Man, I love Apfelwein

[twofocused]

On second thought I might dump the airlock and fill it with cheapie vodka.

 

[jstampler]

Hi everyone, First post (and first attempt at brewing) here. I wanted to try this before I got into anything more complicated, it seemed like an easy way to get started, and very tasty by all accounts. So, let me tell you what i did wrong, and you can tell me how screwed (or not) I am. 1. I used EC1118 yeast 2. I used table sugar instead of dextrose 3. I didn't dissolve the sugar completely in the juice. 4. It looks like some of the juice contaminated the airlock when I moved the Better Bottle from outside to inside. 5. It looks like a lot of yeast is stuck to the top of the bottle. All that said, it appears to be bubbling away quite happily. So, should I wait and see, or is there any reason to dump it and start over? Thanks!

1. You'll be fine with that yeast.
2. Table sugar works, you might taste it in your final product but it will be fine.
3. As long as you dissolved most of it you'll be fine. That's another thing that won't ruin it but might leave some off flavors.
4. Take the airlock off, rinse it in water, throw it back on with some vodka in it.
5. Judging by the pic, you might want to tilt the carboy a bit when you have the airlock off to try to rinse some of that yeast off of the sides. Or wait until fermentation slows down (10-14 days) and give the whole thing a good swirl.

Don't dump it. It's your first try. Just getting the experience of the whole process is worth it even if it doesn't turn out "perfect" it should still at least be "good".

Next time definitely use Montrachet and corn sugar though. Corn sugar dissolves much easier.

 

[aellis]

Thanks for the replies all, nice to get some reassurance. Just to clarify, I do have vodka in the airlock, and I accidentally dumped some in through the hole when I was filling it up. Guess It'll improve the ABV though. I thought taking the airlock off was a no-no, as it could let some nasties in, but I'll give it a go. Should I rinse with sanitizer, or is plain water ok?

Definitely learning from the experience.

Thanks again.

 

[Leadgolem]

Thanks for the replies all, nice to get some reassurance. Just to clarify, I do have vodka in the airlock, and I accidentally dumped some in through the hole when I was filling it up. Guess It'll improve the ABV though. I thought taking the airlock off was a no-no, as it could let some nasties in, but I'll give it a go. Should I rinse with sanitizer, or is plain water ok?

Definitely learning from the experience.

Thanks again.

It's much less of a deal then most people think. It is possible, but not likely, for you to get something in your batch from a missing airlock. At least in the length of time it's going to take to rinse it and put it back on it isn't likely. Honestly, even if you just took the airlock off and left it off it would probably be fine at this point. The yeast has a huge headstart in your batch, so there aren't that many things that could get in it that would ruin it. Water is fine, sanitizer is fine too.

Personally, I only use spirits in my airlock if I'm having problems with fruit flies. They will sometimes manage to crawl in through an airlock filled with water, but they won't even try with one full of spirits.

 

[Wulvaine]

Thanks to Leadgolem for answering all my questions back at the top of page 1165! Got all my equipment tonight and decided to go ahead and make the higher-ABV batch my first batch. Ended up with a specific gravity of around 1.095, which should put me in the neighborhood of the 12.5%. I used yeast nutrient in hopes of avoiding rhino farts.

Looking forward to getting to try this in a few months, haha.

 

[GNBrews]

The best way to avoid the rhino farts is to keep the fermentation temperature below 68F.

 

[BrewerBear]

The best way to avoid the rhino farts is to keep the fermentation temperature below 68F.

Also depends on the yeast you are using.

 

[Grimster]

Distillers yeast stated alcohol tolerance is 23%. It's practical limit is more like 20. IMO, anytime you are going over about 12% you should be adding both yeast nutrient and yeast energizer. Otherwise you are probably looking at a stalled batch. Once you get over 18% I'd double the recommended amounts of nutrients. That's wine or mead nutrients, not beer.

This sounds like something I'm gonna have to try. I have an unhealthy obsession with making things as powerful as possible. Hmm a 20+% abv apfelwein carbed up like champagne and sweetened before kegging sounds like a good sneak up on you and kick you square in the ass kinda drink.

 

[dave8274]

I used Tree-top just as the OP said, but on the label it did show a something like 31g of Carbs and 28g of sugar, so maybe that's the issue?

I'll try these suggestions. I actually have a drill mounted degassing wand because we just made a wine kit.

Edit: I just went ahead and degassed it. I got quite a geyser, but I think I got most of the CO2 out. I'll go grab some pectic enzyme and yeast when the LHBS is open later, any idea how much enzyme I should use, and should I wait a few days to do this now that I have degassed??

Also, will the champagne yeast change the taste of the final product?

Just an update. 8 days ago, I degassed my batch from 8/4. I added pectic enzyme to 3 batches, that one, and 2 others from 8/6 and 8/10.

I also pitched Champagne yeast into the 8/4 and 8/10 batches.

As of today, the 8/4 batch is still a cloudy mess from the lees I stirred up, so I didn't bother checking the hydrometer yet.

I did check the other 2 batches this morning. The 8/6 batch (no repitch) is sitting at 1.000-1.001. The 8/10 batch (with the champagne yeast) is at 1.000. Neither is clear yet, but the one I repitched looks lighter.

Both hydrometer samples tasted really good, so that's a plus. I'm hoping to bottle by the time they are in primary for no more than 3 months as the recipe says, so hopefully they all clear out in the next 4-5 weeks.

 

[Wulvaine]

Before I shift into "relax, don't worry, etc." mode, I just want to be sure nothing's wrong, haha. I pitched about 24 hours ago, and so far I don't have much activity in my fermenter. I've seen other people say that after 24 hours it should be bubbling noticeably, but I'm assuming they're probably brewing in slightly warmer environments; it's already getting pretty cold in my part of Idaho and the room the fermenter's sitting in is probably around 65 degrees.

After pitching, over the next few hours I could see lots of yeast in suspension and the numbers increased by the hour. Now they're no longer visible and the batch is cloudy. There are some very tiny, barely visible bubbles slowly rising in some of it. I have a bit of yellow foam on the top; I'm hoping that's just from the yeast/nutrient and doesn't represent any kind of infection.

Anybody hear any red flags amidst all that?

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I just walked in to my shed a little while ago to see how my apfelwein was doing. I finally experienced the "rhino fart" phenomenon. Had to air out the shed a little bit. Bubbling away happily.

 

[TangoHotel]

Before I shift into "relax, don't worry, etc." mode, I just want to be sure nothing's wrong, haha. I pitched about 24 hours ago, and so far I don't have much activity in my fermenter. I've seen other people say that after 24 hours it should be bubbling noticeably, but I'm assuming they're probably brewing in slightly warmer environments; it's already getting pretty cold in my part of Idaho and the room the fermenter's sitting in is probably around 65 degrees.

After pitching, over the next few hours I could see lots of yeast in suspension and the numbers increased by the hour. Now they're no longer visible and the batch is cloudy. There are some very tiny, barely visible bubbles slowly rising in some of it. I have a bit of yellow foam on the top; I'm hoping that's just from the yeast/nutrient and doesn't represent any kind of infection.

Anybody hear any red flags amidst all that?

Nope. Wait until the rhino facts. You'll wonder why you would ever drink this stuff. Then 9 months later, you drink it and it's tasty. So worth it. I'm drinking one now. Cursing Ed tomorrow cuz I'll drink 4 more...

 

[Leadgolem]

This sounds like something I'm gonna have to try. I have an unhealthy obsession with making things as powerful as possible. Hmm a 20+% abv apfelwein carbed up like champagne and sweetened before kegging sounds like a good sneak up on you and kick you square in the ass kinda drink.

It will sidle up and smile. Then kick you in the nuts, take your wallet, and run off laughing. :fro:

 

[jstampler]

Before I shift into "relax, don't worry, etc." mode, I just want to be sure nothing's wrong, haha. I pitched about 24 hours ago, and so far I don't have much activity in my fermenter. I've seen other people say that after 24 hours it should be bubbling noticeably, but I'm assuming they're probably brewing in slightly warmer environments; it's already getting pretty cold in my part of Idaho and the room the fermenter's sitting in is probably around 65 degrees. After pitching, over the next few hours I could see lots of yeast in suspension and the numbers increased by the hour. Now they're no longer visible and the batch is cloudy. There are some very tiny, barely visible bubbles slowly rising in some of it. I have a bit of yellow foam on the top; I'm hoping that's just from the yeast/nutrient and doesn't represent any kind of infection. Anybody hear any red flags amidst all that?

The tiny bubbles and cloudiness are the start of fermentation. Nothing to worry about at all. I'd betting anything you wake up in the morning and she's bubbling/farting away! Mine usually takes 24 hours or so until I need the tiny bubbles and foam on top and 36-48 hours until it's really churning.

 

[snooby]

Has anyone used US-05 with this recipe? I wanted to get something a bit sweeter and not so dry. I'm worried that there might be blow off with this yeast so maybe I should use my 6 gallon better bottle instead?

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Has anyone used US-05 with this recipe? I wanted to get something a bit sweeter and not so dry. I'm worried that there might be blow off with this yeast so maybe I should use my 6 gallon better bottle instead?

You might want to try a sweet cider yeast. Most ale yeasts will easily take apfelwein down to dry. It's only ~ 9%, well within the tolerance of most ale yeasts.

Apfelwein doesn't really krausen, and cider doesn't really krausen with ale yeast, so you can safely fill up the carboy very full and just stick an airlock on it. A blow-off is cheap insurance though. I'd use your 6 gal better bottle to make 6 gallons of apfelwein.

 

[Leadgolem]

You might want to try a sweet cider yeast. Most ale yeasts will easily take apfelwein down to dry. It's only ~ 9%, well within the tolerance of most ale yeasts.

Apfelwein doesn't really krausen, and cider doesn't really krausen with ale yeast, so you can safely fill up the carboy very full and just stick an airlock on it. A blow-off is cheap insurance though. I'd use your 6 gal better bottle to make 6 gallons of apfelwein.

You might want to tell my ceiling that.

 

[Wineomatic]

July 21st I airlocked my Apfelwein. I await patiently to bottle! Should I wait til November or October?

 

[jstampler]

July 21st I airlocked my Apfelwein. I await patiently to bottle! Should I wait til November or October?

You can bottle now. Some people bottle at 6 weeks and say its great. I try to wait 2 months, and this batch I'm going to wait 3 to see if there's any difference.

 

[RhodySeth]

Originally Posted by RhodySeth
Yeah I know but I've already incurred a lot of aggro from the Wife. She's already expressed displeasure with all the beer I've got conditioning and if she spies a full five gallons of the apfelwien her ire will only grow.

Of course, her ire will probably grow when she spies 2.5 gallons of apfelwien so maybe you're on to something.

When she tastes it she's gonna ask when are you making more. My old lady loves the stuff.

My wife drinks very little so chances of her loving this stuff is low. Still, she caught sight of it in the basement and didn't give me guff about it so maybe she'll be interested.

I must say, it was awesome how easy it was to make this batch. I wrote up the experience on my blog. I think I may wish that I had made more - I'm planning on giving a bunch away as Christmas gifts. I'm afraid that another BB full of the stuff may suddenly appear in my basement in the next month. Where did it come from?

 

[d2xx]

Just made a batch on Saturday and the SWMBO is not impressed with the smell in the basement. But she is looking forward to tasting it when done. (She's from Germany).

 

[Wulvaine]

I've had no bad smells thus far (whether that's the nutrient, the temperature, or both, the only smell coming off the airlock is yeast), and it's still bubbling away. It's never gotten more vigorous than a kind of carbonation-like bubbling, but it seems to be doing what it's supposed to do.

I do have one question, though: there are just a few tiny flecks of white... something on the inside of the neck of the Better Bottle. It doesn't appear to be fuzzy, so I don't think it's mold. Could it just be some kind of yeast deposit or protein or something?

 

[twofocused]

To any one who has gone crazy and added 8 lbs of sugar to a 5 gallon batch did you need a blow off tube or was an airlock enough.

 

[BadDeacon]

To any one who has gone crazy and added 8 lbs of sugar to a 5 gallon batch did you need a blow off tube or was an airlock enough.

a blow off tube is always recommended until primary ferm is complete.

 

[Leadgolem]

To any one who has gone crazy and added 8 lbs of sugar to a 5 gallon batch did you need a blow off tube or was an airlock enough.

A blowoff would be good, ask my ceiling why. I was using a fairly aggressive yeast at a highish temp though.

 

[Hello]

I just started my batch. 5 gal of Motts AJ (Motts was all I could find other than store brands) and 2 lbs 8 oz corn sugar. I used Lalvin 1118 wine yeast and just pitched it right on top at the rec of my LHBS place. We shall see. I think I'd like to just make two batches right away thinking it'll be Apfelwein and then I'll have lots. Problem will be bottling but maybe lack of bottles will help me be patient and let it sit.

OP states 4-6 weeks to ferment so I am hoping it's well done and drinkable by Halloween.

My OG was 1.062, giving every consideration to the temperature of the mix (72º) and the calibration temp of my hydrometer. I think it's within reason to think that this is okay.

 

[Leadgolem]

It should be fine. At 1.080 or higher I'd be making a starter, and adding nutrients. Happy brewing!

 

[finsfan]

got my glass carboy today and getting the yeast tomorrow, then making apfelwein tomorrow night!

 

[BamaProud]

Get a 2nd carboy and start batch #2 within a month.

 

[jstampler]

I have two 5 gallon batches going right now. I plan on bottling one of them after 2 months and I want to let the other bulk age for another 3 months or so. I'm thinking about racking it into another carboy after 2 months to get it off the yeast and allow it to clear even more. Should I be adding K-Meta and Sorbate to it when I rack it? If I want to back sweeten a bit, can I do it and let it age that way or is it best to back sweeten just a few days before bottling?