Man, I love Apfelwein

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Just finished my last bottle of 5 month aged apfelwein.

Dear lord, everything Ed Wort says is true! It REALLY IS 10x better!!!

The apple flavor resurfaces and is very delicious. The alcohol heat dissipates and becomes very smooth. The overall experience is very, very enjoyable. It almost is a different beverage. Soooo tasty.

Hide away 5 or six bottles for 5 to 6 months if you can!
 
I REALLY need to pick up some of this Montrachet Yeast. I've been using Lalvin EC-1118 Wine Yeast for my Apfelwein. Has anyone here done that? Do you think it'll still work out okay?

I mean, it's only been two weeks, and it's still pretty cloudy, I just worry that this yeast is gonna take forever to clear out.
 
AnotherFinch said:
I mean, it's only been two weeks, and it's still pretty cloudy, I just worry that this yeast is gonna take forever to clear out.
Click to expand...

Even Montrachet is cloudy at two weeks...My latest batch is going at about 5 in the primary and is starting to clear nicely now.
 
AnotherFinch said:
I REALLY need to pick up some of this Montrachet Yeast. I've been using Lalvin EC-1118 Wine Yeast for my Apfelwein. Has anyone here done that? Do you think it'll still work out okay?

I mean, it's only been two weeks, and it's still pretty cloudy, I just worry that this yeast is gonna take forever to clear out.
Click to expand...

EC-1118 is fine. I've done two batches so far and they both cleared up extremely nicely. As with the montrachet, it took between 4 and 6 weeks to finish fermentation.
 
My first batch has been in the bucket for 5 days now. It truly smells awful. This better taste like Liquid Crack or the SWMBO isn't going to allow another batch.
 
EdWort said:
That's OK. Send it to me and I'll dispose of it. :D

Did you follow the directions?
Click to expand...
Exactly as you posted them...the only difference was:

1) I feremented in a bucket as I don't own proper carboys
2) The Montrachet Wine Yeast I picked up had a Best Before Date of February 2008

Completely my fault on #2 as I didn't check at my LHBS but did check when I pitched.

Just smells like rotten eggs. Sulphuric etc.

*EDIT*
I don't own proper carboys as the flat I live in in San Francisco isn't large and space is at a premium. Removing spigots from buckets and stacking them works out nicely. Cannot do that with carboys.
 
fusion94 said:
Exactly as you posted them...the only difference was:

1) I feremented in a bucket as I don't own proper carboys
2) The Montrachet Wine Yeast I picked up had a Best Before Date of February 2008

Completely my fault on #2 as I didn't check at my LHBS but did check when I pitched.

Just smells like rotten eggs. Sulphuric etc.
Click to expand...

If it smells like rhino farts
1) Your yeast is fine
2) You are making Apfelwein
:p
 
I've made a bunch of batches of Apfelwein, but This is the first batch that been sitting around for a couple of months. First. Is that a problem. Second, It's been in a warm area. maybe 75ish or a little more. Will that hurt this batch??

I'm about ready to keg this batch. I hope it's not an issue..
 
Bulls Beers said:
I've made a bunch of batches of Apfelwein, but This is the first batch that been sitting around for a couple of months. First. Is that a problem. Second, It's been in a warm area. maybe 75ish or a little more. Will that hurt this batch??

I'm about ready to keg this batch. I hope it's not an issue..
Click to expand...

No problem. I don't worry about my temp and it ranges from 68-76 depending on time of day and weather.
 
I just started my first batch Sunday. It smelled great till Tuesday. Now.....not so good.

I made it in a 5 gallon alhambra water bottle. I followed the directions, except I used dark brown sugar because I couldnt find dextrose. It is EXTREMELY cloudy and there is some nasty moldy looking foam attached to the top of the bottle. Other than that, it is bubbling away nicely.

Questions:

It treally foamed up at first and some seemed to attach to the top of the bottle, is that an issue? It looks pretty nasty.

When I move it to my bottling bucket, can I just pick it up and turn it over and chug it on in, or do I need to siphon more carefully?

Thanks..
 
Everyone tries to make this simple thing SO COMPLICATED. I'm about to start batch #5 for me. No questions. No worries. Just like it should be.
5 gallon juice
2# priming sugar
1 pack Montrichet.
Shake.
wait.
Brew More
Bottle
Drink.
Wait
Brew More.
Drink more.

That's it.

Ed...I'm so glad I got in on this before you decided to charge $200 for the recipe.
 
Richard said:
I bought a 5-pound bag of corn sugar. How can I measure out 1 pound at a time without scales?
Click to expand...

Put half of it in. You'll be fine. Next time, buy 1 lb. bags unless there is a serious price break on the 5 lb. bags. I have not seen any discount, so I buy it in 1 lb. bags. It's pre-measured, thanks to the LHBS, and I don't have to worry about an opened bag sitting around.
 
Buy a scale. Why wouldn't you. Once you have a nice digital scale around, you will wonder how you ever survived without it. I do get a significant discount (well a dollar or two) for buying dextrose in bulk, so I do. Apfelwein rocks!
 
AnotherFinch said:
I REALLY need to pick up some of this Montrachet Yeast. I've been using Lalvin EC-1118 Wine Yeast for my Apfelwein. Has anyone here done that? Do you think it'll still work out okay?

I mean, it's only been two weeks, and it's still pretty cloudy, I just worry that this yeast is gonna take forever to clear out.
Click to expand...

I have done one with Lavin 116 and one with montrachet, the Montrachet is MUCH better. Not to say the Lavin 116 wasn't good, I like them both but the SWMBO loves the montrachet...
 
will Bacardi 151 in the air lock be bad if it gets sucked in? thats all I have at the moment. I made it with edworts original recipe.
 
scox80 said:
will Bacardi 151 in the air lock be bad if it gets sucked in? thats all I have at the moment. I made it with edworts original recipe.
Click to expand...
Be sure that it's not eating the 'El Cheapo Plastic in the air lock, but it can't hurt anything else. You'll know for sure, because if it's doing any damage...you airlock will feel very soft and rubbery as if it's just come out of super hot water....if that happens, cut your 151 in half with Water. That will bring it down to about 32% and it won't hurt the plastic.
 
hey fellas, i must say, i just got this apfelwein on tap. every since, the neighbors haven't stopped bugging me. I just had to fill up the nighbors 40oz cup from 7-11. This stuff is going fast. I think my chick will love it too, i have dubbed it "panty remover."

In fact, im sipping some now and pretty drunk.
 
trent said:
i have dubbed it "panty remover."

In fact, im sipping some now and pretty drunk.
Click to expand...
That's great. Once you are drunk enough to get your panties off, make sure SWMBO makes you drink water and the Aspirin. :D

Dont mind me...My SWMBO doesn't much care for it....and I'm a little bitter about it.
 
Made my first batch yesterday...some of the yeast got stuck to my funnel, and pouring the rest of the apple juice down didn't wash it all off. I hope this won't cause a problem. The vast majority of the yeast got into the fermentor.
 
I made my third 3 gallon batch on Saturday. I wasn't paying attention and filled the carboy to the top. I think there is about an inch between the bung and the juice. Thank God montrachet doesn't ferment like beer yeast!
 
Ok, ill be honest.... i didnt read all 324 pages of this thread so im pretty sure this has been gone over before.

I prefer wine to be on the sweet side so I would assume it would be the same with this so should I use splenda? and how much and when?
 
dataz722 said:
Ok, ill be honest.... i didnt read all 324 pages of this thread so im pretty sure this has been gone over before.

I prefer wine to be on the sweet side so I would assume it would be the same with this so should I use splenda? and how much and when?
Click to expand...

It has been gone over before i'm sure. Just as a future reference. There is a "search this thread" button. where you can do the search before you post. Try it!

EDIT: Tried it myself and took me 3 seconds....
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=415580&highlight=splenda#post415580
 
tuckferrorists said:
It has been gone over before i'm sure. Just as a future reference. There is a "search this thread" button. where you can do the search before you post. Try it!

EDIT: Tried it myself and took me 3 seconds....
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=415580&highlight=splenda#post415580
Click to expand...


Standard winemaking way: Add potassium sorbate and sugar water (or apple juice). You can buy it premixed sugar/sorbate as "wine conditioner".

Or the (blech!) splenda method as in above link.
 
Is it necessary to take a gravity reading before bottling or is there a safe amount of time it can ferment before bottling?

I forgot to take a original gravity reading and my batch has now been fermenting for five weeks and to be honest, I've never used my hydrometer yet and I'm sort of concerned about opening the bucket to draw a sample and letting in some microbes and infect the batch.

So, if five weeks or six weeks is long enough to ferment, I'd just bottle it without taking the reading.
 
Okay, I have a couple of quick questions, as we are close to bottling our one-gallon test batch.

1. Does Apfelwein have the same oxygenation issues as beer? In other words, do we have to worry about mixing like when we bottle our regular brew?

2. Will carb tabs work here? Any other suggestions on how to carb half a gallon (we are going to carb half and leave half uncarbed)?

Thanks!
 
Thwizzit said:
Is it necessary to take a gravity reading before bottling or is there a safe amount of time it can ferment before bottling?

I forgot to take a original gravity reading and my batch has now been fermenting for five weeks and to be honest, I've never used my hydrometer yet and I'm sort of concerned about opening the bucket to draw a sample and letting in some microbes and infect the batch.

So, if five weeks or six weeks is long enough to ferment, I'd just bottle it without taking the reading.
Click to expand...

Per Ed :

'It will become cloudy in a couple of days and remain so for a few weeks. In the 4th week, the yeast will begin to drop out and it will become clear. After at least 4 weeks, you can keg or bottle, but it is ok to leave it in the carboy for another month or so. Racking to a secondary is not necessary. It ferments out very dry (less than 0.999, see here)

If you want to bottle and carbonate, ¾ cup of corn sugar will work fine. Use as you would carbonate a batch of beer.'

Bottle at that hydro reading. Every batch is different. I've had one go down to .990.
 
9/9 said:
2. Will carb tabs work here? Any other suggestions on how to carb half a gallon (we are going to carb half and leave half uncarbed)?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Carb tabs will work, you can carb it at the same dextrose ratio as beer.
 

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