Man, I love Apfelwein

Had this in a primary for 3 weeks tomorrow, still getting the odd bubble but nothing often. I'm leaving it for atleast another week in the primary, then I was thinking about bottling it to age for a month or two more. Am I better bottling it, or leaving it in the primary?
When I do bottle it, are there any steps that I need to take before or is it just a case of siphoning into my bottles and corking?

 

Wow, I have to have two large candles going and a box over the carboy because of the smell it is putting off! I can't wait until this stage it over!

 

Unless you really need that primary, I would at least let it really clear out before bottling (maybe 5 weeks +/- depending). I think better to let it mature in bulk for 2 months prior to bottling, but this is just my two pennies. It won't start to shine until 3-4 months anyway, so why rush it.

 

Did you put any yeast nutrient/energizer in it? Really seemed to help with the smell for my last couple of batches.

 

I'm in no rush for the primary, I just wasn't sure if I would get better results moving it to bottles or a secondary. I'll probably leave it until late November in the primary, then bottle and maybe drink some over christmas if that would be good?
I started the batch on the 10th of September

 

I've made about a dozen batches so far, and the "Rhino Farts" stage only seems to happen if I let the temperature get over 72F. Keep it in the 65-68F range, and I've only got the yeasty odors you normally get with active fermentation.

 

I think the temperature did raise for a few days but it is usually around 65F. That stage is over now. Ill make sure to watch the temperature when I start the next one and maybe Ill try a nutrient/energizer too! Either way, I am excited for it.

 

So I made this but with honey instead of sugar + 1lb of dark brown sugar. Interestingly enough, there was something in there (the honey?) that resembled protein. As the yeast started to get active, the sludge rose up like jellyfish rising into the ocean. Eventually it crowded the neck of the fermenter and overflowed out into the blowoff tube. Very strange! Once it was gone within a few days, there was no krausen as expected with the vigerous fermentation... Hmm. Weird, right?

I ended up doing this as my final recipe, a mix between Apfelwein and a spiced cider. I had ingredients on hand so I figured why the heck not.

6gal of 100% apple juice (Kroger)
3lb of Honey (Bulk from Listermann's)
1lb of dark brown sugar
1tbsp cinnamon (instead of 5 cinnamon sticks)
1tbsp nutmet (instead of 1tsp)
8 cloves (crushed).
Montrachet Wine Yeast

Boiled quarter gallon of water + honey + brown sugar + cloves for 30 minutes, added cinnamon and nutmet for last 10 minutes. Added entire mixture to the fermenter after cooling, topped up to 6gallon. OG was 1.065

 

I applaud your courage with the cloves. I'd be curious to see how that cidercyserapfelwein turns out. I will guess it will be a bit clovey.

 

I agree 8 cloves will definitely put the clove flavor in it.

 

Thanks. I had 5, and then smelled the boiling mix and it wasn't noticeable so I added three more just to be safe. Should be good!

 

I have made multiple batches of apfelwein, all with good success. This last batch was 5 gallons of juice with 5 cans of apple juice concentrate instead of the sugar. fermented for 4 months and bottled with priming sugar. After a month, it is sour! and not carbed. I never saw signs of infection, but it has to be. All the previous batches were dry but not puckery. I guess it is going down the drain. If mixed with sugar it is "ok." It might make a decent marinade for meat or something. Very dissapointing.

 

EdWort, your famous. Check this out http://www.facebook.com/winemakingtalk

 

If mixed with sugar and it's still good I would let it ride for a couple more weeks if not longer and see how it comes out.

 

Apple juice concentrate sometimes contains Vitamin C, which is quite sour. When you remove the sugar, you're left with the sour part.

 

Ok, so maybe it didn't get infected. I was hoping the apple juice concentrate would have given more apple like flavor. In stead just get sour. Also it has been sitting at room temp for a month, with no real signs of carbonation. I left it on the yeast a while before bottling. Could the vitamin c be inhibiting the yeast for carbonation? Thanks for the encouragement. I don't need the bottles, so I can let it sit for a while.

 

Today is roughly 7 weeks in primary and I noticed that it only now looks like it's clearing. At 5 and 6 weeks it was still pretty cloudy. How clear does this get anyway? Does it get as clear as store bought apple juice?

 

Yes, it will clear like the original juice was.

 

I made a batch today from "memory". It has been about 5 years since I have made any home brew or hardcider/apple wine. I used 5 gallons of apple cider, 4 lbs dextrose and 1 packet of Montrachet wine yeast....

Needless to say memory and numbers where a bit off with the dextrose! I am going to ferment it out anyways. Has any one used this much sugar before? How did it turn out if you did? Should I add another packet of yeast?

 

Mine's been in the bottle for about 3 months now. I fermented for a month. I find it really has no flavor. I am drinking some now mixed with apple flavored soda, and it is to my liking. I still have about 40 bottles, so we'll see how it improves with age. I am not expecting flavor to develop. Truth be told, I was hoping for something sweet, but I was not expecting something flavorless. I've read that I was wrong to expect it to be sweet, but I have also read others say that it lacks flavor.

 

Way too many cloves. Most people put 2-3 in max and many think its too much, at 8 i hate to break it too you but its going to be undrinkable for a very very long time...fish some of them out if you can somehow lol.

 

Ok, hopefully I didn't go too far off the deep end with my experiment. with the holidays coming up I wanted to do something seasonal so I'm trying an apple pie cider. I used two pounds of brown sugar, three cinnamon sticks, two vanilla beans, and one clove.

Any predictions on how it will turn out?

 

Many have found that the apple flavor actually does develop later around 8months or so. That has been my experience. It of course, won't get sweeter. I think my favorite so far was the standard batch, then stabilized and back sweetened with apple juice concentrate. I kegged it so it was still carbonated.

 

I think it is going to turn out very well. I'm thinking I may try that same spices and ratio for my next batch.

 

Yee Haw! I think you will end up naming it "The Clove Bomb" Apfelwein batch. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

OK, so it's only been 24 hours, but OH MY LORD! It smells amazing! I sure hope the final product is as good. It is going to be a very difficult six weeks.

I'm lucky, though, I did a 5 gallon batch in a 6.5 gallon carboy and glad I did. There was a pretty good amount of foaming that I think would have blown out the top in a 5 gallon carboy.

 

Hi everyone!

Thanks to this thread (which I found by following a link from a Fark.com thread about 3 weeks ago) I have purchased my first homebrew pieces just to make apfelwein.

I've wanted to get into brewing for a number of years, but living in small apartments hasn't made that easy. Having moved to a bigger place this past summer, combined with the sweet promise of a new beverage experience have allowed me to convince SWMBO that this might be a pretty good idea after all. Plus, the amount of gear needed to start with apfelwein as opposed to beermaking is almost trivial, since the biggest piece needed is a carboy.

I followed Ed Wort's recipe to the letter. After 5 hours I snuck a peek to see if anything was going on yet, and noticed airlock activity. So things seem pretty good, and this was too simple to put together! I took more time cleaning my new gear (first time, I wanted to make sure everything was clean, clean, clean!) than it did to open and pour all 10 2 liter bottles of juice.

I'm really looking forward to trying out the final results.

 

I am torn between bulk aging and having some for the holidays. I think since I added spices I don't have to worry about bulk aging as much. If I bottle at the end of the month, it will be two months since I made it and should regain some character back and will be ready around thanksgiving.

I did make two batches, with the second having 1 gallon of cherry juice added along with some cinnamon sticks. I plan on letting that go well into next year. Any input on this? How does bottling in two months with spices added work out?

 

I brewed a 5 gallon batch of this and after I bottled it up in 12 oz bottles and 1 L fliptops, I put it aside to "age" as recommended. Tasted good after a few months so I was satisfied. Before I could finish all of it, I moved to a new place, but I still own the house I moved from, basically using it for storage. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how this may taste), I forgot to bring the brew with me though since I had a pretty decent pipeline going and it just got overlooked. It is now 3 years later and when I went visited the house the other day to go to the basement to get some Halloween decorations, I found a dusty case under the stairs!

Here's the question: think it's safe to drink?

I'm meticulous when it comes to sanitation and everything. Bottles sealed and it looks like the gaskets on the fliptops are still intact.

 

Well, the man did say 6gallons of juice. He did 1 clove per gallong, and two more just cuz.

 

I don't see any reason not to drink them. If you are worried send me some to sample.

 

According to the sticky thermometer on my carboy, my apfelwein is chugging away at about 82F. I note that Montrachet has a temperature tolerance of 58-86F(or thereabouts). The heat in my apartment is centrally controlled (residence-style apartment), and all the rooms are basically the same temp.

Should I be trying to cool this off somewhat? It's my first attempt at making anything, so I'm a bit anxious about stalling out or weird flavours developing.

 

I've managed to get it down to 78F. The airlock is starting to release some really nice apple smells!

Man, I can't wait to try this stuff!

 

Couple of questions, is this supposed to be carbonated and if so to how many volumes? This is my first time making Apfelwine so I'm not real sure. Plus I'm still kind of a noob.

 

I have some I started in July. Racked about two months ago and am needing the carboy. How much sugar do most add to back sweeten if allowed to ferment dry? Mike

 

Got a 5 gal batch going yesterday and its bubbling nicely this morning. Only thing I did different was used 3 lbs dextrose, 2 tsp yeast nutrient and 1 1/2 pks Montrachet yeast. The half pack was left from some soda pop I made for the kids so I poured it in. Start SG was 1.08 with a potential alcohol of about 11%. Can hardly wait till it ages and is fit to drink.

 

going to start a slightly modified version of this this weekend. i want it to have a holiday spice to it. thinking of using brown sugar in the initial fermentation and maybe backsweetening afterwards with a little bit of brown sugar. going to make it more of a wine than a cider. shooting for around 12-14% abv.

my question is when do i need to add the cinnamon and how much? ill be making a 5 gallon batch. also, ground cinnamon work in substitute of a cinnamon stick?

 

I wouldn't chance it, instead send it to the Opus Apfelwein Testing Lab. I will send the lab's address via PM.

I have had 12 year stout that was stored in flip tops and while it had some oxidation, it actually still tasted like an OK stout. I wouldn't serve it to friends, but I eventually drank it all.

I think your 3 yr Apfelwein might be very good. Go for it!

Opus

 

In the primary since 10 sept, should I bottle age this or leave it in the primary to age? No airlock action now, I have both bottles, and the primary which I'm in no rush to get back.
I tried some, and it was rather tasteless, although with an alcoholic aftertaste to it.

Primary, secondary, or bottle now?

 

I'm just thinking about bottling the latest batch that was in primary since August 7.

I would wait another 4 weeks to bottle.