My first brew - world's easiest apfelwein

Hey all. I did my first brew at my home today (have been brewing with buddies elsewhere for 1.5 years). I'm trying out EdWort's apfelwein. The best part is that the juice came in a glass jug that i can just jam an airlock into.


SWMBO hates beer but loves cider. I figured this was the easiest way to ease her into dealing with carboys in her sewing room .

I did have to pour a little out after adding 180 grams of brown sugar. I used a full packet of Lalvin EC-1118 champagne yeast. Just dumped it straight in. Any experienced brewers know if there's a problem using a full packet of yeast for 1 gallon? Also, how long should I have to wait to see bubbles coming out of the airlock?

Update: vigorous bubbling after about 5 hours. about 1/4inch of krausen (i didn't expect any). I'm gonna go watch it bubble now!

I did the same thing for my Apfelwein, albeit on a smaller scale (1.2L). I used Lalvin EC-1118 and I'm very pleased with the results after a 6 week primary. I'd recommend a shorter primary though as there is a slight yeast flavour when consumed at room temperature; I think racking to secondary would solve this problem. I used a full packet of yeast in mine, the more yeast the better (to a certain degree) and there is no point in saving half the packet for later. Don't panic if you don't see bubbles coming out of the airlock until after the first 72 hours, although I suspect a full 11gr packet of yeast in a well-aerated must will start fermentation within 24 hours or less.

In fact, my sister liked it so much that she requested a gallon batch of it for her birthday this year and she's the kind of girl that normally asks for heels or hair products!