Man, I love Apfelwein

[elkshadow]

I suppose no one can answer my question. Yay for potential bottle bombs.


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This is my first batch bro. My brother has made a lot of this and he might know. I called him earlier and he hasnt gotten back to me. I'll let you know what he says. Chill.

 

[uatuba]

It's your first batch. There have been a number of people respond to the thread who have done it before, and they've completely passed over what could be a potentially dangerous situation.


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[finsfan]

It's your first batch. There have been a number of people respond to the thread who have done it before, and they've completely passed over what could be a potentially dangerous situation.


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If its potentially dangerous, dont risk it.

 

[Gareth68]

If its potentially dangerous, dont risk it.

Correction,

If it's potentially dangerous be sure and take pictures and/or video.

Great stories come from bad decisions.


:cross:

 

[uatuba]

I couldn't take the risk...I've never had a bottle bomb and I don't intend to. So I popped the caps and poured everything out.

Ok just kidding...I popped one of the caps and there was no carbonation at all. It seems like the bottling wand degassed it for me (each bottle fizzed like crazy when I bottled last night). I'll keep a cautious eye every couple of days by "testing" a bottle (in the name of science and safety, of course).

I'll have to say...this stuff is pretty good still, and it has zero alcohol flavor. Which is dangerous in its own way.


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[Pontiac_Guy]

I've made this more than a few times and whenever I see more standalone carbonation than normal I just add 2/3c priming sugar instead of the 3/4c recommended. Never had a problem. Just stir your sugar in for at least five minutes and you'll be fine. Cheers!


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[MT2sum]

Anyone who has done this before care to comment? If I want it carbonated, at which point do I risk bittle bombs with CO2 in solution?

I find it odd that the primary method of serving is listed as "still," and yet there's no mention of degassing, even though it's far from still out of the primary.


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Check with Pappers - he's got a thread here about stovetop pasteurizing homebrew cider .... He can surely help you with some answers, I'd think.
Sounds like you're getting a sparkling wine .... If that's true, I'd bottle in champagne or cold duck bottles, and if that is true, I'd definitely NOT use regular wine bottles
Just bottle some of it in a plastic (water?) bottle .... let it stay in a warm room for a couple of days, and see if the bottle gets hard - if it does, then it's carbonated! If it doesn't, no carbonation ....... Have you taken a hydrometer reading of it for a few days in a row? ... that should tell you if it's through fermenting .... but I'm not a wine-o, that's my wife! .... I'm just the beer-o of the house!

 

[uatuba]

Check with Pappers - he's got a thread here about stovetop pasteurizing homebrew cider .... He can surely help you with some answers, I'd think.

Sounds like you're getting a sparkling wine .... If that's true, I'd bottle in champagne or cold duck bottles, and if that is true, I'd definitely NOT use regular wine bottles

Just bottle some of it in a plastic (water?) bottle .... let it stay in a warm room for a couple of days, and see if the bottle gets hard - if it does, then it's carbonated! If it doesn't, no carbonation ....... Have you taken a hydrometer reading of it for a few days in a row? ... that should tell you if it's through fermenting .... but I'm not a wine-o, that's my wife! .... I'm just the beer-o of the house!

It went for 6+ months. It's done fermenting.

The issue is that it was incredibly effervescent when I racked it to the bottling bucket. I bottled it and primed it as a cider, in beer bottles. I also back sweetened with lactose.

My concern is that there is not a mention in the initial instructions of degassing, and if it is normal for a noticeable amount of CO2 to remain in solution even after a long primary (at 70*, no less), then degassing should be addressed.


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[MT2sum]

Just talked to a lady today who grew up in Germany - they always made Apfelwein when/where she grew up .... I'm going to send her Ed Wort's recipe and a link to this thread ..... She'd like to make her own! Another convert to homebrewing !!!

 

[MT2sum]

It went for 6+ months. It's done fermenting.

The issue is that it was incredibly effervescent when I racked it to the bottling bucket. I bottled it and primed it as a cider, in beer bottles. I also back sweetened with lactose.

My concern is that there is not a mention in the initial instructions of degassing, and if it is normal for a noticeable amount of CO2 to remain in solution even after a long primary (at 70*, no less), then degassing should be addressed.


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As I said above, i'm not a wine-o, but I'd just put it outside in a shed, garage, or something to see if it's overprimed (voice of experience here, a few years back, I overprimed and had about 4 gallons of a 5 gallon batch of bottle-bombs, but what survived was great!) As I said, Pappers has a lot of experience with this and he can probably help you out on this ..... as it is, I'd open a bottle or two, and see if you get overflows/etc. If it seems OK, I'd not worry too much .... if you think it's overprimed and you don't want to pop the tops on all of them and re-cap them, I'd just pasteurize them and stop whatever carbing is going on ATM. Pasteurization won't affect the current carbonation, but it will stop the yeast in it's tracks. I pasteurized the wife's cider and it turned out just right!
Here's a link to Papper's thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f32/easy-stove-top-pasteurizing-pics-193295/ :rockin:

 

[uatuba]

Well, in this case, bottling it seemed to degas it enough. I opened one last night and there was hardly a hiss and zero carbonation. Had it been in primary for a shorter time, though, I'm not so sure.


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[elkshadow]

Well, in this case, bottling it seemed to degas it enough. I opened one last night and there was hardly a hiss and zero carbonation. Had it been in primary for a shorter time, though, I'm not so sure.


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Yeah you're right. It just needs degassed. I'm going to rack it into my bottling bucket and stir til it stops bubbling and bottle. Sounds like you degassed it in the bottling process too. Cheers!!

 

[MT2sum]

Yeah you're right. It just needs degassed. I'm going to rack it into my bottling bucket and stir til it stops bubbling and bottle. Sounds like you degassed it in the bottling process too. Cheers!!

By stirring it after sitting in the primary/secondary where it's been fermenting, aren't you going to allow too much oxygen into the beer (Oxydization?)? That seems counter-intuitive to me. I'd prime it and bottle .... if you think it's overprimed after a taste test 3 or 4 days later, I'd just pop the tops (without shaking them up), and then re-cap them all .... 50 or 100 caps are much less expensive than having to throw out the whole batch if it goes bad .......

 

[uatuba]

By stirring it after sitting in the primary/secondary where it's been fermenting, aren't you going to allow too much oxygen into the beer (Oxydization?)? That seems counter-intuitive to me. I'd prime it and bottle .... if you think it's overprimed after a taste test 3 or 4 days later, I'd just pop the tops (without shaking them up), and then re-cap them all .... 50 or 100 caps are much less expensive than having to throw out the whole batch if it goes bad .......

This isn't beer we are making...it's wine (technically cider). Degassing wine by stirring and splashing is quite common. On my next batch...and there will be a next batch...I'm going to use my Foodsaver to degas it. However, neither stirring nor splashing should be an issue.


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[rowan57]

Giggity K1V-116 doing its thing. Blow off for a cider?

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcs1bRO9n0s[/ame]

 

[elkshadow]

This isn't beer we are making...it's wine (technically cider). Degassing wine by stirring and splashing is quite common. On my next batch...and there will be a next batch...I'm going to use my Foodsaver to degas it. However, neither stirring nor splashing should be an issue.


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Yeah this. I've never made any wine but my brother has been making it for a few years and he says degassing is a normal step in winemaking. They actually sell a tool called a degasser.

For my purposes I'm just going to rack off the yeast into my bottling bucket, give it a gentle but thorough stir to get the gas out and bottle it still.

Now to look up why wine needs degassed and beer doesnt...

 

[uatuba]

Yeah this. I've never made any wine but my brother has been making it for a few years and he says degassing is a normal step in winemaking. They actually sell a tool called a degasser.



For my purposes I'm just going to rack off the yeast into my bottling bucket, give it a gentle but thorough stir to get the gas out and bottle it still.



Now to look up why wine needs degassed and beer doesnt...

Beer doesn't because it's carbonated and it would defeat the purpose. Wine isn't carbonated, unless you're going for a sparkling wine or champagne. Beer is more prone to oxidation, although wine can certainly oxidize as well. There is still CO2 in solution with beer after primary, but it's desirable for the end product anyway, and there isn't as much due to a more vigorous fermentation. Wine doesn't have nearly as vigorous of a fermentation, and as a result, there's usually a lot more CO2 that remains after primary fermentation.

In all the win I've made, except for one mead, after a long primary the CO2 wasn't noticeable. It was different in the case of this apfelwein.


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[bleme]

Again, not trying to be a jerk but there's a "search this thread" button right under the page numbers at the top. I did a search for "brett." There's only 12 mentions but f you search lacto or bugs you'll probably get more.

Brett search

ETA: the search thread buttton is very helpful on these monster threads.

Many of us use the mobile app, which severely limits search functions.

 

[elkshadow]

Bottled mine today. 42 bottles. The other 30 in the pic is a BDS. Started with 4.5 gallons of juice and 2.75 pounds of sugar for a 1.092 OG. FG was .997 for around 13% ABV. Tastes good (to me) as it is to be honest but I'm used to drinking high ABV stuff. Not really hot at all. More tart and vinegary than hot like a dry white wine. I will probably backsweeten by the glass. Gonna try to wait til Christmas to try it.

 

[bstacy1974]

Add another batch to the list. Well , a half batch anyway. Used Ed's original recipe. Thinking about bottling around Christmas, half still and the other half with some priming sugar.

 

[brottman]

I have my first batch of Edworts that I started a few weeks ago. Fermentation is complete at FG 0.098. Clearing has begun but still a bit hazy. Do I need to add Kmeta at this point? And if so, do I stir up all the sediment again while doing it?

 

[boomer453]

quick question-my 6 gallon batch has been on primary for a little over 3 weeks and will be there another month at least. when i bottle i'd like to back-sweeten, i planned on added 1 or 2 frozen apple juice concentrates. is that a solid plan or should i just go with lactose? i'm hoping for some carbonation so i'm hoping that the frozen apple juice sugars will do the trick in place of priming sugar.

Am i on track or screwed up like a soup sandwich?

 

[ZenDrinking]

I'm going to be making this as soon as my yeast gets here. I'm only doing a one gallon test batch and I won't be using extra sugar (mainly because it will be a PITA scaling and measuring). I don't have a bottling bucket so will it be OK bottling right from the fermenter? The only downside I can think of is having extra yeast sediment. Will a half pack of yeast be too much for just one gallon? Also, I've read concerns over making bottle bombs, will using priming drops supply enough or too much sugar with the extra yeast floating around?

 

[burninator]

quick question-my 6 gallon batch has been on primary for a little over 3 weeks and will be there another month at least. when i bottle i'd like to back-sweeten, i planned on added 1 or 2 frozen apple juice concentrates. is that a solid plan or should i just go with lactose? i'm hoping for some carbonation so i'm hoping that the frozen apple juice sugars will do the trick in place of priming sugar.

Am i on track or screwed up like a soup sandwich?

If you add more juice you're just going to end up with more alcohol. You need an unfermentable sugar if you want a sweet drink. Or you can sweeten in the glass, like Ed suggests in the original post.

 

[boomer453]

I should have been more clear, what i mean is that i'll backsweeten with the concentrate then let it carb up till it gets where i want it then pasteurize on the stove to kill the yeast.

 

[brottman]

When do I add kmeta to my batch of Edworts?

 

[SupervisingChildren]

I should have been more clear, what i mean is that i'll backsweeten with the concentrate then let it carb up till it gets where i want it then pasteurize on the stove to kill the yeast.

Maybe use a plastic bottle to test for carbonation and then pasturize the glsss?

When do I add kmeta to my batch of Edworts?

Never used it in any of my batches.

 

[brottman]

Never used it in any of my batches.

Just so I'm clear - it's okay to sit aging in bottles for say up to 2 years without Kmeta? I'm confused because in a thread about Mead, people say it's so important. But then then in a thread about cider it's not used. Just trying to learn!

 

[brottman]

Sorry - Double post

 

[badsneaker]

EdWorts Grapfelwein is it, then. So Dominic1920 created a new word and a name for my "whatever-it-was-that-I-brewed."

Oh By The Way, it was nasty coming out of the fermenter. I bottled it and then forgot about it for almost 3 years. What a difference that made!!!

Thank you!