Apfelwein going at it

Gotta love the sound of my first batch (wifes) of Apfelwein bubbling like crazy in the kitchen. Weird how when I tell her its hers it can set on the kitchen counter for 4 weeks, but when its mine it goes into the man cave (my walk in closet). Anyways, one of the one gallon batches registered 1.060, and the other was 1.070. I need asprin and fatty food just thinking about them.

Awesome - I just started brewing again in November and I've already made 6 batches of apfelwein - Can't get enough of the stuff...

Runyank,
Apfelwein, in the Kitchen?

This is something I have been wanting to try for a while now. I hear that the initial fermentation stinks something awful though (rhino-farts I think is the technical term I have heard). How do you do it? Is the initial fermentation (first few days, whatever) in a man-cave somewhere outside/garage?

Or is there some way to reduce the initial funk... like using a different yeast... not Montrachet, for example? If so, what other yeasts do people use with good results?

I am on the 10th floor of a condo. All of my brewing must be done indoors. Bad air circulation in my inside "man-cave" means that anything that smells real-bad is not in the cards due to SWMBO (and the fact that I too really don't want something that stinks inside the house... regardless of how it smells/tastes when it is done)

hotstack said:

Or is there some way to reduce the initial funk... like using a different yeast... not Montrachet, for example? If so, what other yeasts do people use with good results?

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I get no nasty smells using yeast nutrient and a blend of California and Koelsch ale yeasts - just lovely notes of apple emanating from the airlock.

I use Montrachet....but do not have the Rhino farts....from every thing I have read I belive it has to do with using nutrient.

I use lalvin EC-1118 for my apfelwein, I think it is cleaner than Montrachet and lets the apple come forward sooner... so I can drink them down faster with less conditioning

Yes I used a different style of wine yeast, the wine guy at the LHBS told me to try it. He also sait that it will ferment out a little sweeter, and not as dry as others. That way I hopefully wont have to do any back sweetening. I have then on the counter, next to the stove, that way if I smell any funk, I can flip on the overhead vent and get that stuff out of the air, and out of wifes nose . Its only on its second day of fermintation, and so far, the smell out of the airlocks is apple, with a hint of banana :rockin: Hopefully pics will be comming soon.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I am only doing (2) 1 gallon batchs, to test the waters, that might be why my smells are to a minimum as well!

I dunno about you guys but every yeast I use for AW ends of stinking up my brew closet something fierce! I've been pitching 30 grams of montrachet or champaign yeast for my AW batches just to get them done ASAP and get the funky smell out!

Thanks for all the help everyone. Maybe I will have to try it out...

Runyank, don't suppose you have a name for the wine yeast you used? I am in Japan and my yeast selection is pretty limited... I can get Montrachet though. Cote Des Blancs, Pasteur Red, Premiere Cuvee, Pasteur Champagne, plus quite a few more apparently (in fact more than beer yeasts!)

Bluesguy, so using yeast nutrient reduces or eliminates the "rhino farts" using Montrachet? Or the opposite, no yeast nutrients? Doesn't look like I can buy yeast nutrients here in Japan... closest thing I found was YOUNGS SUPER WINE YEAST COMPOUND here in Japan... looking around on the Intertubes, it appears that this is just yeast as well...

Thanks for the hint on the ale yeast ArchaneXor. Unfortunately I can't get either of those from my online source here in Japan... But, I suppose a different ale yeast would also work...

Anyways, thanks again everyone. I will do some more searching as well.

hotstack said:

Thanks for all the help everyone. Maybe I will have to try it out...

Runyank, don't suppose you have a name for the wine yeast you used? I am in Japan and my yeast selection is pretty limited... I can get Montrachet though. Cote Des Blancs, Pasteur Red, Premiere Cuvee, Pasteur Champagne, plus quite a few more apparently (in fact more than beer yeasts!)

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Sorry I cant remember the name, however, the package was silver with maroon writing on it. It was with the wine yeast, not ales.

Hmmm, one of the Lavlin's maybe...

Montpellier
Narbonne
Burgundy

Maybe I will start with a tiny 1-gallon or something batch (i.e. brew it in the bottle it came in?

Thanks for the help everyone.

hotstack said:

Hmmm, one of the Lavlin's maybe...

Montpellier
Narbonne
Burgundy

Maybe I will start with a tiny 1-gallon or something batch (i.e. brew it in the bottle it came in?

Thanks for the help everyone.

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Thats it!!! winner winner chicken dinner