Man, I love Apfelwein

I don't know if it matters or not, but I was using S-05. Most of the fermentation was done in the first two weeks, but there had been a small stream of bubbles coming up from the bottom for the following few weeks... reminiscent of champagne bubbles, but slower. I'm not going to bother with FG readings for this one gallon batch, but I will be bottling as soon as I have the chance and will probably let it sit at least another month before trying it.

I have a few bottling questions. First, after 2.5+ months aging, would I need to add yeast or stir up the lees in order to carb? The latter half of this time it has been sitting in the basement at 55-60 degrees.

Secondly, at this temperature, there was a bit of disolved CO2 left. I siphoned off just a bit into a wine bottle and shoved a used, sanitized cork in just to take to immediate share with some friends. After the wine warmed up to room temperature (sitting by a sunny window) the cork blew out! Could controlling temperature toward the end of fermentation then killing the yeast be a way to leave some CO2 and back-sweeten with real sugar?

Has anybody bottled this still in wine bottles? If so, how hong have you aged them?

Thanks for the help. I'm racking to two cornies and will forget about it until the spring.

Recluse said:

OK.. check the label on the concentrate. A good priming rate is 1 oz (by weight) sugar per gallon of Apfelwein.

So, if your concentrate is something like 28 g sugar/2 oz, then a 12 oz can of concentrate should be good to prime 6 gallons.

I generally like to prime a touch higher, so I would probably throw the whole can into 5 gal, but this is a good starting point.

Be warned...at basement temps it takes quite awhile to carb up.

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tkirkm176 said:

Has anybody bottled this still in wine bottles? If so, how hong have you aged them?

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I did that with my first few batches. Carbed most of it, but made 2 or 3 wine bottles still. Gave them away/drank them pretty quickly. Don't think they bottle aged for more than a month or two and were fine. I prefer carbonation, so I haven't bottled much still.

Note the recent post where some 'still' wine bottles exploded when warm due to residual CO2 in the bottled Apfelwein when bottled at low temperature.

You might want to degas if you are going to bottle at cellar temps and store them warm. I had no trouble with mine in the basement and I didn't degas.

I bought three containers of spice I want to try. 1.5 oz each. Nutmeg, Cloves and Cinamon. Does anybody have a suggestion on how much of each I should use in a 5 gal batch?

So I just went to my LHBS to pick up the yeast. While I was there I decided I would just buy the corn sugar there. It only came in 4 pound bags so I thought, hey why not buy two packets of yeast and make 10 gallons...so that is what I did lol Tomorrow I am picking up 10 gallons of apple juice.

I think I am going to ferment one batch for 4 to 6 weeks and the other for 4 to 5 months just to compare.

I would also like to try to taste some still and carbed. And maybe even try to split that down to carb in bottle and carb in keg. Do you think that would work from one 5 gallon batch? I don't have a corker so I would have to put them in beer bottles. I could do 1/3 in beer bottles with no priming sugar, 1/3 in beer bottles with priming sugar and 1/3 in a corny. Would that work? Or am I trying to split this batch into too many things? I'm basically just seeing which way I like. Short fermentation vs long fermentation. Still, bottle carbed or kegged.

For the 1/3 bottle carbed I would just use 1/3 the sugar so about 1.7oz.

Quick question...just bottled my first batch yesterday, Same recipe as Ed worts, it's been sitting in glass carbon since last January, it is super sour, is this how it is supposed to taste? I like the taste I just want to make sure that is the norm... Thanks in advance!

Buck33 said:

Quick question...just bottled my first batch yesterday, Same recipe as Ed worts, it's been sitting in glass carbon since last January, it is super sour, is this how it is supposed to taste? I like the taste I just want to make sure that is the norm... Thanks in advance!

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I haven't made it yet (obviously by my last post) but I wouldn't think it should taste super sour. It will change a little with bottle conditioning. A year does seem like a long time in primary.

I would characterize it to be similar to the dry cider flavor but less sweet. Mine finishes out under 1.0 so it's dry

tennesseean_87 said:

I have a few bottling questions. First, after 2.5+ months aging, would I need to add yeast or stir up the lees in order to carb? The latter half of this time it has been sitting in the basement at 55-60 degrees.

Secondly, at this temperature, there was a bit of disolved CO2 left. I siphoned off just a bit into a wine bottle and shoved a used, sanitized cork in just to take to immediate share with some friends. After the wine warmed up to room temperature (sitting by a sunny window) the cork blew out! Could controlling temperature toward the end of fermentation then killing the yeast be a way to leave some CO2 and back-sweeten with real sugar?

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Bumpity bump

BARBQ said:

I bought three containers of spice I want to try. 1.5 oz each. Nutmeg, Cloves and Cinamon. Does anybody have a suggestion on how much of each I should use in a 5 gal batch?

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I also found some pumpkin spice from mckormicks that smells so good. It be all I need cause it has a strong cinamon smell but finishes with a mild clove smell

Bottling tonight after 5 weeks in fermenter (I need the carboy to rack Kolsch for lagering). It cleared right on time, around 4 weeks. Used Windsor yeast, so we'll see how it turns out. Wife is ANTSY!

I'm thinking 2-2.5 volumes of carbonation using table sugar and/or brown sugar.

solbes said:

Bottling tonight after 5 weeks in fermenter (I need the carboy to rack Kolsch for lagering). It cleared right on time, around 4 weeks. Used Windsor yeast, so we'll see how it turns out. Wife is ANTSY!

I'm thinking 2-2.5 volumes of carbonation using table sugar and/or brown sugar.

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Please do report back! I have used mainly Montrachet and EC-1118. I have an old pack of Windsor (probably expired, but maybe still active) which I keep meaning to use for beer but always seem to pick a different yeast. If I can pitch it in some Afpelwein, it will go to good use! The statements about low flocculation and leaving high gravity have made me shy away from it for beer, but it seems like it could be good for Apfelwein.

I am going to siphon some I made out of 2 two-liter bottles and put 2 cans of frozen applejuice concentrate in each one with half a can of grapefruit juice concentrate back ontop of the yeast, maybe a bit of brown sugar.

I read somewhere that I can just put more juice on the yeast a few times befor it needs to be rinsed ( I don't know how to rinse, I just figure why scrub the yeast out right befor I pitch more.)

I also want to add that doing the small batches in 2 litres with some nutrient made the wein clear of the champagne yeast in only about a week. Not sure if smaller batches make it go faster

Buck33 said:

Quick question...just bottled my first batch yesterday, Same recipe as Ed worts, it's been sitting in glass carbon since last January, it is super sour, is this how it is supposed to taste? I like the taste I just want to make sure that is the norm... Thanks in advance!

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I'm curious about this too, i've got a batch that's been in a carboy since january (i forgot about it) i was planning on bottling it this weekend. i have stabilized and added alittle conditioner for backsweetening, otherwise everything is the original recipe

Yeah I forgot about mine too, It's hard for me to say because I have never drank anything like this before, it finished out at 1.000 and I didn't add any sweetener. It had a nice crisp dry taste but it is also very sour.

I believe if you use some wine conditioner to back sweeten then prime with corn sugar or something fermentable, bottle, and wait a month. You will have it darned up. If no wine conditioner search this site for non fermentables and you will find all kinds of things to use.

Recluse said:

The statements about low flocculation and leaving high gravity have made me shy away from it for beer, but it seems like it could be good for Apfelwein.

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I like to keep a spare pack of dry yeast around in case one of my beer starters go bad. I haven't had that issue yet, so I wanted to use it up prior to expiration. My thinking was the same as yours, lower attenuation might be a good thing in this case. I'll take a gravity reading tonight to see if it made any difference. I'm sure it'll be below 1.008 with all of that easy to ferment sugar, but how low I have no idea.

Also I'm not going to drink a lot of these yet, but they can condition in the bottle. I need fermenter space.

Moving it to my new home was actually a good thing. For one getting it outside showed me just how clear it is. We are at one week, the yeast is going at what seems like a boil after some stirring in the car and sitting at 75F in the new place. And the best part? It's pretty clear. I'm 20ft away right now and I can see through the jug.

Going to keep it in there till just shy of christmas, but i but i bet it dont need it. Gotta steal a teaste tonight.

Recluse said:

Please do report back! I have used mainly Montrachet and EC-1118. I have an old pack of Windsor (probably expired, but maybe still active) which I keep meaning to use for beer but always seem to pick a different yeast. If I can pitch it in some Afpelwein, it will go to good use! The statements about low flocculation and leaving high gravity have made me shy away from it for beer, but it seems like it could be good for Apfelwein.

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Well scratch the idea that Windsor will leave a higher finishing gravity. I bottled last night at roughly 5 weeks. 0.997 using Windsor yeast. I had aerated pretty well at the start, added some yeast nutrient, and subbed 1/2 lb of brown sugar + 1/2 lb of table sugar in place of Ed's 2 lbs of corn sugar.

I tasted the gravity sample and it was pretty decent. Still pretty green around the edges, but it had a nice tart edge to it. It was pretty dry, but I think I'll like them when they are carb'd. I packaged one without priming sugar in a wine bottle just to compare a few months down the road.

I just started bottling my first batch and was going to bottle prime it but its already partially carbed. But since the plastic bottles didn't get too hard when I shook them I added 3/8ths tsp of sugar to each 12 oz bottle
It smells great! I'm going to put a few of the still ones straight into the fridge probably and will try one once its chilled. It tastes great already too, drank the last of the fermenter with a few buddies.

So my apfelwein was made 9/9/2011. 4.5 gallons generic apple juice, about 2-3 pounds table sugar. (I had a 5 lb bag and poured about 1/2 in). Used 1 Montrachet red pack, and some yeast energizer.

Well I bottled it about 3 weeks ago, with 3/4 tsp per bottle table sugar. Left it room temp till a few days ago. Cracked one and no carbonation!

What did I do wrong?

Some yeasts I've used have been super slow to carb. One of mine right now is montracet and the fermentation time on it was almost 3 weeks. I would guess it's either very slow or I managed to bottle with no viable yeasts. I've had a few end up with no second fermentation in the bottle towards the winter season that I presume was the latter.

When did you bottle it? Was it still hazy or crystal clear? Mines been sitting for 6 mos because I plan to bottle dry and still but since my wife asked for some sparkling I'm going to bottle the first 3 gallons from the top and stir up a little yeast when I do the bottle carbed ones.

I used Nottingham and there is no way I will have any issues naturally carbing it. This yeast KICKS

It was crystal clear when I bottled it, but there is some sediment in the bottom of the bottles now.

I'm really hoping I got enough live yeast in the bottles to carb it up. Is it possible the yeast was killed by a high abv?

eloro said:

It was crystal clear when I bottled it, but there is some sediment in the bottom of the bottles now.

I'm really hoping I got enough live yeast in the bottles to carb it up. Is it possible the yeast was killed by a high abv?

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It will take longer to carb with this Montrachet yeast. It tends to work very slowly.

Apples aren't my first love, but finally getting around to my first full batch of EW's apfelwein today. Decided NOT to go with any of the locally available apple juice. Couldn't find anything that wasn't reconstituted from concentrate or, if not, that didn't have potassium benzoate in it. Went to the local orchard and got 5 gal of their late-season 13 apple blend cider, flash-pasteurized only. Made me a good price of $4 / gallon, so I'm off and running.....

Did I screw up my Apfelwein? I made my first batch on 10-30-11 and kegged it today. Tasted it, and it had a funny flavor and smell. Not sure what it was supposed to taste like or smell like. I put san-star water in the air lock because I did not have any vodka on hand. I know I did have a overflow and was wondering if I screwed it up. Is there any saving it?

Hey Grand Rapids! I don't miss the Grand Raggity at all LOL.

Can you describe the taste/smell? How is the color? What was the deal with the over flow? Any odd goo, rings, etc?

Well....here is my first try. This is the first thing that I have tried. I hope that it turns out well. I used a 3 gallon instead of a 5 and used 1.2 pounds of dextrose, and I estimated the amount of yeast. I added a little bit of yeast food to it.

How long will it take until I start to see activity?

nukinfuts29 said:

Hey Grand Rapids! I don't miss the Grand Raggity at all LOL.

Can you describe the taste/smell? How is the color? What was the deal with the over flow? Any odd goo, rings, etc?

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The smell is like a spoiled apple smell and it taste like something a little spoiled. The over flow was when it was fermenting, it went into and out of the air lock. There was some settlement in the air lock. The color looks like a lighter apple juice. Just had the usual settlement in the bottom. Think it will get better. I kegged it and stuck it in the refrigerator to carbonate it. We will see.

Question for youse guys .

Somewhere between my "Shoot first and ask questions later" mode and my "Have everything planned out well until I start to implement" mode, I bottled my first batch tonight. It is exactly 5 weeks after pitching.

Question is: After adding 3/4 cup sugar to a 5 gallon batch, I measured SG. The SG at the time I bottled was 1.005. I bottled in beer (and a few woodchuck) bottles.

I seem to remember a statement that said "Bottling at greater than 1.010 is asking for trouble," but I don't remember seeing any corroboration.

So does a SG of 1.005 after adding priming sugar sound like it is within a safe range?

BTW, I thought the gratuity at bottling time tasted like it has a lot of potential, but I think it needs to smooth just a tad. The lady tasted it and went completely doe-eyed. She's an apple lover, so I was really anticipating her reaction. I'm going to have to hide it from her. .

CKFROST said:

Well....here is my first try. This is the first thing that I have tried. I hope that it turns out well. I used a 3 gallon instead of a 5 and used 1.2 pounds of dextrose, and I estimated the amount of yeast. I added a little bit of yeast food to it.

How long will it take until I start to see activity?

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Should start in under 24 hours

CKFROST said:

Well....here is my first try. This is the first thing that I have tried. I hope that it turns out well. I used a 3 gallon instead of a 5 and used 1.2 pounds of dextrose, and I estimated the amount of yeast. I added a little bit of yeast food to it.

How long will it take until I start to see activity?

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Should be 24hrs but it can go to 36-48 depending on temp and yeast

Sent from my Galaxy S 4G using Home Brew Talk for Android

SteveHoward said:

Question for youse guys .

Somewhere between my "Shoot first and ask questions later" mode and my "Have everything planned out well until I start to implement" mode, I bottled my first batch tonight. It is exactly 5 weeks after pitching.

Question is: After adding 3/4 cup sugar to a 5 gallon batch, I measured SG. The SG at the time I bottled was 1.005. I bottled in beer (and a few woodchuck) bottles.

I seem to remember a statement that said "Bottling at greater than 1.010 is asking for trouble," but I don't remember seeing any corroboration.

So does a SG of 1.005 after adding priming sugar sound like it is within a safe range?

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Good practice is to measure Final Gravity BEFORE the addition of Priming sugar. You should be fine, though. I have had Apfelwein finish anywhere between 0.996 and 1.003 (before addition of sugar). Usually it is 1.00 or less, but I think these are all safe ranges.

3/4 cup priming sugar should be about 4 oz by weight, or 1/4 lb. Dextrose is 45 points per pound/gallon, so you would have been adding

0.25 lb/5 gal * 45 pt/lb/gallon = 2.25 points, making your ending gravity before sugar addition about 1.0025 which is in the ball park.

Will this recipe work using regular white sugar? Just realized I'm out of dexatrouse.

Using Nottingham

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Made a 1 gallon batch using brown sugar instead of dexstrose a few weeks ago. Was saving it for New Years Eve. Thought I'd have a sample of it - very dry, hint of apple.

Drank half of it last night. Dammit.

Tomorrow? I start my 5 gallon batch.

nukinfuts29 said:

Will this recipe work using regular white sugar? Just realized I'm out of dexatrouse.

Using Nottingham

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I used brown sugar 1:1 substitution. Worked fine for me!