Man, I love Apfelwein

3 G? I'm assuming you're an Apfelwein Virgin? Better get another one going. I waited until my 1st and second batches were empty before starting the next one. I will be pouring apple juice and sugar on top of this yeast cake as soon as I rack this batch into keg.

Need some clarification on racking. I got a apple wein going for 15 days now. Fermentation is finished and I used a pack of Muntons Gold yeast. When, or do I even have to, rack the wein from the primary? My brews would normally sit for about two or three weeks before I rack into the keg. My concern is autolysis.

Ol' Grog said:

Need some clarification on racking. I got a apple wein going for 15 days now. Fermentation is finished and I used a pack of Muntons Gold yeast. When, or do I even have to, rack the wein from the primary? My brews would normally sit for about two or three weeks before I rack into the keg. My concern is autolysis.

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Autolysis, especially in beer, isn't an issue for 3+ months. You're better off leaving it on the cake for 4 weeks. Additionally, apfelwein needs extra time to clear, so many recommend 8 weeks in primary, then straight to bottles. You could speed that up, though, with a cold crash, but you'll still want to age the bottles for a while.

Thanks, I had originally planned to let sit for 8 weeks in primary, but got to reading and thinking about autolysis and raised some concerns with me. Sit it shall....

So for my second batch I upped the sugar slightly and used EC-1118 yeast. (was word for word on first batch) So for 3 days now it's been bubbling nonstop and sort of looks like freshly poured 7-up with the massive amount of bubbles. People are starting to question my sanity as I sit staring at this 5gal carboy with a flashlight for way too long.

It will be delicious. Luckily I can sip on my first batch until then... this stuff really grows on you.

IrregularPulse said:

3 G? I'm assuming you're an Apfelwein Virgin? Better get another one going. I waited until my 1st and second batches were empty before starting the next one. I will be pouring apple juice and sugar on top of this yeast cake as soon as I rack this batch into keg.

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You can DO THAT??? <p.s. I am still a noob>
Just rack for bottling (or keg) then go ahead and fill with applejuice and dextrose and airlock all good and it will keep going and make more Apfelwein?


Just pitched a 5 gallon batch of this first time yesterday, can't wait to try it!

Ol' Grog said:

Thanks, I had originally planned to let sit for 8 weeks in primary, but got to reading and thinking about autolysis and raised some concerns with me. Sit it shall....

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8 weeks is not a problem. I went 4 months and 1 week on one batch, it was a bit soapy but once the yeast completely dropped out a few months in the keg it was fine, so I won't go past three months now.

So I am bottle carbing some apfelwein (2weeks in) and I noticed that the bottles have developed little clumps at the bottom that float up if the bottle is shaken. Is this just a bit of yeast sediment? It looks different than sediment from beers that I have bottle carbed. I've drank a couple bottles and it tastes fine.

So I have 2 1-gallon batches going, ready to bottle. I did 2 1 gallon batches because i used the juice from wholefoods that comes in 1gal glass carboys.

wondering how much sugar i should use for each carboy for bottling. and should i put them in a secondary before bottling? sorry i didnt search but this thread is so damn long now haha.

3 gallons just started...

i went to walmart today to try to find some apple juice to make this and guess what....

WALMART SUCKS.

everything from concentrate....

the only other grocery store in town, winn dixie, same deal.

deepsouth said:

i went to walmart today to try to find some apple juice to make this and guess what....

WALMART SUCKS.

everything from concentrate....

the only other grocery store in town, winn dixie, same deal.

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I used Mott's from Walmart (from concentrate) and it came out great! Batch I'm on now is walmart's store brand (two bucks for three quarts) and so far it's going solid as well.

Brule said:

I used Mott's from Walmart (from concentrate) and it came out great! Batch I'm on now is walmart's store brand (two bucks for three quarts) and so far it's going solid as well.

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that's good to know. i wasn't sure that would work and nobody in my house likes apple juice enough to drink five gallons.

thanks for the tip. although i still hate walmart, i'll give it a shot.

From concentrate is just fine. The thing you're trying to avoid is any Sorbate or other things listed as preservatives.

You can even use juice that says it has Ascorbic Acid, which is just Vitamin C.

I just sampled my first batch two nights ago. It's been going for 3 weeks. I mixed 3 roughly equal amounts of 3 different kinds of Tree Top (apple cider, apple juice, 3 apple blend fresh pressed) and used the Red Star Montrachet yeast.

Took a hydrometer sample and got 1.001 or so, down from 1.069 . . so 8.9% ABV?

Appearance - cloudy, yellow.
Smell - slightly yeasty - very mild alcohol burn, but much less than I expected.
Flavor - slightly yeasty, but very good apple flavor, dry but not too dry, minor alcohol burn . . but really nothing to write home about.

At this point I'm just waiting for it to clear. I don't think this one is going to need much aging at all. Again, a mild alcohol burn, but nothing like what I got when I first tasted my Dead Guy clone. No solvent-like smells or tastes at all. Good apple flavor.

I thought this was supposed to sit at least 6 months for best taste???

Well, the original recipe says 8 weeks. I have a batch that I started at the end of April, and it's pretty cloudy yet, but I'm following the directions and just forgetting about it until it's clear again. Don't mess with it, man!

Jumped in myself this morning. 5 gallons Wal-Mart store-brand apple juice (INGREDIENTS: apple juice from concentrate, water, ascorbic acid), 2 lbs brown sugar, one pkg Montrachet wine yeast. I did boil about a quart-and-a-half of the juice to dissolve the sugar in. I used an old 5 gal water bottle (code 7 on the plastic, I know, I know) that I had lying around. Time to wait now....

Well, I had to see what all the hoopla was about!

Ok, go with me here, Just finished off a batch of EW apfelwine, LOVE IT, but the wife would like it a bit sweeter and Maybe make it pink!! Ok, I think I get the sweet thing, Add 1lb of Non fermentable sugar and it should sweeten up, but I have also read that you can add one or two cans of apple concentrate. this both adds to the sugar levels and but helps make the wine taste more like apples. So how about this, ill add the 1lb of NF sugar, but also add a Razberry or cherry concentrate to give it an apple/Raz or Cherry taste. This should make the wife happy and fix my sweet problem correct?

Has anyone added another concentrate to change the taste a bit? Kinda like an woodchuck cherry cider. Has anyone done this? Can you help a brewer out?? Thoughts?

How long does it take to carbonate this? 1-2 weeks like beer or have some experienced longer times? (I have 12 and 22 oz beer bottles and 1 liter soda bottles.)

I started a 3 gallon batch on 5/06 and I want to take some to a party on 7/10. The original directions state: "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."
I have a total of 9 weeks: I have 7 weeks to leave in the carboy if it only takes 2 weeks to carb. Should I bottle at 6 weeks just to be safe? Am I compromising a lot of flavor in that one week? As always, your thoughts and input are most appreciated!

I'm drinking one right now that is two months old, about one month bottle conditioned. the carbonation is just now noticeable, but I think the future I wont carb it unless i keg it. I'm pleasantly surprised at how different it tastes after letting it sit. from first month to second month there is a noticeable difference.

I think I"m going to do another batch next week and let it sit until the wife and I get back from switzerland and rome. I'm thinking about doing brown sugar this time just for something different.

COBrewer said:

Ok, go with me here, Just finished off a batch of EW apfelwine, LOVE IT, but the wife would like it a bit sweeter and Maybe make it pink!! Ok, I think I get the sweet thing, Add 1lb of Non fermentable sugar and it should sweeten up, but I have also read that you can add one or two cans of apple concentrate. this both adds to the sugar levels and but helps make the wine taste more like apples. So how about this, ill add the 1lb of NF sugar, but also add a Razberry or cherry concentrate to give it an apple/Raz or Cherry taste. This should make the wife happy and fix my sweet problem correct?

Has anyone added another concentrate to change the taste a bit? Kinda like an woodchuck cherry cider. Has anyone done this? Can you help a brewer out?? Thoughts?

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I used a half gallon of blueberry pomegranate juice to 4 gallons of apple in mine. It didn't really affect the color much, even though the bluberry/pom was really dark purpley-red. You get a hint of the flavor, but not much. You might need to move closer to 1/3 to 1/2 to really get the color to come through.

danorocks17 said:

I'm drinking one right now that is two months old, about one month bottle conditioned. the carbonation is just now noticeable, but I think the future I wont carb it unless i keg it. I'm pleasantly surprised at how different it tastes after letting it sit. from first month to second month there is a noticeable difference.

I think I"m going to do another batch next week and let it sit until the wife and I get back from switzerland and rome. I'm thinking about doing brown sugar this time just for something different.

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So is your Apfelwein a total of 2 months old or two months in the carboy and one month bottle conditioning for a total of three months? Thanks for your help! (I'm starting another batch of 5 gallons this weekend. Envy your going to Switzerland and Italy!!! Have fun!)

I like to let mine sit for several months. I have one I made in march still in the carboy. Will probably transfer it in a few weeks and let it sit in a keg for a couple more months. It gets sooo much better the longer it sits! I'll most likely transfer it to keg, and dump more sugar and applejuice on the yeast cake.

Seriously.... (or srsly?)... this stuff is cheap as hooch. Make up a metric ton, and let it sit. You'll thank me later. You wouldn't drink a bottle of wine in a restaurant that was dated 'March 2009' tonight, would you?

I am drinking a keg from 7/08 right now, and I have a keg from 12/08 which is aging that will go in after that. I will start a new batch very soon now... since my kegs of apfelwein last me about 5-6 months. (Yes, it's just me that drinks it, and I don't drink it every day :cross

Phooey! Guess it won't be ready for the Grad party! Oh well! I'll just have to wait and then have a party myself! Ya - an Apfelwein tasting party!

My last batch of Apfelwein was great! I just started another batch but I used 3.75 gallons of White grape-peach juice, a half gallon of white grape-cherry, and only about a gallon of apple juice. I hope it turns out alright!

spriggan et al., I'd like to point out that what you've made technically ISN'T apfelwein if you're going in different directions with the juice!

You know this stuff is amazing when you have some left in the bottling bucket, pour it over ice, and get slowly hammered on a Wed. afternoon. I'm toying with the idea of spiking mine with a little pomegranate or blueberry juice on the next batch for color.

Apfelwein!

Wow, 500 pages! Checked on mine last night when I got home from work (pitched yesterday morning) and it had a globby yeast funk on top with pressure on the airlock, but no bubbles in the airlock. When I got up this morning, the funk on top was gone & it's fizzing along with millions of tiny bubbles, just like I've read about.

It's got a whiff of rhinofartitis too!

spriggan486 said:

My last batch of Apfelwein was great! I just started another batch but I used 3.75 gallons of White grape-peach juice, a half gallon of white grape-cherry, and only about a gallon of apple juice. I hope it turns out alright!

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Sounds delish! Keep us updated!

I told myself I would, and I did... 500 pages... :rockin: I almost felt like waiting until post 4999 to post, but that would be Sacrilegious to the posters that have kept this thread going! Even though the same questions kept getting asked and answered every other page, it was still informative. I have never, and will probably never again, see a fermentor with a condom for an airlock.

From everthing I have read in this thread, I have seen so many variations in sugars, yeasts, juice/cider, etc. Only once did I see someone experiement with 2 different yeasts in the same batch. My question, after all this reading, what about Monty and Cotes together? An Ale and Monty together?

Due to my wife getting laid off last week (when I started reading this) I am in no condition to go buy a bunch of stuff. I've not brewed anything before, so I have no supplies. However, I am going to jump the gun and use my 'free' bottle from work to whip a batch up. (Sparkletts Polycarb) I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding using these bottles, but a few people whom I've grown to respect through these posts make me think its ok to do. By 4 weeks or so, I should be able to amass something between ghetto and decent.

Thanks everyone for your years of posts on this, thank you Ed for starting this. I hope this continues for years to come so I can be a apfelwein old timer!

Well I know it's not "technically" Apfelwein.... My point was that I'm using the same process as the Apfelwein recipe so I just figured I'd share. No need to get all snarky.

spriggan486 said:

Well I know it's not "technically" Apfelwein.... My point was that I'm using the same process as the Apfelwein recipe so I just figured I'd share. No need to get all snarky.

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I used brown sugar so, technically, I guess mine ain't Apfelwein either. At least that's what was said (somewhere) earlier in this thread. Yes, I've read it ALL. I need a life!

And to get uber-"snarky", according to EdWort, who (IIRC) has seen and drank (drunk?) the real thing, the original German stuff is not carbed, so if ya carb it, I guess it ain't really Apfelwein then neither!

I like mine lightly carbonated. It tastes better. I don't care what z Germans say.

ChshreCat said:

I used a half gallon of blueberry pomegranate juice to 4 gallons of apple in mine. It didn't really affect the color much, even though the bluberry/pom was really dark purpley-red. You get a hint of the flavor, but not much. You might need to move closer to 1/3 to 1/2 to really get the color to come through.

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I did 1 gal of pomegranate (go Costco!!) and I love it

I did a cranapfelwine last night. I am really interested to see how it turns out. Too bad I have to wait at least 6 weeks...sigh...

3 days in and the whole house smells like feet... I'm guessing that's what the rhino farts are eh?

svengoat said:

3 days in and the whole house smells like feet... I'm guessing that's what the rhino farts are eh?

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Yup... found that out the hard way too. That shouldn't last long. After the first week the rhino farts go away for the most part. I'm assuming you're using Montrachet too? From what I've read, that strain is notorious for this. I'm approaching week 7 in the primary for my first batch and am frantically looking for swingtops for bottling. I don't wanna bother with capping. Good luck with your batch!