Hallo,
Why carbonate?
Apfelwein in Germany is never carbonated. That is the British contribution to Cider.
I Lived in Germany for 30 Years.
I think most people do it because it tastes better.
Revvy said:Yes. My friends like it higly carbed, and call it Apple Champagne. I usually give bottles as gifts at Christmastime.
When do you usually bottle and when you carbonate it is done by back sweetening with dextrose?
I never even think about bottling my apfelwein before 6 months, and don't even touch them till they've been around a year. Most folks I know won't even taste any apfelwein younger than that. Then they can't keep their hands off it after. It's pretty much rocket fuel when it's young, but is deceptively smooth when It's aged. I'm working through a batch that's around two years old and it's silky smooth, but still potent. Kinda like a claw hammer in a velvet glove....
A lot of folks new to this, drink it way too young, and don't even know what they're missing. It's like any high gravity brew, it needs time to mellow.
Do you leave it on the yeast in primary the entire 6 months? I've got one going for a month that I'm going to let go 6 months and also bottle in champagne bottles. Do you add yeast for bottle carbonating?
Revvy I assume aging is necessary for those that drink theirs dry. But if you backsweeten with apple concentrate I wouldn't imagine you need to let it sit there for that long?
I have and apfelwein that will have been in primary for 1 year on Oct 1st. I'm going to keg it today and naturally carbonate it with priming sugar. Do you think I need to add a new yeast strain to carbonate it?
Dry or sweet has nothing to do with it, why would you think that? It doesn't matter in the wine world is an aged wine is dry or sweet does it?
It has everything to do with having a hot alcohol nature when young and pretty much tasting like rocket fuel until it reaches a nice mellow state with aging. Then it is even more dangerous because it gets so smoooooooooth. When it is aged it's like a hand wearing a velvet glove holding a steel pipe.
Drink it young if you're impatient but save a few bottles for later. You'll then understand why most people in this time of instant gratification don't know what they're missing out on.
I understand that. But I don't think I've ever heard anybody say apfelwein has a hot alcohol nature to it. In fact, all edwort says in his opening post is that aging it 6-8 months brings out the apple flavor. I assumed if that was all there was to it, backsweetening it with apple concentrate would solve the problem.
I usually bottle after it's been sitting for about 6 months as mentioned in my earlier post. And I bottle with about 5.5-6 ounces of priming sugar, and bottle in old champagne bottles.
Too noob of a question?
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