Man, I love Apfelwein

[Thunder_Chicken]

Liked for using the word quaffable.

Hey, there are so few places in the world where you can use that word properly, you just have to let it off the chain when you can.

quaffable (comparative more quaffable, superlative most quaffable)
(informal, usually referring to wine) Easy to drink.

 

[Hophanatik86]

Just started my first apfelwein today! I used Edwort's original recipe however with one change. I acquired a boat load of apples from companies farm and an apple press. I read the first 20 pages and didn't see one person that used fresh apple cider and decided to go for it. Pressing enough apples to make 5 gallons was quite a task but boy was it sweet and delicious.

I wasn't going to boil the cider but paranoia set in and went ahead an boiled it for 20 minutes to be safe an sound. After the boil I added my 2lbs of dextrose and cooled via wort chiller. Them I pitched the east once bellow 75 degrees and took a O.G. Reading of 1.072

I can not wait to see how this turns out and for sure will be updating.

 

[dave8274]

Did you ever try pasteurizing a sample, or a fining agent?

I decided to wait till I hit the 3 month mark before messing with it further. If it's still cloudy, that's the plan.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I decided to wait till I hit the 3 month mark before messing with it further. If it's still cloudy, that's the plan.

Try just racking it. I think the cloudiness is due mostly to the dissolved CO2. Racking seems to knock out some of that gas and allows things to settle out. If you have a wine whip you might want to just degas it in the fermenter and let it settle out again, does the same thing.

 

[athhsan]

Bloody friggin tutts. I racked mine in 3 weeks off the thingy at the bottom and now have infected them. Oh woes!

 

[keahunter]

After reading so much about this I just started a 6 gallon batch. The OG was 1.062 so it won't quite be as potent as wine but I'm excited to try it none the less.

 

[BurgerBrew]

Add 6 gals to the count from me! 5 gals made to original recipe and 1 gal made with ginger and brown sugar, still waiting to try to the 1 gal batch! Love this stuff!!!

Anyone in the Orlando, fl area know of a good place to score some cheap apple juice? Best I've found so far is costco, 2 gals for 9.99.

 

[Wulvaine]

Decided I should take gravity readings on my two batches today, mostly out of desire to try my samples, haha.

Glad I did; the first batch is a stuck fermentation. Stopped bubbling a few days ago, and it's only at 1.02 (started at 1.095), so I've moved that into a warmer room to see if it kickstarts it again. The second batch started at 1.068, and it's down to 0.999, so we're probably good on that one.

As far as trying the samples goes, oh, I could get used to this. I really like this even without aging.

 

[Grimster]

As far as trying the samples goes, oh, I could get used to this. I really like this even without aging.

Oldest I've had a batch get yet is roughly 6 weeks from yeast pitching to an empty keg.

 

[SupervisingChildren]

Oldest I've had a batch get yet is roughly 6 weeks from yeast pitching to an empty keg.

In the keg it's pretty much "bad idea on tap". Soooo good and smooth, it's ridiculous. Before you know it, it's naptime haha. I kegged a 2 month old batch about 2-3 weeks ago and it lasted a week. Granted, swmbo's sister in law had like 1/4 of the keg last Saturday, but yeah, it disappears quickly.

 

[dave8274]

Took a sample of my EC-1118 batch. Crystal clear and tastes awesome, so I am gonng get it bottled or kegged even though it's only a month old.

 

[ggriffi]

Quick question. I want to bottle my first batch tonight but what I don't is this. So do I sanitize the corks? If so can I do this with Star san or do I need to use something else?

 

[Fossey]

Has anyone tries adding oak to their apfelwein for last 5-7 days?

It wasn't the apfelwein recipe, it was straight apple juice dumped on an EC-1118 yeast cake. I added two ounces of oak chips per gallon for 3 weeks leading up to bottling. I did a gallon using natural oak and a gallon using toasted oak - both French.

The natural oak was stronger flavour but was a good amount of oak flavour for me.

I have a 6 gallon batch based on apfelwein which will be getting the oak treatment as above soon.

 

[ggriffi]

Quick question. I want to bottle my first batch tonight but what I don't is this. So do I sanitize the corks? If so can I do this with Star san or do I need to use something else?

Never mind, the search function is my friend

 

[jstampler]

For those of you who sweeten. What do you use, Splenda? How much do you use? I know its to everyone's specific taste but I'm just trying to figure out what an average amount would be for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[Grimster]

For those of you who sweeten. What do you use, Splenda? How much do you use? I know its to everyone's specific taste but I'm just trying to figure out what an average amount would be for a 5 gallon batch.

3 cups of good old table sugar dissolved over heat into a couple cups of apple juice goes into my keg before the wine does. Then I purge, fill, pressurize to 30+ psi, and roll it around on the floor until my leg gets tired, then into the keezer it goes.

2 days later I can be found passed out on the couch from too much apfelly goodness.

 

[Recluse]

3 cups of good old table sugar dissolved over heat into a couple cups of apple juice goes into my keg before the wine does. Then I purge, fill, pressurize to 30+ psi, and roll it around on the floor until my leg gets tired, then into the keezer it goes.

2 days later I can be found passed out on the couch from too much apfelly goodness.

Surprised you have to pressurize. the fermentation of the 3 cups of sugar should give you all the carbonation you need. Do you really drink it fast enough that the sweetness from the sugar remains before being fermented out?

3 cups of sugar is probably around 1.5 lbs which is almost as much as went in from the original recipe..

 

[TexasWine]

Surprised you have to pressurize. the fermentation of the 3 cups of sugar should give you all the carbonation you need. Do you really drink it fast enough that the sweetness from the sugar remains before being fermented out?

3 cups of sugar is probably around 1.5 lbs which is almost as much as went in from the original recipe..

Pretty sure the keezer keeps it cold enough that fermentation doesn't kick back up.

 

[Recluse]

Pretty sure the keezer keeps it cold enough that fermentation doesn't kick back up.

Ahhh good point!

 

[Grimster]

Ahhh good point!

Oh man I can only imagine what'd happen if I left the keg sitting outside of the keezer with 3 cups of sugar in there... I imagine the little blow off valve would be tested by that.

 

[Leadgolem]

I make an apple pie syrup I like for back sweetening. Sugar wise, it's pretty much standard simple syrup. 1:2 liquid to sugar by volume if you want a smaller recipe. About 2 liters of that in a 5 gallon keg. Then let it sit on 15 psi until its ready to drink.

 

[milsman2]

When's the best time to add pectic enzyme? I let mine sit in the carboy for like 2 months then it's been in the keg for a couple of weeks and I still see chill haze...

 

[Recluse]

When's the best time to add pectic enzyme? I let mine sit in the carboy for like 2 months then it's been in the keg for a couple of weeks and I still see chill haze...

The best time to add pectic enzyme is at the BEGINNING of fermentation.

 

[Hello]

For those of you who sweeten. What do you use, Splenda? How much do you use? I know its to everyone's specific taste but I'm just trying to figure out what an average amount would be for a 5 gallon batch.

I'll be adding about 10 oz of dextrose to 32 ounces of apple juice to my bottling bucket. I intend to pasteurize my bottles so they don't explode after they've carbed up for a bit. Hoping I'm not wrong about all of this because I can't keep all of the bottle cold.

 

[Cottonmouth]

This is the first homebrew I've ever made (assembled?). I used montrachet yeast, 6 gallons of walmart brand apple juice, and 4 pounds of inverted cane sugar filling my ferment bucket way too close to the top. I'm not sure what my SG was. I went to check it and realized I got the wrong kind of hydrometer (complete noobidity). After 3 hours the AW was blowing out of the airlock and had to switch to a blow off tube. 6 days and the SG is 0.98 and pretty strong and tart.

Is there any way to determine the alcohol content without knowing the beginning gravity?

 

[moscoeb]

This is the first homebrew I've ever made (assembled?). I used montrachet yeast, 6 gallons of walmart brand apple juice, and 4 pounds of inverted cane sugar filling my ferment bucket way too close to the top. I'm not sure what my SG was. I went to check it and realized I got the wrong kind of hydrometer (complete noobidity). After 3 hours the AW was blowing out of the airlock and had to switch to a blow off tube. 6 days and the SG is 0.98 and pretty strong and tart. Is there any way to determine the alcohol content without knowing the beginning gravity?

Put everything you used in a calculator and it should get you close.

 

[Leadgolem]

The best time to add pectic enzyme is at the BEGINNING of fermentation.

This is true. I've never tried to add it to cold cider before. It works just fine with cider at room temperature post fermentation. It does take a full day rather then the typical hour pre-fermentation.

It will also usually cause some additional fermentation as the carbohydrate is broken into fermentable sugar. So, I'd give it another week after adding the enzyme before bottling. Just to be safe.

I'll be adding about 10 oz of dextrose to 32 ounces of apple juice to my bottling bucket. I intend to pasteurize my bottles so they don't explode after they've carbed up for a bit. Hoping I'm not wrong about all of this because I can't keep all of the bottle cold.

Pasteurizing will kill the yeast, so the bottles will not explode from over pressurizing. It may be helpful to fill a small plastic soda bottle, and pasteurize the batch when the soda bottle is hard to the touch.

Even refrigerated there is a slow fermentation taking place. It's not a really a problem with kegs as the kegs are usually being used enough to relieve the extra pressure. Kegs can take much more pressure then typical dispensing pressures, and they have mechanisms built in to release pressure if it gets to high.

This is the first homebrew I've ever made (assembled?). I used montrachet yeast, 6 gallons of walmart brand apple juice, and 4 pounds of inverted cane sugar filling my ferment bucket way too close to the top. I'm not sure what my SG was. I went to check it and realized I got the wrong kind of hydrometer (complete noobidity). After 3 hours the AW was blowing out of the airlock and had to switch to a blow off tube. 6 days and the SG is 0.98 and pretty strong and tart.

Is there any way to determine the alcohol content without knowing the beginning gravity?

Yes, but it effectively ruins a sample of the brew.
http://www.monashscientific.com.au/BoilingMethod.htm

If you can tell us exactly what was in it, or put that in a brewing calculator like moscoeb suggested, it should be possible to get pretty close. Most ingredients have fairly consistent properties when you brew with them, so it should be possible to approximate an OG.

 

[Cottonmouth]

This is true. I've never tried to add it to cold cider before. It works just fine with cider at room temperature post fermentation. It does take a full day rather then the typical hour pre-fermentation.

It will also usually cause some additional fermentation as the carbohydrate is broken into fermentable sugar. So, I'd give it another week after adding the enzyme before bottling. Just to be safe.

Pasteurizing will kill the yeast, so the bottles will not explode from over pressurizing. It may be helpful to fill a small plastic soda bottle, and pasteurize the batch when the soda bottle is hard to the touch.

Even refrigerated there is a slow fermentation taking place. It's not a really a problem with kegs as the kegs are usually being used enough to relieve the extra pressure. Kegs can take much more pressure then typical dispensing pressures, and they have mechanisms built in to release pressure if it gets to high.


Yes, but it effectively ruins a sample of the brew.
http://www.monashscientific.com.au/BoilingMethod.htm

If you can tell us exactly what was in it, or put that in a brewing calculator like moscoeb suggested, it should be possible to get pretty close. Most ingredients have fairly consistent properties when you brew with them, so it should be possible to approximate an OG.

I couldn't find a calculator that would let me input apple cider as a fermentable. I used 6 gallons of apple juice and 4 pounds of inverted sugar boiled in enough water to bring it up to the 6.5 gallon mark in the bucket.

 

[Leadgolem]

I couldn't find a calculator that would let me input apple cider as a fermentable. I used 6 gallons of apple juice and 4 pounds of inverted sugar boiled in enough water to bring it up to the 6.5 gallon mark in the bucket.

Hmm, I'll have to check but I don't think inverting the sugar changes its fermentability or gravity points. Table sugar has 46 gravity points per lb. Apple juice is usually 1.050 or 50 gravity points per gallon. So 484 gravity points / 6.5 gallons would be ~74.46 or ~1.074. 1.074 fermented to 0.98 should give you an approximate ABV of 12.5%.

That's assuming a standard 1.050 for the juice. Seasonal apple cider, especially from small producer and late in the season, can be as high as 1.075. So it is possible you had an FG as high as 1.097. Though unlikely. We aren't that far into apple season, and about 85% of the apple juice on the market is between 1.045 - 1.055. Of the samples I've taken anyway.

 

[Cottonmouth]

Hmm, I'll have to check but I don't think inverting the sugar changes its fermentability or gravity points. Table sugar has 46 gravity points per lb. Apple juice is usually 1.050 or 50 gravity points per gallon. So 484 gravity points / 6.5 gallons would be ~74.46 or ~1.074. 1.074 fermented to 0.98 should give you an approximate ABV of 12.5%.

That's assuming a standard 1.050 for the juice. Seasonal apple cider, especially from small producer and late in the season, can be as high as 1.075. So it is possible you had an FG as high as 1.097. Though unlikely. We aren't that far into apple season, and about 85% of the apple juice on the market is between 1.045 - 1.055. Of the samples I've taken anyway.

Thanks, man. I sampled it for the first time today. It could very easily be 12%, dry as a popcorn fart though.