Apfelwein: Deviations from Standard

[will_cbe]

What are acceptable changes to the recipe and it's still considered apfelwein? Adding more sugar is acceptable. Using juice from concentrate is acceptable. Using a different yeast MAY be acceptable. Adding other juices is not acceptable. Using brown sugar is not acceptable.

Opinions?

 

[EdWort]

Good question. You can make whatever changes you like and still call it whatever you like.

I call it Apfelwein because with my recipe it recreates something that tastes just like German Apfelwein.

Lots of folks experiment and try different juices, sugars & yeasts, which is the great thing about homebrewing.

Try whatever you like, but be patient as age makes all ciders better.

 

[Special Hops]

Whatever is acceptable to you is acceptable.

 

[Freezeblade]

In my opinion (read: take with a grain of salt) you can call it whatever you like, but the only way it counts in my mind as apfelwein is if you stay pretty true to the recipe for apfelwein that Edwort calls for, any edits on it make it something else, like if you don't add any sugar and use a different yeast, it's probably closer to a cider, if you do honey instead of the dextrose, it's a cyser, add cranberry juice and it's definatly not apfelwein anymore, etc.

I wonder how many of the posts in the "How many gallons of apfelwein..." thread are by the origional recipe and how many are actually english style ciders, other types of apple wine, or cyders. "I made a batch of Haus Pale Ale and added some apple juice, +5." I just find it strange that people seem to take apfelwein to be the same word as cider.

 

[Special Hops]

^ but does it really matter. As long as you and your friends enjoy it. who cares what it's called or what variations there are. IMO.

 

[gwood]

I find this thread acceptable. Carry on

 

[EdWort]

It's all good. Ferment it, chill it, drink it. Enjoy it!

 

[Freezeblade]

^ but does it really matter. As long as you and your friends enjoy it. who cares what it's called or what variations there are. IMO.

Tad off topic here, but no, it doesn't matter, but it's a problem with what things are called. If I went in here and called every kind of Beer a "bud" because that's most commonly what I see in stores, no it wouldn't matter, but it'd probably bother quite a few people on the forums. "I brewed a bud today: 7#LME, .5#Chocolate, 2#MO, 1#Crystal60. It's gonna be great!" I see this as similar to someone saying "I made Apfelwein today, 2 gallons of apple juice, 1 gallon of grape juice and a bit of pineapple in the secondary, and I used turbando sugar and nottingham yeast." It's really a matter of semantics. No it doesn't matter, but that doesn't make it any less incorrect or annoying. IMNSHO.

 

[Bongofury]

Has anyone tried oaking this?

 

[JVD_X]

battery acid!

 

[ChshreCat]

Actually, I'm going to follow EdWort's recipe exactly, then call it something different and tell my friends I invented it myself. That work?