Graff (Malty, slightly hopped cider)

[mulletmusketeer]

Just got back from a supply run for this, if anyone is near a Copp's or someplace that sells Roundy's brand, the Roundy's apple juice is 100% apple juice, no preservatives, and doesn't have Vitamin C. Plus it was on sale 2 for 1 for 64oz jugs. Pretty solid deal compared to the other stuff there

 

[america]

Hi guys, I brewed a batch of this last Friday and everything seemed to go well and it smells great! Just yesterday I realized I didn't mill my torrified wheat, is that going to be an issue?

 

[Clifton]

You may not get the head retention you were seeking but I doubt it will be ruined by your mistake. Don't worry.

 

[america]

You may not get the head retention you were seeking but I doubt it will be ruined by your mistake. Don't worry.

Thanks, I'm not too worried about that, just hoping for a good taste mostly.

 

[klyph]

I had half a keg sitting around for 8 months that we just tapped again the other day. This is a completely different beverage than when we last had it. It's so clean tasting, refreshing, and no alcohol flavor even though it's 7% it tastes like a dry Martinelli's sparkling cider.

Fantastic. I'll be aging this stuff much longer from now on, it's worth it.

 

[DoctorWho]

Just yesterday I realized I didn't mill my torrified wheat, is that going to be an issue?

I left out the torrified wheat, because I couldn't find any local and I just had a bottle yesterday that had carb'ed for 2 weeks and it tastes good and there is a nice carbonation, just no foamy head. And I don't need that.

You'll be fine!

 

[america]

I left out the torrified wheat, because I couldn't find any local and I just had a bottle yesterday that had carb'ed for 2 weeks and it tastes good and there is a nice carbonation, just no foamy head. And I don't need that.

You'll be fine!

Glad to hear it, did you do the normal two week fermentation? I find it hard to believe that that's all it needs. Also, how clear was yours? I'm a week in and it's cloudy as hell (not that it really bothers me).

 

[rycov]

mine was only for two weeks. it took a little longer in the keg (to taste best) than i thought it would, but not too bad, about 3 weeks. but i also added two cinimon sticks and i think they made it a little bitter, probably should have went with one. the cloudiness went away for me after about a week of being cold.

 

[DoctorWho]

I did three full weeks (and a day or two) in the primary. No need for secondary. Fermentation finished in about 2 weeks and I let it go for a week longer and then bottled. 2 weeks in bottles, so far.

I took it to a local homebrew meeting two days ago and all the beer guys were very impressed. I thought it was good but still a bit tart. I can't wait to bring some next month and knock there socks off (hopefully!)

It was very clear after the month. There was a small yeast ring in the bottles, but this is normal with any bottle conditioning.

This stuff is very good, but it's better with a little age on it!

 

[ultravista]

Does anyone have this recipe in a Beersmith .bsm file?

 

[mikeysab]

drinking a slightly messed up version of this right now. I mashed 10 lbs of MO to collect 2 gallons of wort, boiled it with about an ounce of nelson sauvin for a half hour and mixed it with 4 gallons of AJ. The final product is nothing near cider, but also far away from beer. no apple flavor or aroma, but drinking this isn't nearly as bad is you might think it would be. It tastes more like a beer right now, but I think some time in bottles will bring that apple flavor out. i was shooting for a drinkable apple cider 4 or 6 weeks after bottling, but I think I wound up with something that needs to sit for awhile. right now theres no apple flavor, but it's definitely a drinkable brew. if this one survives in the bottle, we may get to see some maturity and some cider like flavors, but it's drinkable now, so it may not survive. I might just stick it in a corner of my brew closet and try to forget about it for awhie. going with the "All Grain" format of this, I like it, and would do it a gain......just maybe not as much base grain as I used for 5g.

 

[IffyG]

I just kegged my first batch of Graff brewed on 3/28/11. It's slightly tart, but absolutely delicious. Can't wait for this bad boy to carb up. I got a feeling it's gonna go quick. Probably should have made more than 3 gallons.

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

Was thinking about an old post someone made about what to do with what's left in his mash tun after he reaches his boil volume. I wonder if you could one last sparge and use that to make some sort of grafflike substance along with whatever beer you're brewing? hrmmmmm....

I had some friends that did something similiar, but put it into a mead, and it was one of the best braggots ive ever had

 

[Looper]

Has anyone ever added blood oranges to this cider?

I read earlier in the thread that blueberry, raspberry, grape juices etc can add a lot of tart to the cider.

Do oranges contribute to tartness as well when used in this recipe?

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

Long time lurker, first time poster here. So I threw a batch of this together last night. Followed the recipe pretty closely except I used 1.5 lbs light DME and .5 lbs amber DME. I also used .5 oz of the "magic hop dust" from AHB.com (~7% AA) and the cheapest non-preservative juice I could find at HEB (Texas grocery chain). Basically my approach was to make the cheapest batch I could. The whole batch came in at ~$20. The wort tasted GREAT. It's bubbling away this morning. Can't wait!

If you get the ingredients for an all grain batch its even cheaper! that is if you have the ability for that.
i just got all the ingredients for all grain, Really excited to see how ti tastes compared to the first batch

 

[The_Broodwich]

I do most of my beers all-grain but I was just going off of what others on this thread have said about it not really being worth the trouble. I supposed depending on how good it turns out I could justify doing a 3 gal mash for 15 gals of finished product. :cross:

 

[Looper]

I just brewed up a batch of this stuff, the wort smells amazing..

I decided to variate the OP's recipe just slightly.

Going with Wyeast 3068 that I harvested and washed from a hefeweizen I bottled 3 days ago..

I also added 32oz of organic Concord Grape juice. It is not cider, its grapple cider.

Looking forward to trying it out! thanks for the recipe OP

 

[scottyg354]

Just brewed this on Saturday. Followed all the directions except for two changes I only use .25 oz of hops and used Cascade, I also only boiled them for 15 minutes instead of the 30 minutes suggested in the recipe. I also used Sparkling Amber DME. Went the Safale 05 route. Looks pretty good for a newbie.

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

I just started an all grain batch on May 15. used 1 lb of 60L, 3.5 lbs of 2 row, and then the ounce of torrified wheat. Its an incredibly small mash, i would recommend brewing in a bag. The normal water to pounds of grain conversion come off really wierd too, i used about 1 gallon of strike water, with around the same amount of sparge water, even though i had prepared 2 gallons. efficiency came out great, with the cheap apple juice its at 1.065
The only thing i went a little weird with was the hopping. I threw in about .50 oz of mt hood hops at 50 minutes. Then though that i haven't really heard of anyone going for late addition hops. Im sure that going with any more hops than brandon said at 50 or 60 would yield it being too bitter. but a little bit of aroma might turn out nice, so i threw in about .25 at 10 minutes to the end, I'm really excited to see how that turns out, so far its fermenting very well and smells great.
My main question is has anyone else experimented with the late or dry hopping? I've tried searching the forum for it, but no matter how specific i seem to be, it doesnt come up with any good results.

 

[DoctorWho]

Hey The Broodwich,

Slightly off topic, but I caught your piece in Vogue. Your PR department is awesome.

Enjoy your graff...it's the best cider I've tasted!

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

I do most of my beers all-grain but I was just going off of what others on this thread have said about it not really being worth the trouble. I supposed depending on how good it turns out I could justify doing a 3 gal mash for 15 gals of finished product. :cross:

If i had the capacity to ferment all 15 cool enough, id probably go with that. The 1 gallon mash is just ridiculous. but i havent checked yet to see how much better it is!

 

[The_Broodwich]

Hey The Broodwich,

Slightly off topic, but I caught your piece in Vogue. Your PR department is awesome.

Enjoy your graff...it's the best cider I've tasted!

Of course it comes to your house...WHEN YOU ORDER IT!


I just bottled the other day. Warm and uncarbed it tasted good but a bit tart. I'll give another update when it's cold and carbed.

 

[BenjaminBier]

I just finished my last bottle (always the best!) and it was really really great. The first bottles were awesome of course, but it really took about 2 months in the bottle for the torrified wheat to kick in and the tart character to fade out.

The last bottle was creamy, smooth, with a rich dense head. Awesome! Must brew more of this immediately.

 

[Looper]

I just sampled mine after 3 weeks in primary.. It tasted OK, not crazy about it.

Kind of regretting using wyeast 3068.. Anyone have good results doing this recipe with wyeast 3068?

 

[Devils_Chariot]

I just pitched the yeast on my first batch of this cider!

Except.

I think I put 1/2 pound of torrified wheat on accident.

I was at the LHBS and buying a lot of grains in half pound increments. Cruise control ya know.

Damn it!

So, should I dump this one out? How bad is it gonna be with 8Xs the amount of torrified wheat?

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

In my batches its taken a while for the torrified wheat to really take effect, like by the 4th week you can really tell its there. I'd probably just try to drink it young, maybe not prime it too much. and pour it very very carefully haha. but no sense in pouring it out, its just an experiment right?

 

[DoctorWho]

I think I put 1/2 pound of torrified wheat on accident.

If you have an open primary you could start another batch (you'll be glad you did anyway) leave out the torrified wheat and then combine the two. It's still a heck of a lot of wheat, but it will help.

Otherwise enjoy a frothy, frothy brew!

 

[Devils_Chariot]

I think I'll start over. So I lose $40 in juice and grain, better than waiting 4 weeks to have 4 gallons of crappy beer.

 

[sweetpoetatoe]

I would atleast see what happens, when else would you purposefully want to experiment in the most insane amounts of head retention imaginable? but either way i hope it eitehr turns out okay, or your next batch is more successful

 

[BenjaminBier]

I agree with Sweetpoetatoe, just drink it early and enjoy My best bottle was at 8 weeks, but it was also the only bottle left since week 3 XD