Graff (Malty, slightly hopped cider)

[FullDraw]

Steeping as I type. Going for more grainy flavor. 1# Crystal 40, 2 gallons water, 3 gallons fresh pressed cider.

Also, I used Safbrew wb-06. I had it just sitting there, and thought why not.

 

[purcell429]

WLP0001 Cal Ale is the same as the Safale US-05 from what I remember reading.

I just brewed mine 3 days ago with my fav US-05 and it smells DELICIOUS!

Thanks for the reply! I put this all together last night, but used 1 lb Wheat Extract and 1 lb DME. I hope the yeast takes off, it has been sitting around in my fridge for a while, and is a month and a half past the best by date.

 

[knotquiteawake]

despite the warm ferm temps and it only being just over two weeks in the bottle I cracked open one of my 22's lastnight as this gigantic thunderstorm passed by. It was great sitting out on the porch watching the destruction in the sky as I sipped on the fruits of my fermented fruit.

 

[cmdrico7812]

Since I don't have any DME at home, I was thinking about doing a mini-mash to achieve the maltiness called for in the original recipe. I have some Munich, Pale, and Pilsen at home. I was thinking of the following to replace the 2# of DME in the reci

2.75# Pilsen
.75# Munich or Amber Malt

Thoughts?

 

[Reedwalker]

Just wanted to say Thanks for this recipe Brandon. We have been imbibing it for a week now and its great. I can't wait to try it with fresh pressed apple cider early next month.

 

[strohs]

Made this tonight, and I allready cant wait for it to be ready! :rockin:
OG was 1.060

 

[Drew_101]

Tasted my first bottle the other night and all I can say is it is awesome!!!!!! I am glad I made 10 gal.

 

[saburke17]

so i made a single batch this time instead of 5 gallons worth, since i screwed the pooch on the 1st batch. this is the second day of ferm and its going crazy crazy, looks like there a giant alka-seltzer at the bottom as there is an ass load of bubbles lol

 

[craynerd]

Guys, I`m new on here but I`m not totally lazy, I`ve done some reading but I`m still a little confused about the, what seems to be a mash?

Steep the 60L and torrified wheat in .75 gallons of water @ 155 degrees for 30 mins.
Sparge with .25 gallons 170 degree water and throw away grains.
Add DME and bring to a boil.
Add hops when boiling starts and boil for 30 mins.


So, am I right in saying, that in lay-man terms, I take 0.75 gal of water in a big pan, place a cotton/material liner in it - put the wheat in the liner for 30 mins at 155deg. I then take the bag out after 30 mins and place thin in another pan containing 0.25 gal of water at 170 deg and then let the flovours mix and pull the bag out and throw the grains away. Then I add DME and hopps ...etc

I know I`ve got something wrong - which liquid do I use, the 0.75 gal or the final 0.25 gal. ?

Sorry, I know I sound like an idiot but I just want to clarify before I try it tonight. I`m new to brewing so take it easy. I`ve read all the glossery and also the "beginners brewing forum" and I`m kind of getting bits but still a little confused!!!

Cheers

 

[Recluse]

I used a muslin bag rather than a liner, but pretty much the same idea. After the 30 minute steep, pour the .25 gal 170 deg. water over the grains into the 0.75 gal starting pot to extract out the last bits of flavor/starches/sugars. I put my little grain bag into a strainer and pour the water over it.

Alternatively, you could gather up the liner and dip it into the 0.25 gal at 170 deg a few times and then add that water to the big pot. Then add the DME and boil. You might want to add more water to bring up the volume to account for evaporation losses, but I don't think it is strictly necessary.

 

[Recluse]

Hmmm.. I am reposting a question that either got lost in the shuffle or just got ignored....I am getting a little worried..

My Graff is now 2.5 weeks old (OG 1.062, 11 and 14 day Gravity 1.011) but still has islands of bubbles on the surface. Looks like someone spit in it :cross: but more likely just residual CO2 outgassing. Seen this before on ales, but it was usually gone by 2 weeks or less. Taste of the SG samples at 11 and 14 days is not bad (actually a little maltier than I thought it would be). No sourness or contaminated flavor. The bubbles at the top are just that, NOT bacterial colonies, but even if I swirl the carboy a bit to dissipate them, they come back. Should I be worried? Other ales/apfelwein were totally still by this point. My apparent final gravity is a little high compared to what others had, but seems to be in the ballpark.

Followed recipe with Nottingham yeast scaled to 4 gal batch, but left out hops and used 75L Crystal Malt and CaraPils instead of 60L and Torrified Wheat.

 

[bob1852]

Should I be worried?

nope. I think you diagnosed it yourself - off-gassing. You could give it another few days before bottling just to be safe.

 

[embratsu]

I was very excited to make this, but wanted to use real cider. So I waited until about 3 weeks ago and went to my local orchard and picked up 4 gallons of fresh pressed cider (plus some for drinking all by itself)

I followed the recipe to a t, except I treated the cider with campden tablets 24 hours before brewing and used WLP001 for the yeast. I rigged up a blowoff because I expected the extra sugars in the cider to drive the yeast nuts..... The whole thing was transferred to my basement, where it's around 70 deg. OG was 1.061

3 days after pitching the yeast, nothing happened... didn't see a sign of life, but figured I'd let it sit for another day or 2. Two days later, there was a little bubbling, but nothing major so i put the airlock on thinking everything was ok. I went out of town for the weekend and came back to a huge bubbly mess on the floor. The fermentation pretty much exploded. The airlock was filled with krausen, but still in tact. I replaced the airlock, and another 5 days later, same problem. Then I transferred to another carboy and put another airlock on it. 3 weeks after brewing, it's still bubbling away.....


The thing that i'm worried about is that the stuff tastes VERY vinegary. I don't see any signs of bacteria contamination, but who knows...... Current gravity is 1.013


Anyone have any insight? Am I screwed, or will the vinegar flavor mellow out with time?

 

[Reedwalker]

Sounds like your fine Recluse.

I had a double Krausen on mine. The second one never really fell.

 

[Recluse]

Sounds like your fine Recluse.

I had a double Krausen on mine. The second one never really fell.

Thanx to you and others who sent reassuring messages. Hoping I get a chance to bottle this weekend so I am a few weeks closer to drinking some!

 

[sakeyfour]

I recently brewed a batch of this up and am waiting for it to finish. While I was waiting I thought I would experiment with my Inkscape labels some more.

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu10/sakeyfour/GunslingerGrafflabel.png

 

[imprez25]

So, my first batch has been in bottles now for 20 days and all I can say is WOW! Nicely carbed up. Nice cidery taste, which is smoothed out with the malt and crystal. Slight bitter thanks to the Amarillo hops, which add a very slight citrus taste. Color is a clear, slightly hazy golden color that is full of CO2 bubbles. Overall this sits in my top spot now for favorite brew. (I am brewing the All Amarillo IPA this week so it may not be there for long )

Photo of graff:

 

[HandsomeRyan]

I'm in the middle of making my first batch of graff right now so it's going to be a long 5+ weeks waiting to crack my first bottle of this.

Based on all the rave reviews I'm really looking forward to this. I've made apple wine before and although ti was pretty good, it sounds like this has a lot more character.

I can't wait to try it.

 

[Recluse]

Whoo hoo! Bottled my GRAFF today with the able assistance of my 5 year old son and his 8 year old friend. They get the Bottle Filling Merit Badge for sure.

Hope I don't get bottle bombs. Calculated for 4 gal, but ended up with 3.6. Used 3.5 oz of Corn Sugar, but even though I weighed it on a scale, it seemed to be closer to the 3/4 cup usually specced for 5 gal batches. Scale is more accurate, so I guess there is some wiggle room. Used the Beer Recipator Calculator which puts it at ~2.7 volumes of CO2 which isn't outrageous.

Drinking some right out of the hydrometer tube and bottle bucket leavings, and it is mighty drinkable right now. Might just have to crack a bottle each week to monitor progress rather than waiting 3 weeks.

OG 1.062
FG 1.011
~6.7% ABV

 

[kaiser423]

I took the third runnings from a cream ale that I was making, gooped in some yeast from the trub of a stout that I was bottling while making the cream ale, gave the third runnings a quick boil with just a touch of hops according to the recipe, poured it into a fermenter with some apple juice. Let sit for 4 weeks, then bottled.

1 week in and it is good! Still a bit tart, but I expect that to come down some with a bit of conditioning.

Doing the third runnings, and the quick boil really let me fit it right into my regular brew day. Sure, it'll come out a bit different every time, but I'm not sure that I care

I only did a small batch, because it was an impromptu graff session where I had two gallons of AJ that needed used up. But if this really mellows nice I just make go all the way up to 5 gallon batches, and fit it into the waiting periods while boiling and cooling during a regaulr beer batch.

 

[Recluse]

So, I have a dumb question...

Is the name 'GRAFF' a common term for a type of malty cider or is it something Brandon O made up? When I try to Google 'GRAFF" or "GRAFF + CIDER", it pretty much leads back to this thread or linkbacks.

Inquiring minds want to know!

 

[imprez25]

Recluse- Earlier on in this thread someone brought up that in a Steven King novel, Dark Tower, there is a unnamed malty cider drink that is only referred to as "Graff". Thus the name was created.

 

[Recluse]

Ahhh! I can't believe I missed that. Thanks for the info. Guess I ought to read that sometime..maybe while sipping a Graff

 

[chefchris]

Did my first batch of this last night. Forgot how easy extract is, I was done in no time.

 

[bass-a-roo]

0.5 oz of you favorite hops [/B] ( right around 6% AA, I have used 18.5% AA summit hops before and it took a month after kegging for strong bitterness to blend nicely)
WARNING! IF YOU ARE GOING TO CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF HOPS USED, MAKE IT LESS NOT MORE, it's really just too bitter with any more.

So about how many IBU's should i be looking for? (I'm adjusting this for a smaller batch) I was thinking around 1.5 or so, does that sound right?

 

[Saccharomyces]

Perception-wise anything under 10 will be a barely detectable bitterness.

 

[ChshreCat]

Am I crazy, a genius or a crazy genius...

I got to thinking about graff and graff-like beverages and thought a great way to make it would be to make a batch of beer, and when you rack out of the primary, just leave a gallon or so behind with the yeast cake, and then top the fermenter up with apple juice or cider!

You could make a APA based graff and a stout based graff or whatever, depending on what type of beer you used as the base.

Waddya think?

 

[chefchris]

Am I crazy, a genius or a crazy genius...

I got to thinking about graff and graff-like beverages and thought a great way to make it would be to make a batch of beer, and when you rack out of the primary, just leave a gallon or so behind with the yeast cake, and then top the fermenter up with apple juice or cider!

You could make a APA based graff and a stout based graff or whatever, depending on what type of beer you used as the base.

Waddya think?

hmm, that's sounds like you might be a genius indeed!

 

[ChshreCat]

 

[quixand]

Haven't read through this thread...but has anyone added fall spices to this to make it like a fall cider type of thing?

Maybe add the spiced tea ala from the Thunderstruck Pumpkin Ale recipe? Thinking maybe the cinnamon plus?

During clearing stage, add a spice tea of 1-1/2 tsp "Pumpkin Pie Spice" or Pampered Chef "Cinnamon Plus." Steep spices in 1 cup hot water for 10-15 minutes, cool then add. Consider adding the spice tea a little at a time to achieve the desired flavor profile.

 

[SamuraiSquirrel]

anyone made this using real cider? It's fall and there are tons of fresh ciders available. Just wondering how it turned out. Haven't made original recipe yet but was planning on following everything else to the T. Only exception being cider instead of apple juice

 

[wcarter1227]

i have a kolsch kit that was given to me, but i was kind of thinking of using the ingredients for cider instead.

heres what i got, will any of this work/turn out well:
12oz crushed carapils malt
3lbs pilsen light dried malt
1lb wheat dried malt
1oz sterling aa 6.0%
1oz vanguard aa 5.0%

this is what the kit came with, again im trying to see if there is anything i can use from here to save some money.

I also have nottingham dry yeast and a wyeast 4766 cider yeast. debating which one will produce better results

any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dirt55]

i have a kolsch kit that was given to me, but i was kind of thinking of using the ingredients for cider instead.

heres what i got, will any of this work/turn out well:
12oz crushed carapils malt
3lbs pilsen light dried malt
1lb wheat dried malt
1oz sterling aa 6.0%
1oz vanguard aa 5.0%
.

You could use the Pils DME and the carapils instead of torrified wheat (correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think the wheat DME will have the same head retention as torrified wheat)

Get some Crystal (which at that small of an amt should be cheap, unless you have to order it then probably not worth it)

hop lightly with one of the varieties you have

Use the nottingham yeast

Enjoy.

 

[purcell429]

anyone made this using real cider? It's fall and there are tons of fresh ciders available. Just wondering how it turned out. Haven't made original recipe yet but was planning on following everything else to the T. Only exception being cider instead of apple juice

I made a batch a week ago using unpasteurized, fresh pressed cider. After about 2-3 days of nothing happening, it took off like crazy and foamed over a lot, now the foam has dissipated, and it smells great. Seems to be going good so far, I'll let you know how it turns out! I'm guessing that the apple flavor will be a little stronger with cider, and that the final beverage won't be as clear.

 

[wscott823]

I've finished up all but 20 bottles of my 10 gallon batch from a couple months ago. Literally everyone like this brew. Seems like the ultimate 'ladies drink'.

I'm planning on making my next batch using fresh cider, definitely more malt, and probably a few pounds of sour cherries.

 

[quixand]

So I'm boiling away the wort, and as I was half way through, I realized I only had Extra light DME left over for this recipe. No big deal...then I only had .85 lb of the extra light DME. So I subbed the remaining .15 of a pound for dextrose.

The rest of the recipe including the 1 lb Amber DME as posted.

Do you think that the Extra Light DME will screw this flavor?

And on top of that, do you think that .15 of a pound of dextrose I added to hit the OG will screw me? I had to think quick, and that's all I had, as I was out totally of DME.

 

[Ciderbarrel]

So I'm boiling away the wort, and as I was half way through, I realized I only had Extra light DME left over for this recipe. No big deal...then I only had .85 lb of the extra light DME. So I subbed the remaining .15 of a pound for dextrose.

The rest of the recipe including the 1 lb Amber DME as posted.

Do you think that the Extra Light DME will screw this flavor?

And on top of that, do you think that .15 of a pound of dextrose I added to hit the OG will screw me? I had to think quick, and that's all I had, as I was out totally of DME.

My LHBS was sold out of Light, so I used Extra light. My batch should be ready for kegging this weekend. I'll let everyone know how it tastes.

 

[quixand]

But what about the dextrose I had to use?

What do you think that'll do?
I ended up missing my OG anyways...hit 1.055-1.058

Recipe ended up going like this:

.5 lb Caramunich 120L
1 oz Carapils
1 lb Amber DME
.85 lb Extra Light DME
.15 lb Dextrose
.5 oz Fuggles at 4.7% AA
1 gallon water
4 gallons Target Brand 100% Apple Juice
1 Packet Nottingham Yeast

This is crammed into a 5 gallon carboy, do I need a blowoff tube for this thing or what?
I have no head space in this thing. LOL

Grav sample tasted pretty good, surprisingly. Tasted like a cross between beer and apple juice. Hope it comes together into Cider though!

 

[Ciderbarrel]

But what about the dextrose I had to use?

Someone more experience would have to give you an answer. I'm guessing that more dextrose would give more fuel for the yeast, but I could be wrong.

This is crammed into a 5 gallon carboy, do I need a blowoff tube for this thing or what?
I have no head space in this thing. LOL

I put my 5 gallon batch into a 6.5 gal carboy and there was about 3-4 inches of foam after a week. You'll need a blow-off.

 

[quixand]

This is crammed into a 5 gallon carboy, do I need a blowoff tube for this thing or what?
I have no head space in this thing. LOL/QUOTE]

I put my 5 gallon batch into a 6.5 gal carboy and there was about 3-4 inches of foam after a week. You'll need a blow-off.

/Runs downstairs to install blowoff!