My first Apfelwein...and I didn't fear the foam

[nostalgia]

My first batch of beer is sitting in the fermenter, but I felt the need to do something brew-related today. It's way too hot to boil inside or out today, so I decided to try EdWort's Apfelwein recipe.

The HBS I went to didn't have the Montrachet yeast called for (and he also told me dextrose was the same as malto-dextrin, but that's another story), but he suggested I try the Lalvin 71B-1122 or D47, claiming the first would make a sweeter batch and the other a drier batch. I decided to give both a go, and this batch is the 71B.

I also used Star-San for the first time and holy foam, Batman. It was a little disconcerting, but lots of fun

I've just got to keep an eye on the stopper - it keeps wanting to pop out. I dried it and the neck off, but it's still slowly creeping out.

-Joe

 

[Joe C]

Nice, keep us posted on how it goes!

 

[AnonyBrew]

I have issues with those stoppers as well...they are too big or something. Anyways, I've switched to carboy caps because of it.

 

[nostalgia]

Nice, keep us posted on how it goes!

Apparently it goes right out the airlock! I came home today and my Apfelwein was merrily bubbling away through the krauesen in the airlock.

Looks pretty gross I had an S-lock airlock that I sanitized and popped on there.

-Joe

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Wow...Montrachet would never dream of doing anything messy like that! It's a very civilized yeast.

 

[NWernBrewer]

Wow...Montrachet would never dream of doing anything messy like that! It's a very civilized yeast.

I used Montrachet on mine and that's what happened to me. It did start out pretty warm 66-70deg.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

Wow...Montrachet would never dream of doing anything messy like that! It's a very civilized yeast.

+1 on the Montrachet. What kind of juice did you use?

 

[nostalgia]

First off, I totally dig the Monopoly guy smiley

+1 on the Montrachet. What kind of juice did you use?

I would have used the Montrachet had he had it. The juice came from Costco and is their store brand. About $5.50 for 2 gallons. 100% juice, not from concentrate. The label's ingredient list was: apple juice.

-Joe

 

[BlindLemonLars]

I used Montrachet on mine and that's what happened to me. It did start out pretty warm 66-70deg.

That's odd...I've made several batches, and never had any krausen to speak of. Just a relentless stream of tiny bubbles.

Maybe it depends more on the juice than the yeast. Seems to me you've got to have some protein around in order to develop krausen, and I'm guessing some juices have more than others.

 

[nostalgia]

Just a relentless stream of tiny bubbles.

Relentless is right! The liquid looks carbonated. It's cool

-Joe

 

[zachatola]

I just made my first batch of Apfelwein on 5-27 as well. I used Montrachet yeast though, and had a crazy bubbling airlock for about a week, then it stopped, but i still have what looks like 5 gal of carbonated juice, still lots of little streams of bubbles. Now im just waiting for it to clear up a bit then its bottling time.

Oh yea, the orange bottle caps instead of a stopper are your friend. I didn't even mess with the stopper, i went straight to the cap and LOVE them.

keep us up to date, on your progress. I would post some more pics of mine but it doesn't look any different that when i started. LOL

 

[nostalgia]

Well I managed to wait 4 weeks before sneaking in to take a SG reading. It was 1.003.

My wife and I were both surprised at how light in color and flavor it is. It's got a pronounced wine smell to it, but only a very light apple flavor and zero aftertaste.

I'm going to leave it in the carboy until I need it to lager my Oktoberfest next week.

-Joe

 

[AnonyBrew]

I demand an update!