Recent content by Paisano

With the sugars, it will definitely ferment. However, keep in mind that this is a fairly sweet solution without much in the way of non-fermentable dextrins. As a result, I would expect that it would result in a fairly low FG and be pretty dry. If I were going to ferment, I would add amber or...

I am familiar with turbinado sugar but I've not used it in this recipe. I would suggest finding and equivalency chart for turbinado and other sugars to get a starting point, and then experiment with sweetness from there. Let us know your results! Good luck!:mug:

I am not familiar with the soda stream product. However, if it is a force-carbonation mechanism (i.e., carbonates water which is then flavored), then I suspect it would work just fine.

Nice! I would be very interested to hear if there is still foam retention after bottle conditioning.

Point well taken. However, there is a difference between a simmer, a boil, and a roaring boil. I suspect that more hot-break was produced at a roaring boil in my last few batches, which coincided with my total lack of foam, hence my suspicions. My previous stove had trouble producing a...

I've recently encountered this on three different batches, all with different ingredients, with different yeast strains, all fermented for 3 weeks at 65F. The only new factor for me is the use of a stove with greater BTUs making much more of a roaring boil and greater hot break, hence my...

Here's how you can filter out the smell: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/apfelwein-sulfur-smell-apparently-solved-218577/

I used Cote des Blanc yeast with nutrient at the recommended rate and a great deal of SO2 was still produced. Apparently there is more to the issue than nutrients.

PERFECT! This is exactly the info I was looking for and it confirms my suspicions. Thanks!!:mug:

Force carbonating is what makes the most sense. One could use yeast, but the sugars present in the solution pose problems. If you go the yeast route, do research first.

Carbonation (if not forced by artificial pressure) is a function of yeast being reactivated by the introduction of sugar to the fermented solution, then capped/bottled. Pay careful attention to the size of your batch AND the amount of sugar added, and you you will be fine. If you add too much...

I think you are correct. I fermented with fresh Cote des Blanc and yeast nutrient at the recommended rate. Still, the sulfur smell was overpowering after about 24 hours. So, I made this simple filter for a few bucks and it completely filtered out the smell for the rest of the fermentation...

You can easily filter out the sulfer smell for only a few bucks with my homemade filter here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/apfelwein-sulfur-smell-apparently-solved-218577/

I agree. However, I'm hesitant to give away my great tasting beer (which I had intended to do) when it has a lousy presentation. The psychology of "no foam" will kill the great flavor for the average drinker.

One more thing: I just used a thorough salt water wash on a glass to rule out a "film" on the glass as a cause. However, same result: no foam at all.