Apfelwein- should I rack it?

[syd138]

I went to the homebrew store by me and asked one of the workers there about making Apfelwein.

First, he told me that right after its done initially fermenting.. after a week or so, to immediately rack it. He said that the Lees? can cause a baterial infection in the wine if it sits too long.

Supposedly you are supposed to rack it a few times during about a 6 month period before you even bottle it.

I used champaigne yeast. He told me that before I bottle and add the priming sugar.. to add another packet of yeast.

Does all of this sound right?

 

[Yooper]

No, he's not correct.

I mean, technically he's correct for wine making. Well, not the part about the bacterial infection from the lees- that's just stupid. Bacterial infections come from bacteria, not dead yeast. Dead yeast can cause some nasty fecal-like tastes, though- if wine is left to sit on it a long time. (Long time being months on thick lees- not a couple of weeks on a fine dusting of lees).

But apfelwein is more of a cider, and since you're using juice, you don't throw a ton of lees. Also, it's a lower SG than wine, so you don't need the 6 months of aging and racking.

Trust the recipe on this one!

 

[EdWort]

I don't rack it and have left it in the carboy for up to 4 months without issues. After it has completed fermentation, you can bottle it or keg it and still age it. I do most of my aging in kegs out in the garage in the keezer.

 

[syd138]

So since I used Champaigne yeast, does this change anything from the original recipe?

Its been two days so far.. I still have the blow off tube in there and it seems like it is starting to get active.

 

[BigKahuna]

No...Montrichet is pretty much the same as champagne yeast. The blow off tube is serious overkill. I leve less than 2 inches of head space in my bottles...right up to the neck....and never made a mess with Apfelwein.

And as with everything Ed has ever said about Apfelwein....If you are smart...you'll get another batch going in about 2 weeks.

 

[alex_wilkosz]

i must ask this as i havent seen it before....with apfelwein. i started it 2 weeks ago. the lock on top is slowly bubbling still....but will the cloudiness dissipate and it clear up? if so is that when i should bottle and then let condition in bottles?

 

[EdWort]

If the juice was clear, it will clear up in 4 to 6 weeks depending on your ambient temp.

It's finished when the gravity is 1.000 or less.

 

[syd138]

so yesterday, I stirred up my apfelwein a bit.

Its been a week since I started it. Someone on another message board said that you want to do this so you can maximize your yeast production.

Was this smart?

 

[EdWort]

so yesterday, I stirred up my apfelwein a bit.

Its been a week since I started it. Someone on another message board said that you want to do this so you can maximize your yeast production.

Was this smart?

I don't do it and have never had a problem.

 

[jds]

Apfelwein: Don't **** with it.

Seriously, it's about the simplest thing on the planet to make.
Sanitize container, dump juice, dump sugar, dump more juice.
Shake to dissolve, pitch yeast, ignore until clear.

That's it. That's all you need to do. I have a 2 gallon batch that's been on the lees since June. It smells and tastes just fine. I'm going to serve it at Thanksgiving.

 

[Tusch]

The one thing the OP mentioned and hasn't been responded to is the added yeast at bottling. That is almost always unnecessary. While you should bottle when it is crystal clear, there still is some yeast cells floating around. Having said that, if you are afraid you don't have any living yeast cells left, you could put a couple grains in each bottle or your bottling bucket before bottling.

 

[syd138]

The one thing the OP mentioned and hasn't been responded to is the added yeast at bottling. That is almost always unnecessary. While you should bottle when it is crystal clear, there still is some yeast cells floating around. Having said that, if you are afraid you don't have any living yeast cells left, you could put a couple grains in each bottle or your bottling bucket before bottling.

yeah thanks.. I actually read this on another thread. Someone said to put a few grains of yeast in each bottle.

I think Im just going to use Liter Grolsch bottles and put a couple grains in the bottle after adding priming sugar.

But I guess I don't have to worry about that for awhile. In a couple weeks Im going to put it in a secondary and let it sit for another couple months.. just to try to get as much of the lees out as possible.

 

[Tusch]

Don't put the priming sugar into the bottles, adds a lot of extra measuring and work to it. Add roughly 1 oz per gal. priming sugar to your empty bottling bucket. Rack your brew into this bucket. The racking will be enough action for the priming sugar to sufficiently dissolve. Then just bottle directly from this bucket into each bottle, no need to add sugar to each bottle.

 

[ChshreCat]

I racked mine once, mainly because I wanted the fermenter. Took an extra week or 10 days before it cleared for me than the recipe says. Probably because it stirred things up a bit. Apfelwein is a definite throw together and forget about it kind of project.

 

[mrfocus]

I would add more yeast at bottling, since champagne yeast is a very good sedimenting yeast. The first batch I ever made, I didn't add yeast at bottling and it took 2-3 months to get full carbonation. On the second batch, I added yeast in the bottling bucket (with the priming sugar) and had full carbonation in 2-3 weeks.

 

[syd138]

Is it a good idea to stir the apfelwein around once in awhile.

I stirred it up after 1 week, and it made the yeast pretty active again.

 

[Tusch]

It is unnecessary to stir it up. And once you get past the initial 1/3 sugar pt, it can be bad to stir. You don't want to mix in any more oxygen than the yeast needs.