Great Modified Apfelwein to Horrible Apfelwein in 1 week?

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gyrfalcon

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Alright I made an Apfelwein mod on 9-2-2007 which you can read about here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=37751

Basically the only difference was using ultra fine cane sugar vs. dextrose corn sugar. I tried it around 10-2-2007 and it was GREAT. It wasn't dry and was semi-sweet with a good taste... I actually thought it was the best thing I've ever fermented!!! So I tried it again this weekend and it now has a nasty taste to it... It's pretty much a tart dry taste and has a smell of musty water.

I really wish I knew what happened to this cider. Does anyone have some insight or recommendations? I'm willing to ship a few bottles of it to any willing tasters who could be willing to help me figure out my mistakes.

:eek:
 
Well, I'm just guessing here- but did it get exposed to oxygen between the time it was good and the next time, when it tasted bad and smelled like musty water? It sounds like an oxidation thing. Wine will get a sherry-like taste when it gets oxidized. Does it have alot of head space, or did you rack it?
 
YooperBrew said:
Well, I'm just guessing here- but did it get exposed to oxygen between the time it was good and the next time, when it tasted bad and smelled like musty water? It sounds like an oxidation thing. Wine will get a sherry-like taste when it gets oxidized. Does it have alot of head space, or did you rack it?

It was never racked until last night... Basically stayed in a 5gallon carboy and didn't have a lot of head space.

I'm hoping I didn't infect it when I last tried it.
 
How did you get your sample to try it back on the 2nd? I hope you sanitized everything!

I'd just leave it for a month and try to forget about it. If it is still nasty 30 days from now then, dump it.

Don't use cane sugar in Apfelwein. Go for Dextros. You could be drinking it now (though a bit green) if you did.
 
Ed's a great brewer and all, but I followed his recipe to the T and was not pleased with the results at all. Not his fault. ;) It's just a matter of personal taste.

I added some potassium sorbate to kill the yeast and backsweetened with another can of concentrate , 1.5 C Dark Brown Sugar, 1/2 C Splenda and some cinnamon sticks. It tasted better for a while then it got too sweet. Again, not his fault.;)

I poured some in a cup and heated it up for a hot toddy and it tasted GREAT!!! Again, not his fault....:D

I has several glasses that night...:drunk:
 
homebrewer_99 said:
Ed's a great brewer and all, but I followed his recipe to the T and was not pleased with the results at all. Not his fault. ;) It's just a matter of personal taste.

Thanks and it's true, not all folks like it. It's an aquired taste (thus the 3 glass rule).

Just as folks in Germany will backsweeten with some Limonade (that's German for Sprite), some folks like a sweeter end product.

The main thing is that you still can make a great drinkable BASE product following the directions. Then you can drink it or modify the finished product to you liking as you have done.
 
YooperBrew said:
Well, I'm just guessing here- but did it get exposed to oxygen between the time it was good and the next time, when it tasted bad and smelled like musty water? It sounds like an oxidation thing. Wine will get a sherry-like taste when it gets oxidized. Does it have alot of head space, or did you rack it?

Ok noob question... how do you avoid exposure to OXY during racking or bottling? I just bottled my first batch (way too early, I learned) and I did it like I would with beer. Sanitized, primed, bottled. Am I going to end up with 50 bottles of bad hooch?
 
Seabee John said:
Ok noob question... how do you avoid exposure to OXY during racking or bottling? I just bottled my first batch (way too early, I learned) and I did it like I would with beer. Sanitized, primed, bottled. Am I going to end up with 50 bottles of bad hooch?

No, I'm sure it would be ok if you did it like beer. I rack my wines several times before bulk aging and then bottling. I use campden (sulfite) in my wines at every other racking to help protect them from oxidation. Still if you only racked once or twice, nothing to worry about.

The only reason I mentioned it was because there is a certain flavor in white wines that tastes "off" and is best described as sherry-like. That's caused by oxidation.
 
"Don't use cane sugar in Apfelwein. Go for Dextros. "

Mr. Wort, could you please elaborate on the differences resulting from using these two sugars?
 
Fenster said:
"Don't use cane sugar in Apfelwein. Go for Dextros. "

Mr. Wort, could you please elaborate on the differences resulting from using these two sugars?


One supposedly ferments cleaner (dextrose/corn sugar) and doesn't leave off flavors (cane). I would eventually like to do some testing to see how this works out.

If anyone has some books they would recommend, it would be appreciated.
 
Cane sugar actually has flavor hence the off flavors are just the cane imparting its own on the cider. Corn sugar is a pretty much neutral flavor.
 
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