Man, I love Apfelwein

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Just took a hydrometer sample, didn' t want to waste it.:mug:
l_aabf5ff29b5f62e4e213bce40378a52c.jpg
 
Hell Brew, you inspired me to take a hydrometer reading of my own. :mug:

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Mine's not done...but I'm trying it out every once in a while to see how it's going. It's been a little over three weeks now, and from the taste of it right now, it's gonna be absolutely gorgeous. :)

EDIT: Hrm...I think I may need to take another *ahem* hydrometer sample. I know it's not done, but that **** is good.
 
EdWort said:
Thanks guys. Over 36,500 views. Did we hit 500 gallons yet?

SWMBO just phoned me to tell me she floated the Apfelwein keg. I guess I'll be bringing a keg in from the garage cooler when I get back in town and starting a new batch. That one only lasted 3 weeks.
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Just wanted to let you know that this is my first post and I just started my 5 gallons of Apfelwein and hope to order 2 more Better Bottles and get my 2 and 3rd batches started ASAP!

Thanks!

Mofo
 
Started first batch on 12/28 and its still bubbling away nicely. Used Ed's receipe to the tee.....can't wait to bottle and start drinking. Considering a second bathch in 2 - 3 weeks.
 
A few months I started a batch of Apfelwein. I usually keep the yeast and sugar on hand so I just picked up the apple juice. Unfortunately I only had 1.5lbs of dextrose on hand and I also forgot to take a gravity reading. Any ideas on what my OG would have been? Thanks guys!
 
A question on storage:

How long have you folks stored your apfelwein at room temperature? I remember that EdWort kept a fermenter out for three months, but I haven't heard much beyond that.

I ask because I have some bottles from my first batch, and I would like to keep them around for a while. Of course, fridge space is at a premium, so I'm just trying to set priorities. Of course, I always keep a couple of those bottles chilled, just in case, and there's plenty on tap.


TL
 
ED,

It been just over 5 weeks, I took a gravity reading today --- .999 and still see tiny bubbles coming up side Is it ok to bottle or should I wait till bubbling stops( or does bubbling stop). By the way it tastes great.
 
I just started a new batch less than a week ago and wanted to give you gives some tips. Those who use Lalvin EC-1118, if you don't rehydrate, the yeast will be fine and you will have MUCH less Kraeusen, and no need for blow off or for much headspace (about 3-4 inches below stopper). You just have to be sure the yeast is well suspended. Krauesen subsides quicker than if you rehydrate it and the fermentation starts faster.
 
joejaz said:
ED,

Is it ok to bottle or should I wait till bubbling stops( or does bubbling stop).
Click to expand...

I'd wait for the bubbling to stop. (It will eventually.) I don't keg mine until there is no bubbling, and it's nice and clear...one batch took seven weeks to get there. My first batch finished up in just four weeks, which I attribute to warmer temperatures.
 
TexLaw said:
A question on storage:

How long have you folks stored your apfelwein at room temperature? I remember that EdWort kept a fermenter out for three months, but I haven't heard much beyond that.

I ask because I have some bottles from my first batch, and I would like to keep them around for a while. Of course, fridge space is at a premium, so I'm just trying to set priorities. Of course, I always keep a couple of those bottles chilled, just in case, and there's plenty on tap.


TL
Click to expand...


I bottled some up for 4 months, It gets sweeter with age. I also threw a couple Cinnamon sticks and some whole cloves in my fermenter, and those flavors mellow in very nicely with time
 
deathweed said:
I bottled some up for 4 months, It gets sweeter with age. I also threw a couple Cinnamon sticks and some whole cloves in my fermenter, and those flavors mellow in very nicely with time
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Sounds nice....

deathweed, nice name:)
 
Mr. Nice Guy. I did mine for over 6 months, it got VERY smooth and VERY tasty. SWMBO made me start 2 more batches since that growler that I had was the very last of the first batch.

Now I've got 2 batches going. 1 with 5 gallons of TreeTop, and 1 with 4 gallons of Langers, 1 gallon of TreeTop.

The treetop already smells like my last batch did. The Langers smells BETTER!!! I can't wait to try the difference between the two. Going to probably do two different bottlings to keep them separate (different caps or something).

Argh, I just started them sunday, going to be a while till I can have some more apfelwein!!!
 
I just kegged my first batch of apfelwein and it is fabulous. And, after only six weeks, it is much smoother than the stuff I had in Frankfurt (or, more recently, the Possman that you can get here). Has anyone noticed that certain brands of juice produce a sweeter or tarter brew? I used the store brand from my local supermarket chain.
 
I let my first batch sit in the primary for 11 weeks and then kegged it and carbed. Just had my first glass a few minutes ago, I will be making another batch tomorrow.
I did try the chilled hydro sample when I kegged it and it was ok, now that it's carbed its great!
I did add the pound of lactose for the SWMBO but she said its better than beer but still reminds her of beer, so I guess I get it all :D
AW.jpg
 
Some sage advice was offered early on: (paraphrasing) "Start another batch of AW two weeks after the first." I have wised up and now have #s 2 and 3 (five gal. carboys) in the holds. I am rapidly depleting #1.

I see a lag in AW in about a month. :(

This is good stuff. Thanks EW

JW
 
That reminds me...it's about time to pick up some more apple juice and start a real batch. The first half-batch is about ready to bottle, the second half-batch halfway there...but it's not gonna last long at all.
 
skinfiddler said:
Some sage advice was offered early on: (paraphrasing) "Start another batch of AW two weeks after the first." I have wised up and now have #s 2 and 3 (five gal. carboys) in the holds. I am rapidly depleting #1.

I see a lag in AW in about a month. :(

This is good stuff. Thanks EW

JW
Click to expand...


Im glad I didnt follow this advice....... Im thinking of racking my first batch into a secondary today (becasue all the cool kids do), but I deffinitly want to try it a little differently next time.

I just checked and my gravity is at .999 :fro: but then I drank the wine theif.... I liked it, but it was not in any way what I was expecting (and my investor did not much like it) it is VERY BRUT. so now I need to figure out how to make it sweeter.

anything I can do in the secondary to make it sweeter?

for my batch I used 5 gallons of cider...... sweet mead yeast and 3.25 pounds of dme. I am farily new to the world of brewing, and would like the next batch to be sweet (think woodchucks... hey gotta keep the boss happy) would buying apple juice in stead of cider make that big of a difference? maybe using brown sugar instead of DME?
 
for my batch I used 5 gallons of cider...... sweet mead yeast and 3.25 pounds of dme. I am farily new to the world of brewing, and would like the next batch to be sweet
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After kegging or botteling and waiting some time it will be plenty sweet.

mine went from TART to un****ingbelieveable with a little time. I used Cider and 2lb corn sugar
 
MikeFlynn74 said:
After kegging or botteling and waiting some time it will be plenty sweet.

mine went from TART to un****ingbelieveable with a little time. I used Cider and 2lb corn sugar
Click to expand...


hhmm, ok good to know! what is a little time?
 
Tried my first batch last night. Loving it. Dying with a hangover most of today but the apfelwein is good. I used Shoprite Apple Juice, 1 1/2 lb Corn Sugar, Lavlin wine yeast and added 1/2 lb of lactose to sweeten when i bottled it (and some Corn Sugar to carb) - it came out really good. Batch number two will be starting pretty soon.
 
cd2448 said:
Tried my first batch last night. Loving it. Dying with a hangover most of today but the apfelwein is good. I used Shoprite Apple Juice, 1 1/2 lb Corn Sugar, Lavlin wine yeast and added 1/2 lb of lactose to sweeten when i bottled it (and some Corn Sugar to carb) - it came out really good. Batch number two will be starting pretty soon.
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how big of a batch did you make?
 
Wow, I am definetly loving apfelwein, I first batch went into the fermenter on 11/30/07 and I just got around to bottling it 3 days ago. I saved a little bit in the bottling bucket to drink, and I already chilled a bottle and cracked it open and drank it just now and believe me its got me buzzing. I can only imagine how good it will be once carbed in a few weeks. I made mine exactly by recipe except I used cote de blancs and added a pound of lactose at bottliing. Mad props edwort.
 
So funny story here. I was having dinner with my uncle. he likes sweet cider...... he had a small glass of apfelwine, he sipped it. eeeewwww. dry. i said yeah but what can you do,, just keep drinking it (you get used to it Ed says) 2 hours later, hes passed out on my couch! drank a 16 OZ bottle all by himself! HA! good stuff
 
claphamsa said:
how big of a batch did you make?
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Recipe as follows:
5 gallons of juice, mixed with 1.5 lb corn sugar (added to the bottles of juice as Ed describes in the original recipe)
Lavlin yeast
A little yeast nutrient

I didn't want it to be as strong as the original, and I choose the yeast because I didn't want the couple of days of pungent aroma. It fermented out very dry, almost down to 1.000, but I didn't take an SG so I don't know what the ABV is on this. I'm thinking it's probably about 6-7%.

Added 5oz corn sugar to carb and 8oz lactose to sweeten dissolved in two cups of water and boiled before bottling. I got about 54 12oz bottles out of the batch. The lactose just takes the dry edge off the apfelwein and it's carbed up nicely with the corn sugar. It's only been in bottles two weeks but we had to try it last night when we had friends over.

I had 3 or 4 last night, but I also had some of my other brews too so might be a bit harsh blaming today's hangover total on the apfelwein!
 
Quick Question - I started my Apflewein in my Ale Pail 1 week ago today. It is bubbling along nicely, but I would kind of like my pail back to start another beer. Can I transfer it to a secondary while its still fermenting or will that mess something up?

I could put my next beer just straight to my glass Carboy, but I was a little concerned with leaving the Apfelwein in the pail it for 4 weeks.
 
Jonnio said:
Quick Question - I started my Apflewein in my Ale Pail 1 week ago today. It is bubbling along nicely, but I would kind of like my pail back to start another beer. Can I transfer it to a secondary while its still fermenting or will that mess something up?

I could put my next beer just straight to my glass Carboy, but I was a little concerned with leaving the Apfelwein in the pail it for 4 weeks.
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Don't know if you're aware of this or not, but there's a good source of cheap 5 gal glass carboys in your town:
Huntsville Old Time Pottery
9076 Madison Blvd.
Madison, AL 35758
256-772-7272
Directions: I-565 Exit 8
Corner of Madison Blvd & Wall Triana

$14.99 a piece.

You really don't need a pail for Apfelwein, just make it right in a carboy.

Matt
 
ma2brew said:
You really don't need a pail for Apfelwein, just make it right in a carboy.

Matt
Click to expand...

Heading to Old Time Pottery today :)

Yeah, my carboy was full and I really wanted to get it going, and at the time it seemed like I could just rack it over and the active yeast would stay in solution, now I am not so sure if thats a good idea.
 
Jonnio said:
Heading to Old Time Pottery today :)

Yeah, my carboy was full and I really wanted to get it going, and at the time it seemed like I could just rack it over and the active yeast would stay in solution, now I am not so sure if thats a good idea.
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You've got plenty enough yeast in suspension, just transfer it over. It'll be just fine. (You have enough yeast when you bottle beer, to condition it, don't you?)

steve
 
A conditioning temp question: I bottled and carbed my AW two weeks ago.

It is in the basement, at 56-58 deg. now.


- right temp. for aging?

- should I chill it a couple of days before drinking to bring more CO2?


BTW I used one San Pellegrino metal screwtop glass bottle for fun (kept in a cooler). It seems to be holding fine, as another 'control" soda bottle is quite firm.
 
What else can you do with this recipe?
EdWort says, "this makes a great Grog in the winter time. Take a quart in a sauce pan, add some rum, turbinado sugar, and float a cinnamon stick in it and simmer for a while. Serve hot in mugs. It'll warm you right up."

Holy crap that grog is gooooooooooooooooood .....and an ass kicker...
 
buraglio said:

Holy crap that grog is gooooooooooooooooood .....and an ass kicker...
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Good to hear - that was one of the things that pushed me over the edge to try this recipe...well, and all the good reviews in the first 178 pages that I have read.
 
I bottled my last two batches in 2L pop bottles yesterday after sitting in the fermenter for 2 months. The last bottle ended up only 3/4 full so instead of racking it to age further, I sampled it. Thanks Ed!
 
Jonnio said:
Good to hear - that was one of the things that pushed me over the edge to try this recipe...well, and all the good reviews in the first 178 pages that I have read.
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I'll tell you what, 1 glass of glog and 2 Home Brews....I feel like I've had 9 beers. apfelwein is TOTALLY worth it. I have s second batch going with ale yeast (for SWIMBO). EdWord is a true master of brewing. If he's ever in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois I'm buying him dinner and drinks (plus I think he's in the same professional industry as me; Network Geek)....

EdWort, if you're even within 1 hour of Champaign, IL, I'll buy you dinner. Email or call me. The payback for the recipe is totally worth it...........
 
We just made 3 gallons of apfelwein with organic AJ and Nottingham.
Our first batch is carbonating right now.
Here it is at high krausen (SWMBO in background):
organicapfelwein.jpg
 
chase said:
We just made 3 gallons of apfelwein with organic AJ and Nottingham.
Our first batch is carbonating right now.
Here it is at high krausen (SWMBO in background):
organicapfelwein.jpg
Click to expand...

Nottingham is making a big rocking head on that apfelwien, I was faithful to the orignal recipe, but I'm doing Nottinghamn on batch #2.
 
I used Nottingham in my batch too, and got a LOT of krausen, as well. I also used cloudy AJ, so I may end up with cloudy AW. Oh well! (Tastes good, though.)

I sorbated this batch, and added some honey to back-sweeten, and will see if any of my finings tricks from wine-making will clarify this stuff. I fremented it completely dry, but it lost the "appley" flavours, since there was no sugars left, so I used some k-sorb to "turn the yeast off" and backsweetened. (Really, I backsweetened, until it was a wee bit too sweet, then K-sorbed when it dried out enough.) No, I'm not going to bottle condition.

steve
 
chase said:
We just made 3 gallons of apfelwein with organic AJ and Nottingham.
Our first batch is carbonating right now.
Here it is at high krausen (SWMBO in background):
organicapfelwein.jpg
Click to expand...

I also used Nottingham on the 2nd (3 gallon as well) batch. You're right up the road from me too, chase. I used to work over in Peoria a lot back in the 90's.

nb
 

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