Apfelwein minimum age

I am 3 batches deep and will do on Friday called Black Friday Brass Ballz. I have 3 primaries now so I am thinking of trying the nectar of gods. Since I am still a newb I am very inpatient and holding it for 6 months would be an overkill for me. Currently I have batch #3 for nearly 4 weeks in primary. Will bottle it on Friday and do a new batch. What would be the minimum amount of time should take to make it? Could I get away @ 2 months? I know age will add to clarity but I am willing to sacrifice clarity for the chance to try it and drink it.

When it's clear....i'ts drinkable! It gets better and better, so KEEP GOING!
It's taken me a year to get to the back log that I've got now, and I've done SEVERAL 10 gallon batches to get there, but I've got a keg that's min 4 months, and a carboy ready to keg (and a few in process) at all times now.

I am only one batch deep so take this with a grain of salt....

I am generally very skeptical of online recipes and other peoples advice, so when I decided to gamble the $25 on a batch of apfelwein I had low expectations but the hopes for something great. I tasted at transfer out of primary (5 weeks).... tasts like a very young yeasty wine. OK, wait longer

....

Tried it again after 1 month aging.... still young and not good but passably palatable. I would not serve it to friends at this stage (at least not my friends to avoid ridicule).

put in the cellar in a keg......

I continued to draw pints every month and continued to be disappointed, said to hell with it, and forgot about it.....

Fast forward to 7 months of aging, cracked into it with a buddy brewer of mine just for the hell of it, BAMO! Awesome dry cider!

After 8 months, everyone was asking how I made it and if there was any more.

The moral of this story is, Apfelwein takes a long time to age to get good, and that I will not have any AW available for another year because I wasn't sold on it until just recently (the 8 month mark).

To more directly answer your question, you can drink it now for all I care. However, it will taste more like what Evan! calls Prisonhoochfelwein that what its potential is.

Thanks, I think I will wait until I can devote proper time to apfelwein, the time that it deserves. In the mean time I am thinking about getting Midwests Raspberry Red Ale, Aussie Light Ale, Honey Bee Ale, Smooth Nut Brown Ale, Hex Nut Brown Ale I am going to pick 2-3 of them and establish my pipeline more.

I think that is a good idea. Low gravity beers can be turned around much, much faster than Apfelwein. I think you will be more happy with that result, and you will have a bunch of AW waiting for you in a few months.

Maybe do a smaller batch and that way you can decide yourself at what point you like it best. I did a 2.5 gallon batch to see if I would like it. I'm about a week from bottling it and checked the gravity, about a week left, and of course sampled the result. WOW at three weeks I can't wait to pour a glass of this stuff!! I'm sure it will get better with age but this will be consumed right after bottling as well.

Sheep,

You only had it in primary for 3 weeks and you want to bottle it? You need a lot more time then that

Grains of salt.... grains of salt. Everyone has different palates, find out what yours is. After reading on here for a while you will find who's tastes align similar to yours.

Maybe you will like it right away, many do. I found it very yeasty, hot, and dirty tasting. With age it mellows and cleans up leaving a very crisp and refreshing drink. I won't even be sampling before the 8 or 9 month aging next for my future batches.

Minimum 3 months here but I'm using Pasteur red wine yeast. Less dry.
Still better at 5 months. That's what I'm drinking now.

8 months was the magic point for me. I still need to get a bigger pipeline going than 6 kegs to keep up with demand though.

I did a 2.5 gallon batch for my 1st Apfelwein -- it's been in the bottles about 4 months. I have a 6 pack left and the last bottle I had was sooooooooo much better than the first!! Age is great for this stuff! Get the pipeline going!

Pivzavod said:

Sheep,

You only had it in primary for 3 weeks and you want to bottle it? You need a lot more time then that

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Another week and it will go in the bottles, if I'm below 1.000 that is. But yeah I could easily sit down and have a bottle of it as it is. Not saying I won't keep a few bottles away to let age and see for myself how it goes.

Dude I know how you are!!! I am supposed to let my Blue Moon clone age until this Sunday (3+3) but I already cracked a few bottles open (3 yesterday). I am going to bottle a batch tomorrow which will be nearly 4 weeks old in primary. Once you have a few beers available for drinking you are good.

Get a pipeline going has been the biggest challenge for me. My first two beers turned out "eh". I drank almost the entire first batch, but it wasn't the best. The second batch I "thought" was horrible.

About three months ago I found a 6'er of the first batch that I had stowed away (over a year old at that point). It was excellent! So, I went back and yanked the remainder of the 2nd batch out of the cellar and sure enough it was also very good (though I think the first was better).

both beers had excessive carmalization, which I attributed to using a partial boil and a really really slow boil (took for ever to get to a very slow boil, never became an aggressive boil).

Now that I can do full boils, have a better source of heat (turkey cooker) I find myself completely out of brew!!! (Aside from a 2 month old mead bubbling away in my basement office as I speak).

I'm brewing a Nutt Brown this coming week, and plan to brew again within two weeks in order to start building this pipeline. I wish I hadn't given up so easily a year ago!

Im guessing Apfelwein has to sit a lot longer than beer.

I just racked some to my secondary. I tried a little bit.. it's only a month old, but it is not that great. I have a feeling that once I let it sit in the secondary for a few more weeks, then bottle and let it sit for a good 6 months or so, it'll be much better.

I made my first batch (2.5 gallons) in September and have consumed most of it already. I'm currently building a pipeline of the stuff. but I think the stuff is pretty good young. Until a few months pass I can only imagine how much better it will get after 6-8 months.

I have bottles that are over a year old now and they are by far the best yet.

these pretzels are making me thirsty!