Man, I love Apfelwein

[RichBrewer]

Here's mine along with my 2-1 gallon jugs of apple wine. It has been fermenting for 15 days now and it is still bubbling.

 

[dibby33]

On my third now and have now joined in lock-step with the righteous men and women marching in celebration of Apfelwein.


:fro:

lmao

 

[DeadYetiBrew]

Just started our first Apfelwein batch last night... However the guy at the LHBS suckered us into using a Munich Lager yeast instead, he said the other yeast dries it out too much. Very, very slow bubbling... I think i'll go paint a wall to watch something faster.

 

[butler1850]

My slight variation on this recipe (mostly in yeast choice, I'm using the WPL English Cider yeast) has been sampled for the first time.

After 2 weeks in the bottle, 1# lactose added w/ 5oz corn sugar @ bottling, and stored at about 59F, is still slightly undercarbonated, but SWMBO and I agree... it's GREAT!

The current batch in the fermentor, pitched directly onto the old cake, will be bottled without additional sweeteners.

GREAT STUFF!

 

[BoxerDog]

Should Apfelwein be flat when its done fermenting? The reason is I sampled some out of a Mr. Beer and it had a small amount of bubbles still in after week 3.

 

[Markusface]

There are ways to de-gas wine, like this lil fella here:

Whizz Stick
http://www.hopshopuk.com/cgi-bin/browse-no-frames.cgi?view=group&group=paddles

Description:
This device consists of a straight stainless steel shaft, one end of which fits into the chuck of a cordless drill. The other end has two hinged nylon flails. The clean and sterilised Whizz Stick is immersed in the wine and the drill turned on for about 10-15 seconds. This effectively removes the dissolved gas from the wine, enabling the wine to clear quicker.

Seems like a bit of a rip off for a piece of metal with a couple of plastic flaps that attaches to a drill though.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I'm at week 4 + 4days. 31 days!!!! Mine is still bubbling 20 times per minute.

It won't be clear at 5 weeks.... The cold is really dragin' this out.

 

[Madvillain]

Wow...just stumbled upon this thread today...79 pages long! I've seen this recipe on countless members' signatures...I'm doing this very soon.

 

[aekdbbop]

I couldnt find that particular type of apple juice... but i did find 100% apple juice.. it is just apple concentrate and water..

do you guys think that will be ok?

the brand was white house from walmart..

 

[fretman124]

I couldnt find that particular type of apple juice... but i did find 100% apple juice.. it is just apple concentrate and water..

do you guys think that will be ok?

the brand was white house from walmart..

Exactly the same stuff I used.

Take that for what its worth. Never done this before.

 

[DeadYetiBrew]

I couldnt find that particular type of apple juice... but i did find 100% apple juice.. it is just apple concentrate and water..

do you guys think that will be ok?

the brand was white house from walmart..

Basically, the type he is using is 100% apple juice concentrate and water...

I used the same thing except took 1 gallon of juice out and replaced with 1 sleeve of frozen concentrate (no water added) per gallon of juice (4 gallons of juice, 4 gallons of concentrate)... This also eliminates the need for the dextrose which will keep from drying it out as much. My LHBS guy said it should have around the same Grav and %, but much sweeter and not so dry... He gave me a Munich Lager yeast to use but unfortunately it was bum yeast so we went back and got the wine yeast...

Anyway, YES that kind will work... this is some of the best smelling stuff i've ever had in a fermenter....

 

[seyahmit]

My 1 gallon test batch will be in the fermenter for 4 weeks this Saturday. I still have some bubbles around the top edge of the liquid as well as pressure in the air lock. I cheated last night and carefully decanted a small sample. This really tastes good. I am convinced that I will like a full 5 gallon batch and will whip it up soon. I think I will take the suggestion to add lactose and use the Cotes Des Blanc yeast to make it a little sweater for my wife.

Thanks for the recipe Ed!

 

[aekdbbop]

ok.. is it pronounced apfelvein?

 

[DeadYetiBrew]

ok.. is it pronounced apfelvein?

yes it's german for apple wine... Apfel being apple and wein being wine... in german you pronounce the w's as v's so yes...

 

[olllllo]

ok.. is it pronounced apfelvein?

Before or after the requisite 3?

abfulvy

 

[aekdbbop]

well, however its pronounced.. it sure looks good and i cant wait!

 

[Stonedog]

I just bottled my apfelwein. I carbed it just like beer...so in a week I will chill it....and it will have a light carbonation. I pulled a pint of the still apfelwein right out of the carboy.....unbelievably good!

I made a half batch of ed's recipe....but other than that I followed to a "T".....

I will be getting a secong batch going next week!


Thanks Ed!

 

[Schlenkerla]

I just bottled my apfelwein. I carbed it just like beer...so in a week I will chill it....and it will have a light carbonation.

I would let carb more than a week. This stuff ferments slower than beer. Also if your batch is real clear it might take even longer. I'd go with the standard 1-2-3 rule of thumb. "3" being the normal 3 weeks for carbing. Most beer takes two even to be consistent.

I'm looking forward to tasting mine. At the rate mine is going, 33 days, it take another 33 before drinking time is here.

So, you don't think its too dry? Many have stated this. Many have also said the contrary.

I tasted a cider w/ no added corn sugar fermented with WL Cider yeast and it was quite dry IMHO. A little too dry. I didn't use the 3 drink rule though. (I was at my HB club) If we did that we'd be sauced before the night was over.

 

[Fire_travels]

does it have to be carbinated.??

 

[dmiller038]

I don't think it does, at least I'm not planning on carbonating mine.

One thing that's got me kinda worried though... it's been 9 days and mine has slowed down to a bubble per minute or so. Isn't it too soon for it to slow down like this? Anybody else had this?

 

[Torchiest]

I don't think it does, at least I'm not planning on carbonating mine.

One thing that's got me kinda worried though... it's been 9 days and mine has slowed down to a bubble per minute or so. Isn't it too soon for it to slow down like this? Anybody else had this?

I've heard it goes pretty slowly, and you need to just leave it for at least a month. It'll clear eventually, but the activity is pretty calm during that time.

 

[dmiller038]

I've heard it goes pretty slowly, and you need to just leave it for at least a month. It'll clear eventually, but the activity is pretty calm during that time.

I've heard that too I was just concerned after reading through the thread and seeing people talk about seeing bubbles for 2 weeks straight, or even longer...

 

[Schlenkerla]

The time it takes depends mostly on how warm it is while fermenting. Mine is almost at week five and starting to slow down maybe 10 bubbles/min. My temp has been about 55 for about the last 2 weeks.

If yours is or was bubbling and cloudy I would think you're OK. I understand it take awhile to clear. When you think its done take a reading, it should be about 1.000 or lower.

 

[Stonedog]

S.

Thanks for the heads up on the carbing time! I am about a HB virgin! I will wait 3 weeks then as mine was real, real clear!

I tried it still.....very tasty....but then a different "feel" in the mouth if your mind is set on a cider!

I like very dry wines....so this was great! I really think its just a matter of personal taste!

 

[DeadYetiBrew]

S.

Thanks for the heads up on the carbing time! I am about a HB virgin! I will wait 3 weeks then as mine was real, real clear!

I tried it still.....very tasty....but then a different "feel" in the mouth if your mind is set on a cider!

I like very dry wines....so this was great! I really think its just a matter of personal taste!

Our HBS was trying to convince us it was more of a Cider than wine... that's when we had to explain it came out really dry. Personally, i don't mind a wine that is in between Dry and 'Wet', if it's too 'Wet' it's more like champaigne (which isn't bad), and too dry well, personal taste. So what i'm hoping we accomplished with ours is an in between. We kicked out the Dextrose and added a sleeve of frozen apple juice concentrate for every gallon. Our's is just finishing up week 1 at 17 bubbles a minute... I have high hopes for it...

 

[Schlenkerla]

I've been watching the carbonation comments. It seem people get mixed results. I think waiting longer is key, especially before stocking the fridge. Also if its super clear you might consider pitching another starter with priming sugar.

 

[LouT]

I did a 1.5 gallon batch with WLP300 hefeweizen yeast, used only straight apple juice (bottles on sale from BJ's Wholesale Club), fermented it at 74F, and the original gravity was 1.048 (about same as my hefe beer's OG). At 14 days it was clear - remarkably clear for a hefe-yeast - and the final gravity was 1.000. It is a bit dry, didn't pick up quite the banana/clove nose that I thought it might get from the yeast strain, tasted decent without carbonation. Now it's in the keg under pressure, and first sample seems nicer - the carbonation added some depth that was lacking - I want it more fully carbed so will retaste in another day or so. My thoughts -- Glad it isn't too sweet, but thought it should have a touch more actual apple flavor to it -- anyone here tried using some method of stalling the fermentation while still some residual sugars left in the cider? If so, how did you do it? What kind of starting gravity and final gravity are you getting if you use the Cotes de Blanc yeast (maybe this is the solution...)?

 

[EdWort]

Wow, lots of stuff going on in a week. I've been out of Internet range over here in Germany for a while, but have been taking plenty of beer porn pics. Now that I have a decent connection, I 'll see if I can get some uploaded. Here's one for the Apfelwein Gang.

I bought a couple of these and it was not bad. A bit lighter than my recipe and SWMBO says mine is better. This is not from the Hessen area, but from the Lindau area of Bavaria on the Bodensee (or Lake Constance). I'll post some pics from other brands as I find them over here. In the mean time.... PROST aus Munich!

 

[Paperface]

I decided to whip up a batch of this, after seeing so many rave reviews. I went to Sams to find the apple juice. I noticed they only sold it in 3qt (96oz) bottles, which I thought was a little odd, but whatever. So that means I need to use 6 full bottles, and 2/3rds of the 7th bottle. Easy enough.

Back at home I poured in a few bottles, then half the sugar and stirred the bejesus out of it. Next, I added in bottles 4 & 5, followed by the rest of the sugar and then bottle 6, making 18 qts so far. Then I poured in the yeast packet. Of course then I realized I had forgotten to mix in that last half of the sugar. Knowing it wasnt such a good idea, I stirred the bejesus out of the mix again, yeast and all.

So all was well and good as I began to add the final 2 qts. This is where things got hairy. I needed 2 of the 3 qts. 2 qts = 8 cups. Easy enough, I'll just use my measuring cup. I began to pour in the remaining fluid into my funnel, when I noticed, about halfway, through that apple juice had begun to overflow the carboy !! What in the world? how is that possible? I hadn't added the full 5 gallons yet and it was pouring over the top. Mystified, I sucked some apple juice/yeast/sugar mix out of the carboy with my baster to bring the level back down to the base of the carboy neck, closed it up and set it in the closet while I tried to figure out what had happend. A little investigating revealed that the juice jugs were NOT 96oz as stated, but were, in fact, a half cup overfilled, making them 100oz! So in adding 6 full bottles, I had actually added 3 cups more than I thought, hence the spill-over at the end.

Oh well, I'm sure it will be okay. A day later and it's barely starting to bubble...

The moral of this story? Pay attention to what you are doing, and dont trust the apple juice bottles!

Edit: FYI, my OG was 1.068

 

[Preliator]

well i got to say the apfelwine was a huge hit at a birthday party tonight, i brought over about 40 bottles....when i left they were asking if i was going out to the truck to get more....lol........all the commercial beer was still in the cooler....
so without a doubt i will be brewing a 3rd batch as soon as the carboy is empty making this my 3rd run...great recipe again Ed....and cool pic by the way....
bottoms up!!!!
anthony