Man, I love Apfelwein

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OK, last question here. I have read a variety of ferm temps for the Apfelwein. What is the range of temp that is best?

I kept my ambient temps at 58-62 (swing on temp control unit). Liquid temp stayed closer to 65. I would assume is you use the wine yeast you would keep it in the range that the yeast likes which for me was 65-75 degrees.
 
The bottles are 3qt bottles, I believe I read somewhere that the bigger the bottle the longer time it takes to carbonate. About how long will these take? I'm guessing around 2-3 weeks.

Are those bottles able to hold pressure? You may want to use some 2L soda bottles. Wouldn't want them to pop.
 
Are those bottles able to hold pressure? You may want to use some 2L soda bottles. Wouldn't want them to pop.

They're the bottles the original apple juice came in. They're pretty thick and sturdy, I think they'll be able to withstand the pressure.

I'm looking to only carb half the batch, I'll probably use the 3qt bottles for the uncarbed stuff and regular beer bottles for the carbed.
 
Slightly OT, but has anyone tried making something similar with pomegranate? Just saw some "organic" pomegranate juice at the store the other day that looked like it could be a good candidate for a test batch..
 
I threw together a batch on 12-29-08. I just bottled yesterday.

It is way better than the first batch that went 37 days or so. The taste is very smooth and it goes down like drinking juice.
 
check the ingedients. Most fruit juices are actually a blend of apple, grape, pear and finally some of the actual juice that's on the label in big print.

Still.. It should still make an interesting hard fizzy drink.

The ingredients say 100% pomegranate, pasteurized, with ascorbic acid as a preservative... Mmmm..
 
OK so I have searched thru SOME of the hundreds of pages here but looking for a faster answer. Looking to try a batch using 1 lb. brown sugar and 1 lb. corn sugar, and use Nottingham ale yeast. Or maybe scratch the brown sugar and just roll with the ale yeast. Anyone have any success with this? Money is tight and dont want to waste 5 gallons of Tree Top apple juice. Thanks!
 
you can use the search this thread feature to better answer this question, but yes people have used brown and white sugar before with good results, and people have also used nottingham with good results. Less dry than the product that comes out of using montrachet, less attentuation, and a bigger krausen than with montrachet. If your planning on using a 5 gallon carboy and filling pretty close to the top with nottingham I suggest using a blow off for a few days and then watching your airlock after that. Hope that helps, cheers!
 
Well, go try it out and let us know. Worst case scenario, you waste a few bucks on juice, sugar, and yeast. Best case scenario, you stumbled on the next big thing.

Perhaps I will :) Just wanted to check if anyone else had attempted this with disastrous consequences (elephant farts, Armageddon, etc)
 
I know minimum head space is important especially when making wine but I do have a question/concern. I made up a half batch of Ed's Apfelwein on Saturday but only had a 6.5 gallon carboy to spare for fermentation. Is letting it sit for four weeks with that much oxygen present just a waste of time? Please advise if I should just throw out and remake with proper fermentation vessel, or ride out the storm and hope for the best.
 
I know minimum head space is important especially when making wine but I do have a question/concern. I made up a half batch of Ed's Apfelwein on Saturday but only had a 6.5 gallon carboy to spare for fermentation. Is letting it sit for four weeks with that much oxygen present just a waste of time? Please advise if I should just throw out and remake with proper fermentation vessel, or ride out the storm and hope for the best.

Refer to my signature.
 
I know minimum head space is important especially when making wine but I do have a question/concern. I made up a half batch of Ed's Apfelwein on Saturday but only had a 6.5 gallon carboy to spare for fermentation. Is letting it sit for four weeks with that much oxygen present just a waste of time? Please advise if I should just throw out and remake with proper fermentation vessel, or ride out the storm and hope for the best.

There's so much CO2 being produced that once active fermentation starts, there won't be any O2 left.
 
That's a great point, but why is head space and the fear of oxidized beer such a concern then. I would assume it would become an even greater concern when leaving in the primary for longer then normal perods of time. But I guess if the co2 has pushed out all the oxygen, and there is no way for oxygen to get back in the carboy then i should be enjoying Ed's apfelwine in about 3 and a half weeks. Thank you everybody.
 
That's a great point, but why is head space and the fear of oxidized beer such a concern then. I would assume it would become an even greater concern when leaving in the primary for longer then normal perods of time. But I guess if the co2 has pushed out all the oxygen, and there is no way for oxygen to get back in the carboy then i should be enjoying Ed's apfelwine in about 3 and a half weeks. Thank you everybody.

It's only an issue when using a secondary, since there won't be a big CO2 cushion on top of the liquid in the new container. That's when you really want the smaller vessel.
 
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what to do with apfelwein besides drinking it. I have to clear out some bottles to do some more bottling in a couple of weeks, but can't bring myself to drink that much apfelwein.

I mean, is this good to marinade, mix with something else, feed to the dog etc.... I know someone else is going to say that I can send it to them, but my purpose is to reuse the bottle so unless there is some nearby that wants to drink a whole bunch :) Actually I don't have to empty that many more, but just wondering if people use it for other things than drinking.
 
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what to do with apfelwein besides drinking it. I have to clear out some bottles to do some more bottling in a couple of weeks, but can't bring myself to drink that much apfelwein.

I mean, is this good to marinade, mix with something else, feed to the dog etc.... I know someone else is going to say that I can send it to them, but my purpose is to reuse the bottle so unless there is some nearby that wants to drink a whole bunch :) Actually I don't have to empty that many more, but just wondering if people use it for other things than drinking.

If you like seafood use it as a sauce with mussels. You can make a reduction following any recipe for mussels. Most reductions of this kind use wine (especially shellfish), just substitute with the apfelwein. Should give it a sweet aftertaste and give you a good excuse to unload a couple bottles.
 
to anyone cruising the back pages of this thread (unwilling to read every post): this is good. brew this right away.

when you drink your first glass, this will not live up to the hype. you might even think that you ****ed up and didn't make a batch with any alcohol in it. you may think you are just drinking old apple juice. you are not. this is a sneaky brew.

highest of recommendations. i haven't even let mine age as long as recommended. if this only gets better, i am kicking myself for not starting a second batch right away.
 
Just started a six gallon batch of this stuff after reading reviews of how great it is. It's hard to find cheap apple juice here, but all in all it came out to way less than a wine kit so I hope it turns out good enough to be some regular hooch.

BTW I couldn't find the montrachet yeast here so subbed it with Lalvin EC-1118 S. bayanus. Anyone used this particular strain? I've used it lots in wine making but not sure if it will alter the expected taste of this apfelwein.

Six gallons of beer, six of wine and six of apfelwein on the go now, damn, I better get cleaning some bottles.
 
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what to do with apfelwein besides drinking it. I have to clear out some bottles to do some more bottling in a couple of weeks, but can't bring myself to drink that much apfelwein.

I mean, is this good to marinade, mix with something else, feed to the dog etc.... I know someone else is going to say that I can send it to them, but my purpose is to reuse the bottle so unless there is some nearby that wants to drink a whole bunch :) Actually I don't have to empty that many more, but just wondering if people use it for other things than drinking.

If it's not carbonated, you can do what I did: fill up a pitcher or two and stick them in the fridge.
 
I just wanted to throw my $0.02 in and thank EdWort for this amazing recipe. It was so ridiculously easy -- I haven't even started drinking it yet, but the smell so far is intoxicating all on its own, and the fermentation is very fun to watch! :mug:
 
I was wondering if anyone had suggestions on what to do with apfelwein besides drinking it. I have to clear out some bottles to do some more bottling in a couple of weeks, but can't bring myself to drink that much apfelwein.

I mean, is this good to marinade, mix with something else, feed to the dog etc.... I know someone else is going to say that I can send it to them, but my purpose is to reuse the bottle so unless there is some nearby that wants to drink a whole bunch :) Actually I don't have to empty that many more, but just wondering if people use it for other things than drinking.

Braise a pork roast in it. Braise anything in it. Deglaze with it and make pan reduction sauces. Make apfelwein gelatin and put it in a parfait with spring berries. Marinate stuff. Cook mussels in it. Put a splash in some seafood risotto. Make walnut apfelwein cake. Apfelwein donuts. Mulled apfelwein. Reduce it down by two thirds and add sugar, then pour over your pancakes. Pour the rest in an ice cube tray and save it for later, just pop out a cube and throw it in a recipe or a glass of iced tea.
 
++ for freezing. Freeze a small bowl of it and use it to chill a punch or sangria, no watered down punch/sangria.
 
I would highly recommend Ed's advice of waiting 6 months to start drinking it. I had it aged for 4 months prior to Christmas and thought it was ok. After 2 more months, it was much better.


oh SNAP! I just started a batch with the hopes of 1 month fermenting, and 1 month in the bottle to serve up at a fly fishing gathering! Will it suck @ only 1 month in the bottle? or will my stomp drinking friends like it?
 
Wooly,

If 'ya carb it it'll taste great after just a month in the bottle! I did some still my first batch, and even after a couple months I didn't care for it much. Carb'ed it all ever since.
 
oh SNAP! I just started a batch with the hopes of 1 month fermenting, and 1 month in the bottle to serve up at a fly fishing gathering! Will it suck @ only 1 month in the bottle? or will my stomp drinking friends like it?

I made mine, let it ferment for 1 month, then racked to a keg and carbonated for 48 hours at 35 degrees, bottled into beer bottles and SWMBO and other ladies that have tried it love it. It is potent!

They say that some bottles have a "beer" taste to it it while others do not. I used a glass carboy but did use my beer auto siphon. Any thought s on that?
 
I made mine, let it ferment for 1 month, then racked to a keg and carbonated for 48 hours at 35 degrees, bottled into beer bottles and SWMBO and other ladies that have tried it love it. It is potent!

They say that some bottles have a "beer" taste to it it while others do not. I used a glass carboy but did use my beer auto siphon. Any thought s on that?

Sounds like my Mom... anything that comes out of a beer bottle, even wine and Apfelwein, automatically tastes like beer to her. All psychological in most likelihood. If you didn't clean the bottles then you would have bigger problems than a bit of beer aftertaste; if I don't rinse my bottles mold sets up pretty fast in there.
 
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