Man, I love Apfelwein

Apfelweingizer thread, it keeps going and going ..... I've read the first 15 pages, anybody ever try And read all of them?

 

I definitely threw some Notty in with a gallon of cider, two cinnamon sticks and a pound of brown sugar. I planned on crashing it.. then I got busy with school.

Did I just make an apfelwein? Because it's sure a lousy cider. I've got a sixer of it sitting in crown-cap beer bottles and another 750ml in the fridge.. mayhap I should let it sit a while?

 

Has anyone tried to bottle carb this with just adding apple juice, I know It'd lower the abv, but I don't really care unless it halves it. I thought it'd be sweeter and more appley that way.

Maybe adding 1/3 more apple juice? so in my 8L patch would need ~2,5L more juice thus the abv going to the 5,5-6 % or some such something.

Though downing that would be way too easy and fun I assume.

 

You should start a thread for this and maybe add some Splenda to keep it sweet.

 

I'm a noob... I have a 5 gallon batch of apfelwein going now with a few "experiments" in one gallon jugs (pineapple concentrate, cranberry juice, etc.) and haven't gotten to try any yet.

I'm on post 7,000 and wanted to ask this so there might be some answers by the time I get to the end.

There has been a lot of talk about back sweetening with lactose and such at bottling: Is there any reason you can't add lactose during fermentation so you don't have to add it later?

The other thing I'm curious about is adding a berry to three to the bottles to add a hint of berry flavor to compliment the apple while bottle conditioning. I'm sure this could affect carbing though. Has anyone tried this?

 

Made my batch back in June '11 and bottled it (no carbonation) in Oct '11. Wasn't a big fan and drank it sparingly. Around January this year the apple really came forward and it is really a nice smooth drink now. This is a very nice, easy to concoct beverage, and patience is definitely rewarded.

 

I "brewed" a batch of this on Jan 7. Now it's been bottle conditioning (dextrose) for 2 weeks. Tasting it for the 1st time right now. I read most of this thread in the months before i made the batch, so i'm not sure how much of it i remember (not to mention the fact i had a couple dfh 60 mins and a couple pilsner urquells before trying the apfelwein). For those who have experience with it, my question is...do you find the taste to be quite tart with only some hints of apple? I'm thinking it could be because it's only 7 weeks old, as it reminds me of a "green" beer taste. How will it change with time, if at all? Prost!

 

The apple definitely emerges much stronger as time goes on; I find that it doesn't really become significant until around 6 months. Early on, it's definitely dryer and has significantly less apple to it.

 

Can I use Nottie yeast on the next batch? Its what I have left...

 

Experiment. You might like the notty more. I did a cider batch with hefeweizen yeast, tasted like a jolly rancher candy.t

 

Ridiculous! Just ridiculous... First taste at six weeks. Blown away. I did two 6 gallon batches one following the recipe the other with five pounds of wild clover honey which is awesome. Like a mead cider combo.

 

Yes, in fact I think I may prefer it to Montrachet.

 

Mine is about 60 days old. Siphoned off a bottle to give to a friend that I won't see again for a very long time, plus poured an extra glass for myself. Tastes wonderful, a touch hot still. Mixed with 7up and it disappeared. This could get me in trouble. Thanks Ed!

 

I have always done this recipe with 2 exceptions:
Brown sugar instead of Corn sugar, and Lalvin 1118 yeast instead of Montrachet.
This time I followed the recipe to the letter and for the first time I am experiencing what has been affectionally dubbed the "Rhino Farts".
My kitchen smells like the south end of a north bound mule.

 

First time for me 2.5 g on 2-7-12 no rhino farts.I used Ed Worts recipe to the T
except for the brand of juice.Used Indian Summer,I plan on letting it set till August.

 

I also used very fresh and cloudy apple juice. Pectic enzyme helped a bit, but I always use a wine filter before bottling. My local shop rents it for just $10/day, as long as you buy the filters from them. Went through 2 sets of "coarse" filters to get through the 5gal carboy, then 1 set of "standard". Turned out crystal clear.

cheers,

robin850

 

I made two batches the first week of January (about 7.5 weeks), one with Montrachet and one with Cote des Blanc. Both with only one pound of sugar instead of two. My wife and I just found out last week that we are going to be expecting our second. So, I was thinking it would be neat to have a batch brewing for the same 9 months or so, then bottle it and give it away to family and friends when the time comes. To decide which yeast to use for the new celebratory batch, I pulled samples from each of my existing batches today and wanted to provide my thoughts and comparison between the two.

Montrachet is definitely dry. It fermented down to about 0.99. Hardly any sweetness, light body. I get a champagne vibe and think it will be good carbed up.

Cote des Blanc was sweeter. It only fermented to about the 1.008-1.010 and you can taste that difference compared to the Montrachet. It has more of an apple taste too which is true to form since the packet said that it was for fruitier wines. Because of the extra sweetness and apple flavor, it tastes more like a dry cider than the Montrachet.

I was going to take a picture and post, but they are identical in color and clarity, so nothing exciting to show.

I'm leaning towards sticking with the original recipe and using the Montrachet. The Cote des Blanc is good, but I think the dryer champagne taste of the Montrachet may work well with the occasion.

 

Congrats old man!

 

Eleven weeks in... kegged tonight...

And it was good.

Note to self: Sunday night is a bad night to crack open a new batch of EdWort's Apfelwein.

 

Does the count go down again if you finish drinking your batch? If so... sorry...

 

Well I'm coming up on 2 months in primary, thinking I will bottle it up this weekend.

My wife isn't so much a fan of it right now, and am wondering if carbing it up a bit will help remove some of the super dry finish? Any input?

Edit: Thinking I might try carbing with apple concentrate instead of corn sugar - thoughts?

 

New homebrewer here. I just mixed up a batch using the original recipe to the T. I think my hydrometer might be off. Can anyone tell me what your starting gravity was for the original unmodified recipe?

I measured at 54 and that seems a bit low to me...

Thanks!
Jim

 

Can you substitute cane sugar in place of corn sugar? I am all out of corn. Will it affect taste? I tried reading through threads but couldn't find a similar question post. Thanks

 

I just did a one gallon test batch with raw cane sugar.. it came out a bit more winey then my first batch sweetened with concentrate.. I think it might need some more tome to mellow out then the concentrate but it should be fine.

 

Just Bottled up 5gal of Edwarts original Recipe on Feb 25. Used LT Brown Sugar, Montrachet & Indian Summer AJ. Started on Jan 4, the OG was abt .065, FG was right @.001 or so.

I was able to Bottle up 2agl still, and I went ahead and carbed up the rest in 12oz Bottles.

Thanks Edwart!, Good stuff even at this young age.

 

O-M-Freaking-G. Why have I not tried this yet?? This looks Awesome! Im doing it this weekend. Hell, maybe even tonight! One question though, at what temperature does the wine yeast ferment best?

 

Lavlin EC-1118 and brown sugar work? Fermentation temp?

 

Google is your friend. http://www.fermentis.com/fo/pdf/RedStar/English/FTMontrachetEN.pdf

Lavlin EC-1118, http://www.lalvinyeast.com/images/library/EC1118_Yeast.pdf

Brown sugar? Why not?

 

That's what I've always used. I fermented at room temp. (anywhere from 68 to 75) and it always worked out well.

 

Im new to winemaking, just joined this forum yesterday. After its ready for bottling, what do you bottle it in, how do you carbonate it. And i seen you keg it, how do you do that?

 

Ok. I went straight the hell home from work and made this exactly to specifications. 3 very long damn months to go.......

 

That might be a tiny bit low, but a lot depends upon the juice that you're starting with - every brand will be different. Most people seem to be starting in the 1.050-1.070 range, so you should be fine. If you're concerned about it not being strong enough, just add some more dextrose or honey.

 

Cane sugar (i.e. normal table sugar) has a long-standing reputation for creating winey and cidery aromas and flavors when used in excess in beers and wines - an effect that increases with aging (which is why it's generally more "acceptable" in beer than in wine). However, these reputations largely come from the early homebrewers of the '60s and '70s who were largely extract brewers supplementing with waaaay too much of it (like my father, whose standby beer recipe was a can of Coopers extract with an equal weight of table sugar...and not much else).

That said, 2# in 5+ gallons shouldn't be too much of an issue.

P.S. For those who are concerned about cane sugar usage and are considering using brown sugar - be sure to check your labels...many brown sugars are simply table sugar with a bit of molasses or caramelization, rather than the unrefined brown sugars that you want (which will probably carry different labels as turbinado, raw, etc.)

 

"Brewed" (i.e. mixed up) a first Apfelwine batch on January 19 with 5 gallons of Wally-World juice, 2# dextrose, and Lalvin 71B-1122 with an O.G. around 1.065 (I was in a hurry and distracted in poor light, so the reading was iffy). Pulled a sample yesterday for testing....(almost 7 weeks)....O.G. is around 0.095, taste is slightly tart, distinctly apple-y, and quite yummy already (now I see why so many people have a hard time letting this age long enough!)...and SWMBO agreed!

I'll be mixing in 1# of lactose (of course, dissolved in boiled water and cooled) to backsweeten some. After another week or two, another taste-test will determine whether to prime with dextrose or juice concentrate. SWMBO has decreed that half shall be bottled still and half carbonated. (My mind is awhirl with ideas of added some of the frozen blueberries from last summers' farm work, various spices, other juices (that crapfelwine sounds good!), etc...)

 

'sup to you.....'tis yummy after about 1....:fro:

 

Its way too harsh after just a month. 6 is much much better.

I did just make a batch with champagne yeast and it doesn't taste so bad after a month, but ill let it go at least 1-2 more before bottling.

 

Has anyone used cinnamon? If so, how much and how did it turn out?

Thanks

 

Ok. I checked my hydrometer in distilled water. A smidge low, maybe a point (.999). I then checked some of the leftover juice. 1.050. Now corn sugar should add about 46 points per gallon, so I should have been expecting 1.065-70 (about 18 points over the juice).

Now I MUST have read my hydrometer wrong (More like 65 instead of 50) right??

Thanks for the help!
Jim

 

Have six gallons thirty days in the Better Bottle, clearing nicely with only an occasional bubble now - if that. Looking forward to tasting in a couple weeks. Read a couple thousand posts in this thread, learned a lot from that - then found a nearby LHBS and bought the Bottle, airlock, tubing and Montrachet (the bare necessities) and Tree Top juice from Wally. Used cane sugar.

Just a frugal guy lookin' for an affordable source for my daily USDA-recommended ETOH requirements. Really plan on liking this stuff because I'm a real cheapskate and that bottle alone was almost thirty bucks! Will take more than one batch to make the investment pay off.

 

Ya bottle it in...dum, da da dum! ...BOTTLES! Err...what kind...umm...how 'bout WINE bottles? (Sorry, but ask a dumb question.....)

More helpfully about the carbonation, then... you can bottle this "still" and it'll end up drinking like a fruit wine. That's simple...just siphon it into bottles, cork 'em and store for a while. To carbonate, boil a little water for 5 minutes, add some dextrose (i.e. corn sugar), let for a touch more, cool it down, and add to the fermenter. Bottle immediately (before the yeast starts working on it). Adding a little will give a little carbonation. Adding about 3/4c (the "standard" for a 5-gallon batch of beer) will give you carbonation similar to a beer. Adding more will give you champagne-like carbonation. Add too much and your bottles will eventually explode (i.e. NOT good).

And honestly, if you're that new to it all, just forget about kegging for now. You'll need a keg (which can be hard to find legally in some places and are rarely cheap), plus an assortment of other goodies to load it up....then more toys to dispense. Not to mention that it is...shall we say "problematic" to chill your drinks if they're in a keg and you only have one fridge.