Man, I love Apfelwein

[arborman]

Ive had this in my primary 5 gallon carboy since April 14th.... kinda forgot about it. Now all of a sudden I am worried that I have let it sit too long on the yeast/carboy. Am I OK to leave it for a bit longer in the primary, or should I consider transferring to a secondary or bottling it?

Id prefer a secondary, I am not prepared to bottle in the next month or so

 

[Kdog22]

I started my 2nd batch yesterday using Montrachet. Woke up to a distinct apple smell and immediately knew what happened. Walked down stairs check the tub and saw that the Apfelwein had blew out its airlock. My first batch fermented vigorously using White Labs WLP720 Sweat Mead Yeast, but I never had to worry about an airlock blow out. This will be interesting to see the difference between the two batches!

If you use Montrachet, think about slapping a blowtube on instead of an airlock!

For what it's worth, I followed the recipe to the T. Same Apple juice, corn sugar amount and Montrachet wine yeast and did not have any overflow problems like that.

 

[Roughster]

Yeah not sure why this batch took off so fiercely. It is still bubbling like mad and if I didn't have a blow off tube, it would be fouling an airlock still for sure. Maybe I got a weird batch of apple juice with higher than average sugar content?

 

[Kdog22]

Yeah i'm not sure. Mine bubbled like CRAZY for the first couple days but there was very little faom. Just tons of little bubbles floating upwards and along the sides.

 

[timcadieux]

Ive had this in my primary 5 gallon carboy since April 14th.... kinda forgot about it. Now all of a sudden I am worried that I have let it sit too long on the yeast/carboy. Am I OK to leave it for a bit longer in the primary, or should I consider transferring to a secondary or bottling it?

Id prefer a secondary, I am not prepared to bottle in the next month or so

Mine have been aging since December on the yeast cake, no issue.

 

[arborman]

Mine have been aging since December on the yeast cake, no issue.

Awesome, thank you! What's the longest I could leave in primary? A year?

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Just bottled my apfelwein that was in the primary for over 2 months. Anybody notice what a nice apfelwein dispenser a bottling bucket and spigot makes?

This stuff is ridiculous. I'm looking forward to a cold winter evening with SWMBO when I break this stuff out after 6 months...it's a liquid Barry White album.

 

[Leadgolem]

Just bottled my apfelwein that was in the primary for over 2 months. Anybody notice what a nice apfelwein dispenser a bottling bucket and spigot makes?

This stuff is ridiculous. I'm looking forward to a cold winter evening with SWMBO when I break this stuff out after 6 months...it's a liquid Barry White album.

Yeah, bottling buckets make great dispensers. Though I like mine chilled, and my bottling bucket won't fit in the fridge.

Yeah, this stuff is pretty much LPR.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Forgot I made this till I went to use my carboy for a barleywine! Its been on the yeast for 6 months... hopefully that doesn't hurt. Question... do most drink this carbed or uncarbed? Its my first batch and I do keg.

 

[spark_plug]

Forgot I made this till I went to use my carboy for a barleywine! Its been on the yeast for 6 months... hopefully that doesn't hurt. Question... do most drink this carbed or uncarbed? Its my first batch and I do keg.

Drinking this stuff uncarbbed will give you quite a kick. Carb it up, and should knock you near out cold. I've drank as much as a gallon of it in a night, and don't remember a thing.

I rightfully name it "Apple Stumble Surprise" cause it will literally take you by surprise.

 

[TheDarkChemist]

Can you bottle these in clear glass, or will that skunk it the same way it does beer?

 

[Enoch52]

Well, I pitched mine about six months ago, but I think I'll let it finish aging in bottles--I want my fermenter back!

 

[wooda2008]

No hops, so no skunk.
UV will deteriorate it, so keep it out of the light but it won't go south nearly as fast as beer.

 

[Leadgolem]

Forgot I made this till I went to use my carboy for a barleywine! Its been on the yeast for 6 months... hopefully that doesn't hurt. Question... do most drink this carbed or uncarbed? Its my first batch and I do keg.

I usually bottle still and dry. That way I can sweeten just what's in the glass depending on how I feel. If your kegging though, I'd carb it. It's actually a little better that way, I'm just indecisive on sweetness.

 

[Rys06Tbss]

I just finished my last bottle. Like an idiot! I didn't start another batch in time. I do have a honey cider that is in the mix and ready whenever I was

 

[Leadgolem]

I just finished my last bottle. Like an idiot! I didn't start another batch in time. I do have a honey cider that is in the mix and ready whenever I was

You know, there's a thread for that.

I have to admit, I haven't quit gotten my brew schedule down for this stuff. It's my main pipeline brew, but I sometimes run dry between batches.

 

[SupervisingChildren]

Note to self- don't drink a 6 pack of this on an empty stomach. Fell asleep on the couch and woke up on the floor.

 

[fermentinginpa]

Note to self- don't drink a 6 pack of this on an empty stomach. Fell asleep on the couch and woke up on the floor.

That sounds about right

 

[tg123]

Note to self- don't drink a 6 pack of this on an empty stomach. Fell asleep on the couch and woke up on the floor.

Best way to supervise children

 

[SupervisingChildren]

Best way to supervise children

Yep, I was trying to get down to their level hahaha

 

[Leadgolem]

Yep, I was trying to get down to their level hahaha

I would think that by the end of the 6 pack it would be "up" to their level.

 

[CooperBrew]

Mines going on the 2 month mark in the carboy, going to give it a little more time. Sure smells nice though.

 

[Justdrumin]

I just opened a bottle after a month primary and three months in the bottle....WOW! It is fantastic! I have another batch that's been sitting in the primary for three months. I'm thinking about bottling and ageing it another three months. Leave it in primary or bottle? I also have two other ciders that I got from a local orchard. I didn't add any extra sugar to it to boost og. One i used champagne yeast and one with so4. Og was 1.046 and 1.052. I was hoping it would come out a lil sweeter. I love making this stuff!!

 

[thelerner]

Bottled my 2nd batch yesterday. It'd been in the carboy 3 1/2 months. I added cheap AJ Motts on top old yeast cake, added half a cup of cleaned raisins and about 2 pounds of brown sugar. Which was more then I meant to, I should have only added one. Nonetheless it started fermenting nicely the next day.

My original batch using some Trader Joe's AJ, Nottingham yeast, 1# dextrose and a handful of raisins had become a clear tasty batch in 1 1/2 months. Having added 2#'s of sugar to 3 gallons I wanted to give it more time in the bottle.

In a taste testing the original old cider was nicely smooth, clear, white winish with a clear apple nose. The new batch was also good, stronger, more apple taste, thicker body, darker too and more cidery. Sweet enough so that I didn't feel like adding any extra sugar to the bottles. We drank it the same day it was bottled so while it was chilled it might have been a bit yeasty.

For my 3rd batch I'll start w/ fresh yeast, maybe go back to Trader Joe's AJ, it has less vitamin C which may make it a bit less tart. Keep adding raisins which I assume give nutrients to the yeast cycle and use 8 ounces of dextrose, 8 of brown sugar and continue to use Nottingham ale yeast which gave me no off smells while brewing in a closet.

 

[Rockindaddy]

I made my first batch of this yesterday per Ed's original recipe and wow did my house stink this morning from the fermenting smell! I promptly took my hard lemonade out of my fermentation chamber and put this in! I'll let it stink up the freezer all it wants.

 

[BinghamtonEd]

I started my first batch on June 21st. Will be out of town until late July. Will bottling at 5 or 6 weeks after pitching be too early (assuming it's fully attenuated at that point)?

 

[TangoHotel]

I started my first batch on June 21st. Will be out of town until late July. Will bottling at 5 or 6 weeks after pitching be too early (assuming it's fully attenuated at that point)?

Speaking only for myself, I bottled at 4 weeks, and tried a couple of uncarbed samples. They are delicious. I'm waiting on most of the batch until after thanksgiving, but we'll see about that. 6 weeks should be good.

 

[pkrath84]

Hey all, hoping I can get some advice...

I've got a batch aging in the garage that's hit the 4 month mark and I planned on leaving it until september. Problem is that the garage is scorching hot now during the day and the carboy reads off the fermtape (my guess is low 80's).

1) Is it safe where it is so long as I stay within the yeast tolerance for temperature?
2) Does the temperature only matter during active fermentation?


For convenience, I'd like to leave it where it is if there will be little to no ill effect. But if need be, I can move some of the goods in my chest freezer and put the carboy up in there. Under normal spring/fall/winter weather conditions I'd just leave it be in primary where it site, but the temperature has me worried about autolysis and spoiling 3 months of patience!

 

[EdWort]

Hey all, hoping I can get some advice...

I've got a batch aging in the garage that's hit the 4 month mark and I planned on leaving it until september. Problem is that the garage is scorching hot now during the day and the carboy reads off the fermtape (my guess is low 80's).

1) Is it safe where it is so long as I stay within the yeast tolerance for temperature?
2) Does the temperature only matter during active fermentation?


For convenience, I'd like to leave it where it is if there will be little to no ill effect. But if need be, I can move some of the goods in my chest freezer and put the carboy up in there. Under normal spring/fall/winter weather conditions I'd just leave it be in primary where it site, but the temperature has me worried about autolysis and spoiling 3 months of patience!

I would age it at room temp in the house and I would age it off the yeast. 3 months is the max I leave it on the yeast at room temp, then bulk age in a keg.

Cheers,

EdWort

 

[TexasWine]

1) Is it safe where it is so long as I stay within the yeast tolerance for temperature?
2) Does the temperature only matter during active fermentation?

For convenience, I'd like to leave it where it is if there will be little to no ill effect. But if need be, I can move some of the goods in my chest freezer and put the carboy up in there. Under normal spring/fall/winter weather conditions I'd just leave it be in primary where it site, but the temperature has me worried about autolysis and spoiling 3 months of patience!

I've been dealing with high temps here in Texas as well. For your questions, I would answer them in reverse order. It's my understanding that temperature matters at every stage. Pitching, fermentation, aging, everything. But temperature impacts different things at different stages, and you may have different temperature requirements at different phases.

During active fermentation you'll obviously want to keep temperature within the acceptable range for the yeasts. But you may not necessarily want to age at the upper end of what a particular yeast can tolerate during fermentation. Some yeasts can tolerate really high temperatures, like over 90F. I would imagine high temps at aging could cause other issues.

I'm just getting started in this whole endeavor of making things at home, so please double check what I've written with someone more experienced. Hopefully I haven't written anything heretical