foonder's Apfelwein

[foonder]

I have begun my very own apfelwein. I used 4 gallons of Cosco (Kirland brand) apple juice, the montrachet yeast, and 3 lbs of Trader Joe's Turbinado sugar. The OG was about 1.062, and I made about 4 and a half gallons worth. I might add something else to fill the 4" or so of space at the top of my carboy.

I mixed the 3 lb of sugar with 2 cups or so of water and heated until it was syrupy, then cooled with some ice. I shook the syrup and some apple juice together to mix and tossed everything into my carboy.

Props to Edwort for inspiration and a recipe template

EDIT: For anyone who cares, I'm naming it "Sneaky Ferret Apfelwein", and the label will feature a ferret drinking out of a bottle of apfelwein. (The ferret will ironically be drinking out of a bottle of 'sneaky ferret apfelwein' and the label on the bottle in the label will feature the artwork on the label....yeah you get it)
*If my convoluted label explanation was too confusing, look at this:

He's holding a beer that has a label that looks like the actual beer label.

 

[foonder]

Fermentation has picked up quite a bit since the first day and I was actually concerned about something. Can you normally smell it fermenting? I've noticed a yeasty fruity smell from across the room in my basement where I have my apfelwein fermenting. My first thought was too much room in the carboy:

I sanitized (C-Brite) & rinsed the f*** out of the carboy before I used it, so I'm pretty sure it wasn't from anything cleanliness / sanitation related. The smell is kind of a yeasty, musky, fruity smell that's not all that pleasant (but I don't know if that's just normal. I've never used this yeast or fermented apple juice before). I've never made an apfelwein before, so I'm not sure if this is normal. I'm sure I should Relax and Have a Homebrew and SWMNBA and TCBY and all the other crazy acronyms I've seen here, but what do you guys think?

 

[Tusch]

Smells are quite common, the smell specifically connected to apfelwein is often referred to as rhino farts. So that may give you an idea of what it can smell like. You can be worried if it ever smells like vinegar, but it doesn't sound like anything is wrong at all.

 

[Ben25]

My whole basement smells like it... and I live in my basement... It's lucky that I like the smell otherwise I'd be SOL.

 

[warboss100]

what should you do if your cider has a very acidic smell "slight vinegar" it had the smell but after aging it went but its back now... what can i do?

 

[foonder]

UPDATE:
Firstly, here is the label for this apfelwein:

Secondly, my apfelwein has finished fermenting! I will bottle tomorrow hopefully. It started out at 1.060 and finished around .996 or so, yielding a quite nice 8.5% ABV or so. It tastes Delicious, can't wait to try it carbed.