1 cup/3 gallons works great!) and I think it turned out wonderful and it's getting better and better. But "someone" likes it, but still isn't happy...

So, to achieve an enhanced apple flavour, I was thinking about racking my next batch onto a can (or two?) of apple juice concentrate at bottling, but I am hesitant because I don't want to create bottle bombs. I assume there is quite a bit of fermentable sugar in such concentrate... I searched the thread, but I came up with a ton of responses, so, has anyone had success in doing this? If not, how have you that bottle your potent potables boosted the apple flavour using the Montrachet yeast?

Thanks!

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I used Cote des Blanc yeast and replaced a pound of the dextrose with 4 cans of apple juice concentrate. This resulted in a semi dry beverage with a fairly strong apple cider flavor. So you may want to try that in addition to the Splenda to get your apple flavor and sweetness. Maybe I will try some sweetner in a glass of my apfelwein to see how it tastes sweet.
Craig

I don't know what you all are talking about with it being dry. My finished at 0.99 and yes I know that means dry, but to me it does not seem that dry. I have A LOT of wine that's WAY DRYER then that.

Hello all,

I am brand new to brewing and wine making and love a good cider like drink, thus I decided to start with the Apfelwein.

I am planning to do two 3 gallon batches in plastic water carboys and have the appropriate #10 stoppers and airlocks. I bought 2 pounds of dextrose at the brewing store (high gravity in tulsa ok), after which I realized that would not be enough for 2 3 gallon batches.

To compensate for the lack of dextrose can I instead use fructose which I purchased at the local organic market?


On a side note, doing 1 batch with treetop and the Montrachet yeast, with the second batch being hippy organic juice with white labs english cider yeast wlp775. Any comments on these choices?


Thank You,
Alex

reiger said:

I am planning to do two 3 gallon batches in plastic water carboys

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Just to help you out... The big plastic water jugs are NOT the same material at Better Bottles. I'm sure you can get half decent results using one of them, but it is not designed to block the transfer of oxygen that can disrupt beer.

reiger said:

To compensate for the lack of dextrose can I instead use fructose which I purchased at the local organic market?

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Ed added the dextrose to boost the alcohol content from an already heft 6% to an 8.something ish. If you add NO extra fermentables, you'll still have a decently potent beverage.

I don't know if fructose is fermentable, and if it's any good. If it's NOT fermentable, it will make you beverage sweeter. If it DOES ferment, it'll make it stronger. Either way, it'll most likely be drinkable.

People have used all sorts of combinations in juice, sugar and yeast. Hell, there's an entire thread right now about one guy's testing of different yeasts. I personally am using 2 pounds of dark brown sugar in one batch right now.

I'm not sure about the fructose, dunno if it's fermentable or not, but you could put one pound of the dextrose, and a pound of just plain cane sugar in each batch, and it'll probably still come out decently.

Either way, let us know how it comes out...

Well thanks for your help. Especially thanks to EdWort for this great recipe. Tonight went alright, not as smoothly as hoped. Though it is a first brew so it was as smooth as I think it could have went.

Anyways here it is set up in a closet:

That was at 9:43pm CST. Now at 1:43AM there are a few bubbles on the top, though the airlock is not yet bubbling. Any idea about how long that should take to start going?

By now you should see some action if the temp is 74 or so.

hey I've got a quickie Q for all you apfewein buffs. My original batch has been going for almost 2 months! There are still tiny bubbles crawling up the sides of the glass regularly though. Could this perhaps just be excess gas coming off? I put my hydrometer in my thief and initially I get a reading of about 1.000, then it starts to rise (with bubbles of gas stuck to the bottom) to about 1.010. There is no way its been going for this long and is still only at 1.010!? Are these bubbles of gas lifting my hydrometer? Taste wise its pretty nice, I'm not really one to be able to distinguish subtleties but it seems to be flavorful and almost sweet to me.

Hey, quick question before I run out: Can I rack from the primary after just a week or two? My 6 gal carboy came in a whiles before my 5 gal carboys are due to arrive, and I want to brew a hefe when they come in, meaning I'll need the 6 gal available. So can I start the wein in the 6 gal now, and rack early? If not, I'll do a couple 1 gallon batches, but I'd rather do a 5'er .

Thanks in advance!

david_the_greek said:

hey I've got a quickie Q for all you apfewein buffs. My original batch has been going for almost 2 months! There are still tiny bubbles crawling up the sides of the glass regularly though. Could this perhaps just be excess gas coming off? I put my hydrometer in my thief and initially I get a reading of about 1.000, then it starts to rise (with bubbles of gas stuck to the bottom) to about 1.010. There is no way its been going for this long and is still only at 1.010!? Are these bubbles of gas lifting my hydrometer? Taste wise its pretty nice, I'm not really one to be able to distinguish subtleties but it seems to be flavorful and almost sweet to me.

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Your stuff is done. The original reading of 1.000 is correct. The CO2 escaping from the AW is causing your FG error. You can spin/twist the hydrometer to knock off the bubbles and it should drop back to 1.000

Get ready to bottle, keg or drink!!!

RadicalEd said:

Hey, quick question before I run out: Can I rack from the primary after just a week or two? My 6 gal carboy came in a whiles before my 5 gal carboys are due to arrive, and I want to brew a hefe when they come in, meaning I'll need the 6 gal available. So can I start the wein in the 6 gal now, and rack early? If not, I'll do a couple 1 gallon batches, but I'd rather do a 5'er .

Thanks in advance!

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I'd leave the AW be for at least 1 month.

Try doing your hefe in the other carboy or buy a 6.5 gal bucket or equip the carboy with a blow off hose. You can use a carboy cap or a 1" hose jammed into the opening.

Thanks for the advice; can't say I'm happy with it, but better to know anyway.

Man what a difference 4 months make. I took 3 gallons in my portable kegerator to a neighborhood Homebrew fest yesterday and the Apfelwein was so crisp & refreshing in the 95 degree heat that I had to put a warning label on it.



It still floated pretty quick.

Ed-
Just started crash cooling the AW last night. I'll probably rack tomorrow and drink by Wednesday. Can't wait! A month is too long!

Hi Ed and all,

My husband has shown interest in your hard cider recipe so I took the plunge and made a batch today. Guess I had better go sign in on the 'How Much...' thread.

This should be interesting. By far the simplest 'brewing' I've done so far.

Jennifer

Petunia said:

Hi Ed and all,

My husband has shown interest in your hard cider recipe so I took the plunge and made a batch today. Guess I had better go sign in on the 'How Much...' thread.

This should be interesting. By far the simplest 'brewing' I've done so far.

Jennifer

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Congrats! It's is pretty simple. I don't know if it qualifies as brewing though. Maybe assembling.

ScubaSteve said:

Ed-
Just started crash cooling the AW last night. I'll probably rack tomorrow and drink by Wednesday. Can't wait! A month is too long!

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A month is too long? Try four months! I had a visitor a couple of weeks ago who picked up my Son of Fermentation Chiller and he tried my Apfelwein. He told me his does not taste as good as mine. I told him that's what 4 month old Apfelwein tastes like.

Just blew the keg this evening. Time to go to the garage and get a replacement.

Well, I mixed up a 5'er today. I was just gonna make a 1 gallon batch, but my local Big Box store (AKA Meijer) had some local grown and pressed cider in stock and on sale for 2gal/$5, and I couldn't pass that up . Tossed in 6 apple juice concentrates to kick it up, but forewent the dextrose. Picked up 4 lbs of it at the LHBS, though, just in case it needs some more kick . Gravity of the cider was around 1.053, but I couldn't get a reading after the concentrate was added; I needed to pour it all directly into the carboy. I'd guesstimate the OG to be somewhere around 1.060-ish. Pitched in Cote yeast, but I have a Montrechet on hand. I think I'll use that last gallon of cider and do "the original", just to compare.

And just for you, Edwort, I'm gonna stow a few bottles for each batch somewhere I can't find 'em and open them up around the holidays.

EDIT: Pron!



Who needs clothes! That's them there a brew closet, now!

I'm beginning to wonder if your recipe hasn't gotten out here Ed... 2 weeks of searching the regular haunts, and no GALLONS of apple juice to be had. (not even Sams!) I finally tried the Kroger across the street this afternoon.

They had 2.

So I'm off to hunt some less reputable stores for 5 Gallons worth....

Dunno what's going on...

Ize

Yeah, I wonder too after seeing the slim pickings at Costco. I need to get some more juice!