Carbonating Apfelwein

[winewit]

I’ve been making wine for about one year. I’ve never made anything natural carbonated. I started a batch of EdWorts Apfelwein about 3weeks ago. I followed the instructions exactly and It’s been sitting on my basement floor at about 62 deg. I’m still getting a bubble about every 10 seconds.

I plan to add priming sugar and bottle it in 12 oz. bottles when it clears. When it gets the right amount of carb., I plan on pasteurizing it and set it away to age.

My questions are thus:
1) How long can I wait for the cider to clear and still keep yeast alive?
2) How long will it take for the carbonation to work once bottled? And should I bring the bottles up from the basement to where it’s warmer?
3) What’s a good length of time to age the cider?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[dinnerstick]

my two cents:
1. a very long time indeed
2. every batch is different, either open one often or better yet bottle one in a small carbonated water bottle and wait until it's rock hard, could be 2 days could be 2+ weeks
3. never made this stuff so i won't comment!

 

[angelmeat]

1) Many months, I can personally attest to only 4 months in the primary. I've never bothered with secondaries when making cider. I imagine cider can sit in primary for longer and still be ready to bottle.
2) My current batch took 4 weeks to properly carbonate at 64 degrees. It's taken 2 and a half weeks at 70 degrees as well. In my experience, the temperature makes a large difference in carbonating, just as it does in primary fermentation.
3) What's a good length to age a cider? Well, I tend to drink it right away, but I'm impatient. At 6 months it begins to taste quite good, any time after that is fantastic.

 

[Jugger]

Here's two more cents:

I love Apfelwein, But it takes time. I have never carbed it. However, If you look at the recipes for "Drop Them Panties Again Cider", "Johnny Jump Up Cider" and last but never least "Graff" by BrandonO, you can learn from those posts how they handle carbing, then apply to your recipe. My carbonated apple drinks always seem to be based on, or variations of these recipes.

You could also research and explore force carbonating.

Goodluck

*j*

 

[winewit]

Thanks for the info. Jugger, I'll search for those recipes. I forgot I have some 6 oz. bottles, they would make good "testers".