first apfelwein recipe critique plz

Hello all, I threw together some apfelwein today for the first time, and would love some feedback on my recipe. I was going to follow EdWort's, but forgot to get dextrose at AHS so I bought a bunch of cane sugar. From what I gathered from the recipe section, most people add about 1 to 1-1/4 lb cane sugar for a 1 gal batch. So I followed suit:

3 gallons 100% apple juice (treetop)
2.5 gallons treetop "butter rum cider" (smelled great! anyone used this?)
~5.5 lbs cane sugar
yeast: LV1-1116
~ 5 teaspoons Fermax yeast nutrient
OG= 1.084 (after sugar obviously)

I used EdWort's method of adding sugar to half a bottle of juice and shaking to mix it up. Is this recipe alright? Too much sugar for the yeast to handle? I've heard a lot of sugar can freak out the yeast... am I in danger? What about fermentables left over? Any input would be GREAT thanks!

Sounds like you're going to have butter Rum Cider...not apfelwein, which is actually EdWorts take on a commercial product. The 1116 will chew through that sugar no problem...but it's gonna be months and months and months before you can taste anything good...but it sure could be great if you have the patience to wait it out.

K1V-1116 can handle up to 18% alcohol so you are ok. It will need to age for at least 6 months very possibly a lot more. You will have almost 12 %ABV. Thats more a wine than a cider. It will be interesting. As long as the butter rum didn't have any preservatives in it you should be ok. There will not be any fermentables left over. That yeast will ferment to dry.

Great! I'm gonna try and not post again for this one... so I've got a few more questions while I'm here

1. Will this yeast be different from Montrachet in terms of visible fermentation? I.e., will I only see some bubbles at the top and nothing more?

2. How many volumes CO2 would you suggest for strong butter rum cider? I'll probably want to carb half of it. Would I just wait until 3 (or however many) weeks before I want to drink and bottle it? Or more bottling time?

eeeh I know I had more....

Oh yeah: So apfelwein isn't just "apple wine?" Is it the specific drink in that one region around Frankfurt?

edit: prime fermentation temps? Will this be more/less resistant to temperature changes than beer? Oxidation issues still there or can I mix it gently every so often to keep it going along?

jrakich87 said:

Great! I'm gonna try and not post again for this one... so I've got a few more questions while I'm here

1. Will this yeast be different from Montrachet in terms of visible fermentation? I.e., will I only see some bubbles at the top and nothing more?

2. How many volumes CO2 would you suggest for strong butter rum cider? I'll probably want to carb half of it. Would I just wait until 3 (or however many) weeks before I want to drink and bottle it? Or more bottling time?

eeeh I know I had more....

Oh yeah: So apfelwein isn't just "apple wine?" Is it the specific drink in that one region around Frankfurt?

edit: prime fermentation temps? Will this be more/less resistant to temperature changes than beer? Oxidation issues still there or can I mix it gently every so often to keep it going along?

Click to expand...

1. They will be visually similar ferments. You will see bubbles like it's sprite. 2. I don't' do volumes...it doesn't' work in my head. 5 oz of corn sugar for a 5 gallons batch always seems to fit just right for this type of drink (to me)...just like beer
3. Correct. Although Apfelwein is literally translated to Apple Wine...it's a commercial product that is available...apparently widely...but also centralized in specific parts of Germany.
4. All wine yeasts and musts are more tolerant, and some actually prefer higher ferment temps, so yes, it's considerably more forgiving than beer.

Don't be afraid to ask anything that you need to....Trust me when I tell you that being called a post whore won't kill you

So if some of the sugar falls out of solution I can grab it and shake it around a bit to stir?

K1-V1116 is a vigorous fermenting yeast, know as the original "killer" yeast. It works great, just leave yourself some headspace if you're using a carbouy for your primary. I've had it blow the top off the airlock a couple of times. Regards, GF.