Apfelwein, what's the draw?

Hey All,

So, having read through a lot of these threads, and looking at a lot of the projects people are working on, it seems the most common brew people have going on is Apfelwein. Why?

In the little research I've done on it, it isn't a beer (also not a wine as the name implies). Is it brewed much the same way as beer? When I was in Germany, I had Apfelwein a few times, and it was good, but it didn't seem like a beer-drinkers kind of drink, ya know?

I'm basically just asking, what is the draw to Apfelwein, and why is it so common amongst HBs?

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/man-i-love-apfelwein-14860/

It is a big general crowd pleaser, Nice high alcohol content, EASY to make. Takes about 15 minutes start to finish to get it into the fermenter.
It's good to have on hand

Mostly because it's so simple to make. I keep some around because my wife likes to drink it once in a while, but I probably only make a batch a year.

It's a tasty, and very simple recipe to make....Oh and it can pack a mean punch.


I've given carbed bottles of it as gifts an people love it, some call it "Apple Champagne."

It's just so darn simple to make. It takes all of about 10 minutes.

I won't be able to taste mine until about Thanksgiving, but if it's as tasty as everyone says it will make some good stocking stuffers.

+1 on the ease to make!

Plus the only wine spritzer, mix with 1/4 sprite and 3/4 apfelwein that will knock your di&@ in the dirt!

Come on, it's alcoholic cider. People love it. Super easy to make it. What's NOT the draw?

+2 on shockingly easy to make.

The recipe listed above (EdWorts) has quite a bit more alcohol then what you remember from Germany. Like mentioned above it makes a good "differant" gift for folks and the carbed version is very popular.

Takes me 15min to make a batch that i leave alone until it is time to put it in a keg, and with an extra honey addition, it climbs over the 10%ABV mark....

Why is it not a wine??

It is a wine. But it is also Cider, or Hard Cider, depending on where you bring it up.

It's a panty dropper!*

What else do you need to know?

(*Except you, Yoop. )

beerkrump said:

It's a panty dropper!*

What else do you need to know?

(*Except you, Yoop. )

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True that!!!
Didn't tell SWMBO the abv% in it, so whe was drinking it like she would a woodchucks hard cider. Pretty soon, WHAM, she was hammered!

It's like Bartles & Jaymes winecoolers with an extra kick of booze?

carl spakler said:

It's like Bartles & Jaymes winecoolers with an extra kick of booze?

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Them is fightin' words!

Homercidal said:

Why is it not a wine??

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After doing a bit more research, I suppose it is technically wine. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

beerkrump said:

It's a panty dropper!*

What else do you need to know?

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I need to know nothing else, I'm sold!

I think, based on what you guys have told me, I'll probably be brewing myself up a batch sometime soon. Do you bottle it in typical amber beer bottles, perhaps wine bottles? Do you have the same photochemical issues you have with bottling beer in green bottles? Thanks all!

Just treat it like a beer and it well serve you well. Read EdWort's recipe and thread to get the lowdown.

beerkrump said:

Just treat it like a beer and it well serve you well. Read EdWort's recipe and thread to get the lowdown.

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There is no reason to bottle in amber bottles, Clear and green are fine. There are no hops in this. Light is not the enemy like in beer.

I personally prefer kegging it though

Yeah, just do a quick 516 page read of his thread

beerkrump said:

Just treat it like a beer and it will make you start vomiting all over the place and crying like a little girl.

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There, that's fixed. Do NOT treat it like a beer! It usually ends up in the 10% ABV range or more, and the unwary drink it out of beer glasses. You don't drink wine out of beer glasses, and you shouldn't do the same with this.

EvilTOJ said:

There, that's fixed. Do NOT treat it like a beer! It usually ends up in the 10% ABV range or more, and the unwary drink it out of beer glasses. You don't drink wine out of beer glasses, and you shouldn't do the same with this.

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I was referring to bottling and kegging, not consuming.

I bottle mine in clear bottles, the SWMBO likes to pull out a couple of bottles for company and likes the look of the clear bottles.

I carb half of mine in champagne bottles and leave the other still in regular wine bottles, and I actually prefer it still.

EvilTOJ said:

There, that's fixed. Do NOT treat it like a beer! It usually ends up in the 10% ABV range or more, and the unwary drink it out of beer glasses. You don't drink wine out of beer glasses, and you shouldn't do the same with this.

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+1 to this...It is a killer...

In fact there are a few warning labels you might wanna afix on the bottles for the innocent and those untrained in the ways of apfelwein.

FYI these are based on TRUE POSTINGS ON HERE....Drinker you have been warned!

Hikeon3 said:

Come on, it's alcoholic cider. People love it. Super easy to make it. What's NOT the draw?

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I'm not a cider fan, but Edwort served me some 14 month old Apfelwein. It's good! I don't usually drink hard cider, or even liquor, but it's because I'm an unsophisticated beer drinker. Still, many people love it. It's cheap, easy drinking, and great for non-beer drinkers to imbibe in when we're socializing.

beerkrump said:

It's a panty dropper!*

What else do you need to know?

(*Except you, Yoop. )

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Well. I appreciate you remembering me, Krump! Trust me, it's not a BVD dropper. More like a "honey, I can't, I drank too much, snore" beverage.

YooperBrew said:

More like a "honey, I can't, I drank too much, snore" cleaverage.

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Fixed it for ya.

I don't know what the draw is.

I've had 5-6 different versions and they are OK, but I would much prefer an IIPA, or an IPA or a PA or a Stout, etc...

I have some seven month old apfelwein...it is really good, but still I can do about one 12oz bottle before Im tired of it. Im just a beer guy you know? I can say that I recently drank some 2 and half old apfelwein that wasn't worth piss. So, if they say that its prime at eight months I tend to believe them. I also think its well worth making a batch every so often ONLY IF you wait it out for the eight months which is nearly impossible for about 80% of the people...

I made some, and didn't care for it. It's been in the bottles for well over a year now. But that's just me-I'm definitely in the minority on this. Most people love it, but it ain't for everybody.

I make it to keep my orthopedic surgeon in business...

I "brew" apple goody b/c my wife likes it, she likes to give it away, and if you are familar with that Joe Nichols song about tequila making her clothes fall off......

I think it is popular because the recipe is not intimidating and Ed explains it very well.

I got my homebrewing stuff in the mail, read my beer kit's instructions, saw the Apfelwein thread and thought, there's something I can make. The first thing you "brew" can be intimidating with sanitation and all, this lets beginners focus on that stuff.

Oh.yeah, and the reason it stays popular is because it is great!

Because of this thread, I just dug, from the back of the fridge a fifth of the uncarbed half of the batch I made a year and a half ago (the fizzy half of the batch is long gone I think) and after 3 beers including my belgian strong ale.....

I cannot feel certain body parts.....

One thing, most of you young-un's, with your ipods, and text messages, and all that instant gratification stuff, probably drink this stuff way green....you should "forget" a few bottles in the back of the closet or fridge for awhile, like over a year...maybe 2...then tap into it..you will be surprised how smooth it is...Like slightly apple flavored water...

Which kicks like a mule.....

I wonder what it would be like oaked for a couple weeks, then left to smoothen out for 6 months or more.

There has been few threads that I have read that haven't resulted in a response from Revvy, but this is the first one I've read that resulted in Revvy getting a little toasty.... I take a bit of pride in that.... lol...

I have a feeling that I won't be much for drinking this stuff. I'm typically not a "apple/cider drinkin'" kinda guy. That being said, I think it'll be a little easier for me to let some bottles sit in the corner of the closet for a few months or a year, and it sounds like that is when it hits its stride. I think I'll make some. If nothing else, then to get a few ladies drunk, and worst case scenario, it'll make a nice gift for my mom (I love the rare occasion that she gets drunk!)

DRoyLenz said:

f nothing else, then to get a few ladies drunk, and worst case scenario, it'll make a nice gift for my mom (I love the rare occasion that she gets drunk!)

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I'm am still relatively conscious despite the imbibing, which I do have you to thank

My mom is 85 and has been in the hospital a month and gets out tomorrow (I am bringing her some of my dark beers btw) before I started brewing my nephew who is only 5 years younger than me started brewing and more significantly wine making....right around the time my dad died. He is quite talented at winemaking and quickly rose to the position of vitner of one of the biggest homebrew/winemaking clubs in the area...that club has twice a year a tasting...in the spring it is wine, and in the fall , beer...and it has been my family's sincere pleasure to take her to the tastings, where she proceeds to get nice and "toasty" (and to slap my arm when talking to me if I am sitting next to her.

Besides that. since he brings wins and I bring beers to family holidays it has made them more palatable...See my brother who was 16 years older than me died 13 years ago on Christmas eve, and my dad, her husband, died 3 years ago this New Years, holidays have been nevertheless difficult. But since every family gathering ends up being an orgy of great food, and beer and wine tastings from my Nephew and I, difficult times have been eased, and actually fun for her....

So yeah.APfelwin may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is for a lot of people and having a batch laid up in your "arsenal" is not necessarily a bad thing.

I'm in the minority as well. I made some after reading about it off & on for a year. I made it with half the dextrose because I didn't need the higher alcohol. I started trying after 6 months but every time I got raging headache that I never get drinking beer. No more for me.

Revvy sir, I think I gain more respect for you every time you post, my girlfriend has had similar experiences with her family, and edwort's apfelwein has most certainly helped things all around. Something this simple, this pleasing...it really is what life is all about.

I keep some hard cider around. It does need to be cellared a good long time.

One of the quotes that Benjamin Franklin probably didn't actually say is, "Bring me today's meat, yesterday's bread and last year's hard cider for dinner please."

Aged under six months, it's hooch. Get it out to a birthday and you are on to something.

Super easy to make.

Revvy - Sorry to hear about your holiday situation. My grandfather passed 2 days before Christmas a few years back so the Holidays are rough for my grandmother. I know if I took some Apfelwein she'd love it and have a good ole time, unfortunately my family would probably Kill-joy the situation and not let her have it. Even though my Uncle Randy (we call him Uncle Brandy) is constantly sneaking out to his car and getting progressivley more comfortable talking to mine and my cousin's wives :rooleyes:



As far as serving Apfelwein at home...I definitely draw mine from the tap into a pint glass. It's just too good. And I'm gonna gonna kid myself, I'll save myself 30 trips to the tap and just fill up one big one. But it is after the 8 month mark that I drink mine. I actually have a batch ready to go into keg, but am waiting for a keg to clear up. Then another batch will be going in the fermenter right behind it. Everyone I've had try it likes it quite a bit. The batch now in the carboy will be on tap at my son's 1st birthday along with Dude's Fat Tire clone and possibly BM Black Pepper Wit if I can sneak the keg out of the keezer and hide it from SWMBO until then.

I have found that Apfelwein can be drank with relative ease. And yes the ladies love it. Also the cost of making this stuff is like highway robbery. You can make this cheaper than buying a 12 pack of crappy beer. Also it only takes about 15 minutes to make, you can drink it still or carbed (both taste good). It is very dry and if too much is consumed it can make for a raging headache in the morning. My friends and I particularly like to take a couple of quarts of apfelwein, some Sailor Jerrys Spiced Rum, and a whole cinnamon stick and simmer for 1 hour and then take shots. Especially during the winter. This stuff is great! Also I find that the recipe is so easy to make that manipulation and experimentation can be very advantageous in finding the right taste for you.

beerjunky828 said:

My friends and I particularly like to take a couple of quarts of apfelwein, some Sailor Jerrys Spiced Rum, and a whole cinnamon stick and simmer for 1 hour and then take shots. Especially during the winter.

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That's close to what we call Heißer Ebbelwoi. Add some candied sugar to it and sip from a coffee cup. It makes for a great winter warmer.

Sounds similar to Apple Pie:

How to Make Apple Pie---the Alcoholic Drink | eHow.com