Apfelwein variations - yeast and different juice combos

I'm trying a cran-apfelwein and would like to hear other people recipes they have been happy with. (you can mention a different juice flavor too)
i'm waiting on my 3rd batch of apfelwein. 1st 2 batches were pretty standard with Montrachet. This 3rd batch I did 1 gallon cranberry juice with 5 gallons Apple Juice and Montrachet and 1.5lb sugar. I still have another few weeks to wait and obviously waiting for results and then tweeking /waiting for another batch takes awhile!

thanks

I've used cherry juice (from Juicy Juice to quality tart cherry stuff) with good success. Usually a gallon of that with 4.5-5 gallons of apple juice. I haven't tried cranberry juice, fearing that it would turn out too tart. But I'm sure it'll be fine.
I've also been using honey in place of sugar with the last few batches. It'll probably be a year or more before the flavor fully matures.

MrCrabby said:

I've used cherry juice (from Juicy Juice to quality tart cherry stuff) with good success. Usually a gallon of that with 4.5-5 gallons of apple juice. I haven't tried cranberry juice, fearing that it would turn out too tart. But I'm sure it'll be fine.
I've also been using honey in place of sugar with the last few batches. It'll probably be a year or more before the flavor fully matures.

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thanks. do you use montrachet or something else?

I've used Montrachet a lot. It attenuates well, is cheap, and doesn't leave a strong yeasty flavor. I've also used S-05, Narbonne, D47, K1-V1116, RC-212, MA33, and SN9. I think I like the Lalvin D47 best.

MrCrabby said:

I've used Montrachet a lot. It attenuates well, is cheap, and doesn't leave a strong yeasty flavor. I've also used S-05, Narbonne, D47, K1-V1116, RC-212, MA33, and SN9. I think I like the Lalvin D47 best.

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thanks. seem to be alot of good opinions on D47, i will try that next

I have not changed anything in the primary, but when I make apfelwein I usually rack a gallon or two on to something else just for fun.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IC5PNXY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Was probably my favorite. I couldn't tell you how much extra alcohol the sugar added but when it aged out it had a nice cherry flavor in the background and a great color. It came out of the secondary tasting pretty bitter and hot but mellowed out...eventually. Like 6 months.

Having made a few flavored ciders and meads I would say if you really want good fruit flavor you might want to add fruit to the primary and the secondary.

I've made lots of Hard Apple Cider.

Personally, I DO NOT like the following hard cider BLENDS:

Cranberry
Grape
Pomegranate
Cherry
Strawberries

They may taste great by themselves (never tried that), but when fermented with AJ, I'm more like DON'T even think about it. IMO, they were all failures.

homebrewer_99 said:

I've made lots of Hard Apple Cider.

Personally, I DO NOT like the following hard cider BLENDS:

Cranberry
Grape
Pomegranate
Cherry
Strawberries

They may taste great by themselves (never tried that), but when fermented with AJ, I'm more like DON'T even think about it. IMO, they were all failures.

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good to know. did you have any blends you like or are you just straight up apple?