Ffarg- Apple Ale

I've made Ed's Apfelwein. Several times. I didn't care for it so I aged it, added concentrate to it, added other juices, etc. I still wasn't happy so I tried Brandon O's Graff. It was much more what I was looking for but still not quite right.

I've made all sorts of wines, Welch's, SkeeterPee, Winexpert, etc. However, I'm always happier with the beer I make.

Graff is supposed to be good in 2-4 weeks. I think anything under 6 weeks is rushing things. Buy yourself some extra buckets and get the pipeline going. You'll be happier if you let it mellow for a while.

Anyway, I modified Brandon O's Graff recipe and came up with something that I really like. I call it Ffarg Apple Ale because it is pretty much the opposite of his recipe.

In 3 Gallons of water
Steep .5lb Caramel 120l @ 150-160 deg. F for 20-30 minutes
Add 4lb Golden Light DME
Boil 1 oz. of hops (I used Willamette 4.8%AA) for one hour
Chill and top off with 2 gallons of Vitamin C and preservative free Apple Juice.
Ferment with a neutral ale yeast at 68 deg. F for 4-6 weeks then keg or bottle.

I strongly recommend juice that does not have Vit. C added. I found that I could tell a marked difference in the Apfelwein I made with Vit. C and those without. Without is much smoother with much less tartness.

Looks interesting. I've enjoyed an apple-y beer brewed by Unibroue, they call Ephemere. Its definitely a beer, but with a strong apple aroma and flavor.

Unibroue | Éphémère Apple

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I was going to take a picture of a full glass...I couldn't help myself, this stuff is too good.

DUDE WTF. As an IT guy, it pains me to see a pint parked on a laptop!!! That's a $500 mistake just waiting to happen!!

It's a Walmart special so....really a $350 mistake. Something tells me you've never been bungie jumping.
I was trying to get the token "pint in front of HBT pic."
However, out of respect for you and my other IT friend (I have one), next time I'll use a coaster instead.

I like Graff, and I'm gonna have to make this. I think I'll use 1 pound of amber DME and 3 pounds of light.

Graff is epic! I made a five gallon batch back in May based on Brandon O's recipe. It holds the record for the fastest consumed homebrewed beverage I've made. My roomie and girlfriend crushed through five gallons in two weeks! I like your recipe and that sure is a tasty looking glass, makes me wish I had squirreled some away somewhere.

Just made me some. Used .75 oz of hallertau, .60 lbs of 90L, 3 lbs of light dme and 1 lb of amber dme, and 2 gallons of louisberg cider. Thinking about dry hopping some strawberries. I'll wait to see what it tastes like in a couple of weeks. Measured at approx 1.065 OG.

Try it without the strawberries first.

I've also found that I really like this lightly carbed. It was awesome the first few days in the keg but once it was fully carbed at 15psi the carbonic acid made it worse. I've dropped the pressure and I'm going to take it down to 5-10 psi.

I thought I would keep this thread alive. I'm going to start a batch of this after the first of the year. How much final product you end up with after evaporation in the boil?

I'm 39 minutes into my boil as I type this!

Berock said:

Just made me some. Used .75 oz of hallertau, .60 lbs of 90L, 3 lbs of light dme and 1 lb of amber dme, and 2 gallons of louisberg cider. Thinking about dry hopping some strawberries. I'll wait to see what it tastes like in a couple of weeks. Measured at approx 1.065 OG.

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Please let us know how it turned out. I let mine sit for 5.5 weeks before I kegged it.

My keg pressure is at 5 psi now and the delicious flavor has returned.

I'm very interested in your use of .75 ounce of Hallertau I have some and may use it in my next batch.

I've got a 5 gallon 'experiment' going now. I used Northern Brewer Hops and added some Victory Malt in there. I'm also trying WLP810 for a Cali-Common effect. If it works out I was thinking of calling it a "Steamed Apple" haha

Pappers_ said:

Looks interesting. I've enjoyed an apple-y beer brewed by Unibroue, they call Ephemere. Its definitely a beer, but with a strong apple aroma and flavor.

Unibroue | Éphémère Apple

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I ended up with about a gallon of extra Grand Cru and was too lazy to bottle it. I remembered your post so I added it to the roughly 2.5 gallons of my apple ale. It's awesome. I may try melding the two recipes.

Bottling my first batch of this tonight - as soon as I clean the kitchen.

So, how is this turning out for everyone? I'm thinking about using NW Ale yeast with this. Whatcha think?

KCBigDog said:

So, how is this turning out for everyone? I'm thinking about using NW Ale yeast with this. Whatcha think?

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I've never used NW Ale but from what I've read it should work well.

I used the WLP810 and I had some diacetyl in mine early on. I just finished up a 'rest' and when I checked today, the "slickness" has subsided. I'm still trying to figure out my next step. The sample in the hydro had a nice 'California Common' flavor with a subtle hard cider finish. I've never done Common before so I don't know if I should lager then bottle or bottle and throw them in the fridge for a couple of weeks.

Thanks for the idea of adjusting the Graff recipe to be more beer-like but retaining some apple notes.

Pappers_ said:

Looks interesting. I've enjoyed an apple-y beer brewed by Unibroue, they call Ephemere. Its definitely a beer, but with a strong apple aroma and flavor.

Unibroue | Éphémère Apple

Click to expand...

I did a beer inspired by this. I did a Saison. Pertial boil and used 3 quarts of apple jusice as top off liquid. It took a while to ferment and to age but it is quite good.

Bottled mine tonight. I couldn't really detect a lot of apple still in there. I'm hoping with about a month of aging it will come back around.

I didn't touch mine for six weeks.

How's yours coming along Patrick?

Clifton said:

I didn't touch mine for six weeks.

How's yours coming along Patrick?

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I've only had one bottle thus far, and it was good. It's quite dry, but I like that.

It bears worth repeating what you said up front (emphasis mine):
This isn't simply a variation of Graff, it's its own thing... totally different animals. That said, I think the Graff fans should give this a try. Nice job, Clifton.

I kegged up and force carbed a batch of this about 3 weeks ago. It seemed like I lost a lot of the apple flavor as well. I'm going to let it age for a bit and try it again. Hopefully the apple notes will come back. Overall though, it's still very drinkable. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

PortlandPatrick said:

I've only had one bottle thus far, and it was good. It's quite dry, but I like that.

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Interesting... I had another bottle tonight, about two weeks since I bottled it, and it has come around quite nicely. More apple-ness. I like!

Just tapped in to my keg of the stuff. It's been kegged up for a little more than 3 weeks. I chilled it down in my new keggerator for about 8 hours and it tastes like a totally different beer. The apple really came out. It's a little bitter though and has some distinct alcohol (jet fuel) notes to it, but overall it's pretty good! I think this may be one that needs to age for another couple weeks to balance itself out - much like anything with apple juice it seems. I wish I would have bottled instead of kegged, so I really could let it age out without taking up keg room.

Overall - a very nice recipe. Takes some time for everything to come together, so patience is key. Thanks for sharing!

I started another batch a couple of days ago. I wanted to try some East Kent Goldings this time.

I kicked my keg a couple of days ago. I need to get another batch going.

Clifton said:

I kicked my keg a couple of days ago. I need to get another batch going.

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How many batches have you made? Are you tweaking your recipe at all?

One, but I added the Belgian Grand Cru to the last half in the keg. So I guess that counts as two. I may reduce the hops a little or try it with Belgian yeast from the beginning, but it's so good I may just leave it alone.

This is what I hoped that Graff would be.

Clifton said:

One, but I added the Belgian Grand Cru to the last half in the keg. So I guess that counts as two. I may reduce the hops a little or try it with Belgian yeast from the beginning, but it's so good I may just leave it alone.

This is what I hoped that Graff would be.

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Tis nice to find/develop a recipe you love, huh?

I think I'm going to start making Ffarg and Graff in rotation, which will probably evolve to a cider/Ffarg/Graff showdown (or deathmatch) at my wedding reception in September.

I just brewed this, and dumped right onto a NW Ale yeast cake from an American brown I just kegged. Looking forward to the eruption!

Wow! You guys are spot on! I fermented for 3.5 weeks, bottled on Jan 30 and cracked one open today and it's a completely different brew. I had some doubts a week ago, but the apple is starting to come back around and it's dried out a little more (which I prefer)

I can see these are going to progressively get better and better. Good thing I have another batch in the basement right now.

My second batch is in bottles and conditioning. It's basically an English Bitter Ffarg (Bitter Apple?) with East Kent Goldings.

I'm very happy with the way this one turned out. The EKG (IMO) goes nicely with the apple.

Thanks again!

After 3.5 weeks, I still have bubbles in the airlock. I'm planning to keg/bottle next weekend.

Just kegged my batch that used NW Ale yeast. Started at 1.060 and ended at 1.012. 6.26%

Hydro sample is good. I expect it to be really nice when it is cold and carbed up.

Just cracked open a bottle of this stuff from a batch I made Jan 14, 2012. This stuff keeps getting better and better. All of the harsh alcohol flavor from the juice has really subsided. I bottled a case of 16oz bottles from my keg about 1.5 months ago and have been letting it age. I think it's time to throw a few bottles in the fridge and do some Ffarg drinkin'!

After 2.5 months in keg, this is now in my Keezer. I think it's pretty good, not great. I prefer the Graff.

I always wanted Graff to be more beery. That's why I came up with this. It's much more of an Apple ale than a Malt cider.

Clifton said:

I always wanted Graff to be more beery. That's why I came up with this. It's much more of an Apple ale than a Malt cider.

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Agree, it's less apple and more malty. I would love to find a copy of Unibroue Ephemere.

I'm brewing a batch today with Crystal 75 on a Witbier yeast.