Man, I love Apfelwein

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I added some of the nutrient and I didn't smell anything. My wife even let me keep it in the dinning room.
 
Well farts here I come - went with the original recipe, so Red Star! Wife will probably just blame me :mug:
 
Grumpybumpy said:
An update to my unintentional RC212 "experiment":

No bubbles or signs of fermentation for at least 32 hours (yelled at it to get moving and went to bed). This morning I came downstairs to a headspace and airlock filled with bubbles. It looks like the same bubbling as when I agitated the applejuice, not a krausen looking beast. Who knows?

Now I have a blowoff hooked to my 5 gal carboy. Glad I opted to leave a little bit more headspace than what was needed for the Montrachet. I may have woken up to much worse!
Click to expand...

I only update because I wish someone else had before I started this deal.

The applejuice bubbles decreased all the way within a day after crazy blow-off and now it's bubbling away happily without any chance of explosions. RC212 is a short lived threat.
 
If they do come, place a damp cloth over the airlock. The airlock can still function, and the damp cloth keeps the farts away.
 
I had about 6 hours of funk in the house on day two or three. I used Lalvin K1-V1116 and 2 tsp. of nutrient. It was pretty rank, but didn't last long at all. The dog took most of the blame. ;-)
 
So, since this is my first brew, naturally I'm convinced that it isn't going to work out and I've done something wrong.

I followed the instructions word for word from the first post in this thread, but when I added that last quart of apple juice to the carboy to wash down any yeast stuck in the funnel, it sank the yeast that had been on the surface.

Do the yeast naturally float back up to the top and get to work? Do they do their work while suspended inside apple juice? Am I just getting too paranoid and need to sit back and relax?

Tried to find something on this by searching the thread but didn't have any luck, hoping this is a fairly straightforward question given the absurdly high amoutn of times this has been brewed.
 
nukinfuts29 said:
If you are an alcoholic who has no ability to control yourself who takes more Tylenol than they should every night you have something to worry about.

If you drink like a normal person or not to the brink of retard intoxication and take a Tylenol or two with water before bed, your going to be fine.
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If you have drank enough that you're going to need to have a glass of water and a tylenol before you go to bed so you don't wake up with a hangover, then your body will be processing the alcohol in your bloodstream all night. It likely won't even be finished by morning. It has nothing to do with being an alcoholic.

Personally I just whip up a glass of gatorade crystals and chug that - no painkillers necessary. Something to do with the water+salt+sugar+electrolytes, whatever the hell that means. Try it without the drugs next time!

....or, there's always the best hangover cure ever: Get drunk again.
 
Personally I don't get hungover or any of the effects, but some people are sensitive to it and I could see this stuff putting a real migrane on them. Also, some people become intoxicated off one whiff of a wine cooler, so to say any Tylenol is too much because of the alcohol required to become intoxicated, that may not always be accurate.

In any event I'm not going to sweat a little Tylenol with some normal drinking before bed. I'm also going to keep using saran wrap in the microwave, eating eggs, and pusing my cell phone against my ear.
 
I made this on 12/1 with an OG of 1.065. Today I took a reading and it was 1.004. I tasted it and it was pretty good. It had a slightly weird smell but it tasted like a dry apple wine. I'll probably let it sit in primary for at least another month. Should I give it a slight shack to get the yeast back in suspension to bring down the gravity a few more points?

Does anyone else have this weird smell? I did use Montrachet yeast but I figured the smell from that would have gone away by now. I didn't really do much for temp control. I put it in my closet and let it sit. I would think the apfelwein would get up to 68 or so. Should I have fermented this like an ale in the low 60s?
 
I wouldn't stir or shake it, but thats my personal feeling on it.

As for smells, my Apfelwein has made some interesting smells across the board on different batches, it will go away.
 
I just emptied two carboys on Wednesday (Vanilla Bourbon Milk Stout and EdWort's Bee Cave Hefeweizen). So while I had the equipment out and clean I decided to get a few batches of this going to try it out.

In the first carboy, I stuck with the original recipe using Montrachet yeast. The only slight variation was one pound of Dextrose instead of two. (SWMBO is tipsy after one drink, so I don't need her on the floor with that extra percentage point)

With the second carboy, I mixed up the recipe with Red Star's Cote des Blancs yeast. Supposedly this strain "emphasizes fruit character . . . making it an excellent choice for fruit wines, especially apple." After reading that description I couldn't resist giving it a shot.

This is going to be a long month of waiting. I'm looking forward to trying the original recipe and then both side-by-side.
 
Since our first batch won't be ready for drinking for another month or two, I need to start thinking about firing up another batch. Will probably make this one apple cranberry, or something besides strictly apple.

Like the suggestion about about the different Red Star yeast. Gotta let us know how that turns out.
 
Got my first batch of EWAW in the carboy now. If this is the crack everyone says it is, there will likely be at least 5 gal of this perpetually fermenting at my place!
 
I have a nice stockpile and I STILL keep some in the primary lol.

I made Applejack out of some of it. After a few freeze cycles, it gets reaaaal good.
 
nukinfuts29 said:
I made Applejack out of some of it. After a few freeze cycles, it gets reaaaal good.
Click to expand...

I'll have to try that. Seems like everyone has a miracle tweak to the golden lamb. As simple as removing what freezes, and what's left is the Jack, right?
 
So today I built my temp controller using the famous eBay thread. I also threw together my first batch of apfelwein.

Now I have to figure out what temp to ferment at. I've seen numbers all over the board so I wanted to see what folks who have made many batches have found to be the best in their experiences.

Thanks!
 
I made 5 gallons following EdWort's recipe exactly.

Went to Costco to buy the juice. I was memorized by the size of the store, and in the cooler section saw a big display of 100% Juice. I grabbed 5 gallons and headed for the long check out line. I was almost out when I realized I just bought 5 gallons of Orange Juice (and I hadn't even had a homebrew, yet). Turn around, wait in return line, admit to checker that I'm a moron, and exchange for apple juice).

Easiest brewing session thereafter. Had 1 extra gallon of juice, so I opened the pantry. I had 3 (3/4 cup) packets of priming sugar and a Nottingham package of yeast (as well as several other types). Through 1 gallon of juice (apple), the 2 1/4 cups of priming sugar, the yeast and a cup of frozen dried Pomegranate seeds from the Persian market that I had into my 3 gallon experimental fermentor. We'll see what happens.

Albert
 
I'm getting ready to make a batch of this tonight. Can anybody tell me whether or not sugar in the raw is a suitable substitute for dextrose/corn sugar? If i'm not mistaken, i think the corn sugar is for abv boost only.
 
crbrown25 said:
I'm getting ready to make a batch of this tonight. Can anybody tell me whether or not sugar in the raw is a suitable substitute for dextrose/corn sugar? If i'm not mistaken, i think the corn sugar is for abv boost only.
Click to expand...
Don't see why not. People substitute brown sugar all the time. I'm sure somebody that knows more about the subject will be along shortly, though.
 
crbrown25 said:
I'm getting ready to make a batch of this tonight. Can anybody tell me whether or not sugar in the raw is a suitable substitute for dextrose/corn sugar? If i'm not mistaken, i think the corn sugar is for abv boost only.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't. In my experience sugar in the raw does not dissolve as easily or completely as other sugars. As for ABV, I can hit the same target with brown sugar as corn sugar, but i personally prefer Apfelwein with the corn sugar. My understanding is that the Dexatrose is used to get the Apfelwein as authentic as possible.

chevs15 said:
Is this a sweet wine or can it be made to be drier?
Click to expand...

Apfelwein is very dry by the original recipe, and dare I say no hint of sweet at all. The easiest solution if you want sweet (I'm guessing you do not) is to make it original, and than when drinking mix 25/75 with 7up, sprite, or mountain dew.
 
Then Apfelwein could not be more perfect. Make and bottle it now, and come summer that first cold, carbonated bottle is going to make you wish you had cases of the stuff.
 
I just mixed up another batch of this stuff. Original recipe. Also have a Bembel full of it I'm working on, of course. :mug:
 
Great! Can this be made in a 1 gallon recipe? And it's all done in a carboy.....correct?
 

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