Man, I love Apfelwein

[Tophe]

sweet....anyone else have an idea. I was going to make this tonight, unless someone tells me the Vitamin C is bad.

 

[MikeRLynch]

I'm pretty sure the vitamin c is there to preserve color. Regardless of it's purpose, I've used juice with it and had no problems.

 

[Tophe]

Oh, I tried a different yeast also. I used Lalvin D-47. They didnt have the one Ed used at the HBS

 

[jdcoffman]

I'd say Vit. C just makes it more healthy... meaning you can drink more before feeling bad about it

I'll share my rocket fuel with you if you want...

 

[jdcoffman]

So... my rocket fuel should be movin and groovin by now.. but it's really not.

Here's what I've got so far (I promise I'm TRYING to be patient)...

Exhibit A) A seemingly possessed perfect circle of a ring of bubbles/krueson on the top abotu 2 inches from the sides of the carboy)

Exhibit B) A few stray 'patches' of bubbles inside the circle (none outside, am I being warned by something OUT THERE?).

Exhibit C) I've observed no airlock activity since starting my rocket fuel

So, basically, I see the two signs of some fermentation going on, but the third is a little disheartening because I'm using a brand new plug and airlock with a tight seal, so I can't imagine the air escaping somehow else... but i'm just not sure. We're on Day 4 I think since throwing this all together.

I'm thinking this weekend I might just take a sample out and test it, make sure something's happening maybe?

 

[BierMuncher]

Four days? Get in there and take a sample now.

Maybe your yeasties are in a sugar coma with all the dextrose you added...

It may also be (here comes an uneducated guess) that the high sugar content is really overwhelming the yeast and it may take a little longer for them to gain
"strength in numbers".

I dunno. I'm drinking a homebrew and brewing a Wit.

I dunno.

 

[jdcoffman]

Well I just took a quick hydro reading with my thief and dropping in the meter, got 1.082 adjusted (yikes!) ... however when I snuck a taste, I'm not picking up on the alcohol which I would expect at this point...

it tasted like... sweetened applejuice, with some extra 'tack' to the mouthfeel. I don't really know what to think, I suppose I could do a personal evaluation of how much/how little it's fermented out by grabbing a glass and see how many it takes to make Katie Couric look good on the news tonight ;-)

Any ideas?

 

[EdWort]

I'd pour half of it into another carboy and top it off with more apple juice (no dextrose this time) plus a fresh packet of Montrachet.

My stuff has never taken longer than overnight to see fermentation action.

 

[jdcoffman]

That's what I was afraid of, and alas I have no more montrachet, just a bag of muntons and some liquid ale yeasts darnit.

I guess I'll place an order for some yeast and whatnot and maybe tackle this again next week.

I'm such an idiot.

 

[Tophe]

Mine is bubbling every 35-40 seconds in the airlock. I have no foam or krausen going on.

I used Lavlin D-47 yeast, which ive never used before. Its been almost 24 hours since I pitched the yeast. Im hoping the activity will pick up in the next 12 hours. I do have another pack of yeast for back up if needed.

 

[EdWort]

In the mean time, shake the carboy up good and transfer 1/2 to another carboy and top both of them off with juice. You may have enough yeast suspended in it to take off by the time you get your yeast.

At 79 cents a pack, I always pick up 4 or 5 when I'm at the local HBS. Ya can never have too much on hand.

 

[BierMuncher]

I agree. Split those puppies up, bring down the sugar with some regular apple juice and aerate the sh!t out of them. Maybe by the time you are able to get some more yeast, the activity will pick back up.

Edwort, what would you have expected his G to be with 5 Lbs of dextrose?

 

[EdWort]

Edwort, what would you have expected his G to be with 5 Lbs of dextrose?

Pretty Dang High. The first time I made this, I used THREE pounds of corn sugar for 5 gallons. I took 3 gallons to a party and the people LOVED it. They all got hammered and the next day swore they would never touch the stuff again.

I learned from that day to cut the sugar down to 2 pounds and to drink it in moderation (plus down a liter of water and 2 aspirin before heading to bed).

 

[Schlenkerla]

That's what I was afraid of, and alas I have no more montrachet, just a bag of muntons and some liquid ale yeasts darnit.

I guess I'll place an order for some yeast and whatnot and maybe tackle this again next week.

I'm such an idiot.

Don't worry about starting, it will giddiyup. Mine took four days until I saw bubbles. After day 5 - I had cider in the airlock.

I would look at cutting your batch in half w/ plain "PASTUERIZED" cider.

If you don't your liver is going to want to know if you're trying to pickle it to death!


BTW - I'm at week #9 and mine is still passin' gas!!!!

 

[XELA]

jus put mine in secondary and im pretty sure its done fermenting after 2 weeks

drank some out of the bucket (which i learned isnt easy an now have it al down my top) and it was sour and had quite a strong alcohol flavour

think for my next one ill make it less strong and not use cloudy apple juice!

 

[Branket]

Mines been fermenting a little over 2 weeks now and the fermentation has slowed substantially. I'm assuming this is normal? But this is my first attempt at making my own wine so I just want to make sure.

 

[fretman124]

I started what I thought was a 5 gallon carboy of apfelwine the Thursday before the Superbowl. I put it behind the couch and haven't even looked at it since. When I pulled the bottle out last night, it had magically grown into a 6 gallon carboy. It is nice and clear, tho

Now, I'll admit to being a little buzzed the night I made this. I'm also older than dirt. I know I bought 6 gallons of apple juice, but that was because the wife wanted some for drinking.

I followed the recipe, except for a couple little things. I used 2 lbs dark brown sugar and EC-1118 yeast and apparently topped up to 6 gallons. My wife said she had less than a half a gallon of apple juice to drink after my "expirment"

I'm assuming that it will come out extremely dry. I was planning on bottling this weekend. I was thinking rack it to another carboy, add some campden (how much?) then add cornsugar to sweeten it up to about 1.002. Bottle and age till summer.

OR...should I add the cornsugar (I have 1 lb) and let that ferment down to the level I want then kill it.

Will this work, or do I pour it in the compost bin and start over.

Thanks for the hep

 

[DNisich]

Finally ready to bottle my first batch of apfelwein this evening and I have a quick question. I think I recall reading in here somewhere that you back sweetened a batch with Splenda. Can you let me know how much Splenda per gallon that you used? Thanks a million.................DN

 

[EdWort]

Finally ready to bottle my first batch of apfelwein this evening and I have a quick question. I think I recall reading in here somewhere that you back sweetened a batch with Splenda. Can you let me know how much Splenda per gallon that you used? Thanks a million.................DN

Yeah, I did try that experiment with a few glasses, but SWMBO didn't care for it, so I have not used any sweetner in the last 30 gallons or so.

Start out with 4 oz. samples and add 1/2 tsp. till you find the right ratio. Then do the math for the remaining Apfelwein is how I would do it.

 

[DNisich]

Well, SWMBO opened a Hardcore and tasted it beside the still, room-temp Apfelwein. She thinks that the Apfelwein is only marginally more tart. So,we just primed and bottled it straight up. Once it is has fully bottle conditioned we'll drink it for a while and decide then if we want to do any tweaking.

-DN

 

[Schlenkerla]

I started what I thought was a 5 gallon carboy of apfelwine the Thursday before the Superbowl. I put it behind the couch and haven't even looked at it since. When I pulled the bottle out last night, it had magically grown into a 6 gallon carboy. It is nice and clear, tho

Now, I'll admit to being a little buzzed the night I made this. I'm also older than dirt. I know I bought 6 gallons of apple juice, but that was because the wife wanted some for drinking.

I followed the recipe, except for a couple little things. I used 2 lbs dark brown sugar and EC-1118 yeast and apparently topped up to 6 gallons. My wife said she had less than a half a gallon of apple juice to drink after my "expirment"

I'm assuming that it will come out extremely dry. I was planning on bottling this weekend. I was thinking rack it to another carboy, add some campden (how much?) then add cornsugar to sweeten it up to about 1.002. Bottle and age till summer.

OR...should I add the cornsugar (I have 1 lb) and let that ferment down to the level I want then kill it.

Will this work, or do I pour it in the compost bin and start over.

Thanks for the hep

Definately DON"T Compost it.....

I would let it finish out on its own. No camden and no extra sugar. Give it a try as is. Since you have 5 gallons, you can rack out various amounts and play with it a little.

Your next step depends on you plan to drink it, sparkling or still. Carb it like beer, 1 oz corn sugar/gal.

If you want to sweeten it I think it might be easier to use 1lb of lactose with your corn sugar at bottling and/or priming.

I don't have experience with camden tablets. If want to do that I have heard 1 or 2 tablets do the job. You may have to mix the crap out of it to get the sulfur gas out or rack once or twice to get it to gas-out. Maybe somebody else can chime in on this...

 

[Schlenkerla]

jus put mine in secondary and im pretty sure its done fermenting after 2 weeks

drank some out of the bucket (which i learned isnt easy an now have it al down my top) and it was sour and had quite a strong alcohol flavour

think for my next one ill make it less strong and not use cloudy apple juice!

LOL - Next time try a glass too!!!

How much sampling did you do before deciding to drink from the bucket?

I could see myself doing this.... SWMBO would have to out of the house before even considering trying this!!!! I would try using the spigot first.

Ed - Does this meet the three drink minimum??

 

[sirsloop]

I love how stupid easy this stuff is to make...

40 DAYS AND COUNTING

 

[butler1850]

Got the greatest compliment on the cider on Friday night.

I went to a friends house, and brought along a 1/2 gallon growler which I had previously bottled (from the same bucket as my 12/22oz bottles) to share with the couple who we were visiting.

The wife half of the couple said, "I'll try it, but I don't like cider... it tastes like beer." After a sample of mine, she immediately poured a second glass.

I wish I had brought two bottles!

Mine is sweetened with 1# lactose in 4 gallons of orchard purchased cider (unpasturized), which I heated to 180F for 20 min.

My 2nd batch (need to open a bottle) was made on the yeast cake from the first, but made with 5 gallons of supermarket juice, and sweetened the same way as the first. Can't wait to try this one! :rockin:

 

[DeadYetiBrew]

For those that don't like dry wine, try it the way we did it with Juice and Concentrate only, no added Dextrose... It's not overly dry. I don't like wine but this stuff is great... I didn't need the 3 glass rule

 

[fretman124]

I started what I thought was a 5 gallon carboy of apfelwine the Thursday before the Superbowl. I put it behind the couch and haven't even looked at it since. When I pulled the bottle out last night, it had magically grown into a 6 gallon carboy. It is nice and clear, tho

Now, I'll admit to being a little buzzed the night I made this. I'm also older than dirt. I know I bought 6 gallons of apple juice, but that was because the wife wanted some for drinking.

I followed the recipe, except for a couple little things. I used 2 lbs dark brown sugar and EC-1118 yeast and apparently topped up to 6 gallons. My wife said she had less than a half a gallon of apple juice to drink after my "expirment"

I'm assuming that it will come out extremely dry. I was planning on bottling this weekend. I was thinking rack it to another carboy, add some campden (how much?) then add cornsugar to sweeten it up to about 1.002. Bottle and age till summer.

OR...should I add the cornsugar (I have 1 lb) and let that ferment down to the level I want then kill it.

Will this work, or do I pour it in the compost bin and start over.

Thanks for the hep

Okay.........I bottled this stuff last night. It tastes like sour watered down thin apple juice with a crapload of rocket fuel in it. I expected the rocket fuel using EC-118 and expect that to mellow with age, but the watered down flavor was very unexpected.

I know nothing of lactose. It was mentioned to add a pound at bottling. Can I pour it back into a carboy, add lactose, (or dextrose) mix it up and bottle again?

Betchya can't tell I'm a noob that doesn't follow directions very well, can ya

 

[EdWort]

Betchya can't tell I'm a noob that doesn't follow directions very well, can ya

Didja follow the three glass rule? Now drink 3 pints of that stuff and then tell us how it tastes. :cross:

I loved that " I followed the recipe, except for a couple little things." part.

I'd let it age for at least a month at this point.

 

[BierMuncher]

Okay.........I bottled this stuff last night. It tastes like sour watered down thin apple juice with a crapload of rocket fuel in it. I expected the rocket fuel using EC-118 and expect that to mellow with age, but the watered down flavor was very unexpected.

I know nothing of lactose. It was mentioned to add a pound at bottling. Can I pour it back into a carboy, add lactose, (or dextrose) mix it up and bottle again?

Betchya can't tell I'm a noob that doesn't follow directions very well, can ya

I used four cups of splenda when I bottled mine and my SWMBO liked it. Sweetened it up nice.

My original recipe was 4 gallons and 1/2 lb brown sugar. I like to wait until bottling time to determine how much to back-sweeten.

Here's a cool video of [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz4Qkp-HVfE"]my latest batch,[/ame] 12 hours post-yeast-pitch. This was just plain apple juice and ale yeast. I'll use splenda again to sweeten. Check out the dancing yeast.

 

[jdcoffman]

so I haven't gotten a chance to go to the grocery and get any more apple juice, so I still haven't divided my brew.... but.... it started fermenting, sure it was about 6 days behind schedule, but it's really ticking the airlock now, about 1 or 2 a second. I'm going to have to monitor it closely I guess to make sure it doesn't ferment out all that sugar.

I still plan on dividing it and adding some dilution apple juice, but at least it's fermenting!

 

[XELA]

I love how stupid easy this stuff is to make...

40 DAYS AND COUNTING

would be alot easier if i could fine apple juice in those bottles (i had to buy it in litre cartons)


anyone livin in england know of a good place to buy apple juice? liddle was no good when i tried it