Man, I love Apfelwein

On my 4th glass tonight from my second batch hopefully I can see tomorrow! Lol

 

Filling a carboy that full would still make me nervous. I'm glad you didn't lose any. I hate it when I end up with good brew on the floor.

 

I found the Montrachet yeast to be fairly tame, no krausen or anything..it just looked like a fizzy soda drink with a small layer of bubbles maybe 1/4th of an inch high on the ring of my carboy...i was expecting big things and it was pretty muted lol.

On the plus side mine is at 6 months now, it was in the primary for 5 1/2 months, never touched just sat in my closet until it went into the keg for new years.



Crystal clear and delicious.

 

I mistakenly bought Yeast Energizer yesterday instead of Nutrient, from what I've read its about the same? Can I still use this? Also, When about should I be adding this, my Apfelwein has been in the carboy for 2weeks now.

 

If your Apfelwein has already been fermenting for 2 weeks... it's way too late to add any nutrient or energizer.
Most yeast reproduction happens in the first couple of days, which is when they can take advantage of those nutrients to build up stronger, healthier yeast cells that make fewer off flavors. After 2 weeks, you should be nearly at your final gravity (I'd imagine 99% of the way there), and the additional time recommended in the carboy is just the yeast lazily chomping down a few stray byproducts, clearing, and aging.

 

Going to do this, sounds too good to be true!

 

Thx @Raenon

 

Started mine on 12 20. I just took a hydro reading and its at 1.09. I drank the sample and its pretty good. No rocket fuel taste, but my stomach is warm right now. It's crystal clear already too. I kinda want to make another batch but I already have 10 gallons of other boozes in the making

 

Started my first batch 12/29.
Airlock finally slowed down to 1 bubble/sec last couple days

I did reconstitute the yeast in 97F will this adversely effect the product?
Still pretty cloudy. Forgot to take SG at start.
Thanks

 

No. It's recommended to activate most dried yeast at higher temps, it helps break up the dead yeast that form the outside of the granules.

 

I did my first batch according to the recipe on sight. I created the batch on 12.30.12 and fermented between 60F and 66F. It has stopped bubbling that I can see and it is starting to clear up some but I notice there are CO2 rafts on top of the cider. Has anyone else seen this and do they go away?

Thanks!

 

Ok, so I saw how to make this and I have just a few questions, I'm sure they've been asked before but there's well over a 1000 posts in this thread haha

I have a carboy sitting around so all I'd need to buy for this is an airlock (since mine's currently pre-occupie)

My 2 questions are do you boil these if they're not pasteurized? I assume most of these will be pasteurized but if I don't have a bottle of it can I just boil it to pasteurize it? Or no matter what do you just dump it in? And I also want to know if you just bottle these like normal beer or should you use wine bottles? I'm kinda confused if this is supposed to be more wine or cider.

 

No need to boil, stir in the sugar, add the yeast and wait. Bottle in wine or beer bottles if you don't carbonate, bottle in beer bottles if you do.

 

Awesome, thanks for the response, my only other question is since I know hops are the reason beer skunks, do I have to be cautious of light with Apfelwein?

 

Nope!

 

I made my first batch tonight. I altered the recipe though.

5 gallons of 100% pure apple juice
32 oz of corn sugar(dextrose)
1 wyeast cider smack pack
1 pound of local natural organic honey

I lightly boiled 1 gallon of the apple juice to dissolve the honey and dextrose.

I'll let you guys know in a few months how it tastes

 

i found a 3 year old keg of this last week....
its gotten pretty good. I was pretty suprized as i wasnt much of a fan the first time i tasted it.

 

lol excellent how do you loose this for 3 years? mine would have been drunk long before

 

looks great mate!!
i have two batches that were started on the 12 and 17th of dec 2012, both have now stooped airlock activity, are you telling me im ok to leave them where they are on the used yeast (lees) for a few months yet?

 

I'm new at this. Do I have to degas this if only waiting a month or 2?

 

So, made up a batch of this last night and just had a quick question.

I read in here already that since we are not using hops we do not have to worry about sunlight and skunky flavors. That being said is there a certain temperature we need to maintain during fermentation like there is with beer?

 

I have about 20 kegs in my basement.
Mostly stuff i age, must have gotten pushed to the back of the room when my girlfriend decided to help me "clean" up.

 

Also do you have to add metibisulphite or sorbate or anything before bottling?

 

To answer a few questions. No need to degas, but I do twist my carboy a little every now and then to relase any bubbles at the bottom.

It can sit fine for 6 months on the lees with no issues and even longer as some people have reported. Make a batch and wait a minimum of 3 months is best. Big difference from 2-3 months. I bottled mine at 3 months due to 5.5 gallons in 6.5 gallon carboy (did want any chance of oxidation) and it goes quick, but I made two batches when I did it and letting the 2nd one sit at least 5.5 months. I saved around 20 bottles which are in a box in my closet to see how it improves with time.

No sorbate or metabisulphite needed at all in this recipe. Just bottle like beer with 5 oz priming sugar.

 

So I've decided I'm gonna make this is touch different and use Table Sugar instead of corn sugar, simply for cost, At my LHBS corn sugar is 5.99 for 4 pounds, at my local grocery store I can get 5 pounds of white sugar for like 3 bucks which we use for baking so for something this big I'm thinking of makign the switch and will see how the taste works out. I'll probably go short of 2 pounds of table sugar since I know that you use less Sucrose than Glucose in carbing and see how it turns out.

 

rideincircles any chance of posting the cinnamon Apfelwein recipe? sounds delicious...

 

Finally got my first 5 gallon batch started. Followed the recipe exactly yet added yeast nutrient. Slight problem...it was wyeast beer nutrient blend. Is this going to be a problem as this is wine yeast. Can't wait for 6 more months!!

 

No. There is virtually no difference in the nutrient requirements of different yeast strains.

 

I just started a 1 gallon batch 2 days ago and at first I was very skeptical about the "Rhino Fart" smell. I've never smelled a rhino fart. But this does smell like a rhino fart.

 

Mine has been going strong for three days or so, Im getting no Rhino Fart smell. I think if you do get Rhino Farts, it is probably because you've used Apple Juice with Additives like Vitamin C, acids, etc. Stuff that gives the yeast a hard time to consume. This probably produces off flavor that take forever to condition.

I'm using wyeast cider strain. Haven't had any funky smells.

 

You used a different yeast than the majority of the people in this thread. That could certainly account for the difference in flatulence.

 

Ah! 3 days in WITH yeast nutrient added at day one and it just got the Rhino Farts!!

Edit: It's only 2 days! I thought with the nutrient I was going to get around the farts. Maybe some enigizer also next time?

 

Which yeast, and which yeast nutrient? Did you skimp on the nutrient? Adding a generous amount of nutrient seriously eliminated the yeast farts for me.

 

I have heard this claim too but I am extremely skeptical of it. I assume that it's based not on science, but rather the "logical" conclusion that since UV is notoriously bad for beer because it causes hops to go skunky, and cider does not contain hops, therefore UV is not a problem. Because skunky hops are a very dramatic result of UV exposure, it seems highly likely that people arrived at this conclusion and disseminated it among others online, making it common "knowledge".

So why am I so skeptical? Because long-term exposure to ultraviolet radiation - and really any kind of ionizing radiation - can hardly be expected to be a good thing. Which is understandable, as knocking electrons out of cells is a pretty big effect. Because of this, the fact that it seems highly likely that people just make the erroneous connection that lack of hops means no skunking means UV is not a problem, and that not a single shred of scientific evidence ever seems to be provided to back up the claim, I am still going to keep my cider and wine out of unnecessary sunlight and recommend that others do the same. I'm not saying that it causes problems in unhopped products NEARLY as fast or dramatically as problems develop in (hopped) beer (a few hours or even days is probably not going to produce any detectable difference), but that also doesn't mean that ionizing radiation is somehow entirely okay.

 

I used wyeast beer nutrient. I know it's for "beer" but was told on this thread that all yeast like the same nutrient. I also used the amount listed on the bottle, I think 1/2 tsp for the 5 gallon batch? Not enough? Not the right type of nutrient?

 

That amount is probably low. The instructions are for beer. Beer wort provides its own nutrients. Apple juice + sugar doesn't. So this would require more than the beer dosage.

It doesn't matter in the end probably. They'll turn your sugar to alcohol in good time.

 

The correct amount is 1/4tsp per gallon

 

Well, that's what happens when you just follow directions and don't think critically about it. Oops. Well,next time...

 

I pitched EC1118 into a batch on 7/28. It's going into a keg this weekend. I haven't read through the whole thread to verify, but I'm assuming I can just set it to the same pressure I use to serve my ales (10-12) and let it sit until carbed. Hard to believe I let it sit this long, but it helped having plenty of other things in the pipeline to keep my palate occupied.

 

Wow, I didn't realize the instructions vary so much. The instructions on my yeast nutrient specify 1 tsp/gallon. That would be 10x what you added. Then again, I've found that using that much I can easily ferment sugar water solution to about 7%... I'm using a 1lb package of ld carlson nutrient. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064H0MWY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20