Well my 1-liter, 50% table sugar/50% light DME starter for my washed and resuscitated yeasts (Koelsch/California Ale) finished by this morning. It smells rather interesting compared to a normal wort starter, but there are no signs of infection. It's crashing the the fridge right now, and I'll decant and pitch tonight into 2-liters of juice and 1 lb of Honey, perhaps with a small amount of brown sugar added.
I am conflicted whether or not to start the fermentation warm or cold - I want the yeasts to produce some esters, but I don't want headache-inducing fusels, either. Right now I am leaning towards starting with cold yeast into cool must, and letting it ramp up into the lower 70s by itself, which which point I'll start controlling the temperature to maintain ca. 70-72 degrees. I will be using some Wyeast nutrient as well.
Unrelated question: Has anyone ever tried any of the following?
- Using lightly toasted oak cubes or chips to achieve some additional complexity?
- "Dry-apple-ing", i.e. doing a secondary fermentation with either fresh or lightly baked apples?
I know that departs from the original intent to produce a clone of authentic German Apfelwein, but if anyone has experimented, I'd be interested to know.
EDIT: I am drinking the yeast starter right now (well, the supernate), and it tastes like a very thin, very cidery beer with a moderate yeast bite and plenty of esters, as expected. Little sourness (surprisingly, usually starters without hops are pretty sour), and certainly no sign of infection.
My final recipe:
2 gallons of pasteurized White House Apple juice from concentrate, no additives
5 oz of dark brown sugar, dissolved in 1 cup of boiling water along with 1 tsp of Wyeast nutrient and 1/2 tsp of Fermax
16 oz generic clover honey
1-l starter of a blend of washed Koelsch and Cali Ale Yeast, comprised of 50% table sugar and 50% light DME, decanted.
Fermented in Mr. Beer keg with minimal temperature control, starting at ca. 65 deg C, will likely ramp into the mid-70s as it approaches room temperature. Moderate amount of aeration by shaking.