Man, I love Apfelwein

Yakima 728
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Ed -

Just wanted to thank you for this recipe. I found a couple bottles that have probably been hiding for over a year now and they were spectacular. I need to start another batch soon!
 
I just decided its time to bottle my first batch this week. I have to say Im pretty excited...especially since Ive been walking by that carboy every day for the past 4 months. Thanks Ed.
 
I'm extremely new to home brewing....

Last year I fell in love with cider while in England for a couple of weeks. I quickly went poor buying it in the store so I decided to take matters in my own hands. I did two gallons of standard cider without much success (didn't taste too good) and my online searching lead me here. Seeing the Apfelwein thread I knew I needed to give this a go!

Two gallons of Costco apple juice and I was off... Experimenting I decided to try how different yeasts affected the flavor. Each gallon of apfelwein got the same amount of juice and sugar (pretty close... some sugar / juice spilled a bit when filling one jug). The only difference is the yeast.

I'm not sure what came over me but for some reason I ended up more than doubling the amount of sugar as in the recipe. Ooops. I'm still scratching my head over why I did that. At any rate, here is what I've got going:

Jug 1:

1 gallon Costco juice
1.25 lbs sugar
Vintner's Harvest CY17 yeast
Starting gravity: 1.084 @ 75 degrees
Start Date: 3/21/11

Jug 2:

1 gallon Costco juice
1.25 lbs sugar
Vintner's Harvest CL23 yeast
Starting gravity: 1.090 @ 74 degrees
Start Date: 3/21/11

The room these have been in is typically around 68 to 70 degrees but it was warmer the other day. It has cleared up really well so I decided to see how it measured out. Both came out ~1.020 @ 74 degrees. Of course I had to sample! One was extremely sweet and the other was dryer but still on the sweeter side. It was really interesting to see how different they tasted due to two different yeasts!

The airlocks are not longer bubbling. I know it's pretty early with not even two months gone yet but did I screw things up with too much sugar? I'd like it a bit dryer than what I have now but the yeast is not active anymore. There is a lot of sediment at the bottom and it's pretty clear.

Thoughts or suggestions for a new guy?

Based on those first two sips I do think I need to start a 6 gallon batch with correct ratios!!!

Thanks!
 
First try, used 5.5 gallons of apple juice, 2.75 pounds of brown sugar, and 15 grams of Montrachet. Poured the yeast into a quart of juice, added some yeast nutrient and energizer, let it bloom for a bit, then pitched it. Less then 12 hours later I've go a vigorous fermentation going.
 
Holy f*ck!! I have finally tasted an aged back sweetened apfelwein!! (3 cans of AJ concentrate to 5 gallons, also sulfite and sorbated)

I was one of those guys who would drink it 2 weeks after dropping yeast, I finally was able to hide a gallon growler of it to age for 6 weeks (And thats nothing I know!!). Cracked it last night and it has magically carbed perfectly has no sh*tty fusel flavors and went down like like no other cider has been able to do.

I usually drop yeast leave for at least 10 days rack to secondary onto sorbate and sulfite sweeten than leave for as long as I can (max a week haha) than I have a bunch of people over we pour a splash of ginger ale and its an amazing drink everyone loves it. But F*ck me!!

Screw magners, strongbow, sir perrys

To all the noobs, it is f*cking worth it to wait and let it age! I swear!

Sorry for all the swearing, but I mean, my mind has been blown.

Cheers
Ryan
 
LOL!!! A testament to a good recipe, but most folks would hardly consider 6 weeks to be aged!!! I leave mine in the carboy for 8-12 weeks, bottle prime for ~10-14 days. I have managed to keep a bottle or two around for a year...that is until my friends starting drinking it up as fast as I could bottle it!
 
haha i know right! i just have to start making wayyy more than Im drinking haha

im starting 2 5 gallon batches this week now haha I should be able to hide at least a couple gallons to age.

Does anyone know why it came out carbed? I racked onto sulfite and sorbate and left it for 4 or 5 days then back sweetened and bottled into growlers. Id like to be able to recreate this godly miracle. I imagine this isnt normal

-Ryan
 
I just tried my first batch this weekend. I could not wait for several months, so I drank it while it was still fermenting. Not bad. I have ordered 2 better bottles and will make another 10 gallons as soon as they arrive.

I added a little extra sugar to the recipe so it was semi-sweet. I still got hammered. Amazing stuff.
 
So I tried reading all of it, didn't happen. I saw a lot of people mention using brown sugar, but I didn't notice anyone coming back to say how it went. I tried Crispen's cider with molasses recently and it was delicious. I'm thinking I might replace the 2 lbs of dextrose with 3 lbs of brown sugar, add some maltodextrin for body, maybe a cinnamon stick or 3 and hope it's delicious in the fall. I've never used brown sugar, is that an appropriate amount for replacement? Would I be better off using molasses and dextrose?
 
I usually use 50/50 Dextrose/Brown Sugar and it comes out fine.

One of these days I will try ALL Brown Sugar and save myself some $$$ and the grief associated with constantly keeping dextrose in stock! As far as alcohol production, Dextrose and Brown sugar are pretty much interchangeable w/regard to gravity points. In beer brewing, people are warned off brown sugar/table sugar because it imparts a 'cidery quality'. For a cider, that isn't necessarily a bad thing ;)

I am keen to try Molasses, though...
 
Apfelwein Score! I just found 6 150ml bottles from a batch I made 3 years ago. Gonna have to find a reason to open one soon!!
 
RIBeer said:
Apfelwein Score! I just found 6 150ml bottles from a batch I made 3 years ago. Gonna have to find a reason to open one soon!!
Click to expand...

I have to know how good it is. Make sure u let us know.
 
If I have had mine in the carboy for 3 months and I want to bottle carb now do I need to add more yeast or otherwise do anything special? Or is there still enough viable yeast to make it all work?
 
I started a 6.5 gallon batch of this on 05/01/11 with 2 pounds dextrose and 1 pound honey. It's been 10 days and all visible signs of fermentation have stopped. At first it was going like gangbusters, but now nothing. This is my first attempt at something other than beer and I was wondering if this is normal. I'll get a gravity reading as soon as I get a new hydrometer (broke the last one). Also I used WLP720 yeast on this.

Thanks for any opinions,
Eric
 
erockanderson said:
I started a 6.5 gallon batch of this on 05/01/11 with 2 pounds dextrose and 1 pound honey. It's been 10 days and all visible signs of fermentation have stopped. At first it was going like gangbusters, but now nothing. This is my first attempt at something other than beer and I was wondering if this is normal. I'll get a gravity reading as soon as I get a new hydrometer (broke the last one). Also I used WLP720 yeast on this.

Thanks for any opinions,
Eric
Click to expand...

I'm sure it's still working away in there. I started another 5 gallons on 5-1 also. I used 2 lbs. of brown sugar 2 cinnamon sticks and wb-06. I still have a bubble every 20 seconds as tonight.
 
It's completely normal for the most active portion of fermentation to finish in 10 days or less. Just let the apfelwein hang out on the cake for a while as you would with beer.
 
I ordered 2 5-gallon better bottles which arrived today, and I just ordered 2 6-gallon glass carboys. All will be for making apfelwein. :mug:
 
See thats what i need to convice swmbo to let me do. Right now I only have two buckets for apfelwein, but when i empty one i make a new batch, so i have a pretty constant rotation going on for the most part. But you can never have too much booze on standby
 
milesvdustin said:
See thats what i need to convice swmbo to let me do. Right now I only have two buckets for apfelwein, but when i empty one i make a new batch, so i have a pretty constant rotation going on for the most part. But you can never have too much booze on standby
Click to expand...
My wife seems to differ then we have people over out of the blue and I win the day from my stash! :D:mug:
 
About force carbing, found a device called the soda stream at bed bath and beyond gourde carbs a liter at a time, cheap too! Good alternative to a keg love it
 
Quick question, my Apfelwien has been in the carboy for 3 months. I'd like to bottle it. How much priming sugar should I add for a light amount of carbonation, and should I add another package of yeast since most of the original has fallen out of solution?
 
There should still be enough yeast in there to carb. I like 1 oz (by weight) per gallon, but if you really want a light carbonation, use less. Do whatever you would do for beer. Typically beer carbs with 3/4 cup priming sugar for 5 gallons (about 4 oz by weight) if that gives you any indication of what to expect.

Since buying a nice little kitchen scale, I always go by weight and generally use 1 oz/gallon for beer as well. I figure that over-carbonated stuff will lose fizz in the glass to your taste, but there isn't much that can be done (except kegging or using one of those soda things) to fix UNDER carbonation.
 
Recluse said:
There should still be enough yeast in there to carb. I like 1 oz (by weight) per gallon, but if you really want a light carbonation, use less. Do whatever you would do for beer. Typically beer carbs with 3/4 cup priming sugar for 5 gallons (about 4 oz by weight) if that gives you any indication of what to expect.

Since buying a nice little kitchen scale, I always go by weight and generally use 1 oz/gallon for beer as well. I figure that over-carbonated stuff will lose fizz in the glass to your taste, but there isn't much that can be done (except kegging or using one of those soda things) to fix UNDER carbonation.
Click to expand...

You think even after 3 months there would still be enough yeast in suspension? I keep meaning to buy a new digital kitchen scale.
 
I generally leave it in the carboy for 2 months. Last batch I left for 3 months. I used apple juice concentrate instead of corn sugar to prime (with the appropriate calculation). It carbed, but was UNDER carbed to me (but definitely carbonated). I don't think it was a yeast problem, I think it was a sugar problem. Next time I will use corn sugar again and see for sure. I think others leave it in the carboy for even longer and I don't think I have seen too many posts about adding more yeast. If you are worried, I guess you could stir up the lees a bit and get some additional yeast in the bottles that way, but I am always so happy to bottle a CLEAR product that I generally don't do this.
 
subwyking said:
You think even after 3 months there would still be enough yeast in suspension? I keep meaning to buy a new digital kitchen scale.
Click to expand...

It takes awhile but it will carb.

If you're impatient, I add a about 1/2 g. of Coopers ale yeast, rehydrated, to the bottling bucket after crash-cooling the apfelwein. It carbs up faster and the Coopers is super flocculant so it makes it much easier to pour. The wine yeasts, Montrachet in particular, don't stick to the bottom of the bottle very well.
 
I just drank my last bottle of 18 month old apfelwein to celebrate finishing finals and bottled my next batch (one year bulk aged). This batch has an almost maple overtone to it. I am pretty sure this batch was just the standard recipe (there is a small chance I used Ec-1118 for this batch), is there anything that would cause the maple flavor?
 
Hopefully the Maple Flavor is PLEASANT. I have had some Meads that went to 'band-aid' flavor, ostensibly from phenol/chlorophenol production or possibly bacterial contamination. EARLY in the band-aid flavoring process, I might describe it as 'maple' before it got really unpleasant. Not saying this is it, but if so, drink it fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Thanks everyone for all your insight and help in this forum. I just finished bottling my first 5 gallon batch after 2 months in the fermenter.

Question is I dispersed it between 15 wine bottles (still) and 18 beer bottles with Brewcraft carb drops, realistically how long should I wait on both of these before they're ready to be cracked open? Really anxious to try this stuff.
 
The still stuff you can start drinking right away, though it will improve with age. For the Carbed stuff, I usually wait 10-14 days when I use Dextrose, but I don't have any experience with the Carb Drops.
 
Just opened a bottle of this from a batch I started last November. Wow, amazingly good! I am glad I waited this one out. Thanks Ed. :mug:
 
Well, just drank my first wine bottle of this stuff last night. Tastes almost like a chardonnay or chardonel right now. It did hit me like a ton of bricks as stated. I ended up passing out on the living room floor last night (the 23 beers we sampled beforehand might of had something to do with that as well) and waking up at 7 am this morning for work was no fun. :(

Edwort you are a M*****F'er, but man it was delicious :rockin:
 
Cozmcphish said:
Well, just drank my first wine bottle of this stuff last night. Tastes almost like a chardonnay or chardonel right now. It did hit me like a ton of bricks as stated. I ended up passing out on the living room floor last night (the 23 beers we sampled beforehand might of had something to do with that as well) and waking up at 7 am this morning for work was no fun. :(

Edwort you are a M*****F'er, but man it was delicious :rockin:
Click to expand...

Yep, this stuff will tear you up. :drunk: I had ~4 12oz bottles of this stuff one time and was hung over for about 3 days straight. FWIW, I gave the stuff to my neighbor. Good stuff, but not for me...
 
Finally got around to making this! I used dark brown sugar and yeast nutrient instead of corn sugar but now I have to wait 3 months to bottle it and another 3 months to drink it......... Great buy thou everything was less than $20!
 
I started a 3 gallon batch 4/9, racked 4/29, and bottled 5/13... My wife and I have been enjoying it all week, and even used a sixer as a bargaining chip at work! Thanks Ed!
 
gunnieyehoshua said:
I started a 3 gallon batch 4/9, racked 4/29, and bottled 5/13... My wife and I have been enjoying it all week, and even used a sixer as a bargaining chip at work! Thanks Ed!
Click to expand...

Is it a "hot" right now, everyone says to wait 6 to 8 months.
 
Look what I found in Frankfurt yesterday!

photo.jpg
 

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