Graff (Malty, slightly hopped cider)

[NorCalAngler]

I brewed this tonight slightly modified:

2lbs amber DME
8oz Crystal 120L
0.3oz Cascade
0.2oz Perle

Question... I didn't realize until I got home that my apple juice was in 3 liter containers, not 1 gallon. That left me with only 4.5 gallons in the primary. I am thinking about dumping more apple juice in once I get to vigorous fermentation to get 5.25 gallons in primary for a full batch. Anybody see a problem with this?

 

[ThatGuyRyan]

Me my second batch of this yesterday. Used 120L since it’s what I had on hand. The wort from the 120L was like syrup after the boil! Everything smelled great going into the fermenter. One issue I had is that the only yeast I had was a old smack pack that I activated for 24 hrs then couldn’t pitch for other reasons so it sat swelled unopened in my fridge for the past month. I did put it in a quart starter the night before and just pitched the entire starter so I ended up with almost a full 6 gallons in the fermenter. I am sure it will work out just fine in the end.

 

[sjlammer]

Well batch number one turned out pretty good, so i am making another batch.

This time i am going to try to make a dark cider... a carmel apple cider, if you will.

using 1 pound of crystal 120 and one pound of crystal 60 as well as two pounds of amber DME. along with some older fuggle hops, this should be a-okay.

 

[david83]

made my first batch today pitched the yeast around 2 pm its 11 pm just got home and bubbling already!

 

[electric_beer]

I also made this today, but all I had was S-04, hopefully it turns out nice and fruity. Hahaha. The SWMBO will love it!

 

[Lodovico]

I don't want to read 80 pages of posts and search didn't find it for me.

I'm kegging this tonight. How many volumes do you shoot for with this stuff?

 

[jm_brewer]

Update on mine as it's been awhile.

Starting drinking it more, as it's been sitting on my kitchen work service for awhile now and my wifes nagging about it. I have to say it's come along way since I last posted, the flavour is really enjoyable and i can now see myself having a couple or more a day. I think I should do another batch!!!

Many thanks to those who helped me through-out my first attempt.

 

[Daddymem]

I'm liking the 120L version a lot. Not as sour, I think the IBUs could use a slight bump to match the sweetness increase though.

 

[Stuntman]

Hello board (first post here).

I just made my first batch of this. I replaced one gallon of juice with water to throttle back on the alcohol, and I added pectic enzyme to clear the apple juice. I wiped the condensation from the glass and stuck a fork behind it to try to illustrate how well the enzyme works.

Like everyone else says, this is a crowd pleaser. Mine is like drinking sour apple warheads.

Pectic sure makes it sellable! I will try it next time, but will stay with the alcohol content of the full four gallons of apple juice. I Know now how to enjoy it....very carefully! I give a warning to anyone who braves more than a pint of this "Easy Going Sour Apple WarHead."


"Easy Going Sour Apple WarHead."= BrandonO's Graff


I hope that I am not killing the nutrient value by dropping out the haze.:cross:

 

[jldesign]

5.5g batch - mine with 4.5 gallons of cheapo store brand juice, 2 lbs DME, 120L, few ounces of flaked wheat, cascade and hefe wyeast 3068 is delicious! got the juice for another batch thinking of upping the IBUs a bit more and adding some special B ontop of the 120L for a little more depth and interest.

BTW mine is pretty clear - did a primary right to bottles

this is a great CHEAP! summer drinker!!

 

[david83]

just out of curiosity using the base recipe without reading through 79 pages what wuld the abv be for a 5 gal batch of this stuff?im dont know if i want it has strong has ive read it may be.

 

[atromic]

I would wait another week, if it gets ANY more carbonated, it just needs more time. If not, there are always those carb pills (I would use half in each bottle and re-cap then store outside in case they go off like grenades).

Wow, what a difference a couple weeks make! I popped a 4 week old bottle last weekend and it was well on it's way to being carbonated. It had a decent amount of head to it, and the flavors have started to balance and compliment each other nicely.

This one will def be a house staple from now on. Next time I'm giving it a boost with some brown sugar... How high can I push the abv before it starts to negatively affect the flavor?

Mine came in at 6.9% and you can barely taste the alcohol.

 

[david83]

Wow, what a difference a couple weeks make! I popped a 4 week old bottle last weekend and it was well on it's way to being carbonated. It had a decent amount of head to it, and the flavors have started to balance and compliment each other nicely.

This one will def be a house staple from now on. Next time I'm giving it a boost with some brown sugar... How high can I push the abv before it starts to negatively affect the flavor?

Mine came in at 6.9% and you can barely taste the alcohol.

you followed the recipe and it came out at 6.9%?what was your og and what was your fg ?

 

[Lodovico]

Anyone? Those that keg, what pressure do you set and forget at. I'm thinking around 15 PSI?

 

[sjlammer]

I set my regulator at 9 psi at about 40-42 degrees. not sure how many volumes this is, but it seems to give me nice head, without going overboard.

I have 5-foot long - 3/16" diameter liquid lines.

15 sounds too high, unless you are serving at a warmer temp.

 

[chs9]

So this recipe is definitely interesting and I think I'm going to give it a try. We already have a beer lined up for this weekends brew, so it'll be 2 weeks before I can brew the graff. Coincidentally, we'll be bottling a Bells Two Hearted clone that some day. It had 5 oz. of centennial 9%+ hops in it total and i'm using a irish red ale yeast from wyeast (IIRC).

Could I skip on the hop boil and just pitch on the yeast cake, or should I boil hops anyway? I've never reused a yeast cake or brewed cider, I don't know what kind of influence it could have. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

Well, I tasted my batch that I made...

4 gal Food Lion Apple Juice
1 lb Extra Light DME
1 lb Briess Bavarian Wheat DME
4 oz Special B (145L)
4 oz Crystal 20L
2 oz Muntons Carapils (20L)

1/4oz Amarillo (9.1%) @30min
1/8oz Amarillo @5min

US-05

Topped up to a little over 5 gal...

3 weeks in primary, 1 week in bottles so far.

The verdict: I like it. Its a nice dark golden "cider" color, a little cloudy from the wheat and that it probably needs to settle in the bottles a little... The flavor is a little tart, but the grapefruit of the amarillo mixes in well. I used the mix of Special B and Crystal 20 because it was what I had on hand.

Changes for next time... I kind of like the tartness, and it is pretty good as is, but I'd be really tempted to replace the Crystal 20 with Honey Malt. I've made an Amarillo-Wheat IPA with a bunch of honey malt and I think the flavor would mix in very nicely. If not, I would probably still replace the Crystal 20 with a darker Crystal... perhaps all Special B...

Loved the quick brewing time...

 

[jldesign]

change the 20l to 120L it needs the dark malts IMO...

 

[Dr_Gordon_Freeman]

Tasted my first bottle of Graff... yes, it's young, I couldn't wait It's about a month since it was brewed, 1wk in the bottle so far.

Tastes very good, even with the tartness of young cider present. Based on this 1gal test brew, I am most likely going to do a full batch, possibly with a little more hops and a little more malt.

Awesome recipe...

 

[petergriffen]

So mine has been bubbling away for four weeks now. I could check the og and don't want to check fg until it stops bubbling as I feel there is no point. Does this seem too long?

 

[atromic]

you followed the recipe and it came out at 6.9%?what was your og and what was your fg ?

Not positive off the top of my head (took very poor notes with this one), but I believe it was in the neighborhood of 1.060 to 1.008.

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

change the 20l to 120L it needs the dark malts IMO...

Well, that's the conformist answer, and I agree... 8oz of 120L is the way to go for the standard recipe with cheap juice.

I only had Special B (145L) and 20L when I made my first batch...posted asking should I go 50-50 or all special B and got no answers at that time.

However, I'm thinking 4 oz of 120L or Special B and 4oz of Honey Malt or maybe 6oz of each.

Anyone tried it with honey malt? I may but I might not brew it again for a few months...

David83- My recipe came out with an OG of 1.055 and a FG of 1.007 for about 6.2% ABV

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

Also, as an FYI, generic Food Lion pasturized and Member's Mark (Sam's) apple juice both come out at 1.050 by themselves.

Both are listed as 28g of sugars per 8oz serving on the nutrition info label...

 

[david83]

Not positive off the top of my head (took very poor notes with this one), but I believe it was in the neighborhood of 1.060 to 1.008.

thanks i made the recipe has called for ill be bottling this weekend so hope its good has everyone says.

 

[michael88n]

I followed this recipe exactly as Brandon posted (albeit, I used the Safale-05). However, after two weeks, I still have about a half inch of krausen on top. Before you ask, I have not taken any hydrometer readings since fermentation has not finished.

I was just wondering if anyone else had experience with that much krausen after two weeks. I'm thinking about letting it sit for another week before bottling. Cleaning up bottle bombs is NOT my idea of a good time.

This is my first attempt at Brandon O's Graff and I'm totally stoked to try it.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[PorterIdontknowher]

I followed this recipe exactly as Brandon posted (albeit, I used the Safale-05). However, after two weeks, I still have about a half inch of krausen on top. Before you ask, I have not taken any hydrometer readings since fermentation has not finished.

I was just wondering if anyone else had experience with that much krausen after two weeks. I'm thinking about letting it sit for another week before bottling. Cleaning up bottle bombs is NOT my idea of a good time.

This is my first attempt at Brandon O's Graff and I'm totally stoked to try it.

Cheers,
Michael

I was close to the printed recipe (not too much that should change the fermentation time.) I used US-05, and it had a healthy krausen well into the second week, but started falling down about 12 days... At that point it was at 1.007 which is where it was when I bottled it at the end of week 3.

 

[nanofreak]

So I did something like this tonight. I brewed using:

3# Pilsen DME
1# 20L
.25# Choc
1oz Saaz at 60
.5oz Saaz at Flame out
Yielded 2 Gallons

Added 1 can apple juice concentrate
3 Gallons Juice (2 store brand, 1 Motts)

Yeast Wyeast 1007

I have high hopes for a beery apple thingamajig. I worry a little about the hops after reading the first few posts (going to go back and read the whole thread now). I think given the mild Saaz things will work out. Trying for a crisp clean summer brew.

 

[michael88n]

I was close to the printed recipe (not too much that should change the fermentation time.) I used US-05, and it had a healthy krausen well into the second week, but started falling down about 12 days... At that point it was at 1.007 which is where it was when I bottled it at the end of week 3.

Porter,
Thanks for the follow up. I'm thinking that the slightly-lower-than-normal temperature in the spare bedroom might have led to a longer fermentation period. I'll certainly wait the extra week and take a hydro reading.
Thanks again,
Michael

 

[Recluse]

I followed this recipe exactly as Brandon posted (albeit, I used the Safale-05). However, after two weeks, I still have about a half inch of krausen on top. Before you ask, I have not taken any hydrometer readings since fermentation has not finished.

I was just wondering if anyone else had experience with that much krausen after two weeks. I'm thinking about letting it sit for another week before bottling. Cleaning up bottle bombs is NOT my idea of a good time.

This is my first attempt at Brandon O's Graff and I'm totally stoked to try it.

Cheers,
Michael

I don't remember how long the Krausen stayed, but I had little floating islands that looked like spit for quite awhile that worried me...but they finally went away. I bottled at just about 4 weeks. (started 5-Sep-2009, bottled 27-Sep-2009) Funny it seemed longer!

 

[NorCalAngler]

Well I just tried a bottle at a week. I don't know what my OG was, but this stuff is no joke... it will warm you right up. I used a local store brand juice and went with cascade, 120L and 2lbs amber DME. I used Whirlfloc and S-05 and this is clear as day. After 3 weeks in primary and a week in the bottle it is already very drinkable. It is just slightly tart, but not too much. Since I only had 4.5 gallons in primary I think the .5oz of Cascade is a little too much. If I did it again I would use less hops or increase the batch size.