Man, I love Apfelwein

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HappyLoon said:
You know you love apfelwein when you start buying extra carboys and airlocks to let your batches sit for a few months while you brew other things. Picked up another 5 gal glass carboy because my others were full (or will be soon)!
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:ban: Been thinking about doing this too if my turns out well :mug:
 
If still I don't see that it would matter if you fermented it completely out. I frequently end up with sub 1.0 gravity as I like mine rather dry and even if you were to contaminate with a Brett or something that can cause problems in Beer it shouldn't make any difference I wouldn't think if there is absolutely no sugar for it to eat.
 
I literally just read the first 127 pages of this thread....holy cow! Anyway I have been wondering how SWMBO was going to let me order the supplies (my first brew, need my carboy and stuff!) and then the brewing gods answered with an email telling me an Ebay item just sold for around $150!!

Oh I cannot wait. Will be brewing the original side by side with a brown sugar version with a hint of cinnamon!
 
I had some I had out the garage all summer and it never cleared. it prob got up to the 80's and has been in primary since 4/29 (I forgot I had it out there).

Still good?

20111118_174901.jpg
 
I have just fallen into this as well... I just acquired two 6 gallon glass carboys in mint shape in a local sale for a combined total of $30.....

Needless to say I was a bit excited and am ready to get something ready for christmas...

5.5 Gallons starting now but using brown sugar instead of dextrose... local shop only had 8oz of it so I am using something else...
 
Just got two half gallons of 100% apple cider for 1.50 each (managers special!) and a can of frozen cranberry juice cocktail.

Will this be sufficient for a gallon of apfelwein with my champagne yeast? Any estimates on the final abv?
 
jgerard said:
Just got two half gallons of 100% apple cider for 1.50 each (managers special!) and a can of frozen cranberry juice cocktail.

Will this be sufficient for a gallon of apfelwein with my champagne yeast? Any estimates on the final abv?
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Have a hydrometer? Measure your OG and figure on it finishing at 1.000. It will probably go lower but that is close enough to guess potential ABV.
 
jgerard said:
Will this be sufficient for a gallon of apfelwein with my champagne yeast? Any estimates on the final abv?
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Yeah. Guessing the cider has no additives but you should definitely check the cranberry cocktail for preservatives. If it has them it could thwart your batch. Otherwise it should be fine with no additional sugars necessary unless you have a higher abv value targeted. If that doesn't matter you could even get away with skipping the hydrometer if you wanted. Years ago I didn't even know what one was and we made hundreds of gallons of wine out of close out juices.
 
Yes you can skip the hydrometer, you dont need it to make wine.....its not yeast

But to get an esitmate on ABV you are going to need one!
 
Took a hydrometer reading, got 1.07 and added a tsp of yeast nutrient, its a nice deep reddish pink color. Couldn't resist adding a few spoonfulls of brown sugar also.

Looking forward to trying it! (As well as my other apfelweins, none are done yet).
 
jgerard said:
Took a hydrometer reading, got 1.07 and added a tsp of yeast nutrient, its a nice deep reddish pink color. Couldn't resist adding a few spoonfulls of brown sugar also.

Looking forward to trying it! (As well as my other apfelweins, none are done yet).
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You will be getting close to 9.5% ABV.
 
Well This is interesting, 5.5gal sams members mark apple juice, one lb white and one lb dark brown sugar with two teaspoons yeast nutrient and the recommended yeast. Pitched at midnight, 2:33AM now and I've got activity ;)

I hope to be taking 2L for christmas and letting the rest chill out in my secondary... This is quite interesting
 
Mine is coming along nicely. I started it 17 days ago. OG was 1.063. Took a hydrometer reading earlier tonight, it was 1.005. I was out of town for a few days and when I got back this afternoon I saw where a LOT of the yeast has dropped so I'd say it's chugging along a little ahead of schedule. Pics of the same ole same ole if anyone wants to take a look. ;)

Apfelwein
 
I fired up another batch using hte original recipe and its fizzing away as we speak. I'll bottle it next November!
 
jgerard said:
Just got two half gallons of 100% apple cider for 1.50 each (managers special!) and a can of frozen cranberry juice cocktail.

Will this be sufficient for a gallon of apfelwein with my champagne yeast? Any estimates on the final abv?
Click to expand...

I've found that a lot of generic grocery store ciders include potassium sorbate as a preservative which will definitely impede fermentation.

Ciders that are Cold Pasteurized or UV treated don't have any Sorbates. Regular old Apple Juice seldom contains sorbate as it is probably heat pasteurized.

Similar thing for Grape Juice. Welch's has no sorbate, but some other brands (e.g. Kedem) do.
 
TommyB said:
OLD ORCHARD 100% Juice - Apple Cherry 12oz
Serving size
conc - 2oz (60ml)
Recon - 8oz (240ml)
Servings - 6
29g sugar amount/serving (So is that 6 x 29g = 174g)?

Any help on gravity points for this would be much appreciated......
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Can anyone help me out on this? Just trying to guesstimate what to add to my OG of 1.070 with one can of this added later.........thanks in advance!
 
Sugar (sucrose) has 46 points per gallon. That is 1 lb/gal = 1.046

174 g = 0.38 lb

0.38 lb/5 gal = 0.076 lb/gal

Not sure what you are asking here.

If you already have have an OG of 1.070 and you add a can of this stuff to 5 gal, you are adding (0.38/5) *46 = 3.5 points (corrected OG = 1.0735)

Correct for whatever volume you are actually using.
 
I did two batches of this, one with montrachet yeast and one with cote du blanc (my mom makes tons of cider and swears by this yeast, bro.FD out more fruit flavor) I have to say the cote du blanc finished quick and is already very drinkable! (started 10/3)
 
Recluse said:
Sugar (sucrose) has 46 points per gallon. That is 1 lb/gal = 1.046

174 g = 0.38 lb

0.38 lb/5 gal = 0.076 lb/gal

Not sure what you are asking here.

If you already have have an OG of 1.070 and you add a can of this stuff to 5 gal, you are adding (0.38/5) *46 = 3.5 points (corrected OG = 1.0735)

Correct for whatever volume you are actually using.
Click to expand...

Thanks Recluse, Yeah thats pretty much what I was looking for....just kind of a ball park so I can determine the FG (abv%) after it finishes.
 
Started 10 gallons over the weekend. Used Rougemont apple juice (Costco Ontario), pitched with EC-1118. Watching one closely:

OG 1.060
SG after 2 day 1.014
SG after 3 days 1.000

That's fast! At this stage the sugar has more or less been completely converted to alcohol. So what are the yeasts doing at this point? How long until they're finished?

I feel like a lot of people like this wine due to its simplicity and speed.

Has anyone tried killing off the yeast after one week (cold crash, sorbate+kmeta,etc). If so does it clear soon after? How does this affect the taste compared to letting it clear on its own?

Anyway this recipe can be brought to completion within 2 weeks?

Just curious. I am letting mine go until it's cleared out, but if someone's done this experiment I'd like to know if it's necessary to wait.
 
rpaulson said:
I had some I had out the garage all summer and it never cleared. it prob got up to the 80's and has been in primary since 4/29 (I forgot I had it out there). 1 pkt of champagne yeast (had a krausen) and 5 gal of apple juice and 2.5 lbs of sugar.

Still good?

20111118_174901.jpg
Click to expand...

This got lost 3 pages back because of waiting in a moderation que and never got seen.

How about it? what do you think?
 
Recluse said:
I've found that a lot of generic grocery store ciders include potassium sorbate as a preservative which will definitely impede fermentation.

Ciders that are Cold Pasteurized or UV treated don't have any Sorbates. Regular old Apple Juice seldom contains sorbate as it is probably heat pasteurized.

Similar thing for Grape Juice. Welch's has no sorbate, but some other brands (e.g. Kedem) do.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I will have to go to the store and check since I threw the bottles out already. I don't think it was generic necessarily it was originally 3$ a half gallon before managers special and said which orchard it was from, but I don't know anything about any of that... I wonder how/if it will turn out if it does contain preservatives.
 
First batch came out well, like a dry white wine, but not as good cold then at room temperature.

This time,
1.5 five gram packet of Montrachet Wine Yeast,

4x1/2 gallons of Kedem the 6x1/2G Motts All-Natural Organic (They sold out of Kedem, so I bought The Organic Motts because I insist on only USA apples, and regular Motts could be Chile or China, or South Africa.)

2lbs Domino Dark brown sugar.

1 lb of Lactose

Process:
Sanitized everything with Star-San, even dunked the tops of the Apple juice containers.

Poured in about 4 gallons of the apple juice.

I dissolved the sugar and lactose in about a quart of pre-boiled water. From that, I took about half a coffee cup worth and mixed the yeast, put some saran wrap loosely around the top and left it in a dark warm cabinet for 40 minutes. The yeast was getting started so I pitched it into the carboy, and added the last 1/2 gallon to rinse it down the funnel.

Shook vigorously, and put it into my brew closet. (around 62 degrees, I can't help the temp, it may take longer...)

I'm hoping the addition of the lactose will give it the slight sweetness I'm looking for.

I hope it's ready in 4 weeks.
:mug:
 
I'm buying all the ingredients tonight to give to a friend for his birthday. He keeps talking about wanting to make it, but never does.

Has anyone ever infected some with Brett/Pedio? I'm going to start a batch over the weekend unless I hear not to from someone.
 
And we are underway! Used Mott's apple juice and Nottingham yeast. It has been 4.5 hours and there is already some action starting.
 
I added three sticks of Ceylon cinnamon three cloves and two split vanilla beans to the batch that I just put in secondary and it is tasting great right now. Cassia cinnamon which you get in most stores is much stronger though.
 
jgerard said:
Hmm, I will have to go to the store and check since I threw the bottles out already. I don't think it was generic necessarily it was originally 3$ a half gallon before managers special and said which orchard it was from, but I don't know anything about any of that... I wonder how/if it will turn out if it does contain preservatives.
Click to expand...

If it is from a local orchard, it is probably OK.

Also, I don't know how much sorbate they add. Certainly enough to prevent spontaneous fermentation from wild yeasts, but when pitching a lot of yeast and making conditions sort of ideal for multiplication, it MIGHT not be a big deal. I never tried it, though. My local ACME had some Ziegler's Brand Cider, and the label indicated potassium sorbate as a preservative.
 
My first batch of Apfelwein is getting ready to bottle, a check today showed a PH of 3.6, is this on track for Apfelwein or should it be adjusted? It is still and a bit watery to my taste, although some apple notes are there. Any recommendations?

Thanks,

Tony
 

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