Man, I love Apfelwein

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matt1776 said:
I've read a couple replies that said it "wasn't necessary," but does anyone have any advice on whether I should do it or not?

My recipe was 5 gallons juice, plus 2lb corn syrup, & english cider yeast. It's been going 2.5 weeks so far with about 50 seconds between airlock bubbles.

Will a secondary help it? or should I leave it in the primary?

Thanks,
Matt
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It's been in 4.5 weeks now. Any thoughts on secondary from experienced cider brewers?

Thanks,
Matt
 
Yea i just found out about this recipe a couple days ago and I cant seem to find any of the yeast at the stores ive been to yet. Any alternatives that gave the same results?
 
bgburdman9 said:
Yea i just found out about this recipe a couple days ago and I cant seem to find any of the yeast at the stores ive been to yet. Any alternatives that gave the same results?
Click to expand...

I used Lalvin's D-47 on my first batch and Montrechet on the second. The D-47 was good, and very close to the original recipe, but the Montrechet is better if you can get it. Both will finish nice and dry, but the D-47 was a bit less apple, and more wine flavored.
 
I think mine might be clearing. I'm not sure because I have it in a bucket. I'll just give it the full 4 weeks before doing anything. Gotta get me some carboys!
 
I've got a batch that's about two weeks in with Premier Cuvee and have no issues with krausen. Quite a relief after an initial small amout of bubbles on the surface.
 
Mine is a little over 2 weeks old with Cote de Blanc yeast and it has a few small clumps of tiny little bubbles floating around the surface and that's it. When I took a hydrometer sample at one week it had a lot more of the little bubbles and the sample was pretty much like a carbonated beverage, but that was it. No real head of foam or anything like that.
 
I made mine true to EdWort's original recipe. Only difference is I used Mott's Apple Juice. It fermented out to 1.000 by my FG reading. It's was in primary for 4 weeks, and now in the bottle for 4 weeks. I gotta tell ya, this stuff is fricken dangerous. It tastes wonderful, bit appley flavor. I am sure it will be much better in more time.

In one breath... Thanks EdWort!


In the other, or in the morning.. Damn You EdWort!!!
 
skou said:
Seriously, it is a good (but dangerous) drink!
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A danger only realized by those who have consumed more than a couple pints in one evening. I thought it would just get you drunk quick and leave you with your normal hangover. I can only describe an Apfelwein hangover as one leaving you feeling crappy, but not sick. But maybe I haven't drank enough in one sitting to get sick.

A note to those about to taste their first Apfelwein: Treat this tasty beverage with utmost respect! :mug:

I'm egarly awaiting my next batch to clear!!
 
I am a newbie and have my first 5 gallon batch of cider going in the primary. In the 6 gallon fermenter is 5 gallons of 100% Members Mark juice from Sams as I have seen in many postings here. I put 2 lbs of brown sugar and 1 packet of Red Star Wine yeast and nutrient. It has been in the primary for a week now. The second day early in the morning the airlock was bubbling about every 5 to 6 seconds. That night about every 2 to 3 seconds. It has gone this way for a week and has now slowed to a bubble about every 30 seconds. Is this to short of time in the primary? Would the primary fermentation be done already? I also have four 3 quart jugs going with fresh juiced apple juice that I juiced myself. They have been going for 2 weeks now and are still bubbling strong. I have taken a reading and it has a specific gravity of 1.06. I thought about putting it into a secondary. Would this be good even though it is still bubbling strong? I put only yeast nutrient with these bottles. I am hoping I am not trying to go to fast on this and move to secondary to early. Any feedback would be appreciated.
 
EdWort said:
What else can you do with this recipe?
EdWort says, "this makes a great Grog in the winter time. Take a quart in a sauce pan, add some rum, turbinado sugar, and float a cinnamon stick in it and simmer for a while. Serve hot in mugs. It'll warm you right up."
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I would like to try this grog, but the recipe (perhaps purposefully) seems a bit sketchy. How much rum and suagar would you recommend? I'm thinking about one shot of rum and perhaps a teaspoon of sugar per mug?
 
o8secridr said:
I am a newbie and have my first 5 gallon batch of cider going in the primary. In the 6 gallon fermenter is 5 gallons of 100% Members Mark juice from Sams as I have seen in many postings here. I put 2 lbs of brown sugar and 1 packet of Red Star Wine yeast and nutrient. It has been in the primary for a week now. The second day early in the morning the airlock was bubbling about every 5 to 6 seconds. That night about every 2 to 3 seconds. It has gone this way for a week and has now slowed to a bubble about every 30 seconds. Is this to short of time in the primary? Would the primary fermentation be done already? I also have four 3 quart jugs going with fresh juiced apple juice that I juiced myself. They have been going for 2 weeks now and are still bubbling strong. I have taken a reading and it has a specific gravity of 1.06. I thought about putting it into a secondary. Would this be good even though it is still bubbling strong? I put only yeast nutrient with these bottles. I am hoping I am not trying to go to fast on this and move to secondary to early. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

4 weeks primary, then 4 weeks in the bottle/keg. It's hard to wait that long, but it is worth the wait. The 4 weeks in the primary give it time to clear. After only a week or so I'm sure it is still pretty cloudy. Mine have always been crystal clear with a little champagne-like fizz. Secondary really is not necessary with Apfelwein. It will clear just fine in the primary when given time to do what it has to do. :mug:
 
Thank you for the reply. This is my first batch and yes it is hard to wait. I was just worried with the airlock dropping to bubbling only once every 30 seconds. I guess I will pass the time with some Woodchuck.
 
Got mine in the bucket last night. Now for the hard part, as has been said before. Do I add one to the count total now or do I have to wait for that too.:D I can wait, No I can't, Yes I can.............
 
Do I need to keep my carboy in the dark for this brew? I've read that hops are the primary reason to keep your beer away from any UV light, but how about Apfelwein? Just put this batch together, its going to be a long 4 weeks!
 
Even wine needs to be kept in the dark. The UV rays do something to screw up the taste but I can't think fo what it's called right now.

BK, thanks for letting me know. I was just worried about the different yeast and how they react. I am moving some white wine from a primary today and starting the Island Mist Shiraz tomorrow I think. My other two primaries will be empty from their ales next weekend so I'll have one extra for this and won't have to worry about head space. (the other is getting a honey wheat. One of these days I'll open up a primary at day three and see how much head/krausen I have going for each specific yeast.
 
I made some Apfelwein with S-04 ale yeast on 9/10... Will be 30 days here very shortly and it is still opaque cloudy. Hasn't been fermenting for ~1.5 weeks. Will it ever clear with this yeast? Doesn't feel like it...

The odd thing is, it clouded up when fermentation was at 2 bubble per second, then it cleared (like apple juice clear) when the fermentation had slowed, but then it clouded back up before finishing. Now it doesn't seem to want to clear...
 
I have read through 70 pages trying to catch up. I just made mine last night with Mussel man's Apple Juice. Haven't seen this one mentioned here. Anybody use it? Any word on it's finish? I followed the recipe to the letter.
 
Thanks BigK, Yeah it was a bit high. I was afraid to buy the type that had been made from concentrated juice. I did a bit more reading today and will make my next batch much cheaper. But at least I can now say that I have something in my Primary. That was worth something.:mug:
 
I am getting very close to the day when my apfelwein is done fermenting... Would it be possible to put a gallon of it into a sanitized gallon milk container (assume I'm not adding sugar to carbonate it)?
 
ma2brew said:
After 11 days it's going to taste bad.

Apfelwein is easy to make, but it takes more patience than beer does when it comes to drinkability.

I've never had a batch clear up before 8 weeks.
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ma2 -

I was a little worried when my Apfelwein was still cloudy as could be at 4 weeks (I made it once before and it was clear by this point), but now that I found your post I am not so worried. I am going to wait it out even if it takes another month...

Out of curiosity, what yeast are you usually using? I used S-04, which I now realized has lower flocculation than some yeasts. Either way, I am sure it will fall out eventually... If it doesn't by week 8 (4 more...), then maybe I will consider cold crash or something else to help. Hey, I look at it as extra aging time!
 
RoaringBrewer said:
The odd thing is, it clouded up when fermentation was at 2 bubble per second, then it cleared (like apple juice clear) when the fermentation had slowed, but then it clouded back up before finishing. Now it doesn't seem to want to clear...
Click to expand...

Mine did the same thing. On 08-08-08 I started 2 - 5 gal batches exactly the same 5 gal mott's, 2 lb dextrose and montrachet yeast. Started out fine both got cloudy and around the 3-4 week mark both started clearing the same and eventually became extremely clear. Now whats odd is one started becoming very cloudy again and the other is crystal clear. tomorrow is 2 months and they remain the same sitting right next to each other(1 cloudy and 1 clear). They were not touch since day one. I don't understand what happened.
 

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