Man, I love Apfelwein

[501irishred]

I made this 6 years ago and did exactly the opposite of what your supposed to do, and tried to hurry a batch. Needless to say it was not good and I was looking very skeptical at all the rave reviews. At least I had the sense to set it to the side instead of throwing it out, which was my first thought. I had completely forgot about em till a guest asked what was in the bottles of the guest room closet! After chilling for a couple hours.......this is better than I could have ever hopped!! My only regrets 1) I didn’t let sit long enough on the front end and possibly even transfer to a secondary, as the product is crystal clear but has just enough sediment to spoil the presentation if your not very careful. 2) I haven’t been making another batch every couple months the last six years to have a pipeline!

 

[Blacksmith1]

Hey guys,
I have made this so many times to give away at holidays and it’s such a hit. However, I used to buy at Costco. They no longer sell the 2 gallon pack. Is it okay for me to use apple juice from concentrate?? The Costco ones weren’t. Now they are SUPER hard to find in large quantities in Southern California. Actually seeing if I can contact a farmer at this point!
Thanks ahead of time-josh

Look in the cider forum for a thread about iced cider without the work. Or something close to that.

 

[thefojizzle]

Thanks-
Really want to find a source for the apple juice in gallons. If anyone has any leads or ideas lease let me know. Thanks!
Josh

 

[SHAIV]

Hey everyone. So i made another batch of apfelwein and thought id share my results as its really good! Haha. So i started with somewhere close to 5 gal walmart apple juice and around 2 lbs corn sugar. Used the updated wine yeast formerly known as montrache. Lol and then added a lb of frozen mangoes! Boom. Fermented for a week or two then transferred to secondary for a month or so and then kegged with a half gallon of mango juice. I didnt stir the juice and i stopped pouring before the cloudy part entered the keg. Its like apfelwein with a bit of mango. Nothing overpowering nothing too sweet. My wife likes it. I like it, its great for the summer but its still apfelwein so take it easy or you will call ed a mfer in the morning not me. I repeat NOT me

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Hey everyone. So i made another batch of apfelwein and thought id share my results as its really good! Haha. So i started with somewhere close to 5 gal walmart apple juice and around 2 lbs corn sugar. Used the updated wine yeast formerly known as montrache. Lol and then added a lb of frozen mangoes! Boom. Fermented for a week or two then transferred to secondary for a month or so and then kegged with a half gallon of mango juice. I didnt stir the juice and i stopped pouring before the cloudy part entered the keg. Its like apfelwein with a bit of mango. Nothing overpowering nothing too sweet. My wife likes it. I like it, its great for the summer but its still apfelwein so take it easy or you will call ed a mfer in the morning not me. I repeat NOT me

Headache!?

 

[Dancy]

Thanks-
Really want to find a source for the apple juice in gallons. If anyone has any leads or ideas lease let me know. Thanks!
Josh

I buy Target’s brand in 1 gallon size - Market Pantry. I’ve used it for two very successful graf recipes.

 

[SHAIV]

Headache!?

Lol nah. I usually dont get drunk just pretty tipsy. I usually drink beer but this stuff is good

 

[Coffekid]

I got the fever guys, second and third batch going strong.

 

[bracconiere]

I usually drink beer but this stuff is good

i don't always drink rotten juice, but when i do, it's apple juice!

 

[rdavidw]

I am doing back-to-back batches of Apfelwein and will likely continue to do so. Should I clean my Better Bottle between each batch and then pitch a fresh yeast pack or should I pour the apple juice right over the old yeast cake? This last batch has been sitting for about three months before going on tap.

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[SHAIV]

Id think it would be fine to reuse the yeast. At least once maybe twice. Probably easier than harvesting and washing and it will probably get going faster since its already built up its colony. The only reason i havent tried this is because the yeast is cheap. Got a 10 pack for like $6 on amazon

 

[Maidenhead]

Because this thread has been so interesting, I made my first batch ever. It has been sitting for about 5 weeks.
I can't wait to eventually try it...resisting the temptation to get into it before about 3-4 months!
What can people share about carbing it? By the time it's ready, I will be done with my keezer build...
Was thinking of just kegging/carbing...but with the wealth of info everyone has, I'm curious what people have to say...

Thanks!

 

[Blacksmith1]

It's an apple wine. Not sure if carbing it would be good. I carbed a cider recently and wasn't completely happy with the results. The cider itself may have been off.

 

[balrog]

I always keg/carb half and bottle/carb the other half
Made it 8 times so far
Always a hit, people like that it is very dry, love the champagne flavor from my using Montrachet yeast (that's now something else?) and I don't usually do the 2# corn sugar suggested as I aim more for 7% finished product abv.

 

[SHAIV]

I always keg carb it. Take it easy though the dry liquid seems to soak up the c02 more quickly than beer. Ive overcarbed it before trying my normal quick carb procedure

 

[BrewMoo]

Hey guys!
I have an odd thing going on with my latest two gallons.
See how one lees are smooth and other is bumpy? The bumpy one also has white specks floating on top.

I split a pack of yeast so one could had a higher pitch than the other. That would be the only difference and I think it's just yeast still playing around. Been almost 5 weeks.

I plan to taste both and take a FG reading. If it tastes okay I'm gonna roll with it. Planning on batch priming both together.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[cladinshadows]

Those sure look pellicular to me. Could just be the photos though. Taste 'em and decide if that's your style.

 

[Vrishnak]

A bottle of the Apfelwein. Been using this recipe for years now.

 

[Wolfhound180]

I just made my first batch in a few years. Now the wait begins.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Hey guys!
I have an odd thing going on with my latest two gallons.
See how one lees are smooth and other is bumpy? The bumpy one also has white specks floating on top.

I split a pack of yeast so one could had a higher pitch than the other. That would be the only difference and I think it's just yeast still playing around. Been almost 5 weeks.

I plan to taste both and take a FG reading. If it tastes okay I'm gonna roll with it. Planning on batch priming both together.

Thanks for any advice!
View attachment 646076 View attachment 646077

The top seems to have more haze while the bottom example looks clearer. Maybe the bumps are just signs of more sediment. I'd let things take their course and taste them.

 

[Brewbuzzard]

Add some splenda in a glass of distilled water and see if that gets a haze. How about stevia?

I use stevia for baking as well as sweetening drinks for my father in law and have never noticed any haze.

 

[Maidenhead]

I have my first ever 5 gallon batch sitting in my kitchen, since August. It's time.
I just can't decide if I want to keg or bottle.

 

[Wolfhound180]

I have my first ever 5 gallon batch sitting in my kitchen, since August. It's time.
I just can't decide if I want to keg or bottle.

I like it both ways. My wife likes it carbonated and kegged better. Easy choice for me seeing how easy it is to keg.

I started a batch yesterday with 3 year old packs of Montrachet. I used two, but we will see how it goes. I do have some new ones getting delivered soon.

 

[nug420ster]

By the time you finish reading this thread start to finish (#13524 posts) - You should have at least 7 gallons of Apple Wine in various carboys working away! and please please please use the search function - I figure atleast 7500 redundant posts in this thread.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I started a batch over the weekend. My wife wasn't too keen on having to buy the 4.5 gallons of apple juice at Sams. But we'll see.

I used brown sugar instead, and used an old brew bucket, as my fermentors were also being filled.

 

[Fontaine]

Hey guys, I have a quick question. I put my first batch on in September and finally bottled it today. Last night when I took the carboy out, it was crystal clear and of course I sampled a bit and it tasted great. When I transferred it to my fastfermenter to bottle I noticed I sucked up a bit of the yeast cake into the fermenter, so I closed it up and added an airlock and waited until this morning for the yeast to drop out before bottling.

This morning when I bottled it, I bottled 5 into wine bottles and then added priming sugar and put the rest in beer bottles. While I was bottling however, I noticed the Apfelwien was still cloudy? Should this settle out after a few days? Also, will the yeast that got mixed back up cause any issues in the wine bottles? No potential of pressure building up?

Thanks guys!

 

[Jeff Wilson]

Fontaine, first, the cloudiness should clear - soon likely if it was recently clear and muck just got stirred up. Of course, it's still in the bottles so once you start pouring, it will swirl back up a bit. No harm there.

I'm confused though on the question of pressure building up. I assume you added priming sugar to add carbonation - which, of course will kickstart added pressure. Muck or not, unless you stabilized, you probably had some yeast to act on the priming sugar.

So, not sure what your specific concern is but, from what you described, I think outside of seeing a little sediment that might swirl up a little when you open it, you probably should be good to go on all fronts.

 

[Seamonkey84]

Aren’t bottle carbed drinks always going to have lees ok bottom anyway?

 

[Fontaine]

Fontaine, first, the cloudiness should clear - soon likely if it was recently clear and muck just got stirred up. Of course, it's still in the bottles so once you start pouring, it will swirl back up a bit. No harm there.

I'm confused though on the question of pressure building up. I assume you added priming sugar to add carbonation - which, of course will kickstart added pressure. Muck or not, unless you stabilized, you probably had some yeast to act on the priming sugar.

So, not sure what your specific concern is but, from what you described, I think outside of seeing a little sediment that might swirl up a little when you open it, you probably should be good to go on all fronts.

I guess my concern with the Apfelwein I have in the wine bottles is, is there anyway kicking up the yeast sediment could kickstart fermentation again once inside the wine bottles, I’m assuming there isn’t but just asking for confirmation? Just to clarify, I bottled the wine ones before adding priming sugar for the ones in beer bottles.

 

[Jeff Wilson]

I guess my concern with the Apfelwein I have in the wine bottles is, is there anyway kicking up the yeast sediment could kickstart fermentation again once inside the wine bottles, I’m assuming there isn’t but just asking for confirmation? Just to clarify, I bottled the wine ones before adding priming sugar for the ones in beer bottles.

Ah. I see. You only added the priming sugar to the beer bottles. Missed that little detail. In the wine bottles, you might end up building some pressure if you did not stabilize - though that would be the case with or without the sediment which is likely mostly dead yeast cells or other precipitate. The yeast that could conceivably kickstart new fermentation might not be visible - for instance, introduced during the actual bottling. That said, if it has been sitting since September, I'm guessing its pretty dry and run it's course. If you stabilized, I'd say no need to worry. If not, there is a chance but, given the age, you're probably ok and very unlikely it will build rapidly. So, just keep an eye out for micro-movements on the corks. I wouldn't worry.