Man, I love Apfelwein

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Man there is NOTHING on this earth that goes better with a hot bowl of chili on a winter night then a mason jar of Apfelwein!!
 
Here's something that would go better, a golden viking drinking horn of apfelwein served by a blonde wearing only an apron.

You need to think big, Daniel-san.

nukinfuts29 said:
Man there is NOTHING on this earth that goes better with a hot bowl of chili on a winter night then a mason jar of Apfelwein!!
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Speaking of spongey flesh... I just stole a sample from both my brewing yeast batches. Not quite done, but at 2 weeks its close to what I drank while I was stationed in Frankfort Hoerchst all those years ago. Bless you Ed Wort!! This is the closest I've been to real apfelwein since fall '91!
 
About ready to make my 2nd batch. I went to Costco today and they had Motts sold in 2 gal pkgs fo $7.69. Not a bad price.

My first batch I used regular sugar, a little bit of brown sugar and the Montrachet yeast.

I did pick up a package of Cotes des Blancs & Champagne. I als have the Montrachet.

How does the Cotes taste? Any big differences? Thanks.
 
Went with ole' staple. I had a mental fart and forgot I'm using a 5 gal water bottle (1 rated) so I filled up almos to the top. I'm good right? No krausen, etc so I shouldnt need a blow off tube? My first batch wasnt nearly as full. Thanks.
 
I sampled a little sip of the brew that I started 4 weeks ago. Not what I expected at all! Kind of let down. It was pretty tart. No apple or hint or sweet at all. I don't like sweet wines but this just didn't have much flavor. Please tell me this will get better as it gets older???? How long til I really see improvement? Thanks
 
I let mine sit for 3 months and didn't touch it, then I kegged it and let it fully carb, then I tasted it, 3.5 months after making it. And man is it fantastic!
 
3 months seems to be the point when it starts tasting good. I'm not going to cab mine. Thanks for the input.
 
A50SNAKE said:
so that I can be sure of what my coming steps are, here is what I plan on doing with the equipment I have at hand already and please let me know if this will result in issues/problems or if I'll be good to enjoy worry free...

my 5 gallon batch is sitting in my glass carboy since I started it in Dec 23 2011
I'll be leaving it there for the suggested 3 months

after which time, I will check it for clarity, if clear enough, I will just siphon from carboy to wine bottles, leaving the lees cake on the bottom.

I will then cork the bottles, and let sit for as long as i can possibly to make sure they all taste as good as can be :)

does that sound ok...I hope I got it all right, just want to be sure is all...thanks again everyone for all your help on this batch...
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hey all, I was hoping that some experienced apfelwein makers could please go over my steps above that I posted earlier to help me make sure I've got everything right, and won't have any issues.

thanks in advance.
 
First batch, pitched on Jan 31st, today it's at 1.020 and still going. Of course it's nowhere near ready yet, but as this is my first batch, I've been checking the gravity every few days and taking a taste test out of curiosity more than anything.

Prior to today, it tasted very cider-ish, sweet early on and turning more towards sour as fermentation progressed. Today, I can say it's actually starting to taste like wine - it's still well on on the sour side of course, but it's getting there.

Can't wait to taste it when it's done.
 
Are we racking at 3 months to avoid autolysis? I'm lazy and would like to put off bottling until it's drinkable (read: incredible)
 
Started some apfelwine on the 24th of September. Bottled in November. Just now starting to get really good!
 
I made a 3 gallon batch with Trader Joes unfiltered organic apple juice and a 14 month old packet of Montrachet that had been kept at room temperature (but was not expired). I let it ferment for a little over 5 weeks, bottled it 5 weeks ago, then tried it this week and it has a strong sulfur / yeasty smell. I read that Montrachet can make a lot of sulfur when it's stressed, but I'm not sure what would have stressed it other than being slightly old. I did pitch a whole packet into 3 gallons so you think that would help.

The only other thing I can think of is using unfiltered apple juice causes some weird flavor issues - has anyone else tried that before? I'm guessing using fresh pressed juice would have the same results as unfiltered, and people seem to use that with no problems. I'm going to get another batch going today, but I'm going to play it safe and go with regular Mott's apple juice. I'm also trying out Lalvin EC-1118 yeast, which will hopefully also help.

Of course my first home brew ever was a batch of apfelwein that turned out great, despite my sanitation consisting of mixing potassium metabisulfite at 1 tsp / 1 gal of water, and rinsing the carboy in it. I still have a 22oz bottle of that left, it's now 14 months old, but I can't find the perfect time to drink it.
 
I have been making all my batches with premier cuvee and have had awesome results at even less than a month, I think it is because it is a faster yeast. I picked up a packet of montrachet to try for my next batch since that's what the recipe usually calls for but I REALLY like the cuvee.

I kegged 2 gallons after about a month in a mr beer container and it was amazing! Liquid sweet tart, I was set on drinking it straight until I added a splash of squirt.

Anyways I'm getting ready to bottle a bucket that I started on the 25th of january since there has been no airlock activity for over a week.
 
I'm sitting here at work contemplating using cranberry juice.

Anyone tried it? Might give it a go after my Apfelwein finishes up - just coming up on a month and a half.
 
jholen said:
I'm sitting here at work contemplating using cranberry juice.

Anyone tried it? Might give it a go after my Apfelwein finishes up - just coming up on a month and a half.
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Waiting to bottle a gallon of cran apfelwein made from cider
 
First batch of apfelwein went into the carboy today. Can't wait to try this stuff after reading 100s of posts. Didn't have any cheap vodka for the lock so I used some wiskey. Any one else try using wiskey in their air locks?
 
Bilc16 said:
First batch of apfelwein went into the carboy today. Can't wait to try this stuff after reading 100s of posts. Didn't have any cheap vodka for the lock so I used some wiskey. Any one else try using wiskey in their air locks?
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Be careful of suckback. If you're using plastic: Once you get your AW fermenter in place I'd leave it set and make sure to remove the airlock prior to moving it. Depending on the amount of whiskey It may impart some of it's flavor. Don't get me wrong, I like whiskey, but I wouldn't want my AW to have any hint of the stuff.
 
After reading many of these posts, I finally.....FINALLY decided to make this. I did have to use Brown sugar instead of corn sugar as I didn't have any on hand. I know the warranty is out the window haha. It should be good. These last few days of fermenting have been rather smelly to say the least.
 
Just want to chime in and say this stuff is pretty awesome. I've made it a couple of times now and I like to jack mine up to 30 psi and make it taste like champaign. I will say that I prefer it without any dextrose added to it. Keeping the ABV in the 7's lets me drink more in a sitting and keeps it a little sweeter and more applish.
 
I just brewed some up on the 25th of january with brown sugar and premier cuvee, I am going to try and keg it today I think... I know it seems really soon but it seems that cuvee is much faster than montrachet, I have had very good luck drinking this stuff prematurely.

I guess I will give it a little taste when I get my siphon going and just close it back up If its gross. I just picked up a packet of montrachet this week but I'm hesitant to use it on a 5 gal batch because I have been so successful with the stuff I've been using.
 
I started a batch on the 29th, and the bubbles had really died down in the past week, but this morning I work up, and my house had fallen from 70 to 60 degrees over night... (first cold front in central florida in months) Have I killed what ever yeast was left, or did the cold just slow it down?
 
I started my patch.

5 liters of apple juice (100% from concentrate without anything added) + 0,2 kg of organic brown sugar and Lalvin k1v.

If it goes bubbly in the next few days I'll add 3 liters of juice and 180g of brown sugar and it's right on the recipe (kind of almost sort of F IT CLOSE E'NUF!)
 
I don't know then. I wouldn't think the difference between a 1.010-1.020 beer and a 0.990-1.000 wine/cider would cause that dramatic a difference in pouring.
 
Ironred88 said:
I started a batch on the 29th, and the bubbles had really died down in the past week, but this morning I work up, and my house had fallen from 70 to 60 degrees over night... (first cold front in central florida in months) Have I killed what ever yeast was left, or did the cold just slow it down?
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Cold is rather unlikely to have killed it, but it probably got a bit sleepy. Once it warms back up, if it seems to need an extra boost, swirl it around gently to rouse them back up into solution.
 
idigg said:
Anyone keg this at 10psi and have it shoot out every time its dispensed?
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This is peculiar; it sounds like I have about the same setup as you (~5ft, perlicks), and mine dispenses just fine. I just carb and dispense as I do any other beer, at around 12psi. Anything unusual that you can think of about this batch? You might have a loose fitting on the keg or something, but that seems unlikely. Have you tried hooking up another keg to see if that one flows correctly?
 

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