Man, I love Apfelwein

Well, my first venture into homebrew has been a 5 gallon batch of this apfelwein I made last night. I used Mott's All Natural which had no preservatives or vitamin C added, 2lbs of the corn sugar, montrachet, and some yeast energizer. OG was 1.071 and my airlock was bubbling nicely when I woke up this morning. I've got a brown ale that I'll be doing today or tomorrow, but I have to say this apfelwein really makes it easy for a noob like me to jump right in.

joejaz said:

Started 5 gallon batch on Dec 1, still see tiny bubbles coming to top of carboy. Figure to bottle it at end of month, if bubbles still rising to top should I wait or is this normal. Also see about an inch of sediment on bottom of carboy, is this normal, looks like the sugar settled to bottom. also how much splenda would you suggest adding before bottling, don't want it too dry. Thanks, Merry Xmas!

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Be VERY careful adding Splenda.
Add a teaspoon to a measured cup, and multiply. I ruined a batch by adding a cup and a half. It gave it an odor and taste that My SWMBO and I cannot stomach. I just can't figure what to do with it. If it was legal, I might make a still, but since its not, that's out....

Amazingly, I actually did read through this entire thread, although I skipped over a few parts.

I started a batch of the "original" recipie without any fancy changes on the 21st, and it's bubbling like mad! I can't wait to try this stuff. This is also my first "brew" using my new brewing equipment- I'm yet another person who started with a Mr. Beer kit (and was already experimenting by my 2nd batch...which I must say, is way better than the 1st batch in which I followed the recipie/instructions exactly.)

I'm going to be brewing up a blueberry wheat for my wife in a few days too- a new obsession!

To those of you who have used the Cote Des Blanc for the Apfelwein, does it ferment mildly like the Montrachet? Just wondering if I should rig up a blow-off tube on the batch I just made. Thanks.

I've got a batch ready now (or so I think, it's pretty clear and has been 5 weeks, tastes goooood) and I'm itching to start another one with a little more sweetness. I'm too lazy to read the entire thread (I had to stop after about 25 pages). Have people had success with a Nottingham or other ale yeast? Was it noticeably sweeter? I don't want it super sweet, just not as dry and a tad bit sweeter (for SWMBO).

nb

OK, I just checked mine (had a bad batch of porter) and it tastes good!!!! A little bitter tho.... It has been 2 or 3 (I think 2) weeks, since I started it, is it too late to add more sugar?

claphamsa said:

OK, I just checked mine (had a bad batch of porter) and it tastes good!!!! A little bitter tho.... It has been 2 or 3 (I think 2) weeks, since I started it, is it too late to add more sugar?

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IMO, it's way to early to be making any judgments about your apfelwein. In my experience, active fermentation is still going on past the fourth week. Seriously, put it in a dark corner for a month and forget all about it! Even then, it will continue to improve with age. I keg mine, and without fail, the last glass poured is always the best one! Patience is both the most important ingredient and the most important technique, in this and all other brewing pursuits.

Any additional sugar will just ferment out and produce more alcohol, making the final product even dryer.

BlindLemonLars said:

IMO, it's way to early to be making any judgments about your apfelwein. In my experience, active fermentation is still going on past the fourth week. Seriously, put it in a dark corner for a month and forget all about it! Even then, it will continue to improve with age. I keg mine, and without fail, the last glass poured is always the best one! Patience is both the most important ingredient and the most important technique, in this and all other brewing pursuits.

Any additional sugar will just ferment out and produce more alcohol, making the final product even dryer.

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THANKS!!!!!!!

Honestly, I want to read ALL 63 pages, but I dont have the patience!

Can someone tell me..
I see Ed's directions state to ferment for 1-2 months, then bottle, but how long should I let it sit in bottles before cracking it open?

capcrnch said:

Honestly, I want to read ALL 63 pages, but I dont have the patience!

Can someone tell me..
I see Ed's directions state to ferment for 1-2 months, then bottle, but how long should I let it sit in bottles before cracking it open?

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If you are carbing, then at least 10 days. If you want it still, then you can crack one to drink as soon as it is chilled.

I made mine with Nottinghams instead just because the LHBS person said you are not supposed to make cider with it. I'll show them. I am beginning to think I may know more than they do. Mainly from this place.

EdWort said:

If you are carbing, then at least 10 days. If you want it still, then you can crack one to drink as soon as it is chilled.

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Awesome, thanks Ed!

I picked up my apple juice at Meijer yesterday..
New Years must be big for apple juice drinking, because their selection was pretty beat up.

We picked up 10 - 1/2 gallon bottles of Meijer brand, because their selection was very limited.

My wife is going to do this today as the first "brew" she's ever done alone.
I'll assist her since she usually assists me.
It couldn't be an easier way to start off for her!

Thanks!

Threw this together about 5 days ago, with one major difference - I used bread yeast. Its the only thing I have access to, but its been bubbling away for 5 days straight and doesnt smell too bad, either. Does anyone see any major problems with having used bread yeast?

wulax25 said:

Threw this together about 5 days ago, with one major difference - I used bread yeast. Its the only thing I have access to, but its been bubbling away for 5 days straight and doesnt smell too bad, either. Does anyone see any major problems with having used bread yeast?

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Besides tasting aweful and barely drinkable, there's nothing wrong with using bread yeast...
Next time, mail order you some real wine yeast... check out http://www.midwestsupplies.com or http://www.austinhomebrew.com

You know, my wife brought something up when we were just at the store..
We bought regular apple juice.
Were we supposed to buy sugar free?
I bought 100% juice, but never thought about with/without sugar.

wulax25 said:

Does anyone see any major problems with having used bread yeast?

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Guys in prison use it all the time, and they seem happy with the results.

Expect the worst, but hope for the best! Who knows, maybe it will be great. (But it's not likely!)

capcrnch said:

You know, my wife brought something up when we were just at the store..
We bought regular apple juice.
Were we supposed to buy sugar free?
I bought 100% juice, but never thought about with/without sugar.

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No you should not use sugar free, just regular old apple juice. The natural sugars in it will also ferment and result in about 75% of the alcohol in the finished product. If you used just apple juice and no dextrose, it would result in about 5-6% ABV. The dextrose adds about 2-3% ABV. Together you get right around 8% ABV.

I have also used the Meijer brand and had excellent results. For anyone outside of the Michigan - Indiana - Illinois area that is wondering, Meijer is a supermarket chain in the Great Lakes area.

joejaz said:

Started 5 gallon batch on Dec 1, still see tiny bubbles coming to top of carboy. Figure to bottle it at end of month, if bubbles still rising to top should I wait or is this normal. Also see about an inch of sediment on bottom of carboy, is this normal, looks like the sugar settled to bottom. also how much splenda would you suggest adding before bottling, don't want it too dry. Thanks, Merry Xmas!

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I started with a 1/3 of a cup and ended up adding 4- 1/3 cups as my bottling bucket was fillling up and for me was just right.

Bulls Beers said:

I started with a 1/3 of a cup and ended up adding 4- 1/3 cups as my bottling bucket was fillling up and for me was just right.

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Is that four, one-third cups (one and one-third total), or four and one-third cups?

Man was Apflewein a hit at New Years last night! A little 7up in the mix, and everyone was pretty druck before 10pm. Good stuff!

Ok....back to the hot wash cloth on the head.....

Ok i may have screwed up. I put my Apfelwine together in a carboy right at 4 weeks ago. It bubbled very niceley for the first week or so. I am pretty sure i followed the original recipie excatly but i got problems. I just took a gravity reading and it was at like 1.020? My original gravity was at 1.064. What the heck did i do wrong? Or do i just need to have some patience? The only thing i can think of is that my LHBS may have given me Maltro Dextrose instead of just dextrose. I read in this topic that someone else may have done this but couldnt find what happened to their apfelwine. Any ideas would be helpfull! Oh yeah i have the carboy in a room that stays about 66-67 deg. the thermometor on the side of my carboy reads 66 right now. Thanks for any and all ideas.

SD

TronCarter said:

Is that four, one-third cups (one and one-third total), or four and one-third cups?

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4-1/3 cups of splenda. I tried a 1/3 of a cup and it seemed a bit dry for my wife. So i added another 1/3 and another and another. A total of four 1/3 cups. As my bottling bucket started filling up i added a 1/3. I did that all the way untill the bucket was full. As i put it in i stirred it ever so gently.

Ok, pardon me if this question is asked and answered, but here goes. My first batch tastes kinda.... blah. It's not too dry, has a good apple character, but is kinda oxidized, or flat, or... damn I'm bad at describing flavors. My initial thought is that it needs just a little bit of tartness, and I'm thinking of adding some ascorbic acid.

I used very fresh unpasteurized cider, corn sugar to Ed's AW recipe proportions, and WL-099 (high gravity yeast, fermented out to 0.99 in 4 weeks).

Any thoughts on the flavor I got or strong cautions on doctoring the end result would be greatly appreciated.

How old is it? Any reason you did not use Montrachet? I think the yeast is your problem. Perhaps a little acid blend may help.

EdWort said:

How old is it? Any reason you did not use Montrachet? I think the yeast is your problem. Perhaps a little acid blend may help.

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It's about 2.5 months old now. I have used the WL-099 in meads very successfully and gotten clean results. I had it on hand and figured it would ferment out cleanly and quickly. Maybe not so cleanly after all. Next time I'll use the montrachet so I have good frame of reference. I guess I'm just wondering if I should let this sit for several more months, or try to doctor it now. Would acid blend give that green apple tartness?
From the descriptions, that is not the flavor I would expect from a true apfelwein, but I think it is what this batch needs.

I aged mine 5.5 months. and 5 of the 10 gallons went in 2 weeks over xmas / new years. Mine tastes like strongbow, so i am very happy. for the first 3 months it didnt taste to good at all so the extra time it sat in the primary it was well worth it. MIne didnt really clear up until about the 3.5 / 4 months,

Motts AJ 5 gal
dextrose 2 lbs
montrachet yeast.

i left it in the carboy for 5 months, then bottled with 3/4 cup of dextrose per 5 gal, 1.5 weeks later it was carbed.

EdWort said:

Any reason you did not use Montrachet?

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Have you ever tried yeasts other than Montrachet? Just wondering if Montrachet has anything special over other wine yeasts.

mew said:

Have you ever tried yeasts other than Montrachet? Just wondering if Montrachet has anything special over other wine yeasts.

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Nope. It made what I was looking for, so I stuck with it. Montrachet makes Apfelwein very well, just like German Apfelwein.

Edwort......did you tap that "yeast cake" keg? Just curious how it turned out.

Has anyone ventured into the ApfelBier realm? Here's my thoughts

3gal water
3lbs DME
.5oz Cascade hop pellets
Boil for 1 hour.
Cool
add 5gal worth of AJ concentrate and top up to five gal with preboiled water.
Pitch Nottingham or some other Ale yeast and ferment at room temp.

Whaddya think?

To those of you who have used the Cote Des Blanc for the Apfelwein, does it ferment mildly like the Montrachet? Just wondering if I should rig up a blow-off tube on the batch I just made. Thanks.


Yes. I whipped up a batch about 3 weeks ago and pitched Cote Des Blanc.

Ferments like Ed describes Montrachet. No need for a blow off.

"To those of you who have used the Cote Des Blanc for the Apfelwein, does it ferment mildly like the Montrachet? Just wondering if I should rig up a blow-off tube on the batch I just made. Thanks."


Yes. I whipped up a batch about 3 weeks ago and pitched Cote Des Blanc.
Ferments like Ed describes Montrachet. No need for a blow off.

Well, I got a 6 gal better bottle, dextrose, Montrachet yeast, and 5 gals of organic Tree Top this afternoon. Just mixed up a batch as per the original recipe waaaaaaaaaaay back on page 1. My basement has been rather too cold lately (down to 60F at night) so I'm leaving it in the kitchen for now. Hopefully SWMBO won't freak on me when she gets up in the a.m. and finds it on the counter.

free2brew said:

Well, I got a 6 gal better bottle, dextrose, Montrachet yeast, and 5 gals of organic Tree Top this afternoon. Just mixed up a batch as per the original recipe waaaaaaaaaaay back on page 1. My basement has been rather too cold lately (down to 60F at night) so I'm leaving it in the kitchen for now. Hopefully SWMBO won't freak on me when she gets up in the a.m. and finds it on the counter.

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She might at firsrt, but after a glass or two she won't GAF.

ma2brew said:

She might at firsrt, but after a glass or two she won't GAF.

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It might be a different story on day three when the elephant farts start percolating through the airlock

cowgo said:

It might be a different story on day three when the elephant farts start percolating through the airlock

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This. (...is why I use Lalvin D 47, bug don't tell EdWort)

Matt

Aha...the secret to the lack of stinky.

I'm making a batch of Apfelwein for a friend today. Should he pitch the yeast when he gets home or can we do it when making it?

RE: Elephant Farts

I used Cote Des Blancs yeast along with nutrient and had no odor problems to blame on the dog. Everyone is quite pleased with the finished product.

Bulls Beers said:

I'm making a batch of Apfelwein for a friend today. Should he pitch the yeast when he gets home or can we do it when making it?

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If your friend is new to the hobby, why not wait until he gets home and have him assist in making the entire batch from start to finish? He will learn how to do it himself and be able to make his own in the future. He can do the little work that is involved and you just talk him through it. To answer your question, you can pitch right before adding the last gallon of juice to the carboy (and use the last gallon to rinse the funnel of the yeast that stuck to it). You can pitch after all juice has been added, but then you don't have anything to rinse with.

Just brewed up a quick batch last night using Nottingham yeast. Can i expect a big krausen like in an ale or will it still be just small bubbles?

i'm worried as i filled my carboy up pretty close to the top and its starting to form bubbles around the edges. I may just hook up a blow-off just to be safe.

BlindLemonLars said:

Guys in prison use it all the time, and they seem happy with the results.

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They also do other things that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be happy with.