Man, I love Apfelwein

My wife has an app on her phone that she uses to track her calories with and Ed Worts Apfelwein is in it. I think it's called my fitness pal or something like that.

 

Degas like you would with wine and go for it.

 

so it's been 4 weeks, tasted some over the weekend and BOY is it strong, but not too tasty.

Anyone keg these in corny kegs with co2 system? How much did that run you?

 

This stuff really does need to age. Even with good fermentation temps and nutrients, I'd say an absolute minimum of 2 months after you hit fg. Since usually you are a little bit nutrient poor and temps aren't really being controlled, the 3 month mark really is about right for a minimum.

Mine was kinda nasty when it first fermented. Now, at 5 months, it's amazing. I don't have much of it left anymore.

 

Ha! I just looked it up in that app and it's there. But it doesn't give any real info other than 200 calories per 12 oz, which seems low. Maybe look at Beersmith.

 

Just tried some after being in the bottle for two months (carbed) and it tasted ok. Needs to age more, but man does it have a serious kick! One beer plus a bottle of apfelwein and having a conversation with the neighbor was challenging

 

My wife just asked me if there was a dead Rhino in the storage room....so things must be progressing nicely!

 

Hehehe...my first batch of 3 gallons is bubbling nicely. Doesn't seem to smell too bad though. 'Course it's in the man cave though...the GF might think differently if it was at her house.

 

I'm thinking about hitting my batch with a tablespoon of honey, bottling and bottle conditioning in grolsch bottles.

When I go visiting I could bring a bottle or two as a host gift.

I know I personally would appreciate it if someone showed up with some sparkling apfelwein.

 

Wow. So I started this about 11 days ago, and I won't lie... I did it mainly to create a yeast slurry for a batch of skeeter pee. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this since its supposed to finish real dry. I just checked the gravity as I want to rack it at 1.05. Tasted my sample and I'm blown away. It's pretty dry but I love it! I think this is going to be amazing with some age. I'm actually a little upset that I'll be using my bucket and 2nd carboy to make the skeeter pee cause I want to get started on a 2nd batch of this right away.

Ps: at 11 days my gravity is about 1.08 fermenting at an ambient temp of 66-68 degrees.

 

Looking forward to seeing the action when I get home from work. I made my first batch last night and hope its everything its cracked up to be. Mines sitting around 62 degrees and there was already some small bubbles formong when i left this morning. Heck, the hop bill for half my brews cost more than the ingredients for this entire batch!

 

My batch is very drinkable from the get go. It's over 5 weeks old. I know I won't be able to make it the multi month mark like most of you guys are doing. I'm going to make a ten gallon batch next I think.

 

Wife and I opened a bomber of this tonight that was bottled in early 2010. Smoooooooth stuff. I bottle carbed this batch and it is perfect. Good thing I have 12 more swing tops from this batch. Love this with some age on it.

 

Hello,

(this answer may be somewhere in this thread... but there are so many pages...)

Does anyone know how much granulated or corn sugar is needed to prime just 1 gallon for carbonation? I used EdWort's Apfelwein recipe... Also, I do want to backsweeten, which I can do with nutrasweet, splenda, or whatever. Does anyone know about how much sweetner I would need for the single gallon? I have quite a few of the small sweenter packages at home, like you would find in a restaurant. Does either sweetner (prime or back) need to be added to water and boiled prior to adding to the batch, and can I just add them together?

A half packet of Montrachet yeast was used which I have heard causes it to be dry...

When bottling I am going to put some in a plastic bottle as well, I heard by using one you can get an indicator of how your carbonation is doing by feeling the pressure...

Thanks!

ND

 

It's supposed to finish dry.

 

Whoop

 

I primed a gallon batch for the first time last night and its conditioning in swingtops. Excited to try this stuff sparkling.

 

Thanks Mike! Is that 3/4 cup per gallon of corn sugar to bottle and carbonate? If that's for your 5 gallon recipe... I guess I will have to figure out how much for 1 gallon equivalent.

 

If you are going to backsweeten anyway, I wouldn't bother with the sugar alternatives. Sweeten the batch to taste, bottle. When your plastic tester bottle has the kind of pressure you are wanting, pasteurize the bottles.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/

The amount of sugar you are going to want for priming is going to be far far lower then what you are likely to want for sweetening. The little that is consumed for carbonation is pretty insignificant to flavor. If you prefer though, you can use a priming sugar calculator. Here is the one I like. It has suggested volumes for different styles.

http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

 

Mine has been fermenting/finished for now 3-4 weeks. Pretty sure its 3 weeks for my 1gallon juice not from concentrate. AND then 3 1/2 weeks for my 2.5g juice from concentrate. My 1gallon batch is starting to clear up. Think cold crashing it would hurt? (mainly to speed up the process of clearing) AND this is good to bottle at 4 weeks right? Just wondering what other peoples opinions are. As in...
1. Move to a secondary for bulk aging
2. Prime and bottle
3. Keep still and bottle

How many months do most feel this is best to drink at?

 

Three is a good minimum. More then six would be very nice.

Four weeks is plenty of time for your brew to have finished fermenting and cleanup. Bulk aging is usually preferable as it produces a more consistent product then bottle aging.

I prefer mine lightly carbed. That is entirely a matter of taste though.

 

Thanks for the answer, I plan to let them go for a little bit longer. Let 1g of the from concentrate stay still and bulk age. the other 1.5g carb, bottle, pasteurize.
I did the two batches mainly to see the difference in taste between from concentrate and not from concentrate apple juice.

 

Thanks Leadgolem,

According to that calculator - for "standard cider" it calls for .8oz of priming sugar for a 1 gallon batch, which really isn't much. Hopefully it will be enough. I have read that others use a wine conditioner, I might just try a little sweetner on this expermental batch.

Also, the cider is in the stage now where it is pretty clear, and there is a layer of sediment on the bottom of the jug. Am I to rack this into a bucket for bottling and NOT get that sediment into the bottles?

ND

 

Generally, yes. It will settle out while it's in the bottle and end up in the bottom. If you end up with some, it's really not a big deal. I just prefer to minimize trub in the bottles as it is kinda ugly.

 

I changed things up for my second batch.

The 'problem' was that it took 10 weeks to ferment to 1.000.

The differences from the first were: one quart of 100% cranberry juice (Knudsens), Pasteur Red yeast and periods of fermenting temps in the 59-61 range (mostly 62-64).

I assume the cranberry was not the culprit. I do not know if the Pasteur Red is a slower fermenter to Montrachet. I am guessing the slow ferment was the temps.

I really love this batch, but want to make another quicker so I can apple jack while winter cooperates. Any thoughts or experiences?

 

This may also help, another good calculator of all sorts for brewing

http://brewblogger.net/index.php?page=tools&section=sugar

 

I made a batch mid-November, and bottled into 12s and 22s last weekend. I added a single Coopers carb drop to each 12 and two to each 22. Any idea how long it will take to carb?

 

You could try a more aggressive yeast. That will mean more krausen, so make sure you have the headspace. Pasteur champagne, or even distillers for a super high abv batch.

The other thing is the temp. Bring it up to 70 or so, and your fermentation will be much faster. I wouldn't go to much over that unless you want to condition for a long time though.

 

Lots of factors involved, so it's hard to say. You probably have very low yeast content in the bottles. After that it's mostly a matter of temperature. With relatively high yeast contents and temps around 75-85f, 48 hours is usually enough. I've also seen batches take 4-5 weeks at temps in the mid 50's and low yeast populations.

 

Ok. My first batch is in my carboy right now. Is it normal for the yeast to settle to the bottom immediately??

 

Once they start fermenting you'll notice them in suspension and the juice will be cloudy. Give them a day or two
to start working

 

Perfect. Thank you!

 

Searched this thread, but cannot seem to find the answers to this crazy series of questions I have:

I used WLP775 English Cider Yeast for my run on this. It's still waiting, and it's going to be another few weeks, but I wanted to know if it would be better to a) pitch right on top of the remaining cake, or b) try to wash the little guys? If b), then should I make the starter with DME as usual, or can one fashion a starter with more apple juice? If so, how?

 

Pitching on top of the yeast cake should be fine. One of the main reasons to wash the yeast is to remove trub that might have a conflicting flavor with your next batch. As long as you don't have a really skunky ferment, that shouldn't really be an issue with successive batches of the same thing. I wouldn't do that more then once though. The likelihood of contamination would be higher then I would be comfortable with after that.

Fermenting on the yeast cake does raise the odds of autolysis in the batch, but it's doubtful you will end up with anything like that with 2 successive batches.

If you want to make a starter, just use the same juice you are planning for the batch. If you want you can dilute it to your typical starter gravity, then pitch your yeast into that liquid. Typically, apple juice has a gravity of about 1.050. Put the juice remaining from what you used as a starter in the fridge, or it can go off after the couple of days you need for your starter.

 

Yeah, pitching on the yeast cake... kinda worries me, which is why I'd rather rinse it. So, if I have this right, I could just dilute the juice I'm going to use down to 1.040 and use that as a typical starter.

 

Yup. It isn't even critical to dilute it. 1.050 isn't that high. The idea is to give the yeast in the starter pretty much the same sugar balance as what's in the batch. That way they are all setup for them when they hit your brew. I do discount the sugar added to the mix here as sucrose is so easy for the yeast to process it doesn't require anything special on their part.

 

Swell. As usual, I kept thinking things must be more complicated than they actually are. Thanks for clearing that up.

 

Hey, I bottled and added dextrose to my batch exactly three (3) weeks ago. Three gallons total made from Apple Cider, it came out great it was my second batch put the first time I've tried carbonating. My question is - normally how long does it take to carbonate. Carbonated only two (2) gallons added exactly 7 teaspoons of dextrose. No bottles have exploited, just wondering if it is ready???


CORRECTION: I added 7 Tablespoons of dextrose vice 7 teaspoons. This was base on the original recipe calls for 3/4 cup of dextrose to five (5) gallons for carbonation. Simple math: 4 tbsp per 1/4 cup times 3 equals 12 tablespoons per 5 gals of drink. Divided 12 by 4 equals 2.4 tablespoons per gal. 2.4 times 3 equals 7.2 tablespoon for 3 gallons. 3/4 = 3 (4) = 12 / 5 (3) = 7.2.

 

Crack one open and give it a try...

I am very curious to see if your 7 teaspoons is enough for 2 gallons. I am about to carbonate just 1 gallon and maybe I can figure out how much I will need depending on results like yours...

 

Correction to my post I added 7 tablespoons of dextrose vice 7 teaspoons. See the edit to my original post above.

Anyway, I will pop one open tonight then give some feedback either tonight or tomorrow. :fro: