Man, I love Apfelwein

[EHV]

I finally got a taste of some decent Apfelwein. I bottled 5 gallons which had a bit of an off smell and taste from the fermentation. Bad case of the Rhino farts that my wife won't let down. After 10 months from bottling I've opened up my second bottle and the nose is way subdued now and with cinnamon sticks in the bottles, it actually tastes like a cinnamon applie cider. Very happy its going away. Good stuff which I think I am going to make again.

 

[Kdog22]

In laws cracked open a bottle of this that I gave them as an xmas gift, this past weekend. The more they drank, the more they liked it. It's delicious still with no backsweetening. The taste really does grow on you. Imma have to get another batch going soon!

 

[whoaru99]

I made a batch back in mid-September 2013. It's still in primary on the yeast for any number of excuses I can make up.

Has it been harmed/ruined by being on the yeast this long?

 

[DRonco]

I made a batch back in mid-September 2013. It's still in primary on the yeast for any number of excuses I can make up.

Has it been harmed/ruined by being on the yeast this long?

Doubtful. I think I remember reading earlier in the thread that some have kept primary for something like 6 months. My batch was also " brewed" in Sept. I transferred to secondary in November to help clearing. It's great! I'm just waiting for an empty keg.

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

I made a batch back in mid-September 2013. It's still in primary on the yeast for any number of excuses I can make up.

Has it been harmed/ruined by being on the yeast this long?

Not at all, but you might think about racking it to secondary. Wines seem to do better long term off the yeast.

 

[Kdog22]

I racked mine into the secondary at just past the 3 month mark and then topped up with water to fill the little headspace left. Worked well for me.

 

[rorymcg]

I made a batch back in mid-September 2013. It's still in primary on the yeast for any number of excuses I can make up.

Has it been harmed/ruined by being on the yeast this long?

It won't harm or ruin your batch. If you bottle straight off the yeast, you may get a yeasty flavor/smell. This will go away with a few weeks. You could rack into a secondary and it will do the same thing. Either way your batch is fine.

 

[Iceman6409]

I have a question. I made this recipe about a year and a half ago. Obviously it is fermented out by now. But my question is will this still be good? Last time we taste tested it awhile ago the comment was made that it had entered into the "wine" taste. Can I still back sweeten it or have I lost that opportunity?

 

[Kdog22]

I have a question. I made this recipe about a year and a half ago. Obviously it is fermented out by now. But my question is will this still be good? Last time we taste tested it awhile ago the comment was made that it had entered into the "wine" taste. Can I still back sweeten it or have I lost that opportunity?

I assume it's still in the carboy sitting on the yeast cake?

Taste a sample, if it still tastes good then stabilize it and backsweeten it as needed. If you didn't leave my headspace at the top of the carboy and you made sure the airlock didn't run dry then there's a good chance it's still pretty good.

 

[Grimster]

I have a question. I made this recipe about a year and a half ago. Obviously it is fermented out by now. But my question is will this still be good? Last time we taste tested it awhile ago the comment was made that it had entered into the "wine" taste. Can I still back sweeten it or have I lost that opportunity?

You can always sweeten. Hell it's a very popular drink in Germany to mix good wine with a bit of sweet sprudel (basically Sprite). So it's never too late to sweeten a wine if that's to your taste.

 

[SaguaroMan]

What happens when you add Go-Ferm and yeast energize to your must?
I used Enoferm QA23 yeast with this one.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[MaxStout]

I just bottled my second batch of apfelwein today. I had it in primary 3 months and the hydro sample tasted great, with lots of apple flavor. With the previous batch I had only let it sit for 2 months and it ended up good, but not a lot of apple flavor.

I primed for 3 vols. Can't wait till this one conditions.

 

[GenIke]

2 questions for you Apfel experts:

1. I have had a batch bulk agin in the basement since May(~7 months). If I want to bottle carb will I need to add fresh yeast?

2. My apfelwein has been sitting on the yeast (nottingham) since May. Is that a problem? Should I rack it to a clean carboy for a few weeks before bottling?

 

[zardozap]

Just dropped in the yeast about 5 minutes ago. Going to stick it away for several months.

 

[zardozap]

Whoops. Double post.

 

[BrewerBear]

2 questions for you Apfel experts:

1. I have had a batch bulk agin in the basement since May(~7 months). If I want to bottle carb will I need to add fresh yeast?

2. My apfelwein has been sitting on the yeast (nottingham) since May. Is that a problem? Should I rack it to a clean carboy for a few weeks before bottling?

1. You should be ok either way but it may take longer to carb up, I would probably reyeast just in case.

2. Probably not.It's already fermented so bottle it and find out.I'm sure it will still be drinkable.

 

[GenIke]

1. You should be ok either way but it may take longer to carb up, I would probably reyeast just in case.

2. Probably not.It's already fermented so bottle it and find out.I'm sure it will still be drinkable.

Thanks.

Would I want to use the same yeast (notty) or a different yeast like a champagne yeast or something like that?

 

[BamaProud]

Anyone add extract to this prior to bottling? I recently added 4oz apple extract to a batch...Its carbing now, just curious how it turned out for anyone else.

 

[bleme]

Thanks!



Would I want to use the same yeast (notty) or a different yeast like a champagne yeast or something like that?

Same yeast is always the safest. Champagne yeast can eat different sugars than beer yeast so carbonation becomes unpredictable.

 

[jimmyjjohn]

Quit teasin' and give us some details!!! That really does look yummy.....

 

[hio3791]

I made my first batch in early Sept. After 3 months, it had dropped very clear so I kegged it. I tapped the keg a couple of weeks (approx 4 months old). Here are my impressions:

1. Little to no carbonation after 1 month kegged at 12 psi. It fizzes when it first pours but clears quickly.
2. Pours a nice golden color and it's extremely clear.
3. The aromas and flavors are inverted to me. The smell is definitely apple. If I didn't know what it was, at first glance and smell, I would think it's just apple juice but the smell is followed by reminisce of champagne. The taste is the opposite. At first, the taste is semi-dry champagne like with a hint of apple flavor in the back.
4. The alcohol level is quite deceptive. In fact, I cannot taste any alcohol but I assure you that after 2 glasses, I am beginning to slur my speech!

So overall, this is a good recipe and while I enjoy drinking it, I am a beer drinker so I am not sure at this point if or when I would make another batch. However, I would still recommend it to anyone that likes or enjoys wine and/or champagne.

 

[bleme]

I put my first batch together on 12/20/13 and put it in the corner of my living room so that it would be bubbling away when all the family is over for Christmas. After all the questions I fielded last year concerning my hobby, I figured I could use a visual.

 

[Kdog22]

I made my first batch in early Sept. After 3 months, it had dropped very clear so I kegged it. I tapped the keg a couple of weeks (approx 4 months old). Here are my impressions:

1. Little to no carbonation after 1 month kegged at 12 psi. It fizzes when it first pours but clears quickly.
2. Pours a nice golden color and it's extremely clear.
3. The aromas and flavors are inverted to me. The smell is definitely apple. If I didn't know what it was, at first glance and smell, I would think it's just apple juice but the smell is followed by reminisce of champagne. The taste is the opposite. At first, the taste is semi-dry champagne like with a hint of apple flavor in the back.
4. The alcohol level is quite deceptive. In fact, I cannot taste any alcohol but I assure you that after 2 glasses, I am beginning to slur my speech!

So overall, this is a good recipe and while I enjoy drinking it, I am a beer drinker so I am not sure at this point if or when I would make another batch. However, I would still recommend it to anyone that likes or enjoys wine and/or champagne.

Mine was started back in June. No backsweetening and left still, no carbing. Today, I describe the flavor as this.. It's a light and crisp flavored apple-y flavor. Smells like apple and tastes like a light apple juice with a subtle apple flavor on the finish. Best served chilled. My most important description I can give is that the drink/flavor grows on you. The more you drink it, the more you like it.

You can't going into the tasting thinking of what an apple wine will taste like or comparing it to a commercial cider you've had before because you will automatically start comparing the apfelwein to those and think this falls short. It really is it's own flavor and nothing i've had before tastes quite like it. It's "different" and it's quite good. I like it alot.

After I drank my first bottle, I remember and then understood why the recipe states "reserve your judgement until after the 2nd glass because it grows on you". Good stuff!

 

[Ramon]

I followed Ed Wort's recipe to a "T" but added s-33 Ale yeast instead.
This one: http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/brewing/brewing-ingredients/beer-yeast/safale-s-33-edme.html

Anybody else do this?

How long should I let it bubble for? I know some people will say "as long as possible" but doesn't this yeast move faster than Red Star Montrachet?

Secondary or not?

I made the original recipe and love it! I wanted to try something different this time, if you have made this how does it differ?

Cheers

 

[Thunder_Chicken]

Bubbles don't mean anything with regard to fermentation. You can get bubbles from a completely empty carboy if the temperature changes or a weather front passes through. Measure gravity with a hydrometer to determine how the fermentation is progressing.

Follow the timeline suggested in the recipe. The last points of gravity tend to come off slowly, so fermentation will take at least a month. A secondary after that will greatly improve the apfelwein. This stuff gets amazing after 4-6 months. It's worth the wait.

While you are waiting, brew up some more apfelwein!

 

[pokeacow]

my hydrometer has been floating right around 1.000 for about a week now, hard to get an exact reading due to bubbles (i just dropped er right in the carboy) but this coming weekend i really wanna bottle it and use the yeast cake to start some skeeter piss. It looks relatively clear and will be a month and a few days old this weekend, would there be any harm in bottling it sooner than later? I'll still age most of it for another good few months in the bottles.

One option i have is i could cold crash it for a few hours on the balcony, its winter here. Would i get suck back in my airlock if i did that? Or could i just dump the water out of it and place it back on top just in case a leaf blows in or something

 

[zardozap]

Made a batch of this 6 days ago. It's currently sitting in the corner bubbling away, and I have to say the quite often "rhino fart" breeze will blow past every couple of minutes and make my nose twitch. My wife walked in last night and her first comment was "What the hell have you been eating?" I pointed to the carboy, she checked it out and said "Hope it tastes better than it smells." Guess we'll find out in a few months. Plan on aging it a while.

 

[SaguaroMan]

my hydrometer has been floating right around 1.000 for about a week now, hard to get an exact reading due to bubbles (i just dropped er right in the carboy) but this coming weekend i really wanna bottle it and use the yeast cake to start some skeeter piss. It looks relatively clear and will be a month and a few days old this weekend, would there be any harm in bottling it sooner than later? I'll still age most of it for another good few months in the bottles.

One option i have is i could cold crash it for a few hours on the balcony, its winter here. Would i get suck back in my airlock if i did that? Or could i just dump the water out of it and place it back on top just in case a leaf blows in or something

Seems like everybody just says to sit on it at room temp for a few months at least; that's what I'm going to do.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[j-hemmie]

Holy rhino fart! I just put this together yesterday using Montrachet, brown sugar and wine nutrient... it still smells like butt. It is bubbling away though. I don't think I've ever seen something ferment so vigorously. I can actually hear the bubbles in the fermenter. It sounds like highly carbonated soda when you pour it into a glass.

 

[pokeacow]

I used nottingham and didnt get any nasty turd smell