Man, I love Apfelwein

[Cactus]

Ed, The sugar you are using here. Is it just regular table sugar? I asked my lhbs and they said to use fructose. I want to use your exact recipe. Thanks for the help.

 

[EdWort]

The sugar is corn sugar otherwise known as dextrose.

 

[Cactus]

Thank you for your help.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

I've got 3 carboys on the way, just getting started! 2 are for apfelwine, the reason I am getting into brewing... thanks Ed. Yay!!!

 

[Tonybrau]

So once fermentation is complete do i carbonate like i would for beer or do i skip the priming sugar and just bottle?

 

[EdWort]

So once fermentation is complete do i carbonate like i would for beer or do i skip the priming sugar and just bottle?

Yes.

Actually it's whatever you like. In Germany it is still, but my wife likes it carbonated, so I carb it.

 

[Tonybrau]

Hmm well since ive never had it there only one thing to do, carb half and leave the other!

 

[Panzermann]

Ok, it has been 3 days and it does smell a bit. haha

Nothing major though..just notice it when I walk by it.

 

[BigKahuna]

I have the never ending ferment going on here! I made a batch (On a yeast cake from previous batch) on September 27th, and it went fine...but got cold....like....38F. I brought it back up from the basement just after Christmas, and it's now chugging along like a mini freight train again.

We need to devise a small turbine to produce electricity from Apfelwein!

 

[Hegh]

Mine's cold crashing in the attic right now (35-45*). I'll probably bottle it on Thursday.

The sample I tasted with the gravity reading was kind of like an apple-y Riesling. Very pleasant and surprisingly sweet (using Koelsch yeast instead of Montrachet, so it seemed to finish out around 1.006).

 

[RGH]

Im wondering how the California Ale yeast might do in there. Any thoughts? I have no clue. I was going to save it for an IPA or something...

 

[avaserfi]

It looks like my Apfelwein is ready to bottle. OG 1.071 on Dec 10th took the gravity Sunday and today and it is a constant 1.005. It seems most people get a lower FG, anything I can do to get better attenuation?

Edit: Or am I being impatient and should leave it in primary for a little bit longer?

 

[HoppyDaze]

unless you need your fermenter for something I would wait

 

[avaserfi]

unless you need your fermenter for something I would wait

I will need it in about 1-1.5 weeks and can wait that long. Then I need it for use as a secondary for my IPA and dry hopping. Seems like fermentation is done, but hopefully it drops a little more in the extra time.


Just smashed the hydrometer too . Time to get a refractometer :rockin:.

 

[Panzermann]

It looks like my Apfelwein is ready to bottle. OG 1.071 on Dec 10th took the gravity Sunday and today and it is a constant 1.005. It seems most people get a lower FG, anything I can do to get better attenuation?

Edit: Or am I being impatient and should leave it in primary for a little bit longer?

That sounds like good attenuation to me, at this rate you have yourself a 8.6% ABV (Beersmith) Apfelwein.

 

[avaserfi]

That sounds like good attenuation to me, at this rate you have yourself a 8.6% ABV (Beersmith) Apfelwein.

True, I guess I was more focused on the lower FG of 0.997. Whatever the case I will let it sit in primary for another week before bottling. No rush.

 

[flyweed]

Hey Ed...just thought I'd let you know my wife and I were over visiting relatives in northern Germany (near the north sea)...anyway, I ran into a little shop that had Geripptes and Bembels (sp?) anyway, I bought a Bembel and 6 cut glasses. I will post a pick here soon. The Bembel is actual black and says "Bembel with care" on it. I had to laugh, so that's why I bought it..now I have something to serve my Apfelwein in!!!

Dan

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

I just got my carboys and beer kit in tonight around 8:00 and had apfelwein started by 9:00. My first brew ever!

 

[LayMeister]

I thought Montrachet wasn't supposed to be this active? Anyone else seen this when making Apfelwein?

Paul

 

[RGH]

What kind of yeast did you use? I haven't made a batch yet, but from the pictures I have seen I noticed that its a pretty tame fermentation when using the dry wine yeast. If you used an ale yeast I would like to know how it comes out because I have some ale yeast that I would like to use, as long as it doesn't come out tasting like swill.

 

[LayMeister]

I used Red Star Montrachet as recommended by Ed. Never had this big a head before. There was a long lag between pitching the yeast (while filling the carboy with Apple juice) and the start of activity - about 36 hours. Maybe it was because the juice was very cold - about 40F when I put it in the Carboy.

Paul

What kind of yeast did you use? I haven't made a batch yet, but from the pictures I have seen I noticed that its a pretty tame fermentation when using the dry wine yeast. If you used an ale yeast I would like to know how it comes out because I have some ale yeast that I would like to use, as long as it doesn't come out tasting like swill.

 

[Mr. Nice Guy]

I used Red Star Montrachet as recommended by Ed. Never had this big a head before. There was a long lag between pitching the yeast (while filling the carboy with Apple juice) and the start of activity - about 36 hours. Maybe it was because the juice was very cold - about 40F when I put it in the Carboy.

Paul

Yeah I made a batch yesterday and the day before (no deviation from Ed's recipe) and they both started fermenting at the same time. I think the first batch took longer to start because my juice was too cold. Yesterday when I did the second batch I warmed the juice up in a hot water bath till it was 60-65 degrees and I had fermentation within 12 hours.

2 batches of Apfelwein in two days, I'm getting off to a good start!

 

[WeinstrasseBrewer]

Thanks, EdWort! Das schmeckt mir aber gut!

I made my first batch of Apfelwein back in late October, and am about to bottle.

Results:

OG: 1.070... FG: 0.995 (but it is neither too dry nor too tart)

I used Montrachet yeast, but had little to no bad smell that others report. I did ferment cool in the basement, though (first couple weeks it was at 63, the last couple months it has been steady at 55).

I left it alone (except for an occastional gravity reading) for 3 months, and now...

The color lightened to a pale straw, and is now almost crystal clear. The aroma has a subtle hint of apple, and the taste is SPECTACULAR - more wine-like than cider, and very close to the Apfelwein I had in Hessen (actually, this is better IMHO).

I've been told by SWMBO to make sure we always have some of this on hand!

Vielen Dank, EdWort!
Prost!

 

[Hegh]

Thanks, EdWort! Das schmeckt mir aber gut!

I took German back in high school, but I'm having a hard time understanding why "aber" instead of "sehr" fits there. (I'm trying to learn, not correct, in case it sounds that way.)

Can someone explain why "aber" (meaning "but") would take the meaning "very" instead of "sehr" (which literally means "very")?

Not really related to Apfelwein, I suppose...

Danke!

 

[WeinstrasseBrewer]

Hegh,

I'm sure a native speaker will correct me, but here goes...

It's colloquial, not grammatically correct. I heard it quite a bit in my times over there in case such as, for example if you see a cute puppy: "Du bist aber süss!" or "Well, aren't you sweet"

A similar (though old fashioned) use in English might be something like: "He whipped him, but good."

 

[blackwaterbrewer]

this may not apply to your recipe, but when making apple mead ( cyser ) make sure that your apple juce is 100% with no preservatives. I wonder what this would be like with white labs sweet mead yeast?

 

[EoinMag]

Hegh,

I'm sure a native speaker will correct me, but here goes...

It's colloquial, not grammatically correct. I heard it quite a bit in my times over there in case such as, for example if you see a cute puppy: "Du bist aber süss!" or "Well, aren't you sweet"

A similar (though old fashioned) use in English might be something like: "He whipped him, but good."

This is spot on as an explanation, not a native speaker myself but lived there for a good few years and I still speak it daily at work.

 

[Hegh]

Hegh,

I'm sure a native speaker will correct me, but here goes...

It's colloquial, not grammatically correct. I heard it quite a bit in my times over there in case such as, for example if you see a cute puppy: "Du bist aber süss!" or "Well, aren't you sweet"

A similar (though old fashioned) use in English might be something like: "He whipped him, but good."

Thanks! Although I don't study any more, I still think about it sometimes

 

[LastKnight]

Hello all! I've just started my first solo brew, and as you can probably tell, it was Ed's apfelwein. Stuck as close to the recipe as I could - my FLHBS didn't have Montchartret, so I used Lavlin EC-1118. Two pounds of corn sugar, 6 gallons of "Berkley & Jensen" apple juice (water, concentrate, and ascorbic acid), some yeast nutrients and energizer - and watch out world! Specific gravity was 1.065, potential alcohol was 8.5% - exactly on spec. I'm looking forward to this.

Thanks for the recipe, Ed!

(PS: Yes, I did join the forum just because of this thread. )

 

[CTBrew]

Where do you get those orange lids on that carboys in the picture on page 1 of this thread? pretty neat looking