Man, I love Apfelwein

I have started using EC-1118 in all my batches. I think they clear faster and come out better tasting than the Montrachet, but I may return to the Montrachet for the next batch just to see if this is my imagination or not.

 

First batch (original recipe) is a little over 6 months old now. I never thought I would like this after the first couple tastes, until I pulled a glass last night... wow it has mellowed and tastes great on tap. I had three 16oz glasses last night and woke up feeling every oz of it Have another 5gal in the closet waiting.

 

How clear should this get? I have two side by side. I assembled them two days apart. One has apple juice with ascorbic acid (Vit C), the other, just apple juice. The one with Vit C is clearing much quicker, but is not fermenting as vigorously. These have been going for almost a month. I will be letting one go until august, the other until christmas.

Thanks

 

Six and 10 posts back respectively...

 

I started this 9 weeks ago its smells nice only issue is its still cloudy and has some white stuff inside stuck to the side. Is this something I should worry about?

 

It should be as clear as the juice was to begin with. I do use gelatin to speed the process up. But do not bottle until the juice is clear, you will regret the pile of stuff at the bottom or on the side of the bottles.

 

Ok I was worried about it on the sides 1st time I have seen that.
Im in no hurry to bottle was not planning to for a few more months

 

Last night I bottled five liters of Apfwelwein (that's 1.321 gallon for you US folks), made with ale yeast, a little extra apple juice concentrate and 50/50 brown sugar and table sugar. I primed it with apple juice, so hopefully it will carbonate, and then I suppsose it will be apfelsekt! The sip I had from the siphon tasted really good, relatively sweet with a fairy clear apple taste.

 

I just bottled 2 - 1 gallon jugs that I started in Sep 2010
very very nice smooth apple wine !
This is from my second batch, and I will definitely be making more.

 

have had this going for a month in a carboy, just took some out with a thief and it was pretty awesome. decided i was gonna siphon some out into a 64oz growler i had laying around.

i've also got some muntons carb tabs (about 8 exactly) that i'm thinking of putting into the growler. how many would you guys recommend putting in?

 

Growlers aren't made to withstand the pressure of carbonating. Some people have seen success up to and around 2 volumes. Are the muntons tabs sugar, dextrose, or lme?

 

zero, its not worth the risk. use regular beer bottles or champagne bottles.

 

If the growler is a fliptop you can carbonate in it. I've used them for years and have had great results.

 

I recently found some I dated January of 2010. It was good but I can't say its worth that long of a wait. Suprised its still carbed in beer bottles..

 

I think this may use presssed apples I have a small orxhard of about 15 apple trees with nothing to do but feed the deer with them.

 

Just as a poor man's comment: I reuse 2 Liter soda bottles. The cheap soda can be had for about $1. I just finished carbing up some champagne with 3/4 cup dextrose for 5 gallons and it worked quite well

 

I've skimmed through as much as I can and even searched but with almost 800 pages I'm not finding just what I need. I don't want this to take up room in my fermenter because of space and the long primary time. Room temps in my house hit 80or a bit above during the day during these summer months. Would I get a decent product fermenting at those temperatures with a long primary? I'm assuming the longer primary the better so the yeast can clean up.

 

Swamp cooler with ice packs.

 

32 and 40oz beer/malt liquor screw-top bottles are also options....if you know anyone that drinks that stuff and you're not embarrassed to serve out of one.

 

2 questions:

1. I see a few people saying they used 7-8oz of priming sugar with this. Can I safely use this amount in regular crown cap 12oz bottles?

2. I have lost my hydrometer. Do you think I should be OK to bottle after 5 weeks in primary? I know 6 weeks would be better but is 5 still OK?

 

I used 4 oz and it came out with nice carb.
If it is clear it should be okay after 5 weeks.

 

I now a lot of people use 4-5oz, but is there a maximum "safe" amount for regular beer bottles? I don't want grenades but am interested in giving this a champagne like fizz.

 

I had a batch of this sitting in the brew room for the last six months, and honestly forgot about it (on purpose). I finally kegged it up, let it sit for a couple weeks, and....

Wow.

The fiancee described it as a, "panty dropper", when I told her the ABV level. A bit crude (odd for her, really), but, a good compliment I'd say.

Kudos to you sir.

 

That's an endorsement if I ever heard one.

 

I am about to brew my fist batch and have a quick question. My Lhbs sells dextrose in bulk but it is scooped into a ziplock bag from a bigger bag (not sanitized as far as I know). Should I boil my sugar first or will it be ok to use as is? If I should boil it, please advise on how- how much water, how long, etc. Thanks for your help

 

I buy my dextrose in 50# sacks and weight it out before adding it to my carboys and never had any problems. You should be fine just adding it.

 

I just started a batch of this stuff two days ago and I had also wondered if I should boil the sugar but looked through this thread and found no mention of it. I just weighed and dumped it in. I added about 1/4 tsp of yeast nutrient and used Montrachet yeast. I had airlock activity within 3-4 hours-- which surprised me because I had read that it could take a while. Airlock smells like apple juice.

The juice I picked up was Rougemont (Quebec) apple juice from concentrate. It's says 100% pure with Vitamins D, C, and calcium added. Hopefully those additives won't hurt it. Stuff was on sale and was the only juice there in sufficient quantity to make 5 gal.

 

Sounds like you are on the right track! Congrats.

 

Started 4/4, Bottled 7/4 with 5 oz corn sugar (kept a 6 pack flat for comparison)

Crystal clear out of primary, tasted some at bottling and it tasted like a cheap chardonnay you might get out of a box.

Tried one of the partially carbed bottles a week later, and apple flavor is starting to come through already.

I will try to hold off until late September to really start drinking these. Followed the recipe exactly, used organic apple juice from BJs (20 bucks for 5 gallons)

Making it sure was easy, but I remember now how much of a PIA bottling is. Don't have the room in my kegerator for it.

 

Get some 1 liter flip top bottles and make short work of it.

 

About to do my first batch of this and I like it a little more fruity not so dry. Anyone try lalvin 71b-1122 for yeast? I would like to know if that will leave some sweetness to it.

 

Hi everyone,
I'm fairly new to brewing, and have started a batch of what seems to be an all time hit - EdWort's Apfelwein. I followed the instructions exactly, using 2gal of Meijer-brand juice with Ascorbic Acid, 3 gal of 100% juice, and 2 lbs of corn sugar. It's tan-orange in color, bubbling little mini-bubbles, and putting gas out through a blowoff tube pretty regularly, so I think that's all good news.

I'm trying to judge how long to leave it in my primary fermenter (5 gal Better Bottle). I saw instructions saying 'at least' 4 weeks, but also saw that it 'hits its stride' at 6 months. Is that to say that I should leave it in the fermenter for 6 months before bottling? How would the flavors be different, for example, if I bottled it in 4-6 weeks, and then left the bottles at room temperature for a total of ~6 months?

Unfortunately, I don't really have any fancy equipment, so kegging and attaching CO2 is out of the question for the time being.

Thanks for the help!

 

Mine is still bubbling at almost 6 weeks. It will stay in primary at least 2-3 months. That gives you plenty of time to read up and decide how you want to handle yours. Do you have bottles? Now is a good time to start saving.

 

still bubbling at 6 weeks WOW... mine is only 4 weeks old and is almost completly clear.

 

I followed the recipe/fermenting time exactly and I found that this had a very alcoholic bite from the get-go. I'm noticing that the longer it's been sitting in the bottles, the more mellow it's getting and the more the apple flavor is starting to show through.

If I had to start over, I think I would've let it sit in the fermenter a lot longer than the six weeks I did, because I'm thinking this stuff will not be where I want it to be for another 6-8 months.

What I do know is that between carbed and uncarbed, I'd recommend carbed. It has a good champagne style characteristic as opposed to the still that still tastes like a chardonnay to me.

Good luck!

 

I'm on my second batch of this and this is what I've learned, it definitely tastes better the longer it ages, and mervby, it will age in bottles just fine, like traditional wines. I kegged most of my 1st batch and while it was quite drinkable at 5weeks in the fermenter, it got better and better each time I pulled a glass. The keg lasted a little over a month and as they say, the last pint was the best! So I think the strategy is to let it go as long as you can stand it. I'm at about 2 1/2 months in carboy with this second batch and I'm about to keg it soon as I have all empty kegs at the moment. Maybe one day I'll have the nerve to let a batch go for 6months or even a year! I bet that is some smooth stuff right there! Ok. thirsty now...

 

Just cracked a carbed bottle that I made way back in october or '10... Really really clean. This is some good stuff!

 

I measured gravity today. It's below 1.000, maybe. I was too lazy to correct for temperature.

 

Just kegged my first batch, very dry, can definitely taste the apple, reminds me of a champagne. SWMBO tried as well, immediately asked me to sweeten, and to add another fruit to the second batch that I've got going.

 

I threw together a batch of this in a free Walmart frosting bucket I had laying around that I got from the bakery.

I had drilled it for an airlock but thinking it 5 gallons hadn't brewed a smaller batch of beer. Unfortunately it only held 4.25 gallons of apple Juice. Should have measured it first.

The good thing is I have 3 of them and they will be perfect for 4 gallon batches. Since Costco sells juice by the 2 gallon packages that is perfect. This first batch will be a bit strong though since I already had 2 lbs of sugar in before realizing all my juice wouldn't fit.