That should have read "my first-ever home..."
Thirty-four days in the (6-gal) BB, I decided to steal a glass to try my very-nearly-EdWort's apfelwein (cane rather than corn is the only difference). My first impression (other than it ain't ready yet, which I knew) was 'not bad' which I took as a very good sign. 'Dry', which is my preference. 'Too fizzy', which I expected as it's early days.
Second impression was that it's actually pretty tastey and that it will be quite to my liking as carbonation decreases; if I understand correctly, I believe it will become a still wine when it ferments out? Hope so. And third, the taste wasn't hot or harsh, at all. Only the familiar warmth in the belly after a few good swallows was the first indication of the presence of alcohol.
My next thought after that was that I need another carboy to prevent any apfel-less lagtime between batches (Ed said it would be this way). I hope I can find a used carboy in order to keep investment cost down because with so many assurances from so many posters of the taste improving with time, I can tell I'm gonna love this stuff, and that I'm gonna need more than one batch at a time or it may never have the opportunity to age much.
I was a bit surprised that it appeared almost perfectly clear in my glass, not that the BB is cloudy - most of that has settled - but I can't see through it very well. So I will be buying a hydrometer and an autosiphon, after all - I'd held off on that until I decided for sure that I like the end product - because now I know that there will be future batches, and I'll be able to more accurately adjust sugar and know when the yeast has finished; that, no doubt, will give me a better shot at batch-to-batch consistancy and help me fine-tune to my own preferences over time.
Next taste should be about two weeks away.
Thanks to Ed and to all you other HBT posters for all the info (I have read literally thousands of your posts on this subject, and related ones.
Thirty-four days in the (6-gal) BB, I decided to steal a glass to try my very-nearly-EdWort's apfelwein (cane rather than corn is the only difference). My first impression (other than it ain't ready yet, which I knew) was 'not bad' which I took as a very good sign. 'Dry', which is my preference. 'Too fizzy', which I expected as it's early days.
Second impression was that it's actually pretty tastey and that it will be quite to my liking as carbonation decreases; if I understand correctly, I believe it will become a still wine when it ferments out? Hope so. And third, the taste wasn't hot or harsh, at all. Only the familiar warmth in the belly after a few good swallows was the first indication of the presence of alcohol.
My next thought after that was that I need another carboy to prevent any apfel-less lagtime between batches (Ed said it would be this way). I hope I can find a used carboy in order to keep investment cost down because with so many assurances from so many posters of the taste improving with time, I can tell I'm gonna love this stuff, and that I'm gonna need more than one batch at a time or it may never have the opportunity to age much.
I was a bit surprised that it appeared almost perfectly clear in my glass, not that the BB is cloudy - most of that has settled - but I can't see through it very well. So I will be buying a hydrometer and an autosiphon, after all - I'd held off on that until I decided for sure that I like the end product - because now I know that there will be future batches, and I'll be able to more accurately adjust sugar and know when the yeast has finished; that, no doubt, will give me a better shot at batch-to-batch consistancy and help me fine-tune to my own preferences over time.
Next taste should be about two weeks away.
Thanks to Ed and to all you other HBT posters for all the info (I have read literally thousands of your posts on this subject, and related ones.
