Man, I love Apfelwein

[JohnnyO]

I just set up my first batch of apfelwein last night. I'm pretty stoked about it. When I left for work this morning, she was bubbling away and smelled of delicious apples. Tonight when I got home from work, she was still bubbling away, but the smell had gone from apples to sulfur.

I told my wife that was the smell of evil happening.

 

[ODP]

mmmmm farty smell in the air- my girlfriend came over after I had put my first batch in the ale pail and asked if I had been cuttin' the cheese. I told her yes, but I don't think that's what she was smelling!

I just ordered my stuff to make a few batches of apfelwein and already have to carboys! I'm ready to go when this weekend comes around. Are you guys just fermenting at room temp.?

 

[wcarter1227]

Are you guys just fermenting at room temp.?

i fermented a batch at room temp, actually got up close to 80 degrees. obviously it produced some fussels but after 2 months in bottles they are gone. apfelwein is pretty forgiving, i wouldnt worry too much about temp, although i think my next batch if i start getting close to the 80s ill put it in a rubbermaid container with water and ice bottles.

 

[ODP]

it seems like it's pretty hardy and would take a lot to screw up- I look forward to getting my first batch going soon!

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Are you guys just fermenting at room temp.?

Damn straight...room in my fermentation freezer is precious, and reserved strictly for beer! So apfelwein get's fermented in the house, hidden beneath my dining room table. It tastes a little "hot" when I keg/bottle, but I keep enough in the pipeline that I'm always drinking it well aged and smooth.

 

[ODP]

I'm planning on making a batch this weekend, and then another in 2 weeks like Edwort suggested....I'm hoping it'll be nice and tasty by December- what do you guys think? Is that long enough?

 

[BlindLemonLars]

Absolutely. It may not be at it's absolute pinnacle by then, but it will be quite palatable.

 

[ODP]

good to hear! It's on like donkey kong!

 

[elbajista]

is 78 degrees F a little hot for AW? Mine has been at this temp steadily for 2 days, I wonder if I should try the soaked t-shirt trick to cool it down some?

 

[Radecky]

My 1st 5 gallons I ended up drinking in 3 weeks after I bottled it. boy o boy it was good The 2nd 5 gallons I have purposefully left in the primary to keep me out of it. It has been sitting for about 4 months after the became completely clear. My question is does the bulk aging add the character that it would otherwise gain in the bottle?

B-

 

[wcarter1227]

when i first bottled my batch of apfelwein not many people enjoyed it, being a lot dryer than traditional cider, however i saved a few bottles of woodchuck cider and bottled apfelwein in that. after 2 months a buddy was over and saw the "woodchuck" in the fridge and said it was the best "woodchuck" he had ever had. When i told him it was apfelwein, he asked me to make him a 5 gallon batch, he even paid for all the ingredients. So it looks like ill be making a 10 gallon batch of apfelwein soon, 5 for me and 5 for him.

 

[Hegh]

My 1st 5 gallons I ended up drinking in 3 weeks after I bottled it. boy o boy it was good The 2nd 5 gallons I have purposefully left in the primary to keep me out of it. It has been sitting for about 4 months after the became completely clear. My question is does the bulk aging add the character that it would otherwise gain in the bottle?

B-

As far as I know, it adds the same character, but faster... Or maybe better character... I've not done a side-by-side test, but bulk-aging is generally considered the right way to go.

 

[Athos710]

I finally made it to the end of this thread :cross:. My Mr Beer batch true to Ed Wort's recipe is 3.5 weeks in and will be bottled at the 5 week mark. My 3 gallon batch with 1 gallon cranberry juice cocktail is fermenting along nicely. I think I'll leave this in for 6 or 8 weeks then brew up the batch I already have the juice for with blueberry juice cocktail. The plan is to keep that 3 gallon better bottle always fermenting some version or another of Apfelwein.

I plan on carbing half of my first batch with apple juice and leaving the other half still. And by still, I mean I will be bottling it in beer bottles, but not degassing or killing off the yeasts. It'll probably end up with a slight carb if I can let it age as long as I would like. For those that care, I worked it out to 1 oz of juice for every 16 oz of Apfelwein should carb at the same rate as 1oz/gal of corn sugar. From this thread over here.

 

[wcarter1227]

i didnt kill the yeast nor did i degass my still apfelwein. it has a slight carb to it and is very dangerous. goes down really smooth although i prefer my supercarbed apfelwein.:rockin:

 

[Notnice]

+1mill on carbed apfel. i just tried some uncarbed and it not my cup of tea.

and on a side note for anyone that thinks its hoochy, i let some age for 2 weeks on some oak and it was nice to drink as soon as carbed. the oak really mutes the alcohol taste.

 

[portlandbeergeek]

+1mill on carbed apfel. i just tried some uncarbed and it not my cup of tea.

and on a side note for anyone that thinks its hoochy, i let some age for 2 weeks on some oak and it was nice to drink as soon as carbed. the oak really mutes the alcohol taste.

That sounds delicious. How much and what type of oak did you use? Was it the last two weeks of the primary or did you rack it onto the chips after it fermented out?

 

[marubozo]

I'm not going to read every single post, but did have a quick question. What's the consensus on when to bottle? I just realized that I completely forgot about my apfelwein and I started it back on like June 15 so it's just been sitting there for about 7 weeks now. So should it go to bottles now to age for another few months or let it bulk age longer?

 

[Hegh]

I'm not going to read every single post, but did have a quick question. What's the consensus on when to bottle? I just realized that I completely forgot about my apfelwein and I started it back on like June 15 so it's just been sitting there for about 7 weeks now. So should it go to bottles now to age for another few months or let it bulk age longer?

Between 1 and 8 months after pitching, I think

 

[Drew_101]

I let mine set for 12 weeks in primary then I bottled half still and half carbed. For the carbed I let set for 3 weeks min. I did try one at 1 1/2 weeks and it was good. I used Notty yeast.

 

[elbajista]

I let mine set for 12 weeks in primary then I bottled half still and half carbed. For the carbed I let set for 3 weeks min. I did try one at 1 1/2 weeks and it was good. I used Notty yeast.

How did you like the still version?

 

[philrose]

How did you like the still version?

FWIW

Every time I make the stuff I cant help but crack a few bottles/tap a few glasses well before its carbed up.

Lazy, yes. Delicious, absolutely.

 

[slnies]

I just put together my first five gallons. I'm looking forward to the reward at the end.

 

[Drew_101]

Its ok.... I like it carbed a lot better

 

[wcarter1227]

this recipe is so dry that still just seems to lack something, i do enjoy a ice cold glass of still every once in a while but supercarbed just seems more apealing to me.

 

[gecko45]

Thank you, EdWort.

 

[wcarter1227]

At this moment im sitting here a little confused. I had a 1 gallon jug of "still" apfelwein that has been aging for a few months. Running low on carbed apfelwein I decided to chill down the gallon of still wine and to my suprise i guess i must have bottled this batch too early cause it seems like it naturally carbinated itself.

My question is that is this normal? It tastes fine so I know its not an infection, but should I have added sulfites and potassium sorbate to this and is this why it carbed itself up? and also since I didnt add these will these still bottles turn into vinegar and if so how long do i have till i need to finish them off?

On a side note I did another batch of wine this morning, not really apfelwein since I used 100% grape juice but I made it like apfelwein even added the corn sugar.

Its only been a few hours and its starting to bubble.

 

[elbajista]

I started my batch on the 29th of July, 10 days ago, and I'm getting less than 1 bubble/minute. Is this normal?

Due to my temperature situation, my Apfelwein has been around 76/78 degrees, so maybe the higher temp led to faster fermentation?

I'm tempted to take a "sample."

 

[Hegh]

At this moment im sitting here a little confused. I had a 1 gallon jug of "still" apfelwein that has been aging for a few months. Running low on carbed apfelwein I decided to chill down the gallon of still wine and to my suprise i guess i must have bottled this batch too early cause it seems like it naturally carbinated itself.

My question is that is this normal? It tastes fine so I know its not an infection, but should I have added sulfites and potassium sorbate to this and is this why it carbed itself up? and also since I didnt add these will these still bottles turn into vinegar and if so how long do i have till i need to finish them off?

On a side note I did another batch of wine this morning, not really apfelwein since I used 100% grape juice but I made it like apfelwein even added the corn sugar.

Its only been a few hours and its starting to bubble.

If you didn't degas (stir vigorously, perhaps with a bottle-brush), there'll be some CO2 leftover from fermentation. Not a problem, it's perfectly normal and (I think) a pleasant side-effect.

Also, it won't turn into vinegar unless some acetobactors made it into your bottle, no matter how long you leave it.

 

[KillerKellers]

I started my batch on the 29th of July, 10 days ago, and I'm getting less than 1 bubble/minute. Is this normal?

Due to my temperature situation, my Apfelwein has been around 76/78 degrees, so maybe the higher temp led to faster fermentation?

I'm tempted to take a "sample."

Yeah, I would not recommend taking a sample.. it won't taste very good at this point. I took my first sample at 3 weeks and it was horrid IMO. After 2 months, I took another sample and HUGE difference. Nice and dry. I plan to rack it to a keg here in the next week or 2 and leave it kegged to age for 2 more months!

 

[HandsomeRyan]

My first 5G batch is bubbling away happily in my kitchen. It'll be hard to wait a few months to sample the goods. If this is even 1/3 as delicious as everyone says I'm going to be sad that I have neither the space in my apartment nor the pull with SWMBO to get another carboy to go ahead and start another batch.