Man, I love Apfelwein

[BrewerBear]

Quick question for all you who've made this successfully : Mine has been in the primary (bucket) for 5 weeks. Should I continue to age it in the primary, or would I be fine to bottle it (with priming) and let it age in the bottle for another couple months?

Either way is fine.

 

[BinghamtonEd]

Thanks, I just want to free up my buckets. My pipeline is about empty and I want to get an IPA going asap so I have something that will be ready soon while I wait for whatever I put in the other bucket.

I shouldn't have any issues with the bucket imparting flavors into other batches so long as it is thoroughly cleaned, right?

 

[Leadgolem]

Thanks, I just want to free up my buckets. My pipeline is about empty and I want to get an IPA going asap so I have something that will be ready soon while I wait for whatever I put in the other bucket.

I shouldn't have any issues with the bucket imparting flavors into other batches so long as it is thoroughly cleaned, right?

Well, the flavors do tend to linger. Scrubbing it out good with baking soda should do the trick. If you run several batches in a plastic fermenting bucket then you probably won't be able to get the flavors out of it, but after one batch it should be fine with the baking soda.

 

[chetduggan]

Since there are over 1100 pages and nothing really came up on a search for fractional freezing, wondered if anyone has tried this? If so, how'd it turn out? Got 5 gallons going right now and thought I might reduce/freeze 2 gal or so.

 

[podz]

Since there are over 1100 pages and nothing really came up on a search for fractional freezing, wondered if anyone has tried this? If so, how'd it turn out? Got 5 gallons going right now and thought I might reduce/freeze 2 gal or so.

Search for "applejack". This may or may not be legal in your jurisdiction.

 

[chetduggan]

We're not talking about distilling. That's a different proces altogether but thanks.

 

[podz]

Applejack is made by freezing apple wine and discarding the ice. Some claim that it is dangerous due to concentrating methanol that "might" have been produced in some small amount during fermentation. Others have drank it for years and still see 20/20. In any case, methanol has a lower vapor point than ethanol, so distallation is a sure fire method not to have methanol in your end product.

As said, there are often laws against freezing fermented liquids and tossing out the ice.

 

[Leadgolem]

I would appreciate it if the subject could be moved to another thread. Every time this comes up it turns into a debate on the legality of the matter.

 

[jstampler]

So my batch has been in the carboy for 16 days now and the bubbling has slowed to a crawl. I'm going to leave it in until it hits at least 6 weeks. I really want to try it carbed and still so that I know for the future what I prefer and to have it both ways for friends and family to test out.

Im new to this. If I bottle the first half and leave 2.5 gallons in the carboy, how exactly would I carb it? I have dextrose that I assume I would use, but at what quantity and would I mix it with some water or just dump it in? Do I stir it once its in?

 

[jstampler]

If I carb this would I be able to use swing top bottles or does this need to be capped in regular beer bottles?

 

[Pitman]

You can use swing tops

 

[FoCobrewguy]

Mason jars will work if you just want to back sweeten, I bottled about 1/3 of mine in mason jars, if you're looking for carbonation you'll need to use a keg or beer bottles to hold the pressure.
I might also add some k-meta or sorbate at the end of my next batch, I ended up with a little bit of yeast/trub in the bottom of my back sweetened bottles this time.

Hello endorphine. Do you do anything special when using mason jars? Just sanitize fill and cap...

 

[FoCobrewguy]

One other question. Anyone made this straight into a keg with an airlock lid? Don't have to worry about head space wasn't sure if there were any down falls? Have extra keg limited on carboys. Thanks for any tips in advance.

 

[endorphine44]

Hello endorphine. Do you do anything special when using mason jars? Just sanitize fill and cap...

That's it, just sanitize, fill, & cap. They won't hold much pressure so make sure fermentation is done.

 

[Wineomatic]

Hit FG 1.00 today after a week of bubbling!! Tasted a little bit of it, tasted pretty good, just needs to age a little bit!!

 

[judgerey]

Once bottled, what is the shelf life of apfelwein?

 

[Raenon]

Once bottled, what is the shelf life of apfelwein?

I think the general consensus is "longer than anyone can keep their hands off it"

Seriously, I just bottled 24 gallons that I'm giving away as favors to guests at my wedding, and I'm recommending they age it a further year to be opened on our first anniversary. I expect the last 30 bottles to be stored and drank at intervals over the next few decades on special occasions.

 

[jstampler]

I'm almost 3 weeks into my Apfelwein fermentation and it's beginning to clear. I'm going to leave it until the 6 week mark but it's time I start thinking about bottling. I plan on bottling 3 gallons still and then carbing the remaining 2 gallons and capping it in beer bottles. It's my first time making this so I want to figure out which way I prefer it.

I'm a little confused on how I will need to go about carbing this. I have dextrose, do I just put this directly into the carboy(how much dextrose?) or do I boil water and desolve it first? If so, how much water and dextrose would I need to use? Is there any easier way to carb than using dextrose?

Also, if I carb the remaining 2 gallons do I need to rack it off of the yeast into my primary bucket before bottling or can I just bottle right out of my carboy? I assume I'll have to wait a week or so before drinking once I bottle them?

If I want to age the still bottles, do I need to add anything to make sure they wont go bad if so, how is this done?

 

[Leadgolem]

I'm almost 3 weeks into my Apfelwein fermentation and it's beginning to clear. I'm going to leave it until the 6 week mark but it's time I start thinking about bottling. I plan on bottling 3 gallons still and then carbing the remaining 2 gallons and capping it in beer bottles. It's my first time making this so I want to figure out which way I prefer it.

I'm a little confused on how I will need to go about carbing this. I have dextrose, do I just put this directly into the carboy(how much dextrose?) or do I boil water and desolve it first? If so, how much water and dextrose would I need to use? Is there any easier way to carb than using dextrose?

Also, if I carb the remaining 2 gallons do I need to rack it off of the yeast into my primary bucket before bottling or can I just bottle right out of my carboy? I assume I'll have to wait a week or so before drinking once I bottle them?

If I want to age the still bottles, do I need to add anything to make sure they wont go bad if so, how is this done?

You will want to rack off the yeast before bottling. I suppose you could bottle directly from the carboy, but when you mix in your priming sugar you are going to stir up the yeast in the bottom of the fermentor. That's not usually desirable.

I prefer to dissolve my priming sugar in a quart or so of the brew. I also use a priming sugar calculator. Those do the math for you, in terms of how much dissolved co2 is likely to be present in the brew and how much more sugar you are going to need to reach your desired volumes of co2. I prefer between 2 and 2.5 volumes of co2 personally.

It's best to give it some time before drinking the bottled brew. There are two things, besides the actual aging, that are going to influence how long you'll want to wait before drinking the bottle.

The first is bottle shock, it's a bit more complex then this but basically you are going to want to let the solids stirred up in bottling settle back out. That usually only takes a few days.

The second is carbonation. Apfelwein is going to have far fewer yeast cells in suspension then say beer. That means it's going to take significantly longer to carb up then is typical with beer. It will happen, but a month isn't an unusual amount of time for it to take to fully carb. The longer it sits in primary, and the fewer active yeast cells are in suspension, the longer it will take. It can also take a longer then normal amount of time if the brew is sitting at less then 60f.

Neither of these things are really any cause for concern. The yeast will eat the sugar in the brew, even in the fridge. There will always be some yeast cells in each bottle, even in something that sat in primary for 6 months. It's just a matter of how fast things are going to happen.

You could add some wine stabilizer to the still version if you wish. IMO, it's not really necessary though. There aren't any alpha acids, or anything else for that matter, that are going to degrade the flavor of the apfelwein over time. If you are paranoid about acetobacter, then you could pasteurize the bottles after they are carbed, or immediately for the still apfelwein.

 

[jstampler]

You will want to rack off the yeast before bottling. I suppose you could bottle directly from the carboy, but when you mix in your priming sugar you are going to stir up the yeast in the bottom of the fermentor. That's not usually desirable.

I prefer to dissolve my priming sugar in a quart or so of the brew. I also use a priming sugar calculator. Those do the math for you, in terms of how much dissolved co2 is likely to be present in the brew and how much more sugar you are going to need to reach your desired volumes of co2. I prefer between 2 and 2.5 volumes of co2 personally.

It's best to give it some time before drinking the bottled brew. There are two things, besides the actual aging, that are going to influence how long you'll want to wait before drinking the bottle.

The first is bottle shock, it's a bit more complex then this but basically you are going to want to let the solids stirred up in bottling settle back out. That usually only takes a few days.

The second is carbonation. Apfelwein is going to have far fewer yeast cells in suspension then say beer. That means it's going to take significantly longer to carb up then is typical with beer. It will happen, but a month isn't an unusual amount of time for it to take to fully carb. The longer it sits in primary, and the fewer active yeast cells are in suspension, the longer it will take. It can also take a longer then normal amount of time if the brew is sitting at less then 60f.

Neither of these things are really any cause for concern. The yeast will eat the sugar in the brew, even in the fridge. There will always be some yeast cells in each bottle, even in something that sat in primary for 6 months. It's just a matter of how fast things are going to happen.

You could add some wine stabilizer to the still version if you wish. IMO, it's not really necessary though. There aren't any alpha acids, or anything else for that matter, that are going to degrade the flavor of the apfelwein over time. If you are paranoid about acetobacter, then you could pasteurize the bottles after they are carbed, or immediately for the still apfelwein.

Thanks for the response. Should I be adding campden tablets before bottling the still part?

 

[Leadgolem]

Thanks for the response. Should I be adding campden tablets before bottling the still part?

You can if you want, it won't hurt anything. If your sanitation was ok, then you don't have to. It's unlikely you'll have any bad results if you don't.

 

[jstampler]

You can if you want, it won't hurt anything. If your sanitation was ok, then you don't have to. It's unlikely you'll have any bad results if you don't.

Won't it help stop the fermentation just in case its not 100% complete to avoid potential bottle bombs? Or am I thinking of something other than k-meta/campden tabs?

 

[Leadgolem]

Won't it help stop the fermentation just in case its not 100% complete to avoid potential bottle bombs? Or am I thinking of something other than k-meta/campden tabs?

Sure it will. Potassium metabisulfite kills yeast. Potassium sorbate interferes with yeast reproduction. That's what's usually in wine stabilizer.

If you're at FG, then you don't need to worry about it. Personally, I prefer to bottle pasteurize if I'm not sure I'm at FG. Or, if I want to bottle sweet. The effectiveness of the chemicals is dependent on PH, and a couple other things. Pasteurization is pretty straight forward, and will definitely kill the yeast or any incidental acetobacter or lacto that might be in the batch.

Generally, I don't do either. I bottle still once I'm sure I've got FG.

It's up to you. If it makes you more comfortable to use campden or a wine stabilizer, then go ahead. Nothing wrong with that. If you'd prefer to pasteurize, then do that. If you are confident that you are good when your batch is done, then you don't need to do anything but bottle.

There isn't any wrong way to do this. It's a matter of what works for you, and makes you the most comfortable.

 

[jstampler]

Sure it will. Potassium metabisulfite kills yeast. Potassium sorbate interferes with yeast reproduction. That's what's usually in wine stabilizer.

If you're at FG, then you don't need to worry about it. Personally, I prefer to bottle pasteurize if I'm not sure I'm at FG. Or, if I want to bottle sweet. The effectiveness of the chemicals is dependent on PH, and a couple other things. Pasteurization is pretty straight forward, and will definitely kill the yeast or any incidental acetobacter or lacto that might be in the batch.

Generally, I don't do either. I bottle still once I'm sure I've got FG.

It's up to you. If it makes you more comfortable to use campden or a wine stabilizer, then go ahead. Nothing wrong with that. If you'd prefer to pasteurize, then do that. If you are confident that you are good when your batch is done, then you don't need to do anything but bottle.

There isn't any wrong way to do this. It's a matter of what works for you, and makes you the most comfortable.

Sounds good. Thanks for your help. I'll keep some k-meta near by when I'm ready to bottle just in case I have any apprehension, otherwise I'll just bottle straight from the carboy and bottle age naturally.

 

[J187]

Just put my first batch of apfelwein in the carboy!

I am on the fence about carbonating... I THINK I'm hopeful that I will like it as a wine - dry, not carbed and in a wine bottle! I plan to wait 8 weeks and then carb a few bottles and try it both ways. Is there any reason why I can't basically keep this in the carboy? In other words, maybe fill a couple 750ml wine bottles and throw those in the fridge one week and then refill them when they are empty?

 

[Kdog22]

Just put my first batch of apfelwein in the carboy!

I am on the fence about carbonating... I THINK I'm hopeful that I will like it as a wine - dry, not carbed and in a wine bottle! I plan to wait 8 weeks and then carb a few bottles and try it both ways. Is there any reason why I can't basically keep this in the carboy? In other words, maybe fill a couple 750ml wine bottles and throw those in the fridge one week and then refill them when they are empty?

Only thing I would worry about with that is growing headspace and oxidation over time. General consensus is to keep it in the carboy as long as you can, then bottle since bulk aging is a good thing. Either way, when you're ready to bottle, i'd bottle all of it.

 

[podz]

Just put my first batch of apfelwein in the carboy!

I am on the fence about carbonating... I THINK I'm hopeful that I will like it as a wine - dry, not carbed and in a wine bottle! I plan to wait 8 weeks and then carb a few bottles and try it both ways. Is there any reason why I can't basically keep this in the carboy? In other words, maybe fill a couple 750ml wine bottles and throw those in the fridge one week and then refill them when they are empty?

You need to get yourself 5 of the 1 gallon carboys and rack your batch to all of them, and then airlock them all. Drink a gallon at a time as you get ready - just remove the airlock and pop it into the fridge.

 

[Leadgolem]

You need to get yourself 5 of the 1 gallon carboys and rack your batch to all of them, and then airlock them all. Drink a gallon at a time as you get ready - just remove the airlock and pop it into the fridge.

Drink a gallon of apfelwein in one sitting? Challenge accepted. Well, not really. That might kill me...

 

[slunkmonky]

Sure it will. Potassium metabisulfite kills yeast. Potassium sorbate interferes with yeast reproduction. That's what's usually in wine stabilizer.

If you're at FG, then you don't need to worry about it. Personally, I prefer to bottle pasteurize if I'm not sure I'm at FG. Or, if I want to bottle sweet. The effectiveness of the chemicals is dependent on PH, and a couple other things. Pasteurization is pretty straight forward, and will definitely kill the yeast or any incidental acetobacter or lacto that might be in the batch.

I'm drinking a glass right now that I think I overkilled a bit. I used sorbate and I pasteurized.

I did 3.5 gallons of juice and a pound of corn sugar. I let it FG out. Then I added sorbate and a half gallon of applejuice making the final volume 3.5 gallons of dry apple wine and .5 gallons of straight up juice. As soon as I added the fresh juice to the carboy with the sorbate, I started bottling and bottle pasteurized the whole batch. The yeast had but a mere hour at most to start working on the new apple sugars.

I ended up with a sweeter "wetter" apple wine. After months of aging, none of them have been bottle bombs or came out sparkling.

Perhaps the sorbate was too much and pasteurizing alone would have been fine. But I don't taste anything off putting in it. And it is only slightly less good at making me completely drunk out of my mind with the extra unfermented apple juice in the mix.

I let people taste is as much as possible, usually non-brewer/vintners. I never get a bad review. I think the dryness of regular FG-and-then-bottle-and-age apple wine puts some people off because, for the uninitiated, they assume it's going to taste like apple juice with vodka in it as opposed to apple juice where yeast ate the sugar and made alcohol in it's place. So, as I often do, I play to the cretans and make cretan wine. Like Chuck Barris made TV shows. Give em what they want!

But I actually enjoy drinking it like this myself, and I've brewed Mead and apple wine before without sweetening and enjoyed those as well. So what does that say about me? As long as I'm happy! That's what!

Sorry for any off-putting tastes in my post. But as of press time, I'm drunk out of my mind. Cheers!

 

[Tom128]

My first batch of this is finished. Very dry, below 0.990 even (lowest mark I have). Very tart and a bit of an alcohol bite that I assume will go away as it ages. I think I will let most of it age in a smaller container, but I am having a get together in a few weeks and will let people have some of it then. I think I want to bottle and carb about a dozen of them too just to see what they are like cold and carbed.

I have never bottle carbed before and since I am only bottling a few I dont want to add sugar to the entire batch so I was going to just put some sugar into the bottles. Any idea what a good amount of sugar would be per bottle? Thoughts on taste when light vs high carbed? I was thinking like 1/3-1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar per bottle.

 

[Leadgolem]

I'm drinking a glass right now that I think I overkilled a bit. I used sorbate and I pasteurized.

I did 3.5 gallons of juice and a pound of corn sugar. I let it FG out. Then I added sorbate and a half gallon of applejuice making the final volume 3.5 gallons of dry apple wine and .5 gallons of straight up juice. As soon as I added the fresh juice to the carboy with the sorbate, I started bottling and bottle pasteurized the whole batch. The yeast had but a mere hour at most to start working on the new apple sugars.

I ended up with a sweeter "wetter" apple wine. After months of aging, none of them have been bottle bombs or came out sparkling.

Perhaps the sorbate was too much and pasteurizing alone would have been fine. But I don't taste anything off putting in it. And it is only slightly less good at making me completely drunk out of my mind with the extra unfermented apple juice in the mix.

I let people taste is as much as possible, usually non-brewer/vintners. I never get a bad review. I think the dryness of regular FG-and-then-bottle-and-age apple wine puts some people off because, for the uninitiated, they assume it's going to taste like apple juice with vodka in it as opposed to apple juice where yeast ate the sugar and made alcohol in it's place. So, as I often do, I play to the cretans and make cretan wine. Like Chuck Barris made TV shows. Give em what they want!

But I actually enjoy drinking it like this myself, and I've brewed Mead and apple wine before without sweetening and enjoyed those as well. So what does that say about me? As long as I'm happy! That's what!

Sorry for any off-putting tastes in my post. But as of press time, I'm drunk out of my mind. Cheers!

Sounds like you're having fun. Good for you.

I keep a bottle of either simple syrup or apple syrup around so I can sweeten in the glass to taste. It's also nice for other still wines if I'm in the mood for something sweet. It's nice for mix drinks too, for that matter.

My first batch of this is finished. Very dry, below 0.990 even (lowest mark I have). Very tart and a bit of an alcohol bite that I assume will go away as it ages. I think I will let most of it age in a smaller container, but I am having a get together in a few weeks and will let people have some of it then. I think I want to bottle and carb about a dozen of them too just to see what they are like cold and carbed.

I have never bottle carbed before and since I am only bottling a few I dont want to add sugar to the entire batch so I was going to just put some sugar into the bottles. Any idea what a good amount of sugar would be per bottle? Thoughts on taste when light vs high carbed? I was thinking like 1/3-1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar per bottle.

Priming sugar calculators are good.

Lets see. 1 gallon is 128 oz. So you get 10.66 12 oz bottles per gallon. That makes each 12 oz bottle 0.0938 gallons. At 2.5 volumes with a brew at 75f that calculator gives you 0.1 oz of sucrose per bottle. I would find that difficult to add accurately. Personally, I'd take the volume you intended to bottle carb and calculate your sugar based on the total volume of the brew you want to carbonate. So, if you want say a gallon of brew carbonated you would want 0.9 oz sucrose. That's a little easier to measure then 0.1 oz.

I prefer my co2 at 2-2.5 volumes. That's pretty much middle ground. High would be 3-3.5. The higher carbonation is a little more common with something like cyser. IMO, the extra carbonic acid in solution much over 2.5 is a little to much tang. Usually apple juice has been treated with ascorbic acid to make it more acidic. That way it doesn't have to be pasteurized at as high of a temperature and doesn't lose as much flavor during the process. You get carbonic acid whenever you carbonate a water based liquid, it turns into co2 gas but still registers on the tongue as an acid besides producing the fizz.

Enjoy!

 

[podz]

Drink a gallon of apfelwein in one sitting? Challenge accepted. Well, not really. That might kill me...

I can easily drink a gallon, together with my wife, during the course of one evening. Doesn't even come halfway close to killing us ;-) Not even the slightest trace of a hangover the next morning.

 

[munro]

Made first batch tonight. Used 1 kg dextrose and used lalvin ex-1118. See you in three months. Making another batch next week for christmas. Plan to carb.

 

[J187]

Ok, I'll bottle it all at once, but I'm still thinking wine bottles for most of it and carbing the rest in beer bottles. Anyone think of any reason not to use wine bottles with corks? If I used a wine bottle, opened it up and had a couple glasses, how long do you think it would keep in the fridge with one of those air purging battery operated wine stoppers?

 

[Kdog22]

I've had my Apfelwein going for over a month now. If I intend to have this bottled and ready to hand out as Christmas gifts this year, how long would it take to build proper carbonation if I bottle carb a gallon or two? If I bottled at the end of november, would that be sufficient?


Also, once bottled in beer bottles, how long will it stay carbed assuming it was capped and sealed right?


Thanks!

 

[Leadgolem]

Ok, I'll bottle it all at once, but I'm still thinking wine bottles for most of it and carbing the rest in beer bottles. Anyone think of any reason not to use wine bottles with corks? If I used a wine bottle, opened it up and had a couple glasses, how long do you think it would keep in the fridge with one of those air purging battery operated wine stoppers?

There is no reason not to bottle in corked wine or belgian bottles. I've got 20ish bottles of still cider bottled that way. They sure do make a nice presentation as gifts.

How long will it last? Not very long, somebody will drink it. Seriously, I've had a bottle in the back of the fridge with a standard stopper in it for a month without it going off. Cider of any kind doesn't seem to be particularly prone to oxidation. The aroma had faded somewhat.

I've had my Apfelwein going for over a month now. If I intend to have this bottled and ready to hand out as Christmas gifts this year, how long would it take to build proper carbonation if I bottle carb a gallon or two? If I bottled at the end of november, would that be sufficient?


Also, once bottled in beer bottles, how long will it stay carbed assuming it was capped and sealed right?


Thanks!

Probably, if you are concerned put the bottles someplace warm for a couple weeks. The top of your fridge is probably good. The compressor in the fridge and the elevation usually makes it about 7f warmer then the rest of the house.

Alternately, you could bottle in the beginning of September. I don't know anybody who has had it take more then 3 months to fully carb.

How long is the carbonation going to last? Uh, a long time. I've got some sparkling that's about 12 months after bottling and it is still nicely carbed.

 

[Kdog22]

Probably, if you are concerned put the bottles someplace warm for a couple weeks. The top of your fridge is probably good. The compressor in the fridge and the elevation usually makes it about 7f warmer then the rest of the house.

Alternately, you could bottle in the beginning of September. I don't know anybody who has had it take more then 3 months to fully carb.

How long is the carbonation going to last? Uh, a long time. I've got some sparkling that's about 12 months after bottling and it is still nicely carbed.

I have had the intention to store the bottles in a dark closet (room temp 73F) until it's time to taste test and/or hand out as gifts. I think, just to be on the safe side, i'll bottle mid september Thank you, sir.

 

[littletommy]

I just got my second 5 gallon batch of this going today, 3 weeks after starting the first. First batch followed the recipe to a T, this one I used a pound of corn sugar and a pound of light brown sugar, and threw in 2 small cinnamon sticks. Can't wait to taste it, the first batch smells awesome!

 

[Ridenour64]

Hey guys. I'm just looking for some advice. I started a 6 gallon batch in march of this year. Added all the ingredients right to the carboy, and it has been sitting there ever since. So that's about 5 months it's been sitting on the lees and everything.

I'm just wondering what I should do. I am looking for a more quality Apfelwein experience. I'm looking at these options.

1. let sit on the lees for a while longer, 8 months + maybe?

2. Rack into a new carboy and age it out.

3. Rack into bottles now. ( I am afraid of having sediment on the bottom of my bottles tho.)

4 any other recommendations you guys might have.

From your guys past experience, how long should I really wait to start drinking this stuff? I read that it says it gets better with age. But how long until it starts to get good? Im willing to wait.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

Damn you EdWort, damn you to hell.

Polished off my last bottle of Apfelwein only to realize I had just experienced it's greatest flavor yet after 10 months in the bottle. But I did not brew a second batch right after the first!

I know I was warned, but I did not heed the warning.

Dammit.