Man, I love Apfelwein

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
After reading through the first few hundred posts, I decided to whip up a batch of this... Definitely the easiest of my first three brews, but on the third day in the bucket my basement has a distinct odor reminiscent of the day after a chili and cheap beer bender

=)

Check for Rhinoceri. If there are none, then you're right on track.
 
I have had my first batch fermenting for 3 weeks now. Never noticed rhino farts. Hmm maybe I did something wrong. I am waiting another week or so until I keg it. I can't wait to try it. It is kind of like my excitement with my first batch of beer.
 
I have a Fat Tire Clone using the Whitelabs California Ale strain, and a blackberry wheat with whitelabs hefe in primary.

I am considering changing this recipe a bit (although, I do want to make it as is eventually) and pitch this recipe using brown sugar on one of the two yeast cakes. I'm thinking that the hefe yeast strain with the leftover blackberry sediment in it might make a pretty interesting combination. If it isn't good, I'm only out a $20 bill. Would be a fun experiment.

Thoughts on this?
 
Heh. I was just thinking, I would start another, but pretty soon I'd be running out of places to stuff the kegs. There is only so much Apfelwein I, SWMBO, neighbors, friends, strangers, the homeless guys I pass driving around, and any other random alcoholics can drink! :drunk:

- Eric
 
Heh. I was just thinking, I would start another, but pretty soon I'd be running out of places to stuff the kegs. There is only so much Apfelwein I, SWMBO, neighbors, friends, strangers, the homeless guys I pass driving around, and any other random alcoholics can drink! :drunk:

- Eric

I've not yet found that amount! Mine seems to be getting frighteningly close to "E" every time I turn around.
 
Finished my first kegged batch yesterday. It was brewed in the beginning of March.
I started another batch last month (yeah I know its late but I wanted to make sure this stuff was to my liking as it was my first experience in the fermenting arts world) and that one is not being tapped until Dec. so it can have about 6months of age under its belt.
My plan is to start a batch every other month now. Maybe double up around certain holidays events etc.

:mug:
 
ok im sure this was answered somewhere in the 3500+ posts but im chugging away with the reading and still have not even made it to 1000....lol...Im whipping up a batch of this tonight and i want to stick to Ed's recepie...my question is my carboy is 6 gal and the recepie is for a 5 gal batch will there be any problems with leaving a space that large in my carboy or should i adjust to make a full 6 gal? i would rather not like i said i want to stick to the original....this is my very first brewing experiance...litterally im standing here waiting for DHL to drop off my supplies as i type...any help appreciated...thanks in advance
TOM
 
WELCOME! What a place to use your first Post.

The head space will be fine. It will very quickly produce CO2 and push all of the air out of the top of the carboy. When you see the bubbles, you will be hooked..and you'll know it's doing just fine. C-ya in 4 weeks.


Oh...and Good luck with DHL. Our security camera actually caught our driver pull into the yard, roll down his window, and throw my new Cell phone at the door and drive away. Never even got out of his truck. Try that with a carboy and I'd have to beat him.
 
my question is my carboy is 6 gal and the recepie is for a 5 gal batch will there be any problems with leaving a space that large in my carboy or should i adjust to make a full 6 gal?
TOM

No problems, but if you use the gallons matched to your carboy there will be overflow (sugar volume). In fact now I prefer to make 5 gallon batches in 6 gallon carboys, the extra head space is reassurance. You always have some leftover which sucks, and the last time I packed all 5 gallons into a 5 gallon carboy and left town for 3 days, came back to an airlock guzzling with yeasty paste. Fun.
 
Thanks for the quick reply!

I cant wait to get a batch under my belt ...its all i have talked about for a week now and i think SWMBO is getting tired of hearing about it ..lol ..she actually said come on lets go get this juice to me last night just to shut me up.:D
I have never had a good opinion of DHL but it was not my choice it was supposed to go USPS .. i would have went with UPS if it were up to me.

I can say one thing if they throw my glass carboy i hope they are faster than a 90 lb. Pit Bull.....my fighting days are long behind me...the dogs on the other hand;)

Thanks again
Tom
 
its all i have talked about for a week now and i think SWMBO is getting tired of hearing about it ..lol ..she actually said come on lets go get this juice to me last night just to shut me up.:D

Just wait till you get the "Maybe You'd like to sleep with your Damn Apfelwein...That's all You ever talk about" Speech.


I got that one Sunday :confused: Silly woman.
 
I used Wyeast 3068 with mine, thinking it would not ferment out so dry. It is very, very dry, but very, very good. Also very strong. I add one pack of Nutra-sweet per glass, and that is perfect. Good stuff. Waited four months before trying it.

The FG was around 0.098 by the time I fished my hydrometer out of the carboy as I described in another thread. Any suggestions on where I need to stop fermentation at next time for a sweeter flavor? Or a suggestion on a yeast that will help? I believe Ed's post said the Monte fermented out dry as well, so maybe I just need to pick a target FG, stop it there, and see what happens?
 
I used Wyeast 3068 with mine, thinking it would not ferment out so dry. It is very, very dry, but very, very good. Also very strong. I add one pack of Nutra-sweet per glass, and that is perfect. Good stuff. Waited four months before trying it.

The FG was around 0.098 by the time I fished my hydrometer out of the carboy as I described in another thread. Any suggestions on where I need to stop fermentation at next time for a sweeter flavor? Or a suggestion on a yeast that will help? I believe Ed's post said the Monte fermented out dry as well, so maybe I just need to pick a target FG, stop it there, and see what happens?


I think your off a decimal point there buddy. Water is 1 and your saying your gravity is less than 1/10 of water. That seems almost gaseous. You probably meant 0.98.

Sorry, I'm just being a techy crumbum. :D
 
I think your off a decimal point there buddy. Water is 1 and your saying your gravity is less than 1/10 of water. That seems almost gaseous. You probably meant 0.98.

Sorry, I'm just being a techy crumbum. :D

It's a common mistake. You'll see it all over the place, and I've nearly quit pointing it out.

I just need to pick a target FG, stop it there, and see what happens?
Exactly correct. The problem is you're going to add so much sugar to get to 10+% to crap out your yeast, it's not going to be very good, and it won't be Apfelwein. you're better off to use some nonfermentable (Splenda works good.) sugar to your bottling bucket. Just remember, Less is more.
 
My HBC has a campout August 23rd. Think I can get a batch of this done in time? Haven't tried it yet.

Technically it might clear by then, but it takes a lot longer to smooth out. I find it's got a substantial yeast & alcohol bite if you don't age it long enough.

I'm hoping to make it on that trip, and if I do I'll bring along a few liters (or maybe a 2.5 gallon keg) of my well-aged stock. I follow Ed's advice, and keep the apfelwein pipeline pretty full. (It's SO easy to make, I've got no excuse not to!)
 
Technically it might clear by then, but it takes a lot longer to smooth out. I find it's got a substantial yeast & alcohol bite if you don't age it long enough.

I'm hoping to make it on that trip, and if I do I'll bring along a few liters (or maybe a 2.5 gallon keg) of my well-aged stock. I follow Ed's advice, and keep the apfelwein pipeline pretty full. (It's SO easy to make, I've got no excuse not to!)

Ok cool; thanks. I'd love to try it and hope you make the trip Lar. I'm going to throw a batch together anyway while I'm heating water for tomorrow's Lakewalk session. I'll bring a keg of that if it's ready to roll. See you soon!
 
Yes i used 4 gallons of apple juice from concentrate and 4 sleeves of frozen concentrate.

Hi DeadYetiBrew: I was curious as to how your juice + FAJC (Frozen Apple Juice Concentrate) turned out. Was there an odd flavour? I take it your ABV rose a few points? were you able to bottle condition, or did you have to force carb? How does your end product compare to some or the mass produced brands of hard cider on the market? Guess I had more questions than I thought. lol Regards, GF.
 
I think your off a decimal point there buddy. Water is 1 and your saying your gravity is less than 1/10 of water. That seems almost gaseous. You probably meant 0.98.

Sorry, I'm just being a techy crumbum. :D

doubleb, thanks for pointing out the typo, but was looking for a little help with the recipe.




Thanks, Kahuna. Will continue to add the artificial sweetener.
 
Tried this after 5 weeks using five gallons treetop, 2 pounds corn sugar and Wyeast cider yeast.

Tasted a bit more winey than I expected but it's still very good. Not everyone was so wild about it but they liked it with some sugar added. Got it carbing in the corney now.
 
mysteryberto - if your guests/family like it sweeter I highly recommend adding some sprite. That has turned into a new summer go to cocktail for me. Throw some ice, apfelwein, and sprite in a glass...yummm - and you can drink it in the hot sun without as big a concern for the after effects.
 
I just pulled my first pint from the new Keezer. Couldn't pass up the photo Opp, and couldn't miss out on sharing!

Thanks ED!

IMG_0245.jpg
 
Holy friggin sweet Zeus's mustache! This stuff rocks. I ran out of apple juice and substituted white grape juice. Ended up being 3/4 apple and 1/4 white grape and it is friggin' awesome. I kegged it and haven't been able to stop pulling from the tap.
Ed...what a simple and beautiful recipe.
 
You guys weren't kidding about the sulfer smell. Wow! This stuff honestly has stunk up my entire downstairs!

That's neither here nor there though...I can't wait to try this stuff!
 
First post. Been lurking for a while and have learned a LOT from y'all.

I've jumped on the Apfelwein bandwagon and mixed up a batch yesterday.

I've got a small krausen on top of the batch as of this morning. Details on the "brew day" here.
:tank:
 
I'm thinking this may be the perfect first project for me. And it will give me plenty of time to track down the equipment before cider season kicks in. My neighbor owns an orchard, so I bet after I get it to come out successfully I can trade Apfelwein for cider. :)
 
Finally got to try my batch I started in mid May.

Fairly smooth, fruity, and delicious. Carbonated very fully and rapidly. The carbonation feels closer to champagne than a soda or beer.
 
web250, did you modify Ed's recipe at all? I'll be brewing my first batch this weekend and don't know if i should carb or bottle still. (i know i've got a while to make up my mind) the champagne aspect makes me want to carb it all! how much priming sugar did you use? when did you bottle?

thanks, and :mug:
 
I read a bunch of the 360 pages but didnt come across this yet. My Apfelwein has been in the primary since June 28th and its not clear yet. It took off nice the very next day too. I brought it up from the basement yesterday and set it on the kitchen counter and decided to let the yeast settle back down from the trip up the stairs before I kegged it ..... I noticed it was bubbling ... like the little bubbles when it was fermenting. Anyone run into this????
 
Yeah I ran into this, Mine wasnt clear after 4.5 weeks of high 70'd ferm temps. So I brought it into the kitchen to get ready to keg. Well it sat on the table for 2 more days. I was called into work right as I was sanitizing everything to keg it. So it sat there. And 2 days later when I looked at it, it had cleared. Just needed a little rousing apparently. And it did off gas for a while after I moved it to the kitchen table.
 
Yeah I ran into this, Mine wasnt clear after 4.5 weeks of high 70'd ferm temps. So I brought it into the kitchen to get ready to keg. Well it sat on the table for 2 more days. I was called into work right as I was sanitizing everything to keg it. So it sat there. And 2 days later when I looked at it, it had cleared. Just needed a little rousing apparently. And it did off gas for a while after I moved it to the kitchen table.

Thanks guy .... Im a little more at ease now. I was going to keg it no matter what tomorrow but now I will wait till it clears up and stops bubbling.:eek:
 
My Apfelwein has been in the primary since June 28th and its not clear yet.
I had limited luck with Gelatin for the batch I had that hadn't cleared at 2 months, I added Gelatin and then gave it a little over a week, and it cleared right up. YOU DID NOT FOLLOW DIRECTIONS....At least I didn't...used Organic sugar instead of corn sugar.
 
Back
Top