Man, I love Apfelwein
- Thread starter EdWort
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KWKSLVR
Well-Known Member
Should be at least this clear IMO (this is how it looks in primary right now, 6 weeks in):
I mixed up my first Apfelwein in early October. Just bottled it last weekend. ZOMFG it is good. I can't wait for it to carb; you guys weren't joking about making another batch right after bottling -- I can tell it won't last very long this winter.....
Props to the OP. I feel like I owe you some beers now
Props to the OP. I feel like I owe you some beers now
Has anyone ever tried to dry hop this stuff? I recently started drinking this dry hopped cider by Finnriver and all I really know about it is that they say they use Cascade hops to dry hop with. You can taste the hops in their cider so I was thinking of pulling a few quarts and making a hop tea with it, because I want some flavor along with the aroma (which isn't much), before adding it back into the bulk of the Apfelwein and bottling. I found this thread on the topic/cider but there wasn't any information in it. Any help would be great.
Just threw my first 5 gallons of Apfelwein tonight. Was skeptical of getting dextrose at my LHBS because I would think they would just jack the price up. Went to two Walmarts, a local grocery store, and Whole Foods and neither had the stuff. Oh well I settled for brown sugar, kicking myself in the A a little bit for not picking it up at my LHBS.
Oh well. Super excited to drink the stuff. I only have 2 glass carboys and a fermenting bucket though so I ordered two more carboys online. Ready to get this pipeline rolling again! Thinking skeeter pee is next, would be about ready for the summer!
Oh well. Super excited to drink the stuff. I only have 2 glass carboys and a fermenting bucket though so I ordered two more carboys online. Ready to get this pipeline rolling again! Thinking skeeter pee is next, would be about ready for the summer!
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Don't kick yourself, it comes out great with brown sugar.
cool. Does it make much of a difference taste and ABV wise?
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
I didn't take any readings with the BS, so I can't talk to ABV. The taste is sweeter.
Pickled_Pepper
Well-Known Member
My experience is that you also get a color shift. It clears just fine, but the color is noticeably darker using brown sugar. It will be based on how much you add and the sugar you use. (Light, Dark, Turbinado, etc)
Brown sugar is slightly less fermentable due to the molasses I think. Molasses by itself is even less fermentable and would leave it even sweeter but it has a really strong taste of it's own that may overpower the apfelwine.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Not quite clear yet. Try to hide it from yourself for a while. Two weeks from now put a bottle in th fridge, and try it when it gets cold. Do that for the next month or two and you will be amazed.
Note that I haven't had mine around long enough to enjoy the bliss of aged, i'm just parroting others.
Note that I haven't had mine around long enough to enjoy the bliss of aged, i'm just parroting others.
If the gravity stopped changing then it's as high an abv as it's going to get unless you add priming sugar when you bottle.
I just started my first batch on Thursday. I've got it fermenting away in the dining room at about 70 degrees. It took until this morning for a good ferment, but it's bubbling away like mad now. I've got a little problem though. It's starting to smell up the room. It smells like rotting apples. Everything looks fine, but I'm afraid my wife is going to make me stop fermenting in the dining room!!!!
SteveHoward
Well-Known Member
1 tsp of yeast nutrient/gallon of juice will prevent that. I haven't had a hint of rhino farts yet. In fact, the fermentation has smelled very good throughout. I'm preparing to start another batch tomorrow.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
SWMBO has a sensitive nose with the baby on board, and my cider has been bugging her. I set a dish towel ontop of the airlock. The airlock can still function, and the towel has helped cut down the smell.
I'd wager wetting the towel would help even more. Never had a rhino issue myself, but a damp cloth will kill smell more effectively than a dry one.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Smart idea, I think I will go dampen mine now.
OP
OP
EdWort
Well-Known Member
I've grown to enjoy the aroma of fermenting Apfelwein. Hmmmmm good.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
I haven't got any funk out of the Apfelwein, but I use Nottingham.
BTW Ed, thanks again for the recipe. This stuff is just amazing. I can't wait till my mother in law and their family pops theirs open on Christmas and gives me feedback.
BTW Ed, thanks again for the recipe. This stuff is just amazing. I can't wait till my mother in law and their family pops theirs open on Christmas and gives me feedback.
Had anyone tried fruit in the secondary with this?
I have a 6.25 gallon batch made with 3 pounds of brown sugar. I started the batch in early November, racked and tasted on Thanksgiving. As I am new to this hobby, I was impressed how this was already drinkable. I definitely want to age it as long add I can manage but I was thinking of racking again after the new year into 1 gallon jugs onto fruit.
Any thoughts?
I have a 6.25 gallon batch made with 3 pounds of brown sugar. I started the batch in early November, racked and tasted on Thanksgiving. As I am new to this hobby, I was impressed how this was already drinkable. I definitely want to age it as long add I can manage but I was thinking of racking again after the new year into 1 gallon jugs onto fruit.
Any thoughts?
Unless you want to try a bunch of different fruits I'd just add it to the primary and not put it into secondary. Fwiw, I boiled 3 cinnamon stick in apple juice with mine and squeezed 2 oranges into it. We'll see how it goes.
Yes, crystal clear. What should this taste like? I can't imagine that what I have is what everyone is raving about (this is in response to my earlier post where it has almost a vomit-like taste)
My batches (particularly with Montrachet) typically taste akin to what I'd expect from an apple champagne. Very light apple flavor, mild alcohol burn, very little residual sweetness.
mistercameron
Well-Known Member
I just bottled this half an hour ago. The best way to describe it is like a somewhat dry white wine with a distinct apple flavor rather than grape. I used US05 since I already had some on hand.
KWKSLVR
Well-Known Member
This may not be relevant since it's referencing a mead, but it's worth a read: The Bee's Lees The relevant portion states:
I wonder if either your yeast wasn't healthy and possibly underpitched, and/or you have an infection.
OpenContainer
Well-Known Member
It's taken me a little over a week to read 225 pages of this thread and I think I've learned as much as I can without reading the other ~600ish pages. Hopefully there have been no significant changes to the recipe in those unread pages.
Was gonna start a batch this weekend, but my LHBS......who is only open one day a week for 5 hours was closed this week. How the heck do you get away with that as a business owner. LMAO!! Anyways, I'm gonna kick off either 5 or 10 gallons next week when I can get my sugar and yeast.
It's been a good read so far and I'm getting excited to try it.
Cheers!!
Was gonna start a batch this weekend, but my LHBS......who is only open one day a week for 5 hours was closed this week. How the heck do you get away with that as a business owner. LMAO!! Anyways, I'm gonna kick off either 5 or 10 gallons next week when I can get my sugar and yeast.
It's been a good read so far and I'm getting excited to try it.
Cheers!!
KWKSLVR
Well-Known Member
OK, so, just took another hydrometer reading and I'm sitting @ 1.001 (1.002 adjusted @ 68.7 degrees - yeah, I'm that anal). I really almost NEED to bottle this stuff tomorrow. I was going to do 3/4 cup of dextrose (5 gallon batch). How should I adjust my quantity? I don't want to blow the caps off of my bottles. Should I aim to bring this thing up to 1.005 before I bottle? Higher? Lower? Bottling in standard 12oz and 22oz beer bottles along with a couple of growlers.
tennesseean_87
Well-Known Member
Friend just said my 3 1/2 month old AW is better than Magners.
KWKSLVR
Well-Known Member
Scratch this, I think my hydrometer's calibration is off. Letting some water hit room temperature, but based on an initial glance, it's off. (Fairly warm water out of the faucet and the hydrometer is reading 1.004
)I should have bought a hydrometer.
My apfelwein is sitting there, no activity at all. But because the fermenter it's in is white plastic, I can't tell if it has cleared.
And I really don't have a good way to take a sample.
Guess I'll just wait another week or two.
My apfelwein is sitting there, no activity at all. But because the fermenter it's in is white plastic, I can't tell if it has cleared.
And I really don't have a good way to take a sample.
Guess I'll just wait another week or two.
paulster2626
Well-Known Member
Just leave it for 6 weeks total. It will be clear, and it will be better.
How would you get it out of the fermenter anyway? If you're just gonna siphon it, then siphon some in to a small glass, cool it, and drink your sample.
Started my 5 gal batch on Nov. 3rd. It was beginning to clear, but there were a lot of very small bubbles rising. Thinking it was CO2, I pulled the air-lock and gave it a gentle stir. Lots of gas came out. I let this settle down and stirred again and more gas. I repeated this several times getting more vigorous and it finally seemed to give off less gas.
However, the lees got stirred up too and the wine got cloudy again. I didn't mind because I thought it would settle and clear soon. But now, ten days later, it is still very cloudy. Did I blow it? Is this going to be a long wait?
However, the lees got stirred up too and the wine got cloudy again. I didn't mind because I thought it would settle and clear soon. But now, ten days later, it is still very cloudy. Did I blow it? Is this going to be a long wait?
I primed my 5 gallon keg with concentrate, let it alone for two weeks at room temp, then put it in the keg and upped the co2. Man is it sooo good!
KemP130
Well-Known Member
Has anyone tried this recipe but instead of using dextrose substituted maple syrup?
Air Pilot mentioned using maple syrup in post # 3108, said it "rawks." While the thought of a liquid taffy/caramel apple sounds good to me am not sure if enough maple flavor would come through after fermentation.
I think some of the cider people have used maple syrup, so you might want to ask in the Cider forum.
If you give it a try let us know how it turns out.
Edit: On rethinking this idea, it would really depend on how much sugar was caramelized in processing the sap into syrup. People claim that brown sugar leaves a little more sweetness in their Applewein, that was next on my list of variations to try.
I bottle condition with 28 gr. - 1 oz. sugar per gallon, taste sweet to me. the bottles cloud up and drop clear by the 14th day, from week 3 - week 5 the Applewein taste good and seems to be fully carbonated but some time after week 5 it finishes eating up all of the priming sugar and the taste takes a nose dive and requires more aging to bring back the flavor to where I like it.
I think some of the cider people have used maple syrup, so you might want to ask in the Cider forum.
If you give it a try let us know how it turns out.
Edit: On rethinking this idea, it would really depend on how much sugar was caramelized in processing the sap into syrup. People claim that brown sugar leaves a little more sweetness in their Applewein, that was next on my list of variations to try.
I bottle condition with 28 gr. - 1 oz. sugar per gallon, taste sweet to me. the bottles cloud up and drop clear by the 14th day, from week 3 - week 5 the Applewein taste good and seems to be fully carbonated but some time after week 5 it finishes eating up all of the priming sugar and the taste takes a nose dive and requires more aging to bring back the flavor to where I like it.
