Man, I love Apfelwein

[EdWort]

Ed - Thanks for the recipe.By the way my 5 gal carboy is 1" from the brim. I did not get it all in my carboy. I had an extra 6 oz of cider leftover.

I use Better Bottles and I usually have about 4 oz. left over simply from the foam from shaking up the two gallons with the corn sugar, so that's OK.

With Montrachet yeast, it will ferment out lower than 1.000, so expect a dry cider. The main thing is to keep an open mind and have two to three glasses before passing judgment. Most folks who've tried it that way can see the light and come summer, they'll have a very refreshing cold drink when it is hot out.

Just remember the kick.:cross:

 

[Gangsta RIB]

OMG this thread is insane. Anyway, I already killed my 5 gallons, made with ale yeast and it was delicious. However, a friend of mine, gonzoflick, brought over some using edworts original recipe, and I must say, dry is the way to go. It seems to have a much cleaner taste. And this is coming from someone who hates dry wine....

 

[Stonedog]

Update! My batch of Ed's Apfelwein is chugging along nicely! 5 burps per minute out of the airlock! Air temp is 65 this morning....will warm up to about 67 when the sun gets up full. Apfelwein is nice and cloudy too....which I assume means that the yeast is doing its business!

Now the waiting!!!!

 

[JohnnyK68]

Yep Mine also is really active @ 70* using Ale yeast. Looking forward to this. Still never saw any thing about anyone having sucsess bottle carbing this like a beer. Is it possible?

 

[Stonedog]

JohnnyK68...I plan on giving it a try! I bottle carb...its all I have ever known to do...I add 1/2tsp of priming sugar to each 12oz bottle....so far....no explosions....

I just make sure that I put ONLY 12oz per bottle and ONLY 1/2 tsp per bottle....each bottle has a line marked on the side...so I know how much to put in each bottle exactly.....

I just let it sit in the bottles, in a room, at room temp for another week...then chill it in the fridge...worked great for the first batch of cider!

 

[werb]

I just wanted to chime in as a fan of this thread (and long involved, useful threads in general). One of my other hobbies is building speakers and there is a famous thread on open baffle speakers that went on for a year and a half (and is still going I think). And yes, it inspired me to build a pair of open baffle speakers.

Anyway, I took the plunge on December 30 using the EdWort recipe. From all appearances, things are coming along swimmingly. Has anyone tried any other of Costco's juice offerings with this recipe? I know they have a passion fruit blend and polmagranite, athought it is expensive.

Cheers to you all :fro:

 

[MikeRLynch]

I've pretty much done this exact recipe with pomegranate and a pom/blueberry blend juice. It comes out nice, but needs to age a lot longer than the apple. The pom gets a bit tart straight out of the carboy, but samples from the bottles i've put down show it's smoothing out nicely. If you can afford the juice, and have patience, I would definitely suggest trying it.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I came home from work today only to find my "S" bubbler filled with cider.

I was concerned about fermenting too low yesterday and sent off an email to Lesaffery Yeast Corp (Montrachet yeast mfg'r.)

Here is their reply; (I was at 57'f, now at 59'F)

Montrachet is a robust yeast and works best between 59-86 F. You are a few
degrees low, but this will just slow the fermentation down a bit. In my
home fruit wine making, I usually try to stay between 65-75F. Some fruit
based wine makers actually prefer lower fermentation temperatures because
it helps retain volatile fruit flavors and aromas. Most of our wine yeasts
will perform at the temperatures in your basement, just more slowly. The
exception is our Cote des Blancs strain. This strain is recommended for
fruit based wines and apple ciders because of its own contribution to the
fruit aromas of the wine. This strain is temperature sensitive and will
not ferment below about 55 F.​

I replied today asking for a recommendation on carbonating naturally. I'll share tomorrow.

Ed - You created a monster!!!

 

[EdWort]

Cool. I usually ferment mine between 68 and 73 according to my digital thermometer.

 

[Biermann]

I know I've said this before. . . but mine still looks like watered down pus.

I'm afraid to try it.

Ok, I'm going to stop whining about it and I'm going to go do it right now.

I'll post results (if I'm still alive afterwards)

 

[Biermann]

Ok, just pulled a sample. . .

FG 1.000

Very dry, just a hint of apple--actually tastes more melony, white-wine like. Very little mouthfeel or body--quite watery.

Overall, its pretty freakin good.

I still think it could benefit from some aging.

Need to put in some finings tonight or tomorrow (still haven't done that yet).

 

[EdWort]

I know I've said this before. . . but mine still looks like watered down pus.

Yeah, yeah, I know. You never followed instructions as a kid.

 

[Biermann]

Yeah, yeah, I know. You never followed instructions as a kid.

Hey, how'd you know??!!!

 

[Biermann]

Wow. this stuff packs a punch. . .

I was going to make an analogy involving indiginous peoples, firewater and being trapped on a reservation on Saturday night, but I didn't think it was politically expedient.

 

[Kadmium]

Hi guys, this is my first post I'm just getting ready to brew some apfelwein right now! but, I was hoping y'all could help me out with a question?

(I am from Australia, so bear with me)

I am using your recipy for 22.5 litres of apfelwein (5galons) using a 25litre demijhon (5.5galons)(I think its like a carboy) but its not the same shape as all of your guys. Instead of being a cylinder shaped carboy, mine is more of a globe shape?

http://www.creativecookware.com/images/demijohn.jpg

thats a link to what mine looks like... will this still work? cheers

PS still gona give it a shot!

 

[user 4295]

A demijohn with a stopper and an airlock will be absolutely fine for this.

John

 

[oznozz]

I finally bottled/mason jar-ed mine. I put 5 liters of non-carbonated brew into mason jars, since I was lacking a sufficient number of bottle caps to bottle everythnig.

I had done the following :
* 3 gallons cider, quick boil, cooled, pitched onto yeast cake from spiced pumpkin (really squash) ale
* 5 days later, added another 3 gallons cider + 1.5 lb sugar + 2 lbs honey (quick boil, cooled, added)
* left alone in primary for 5.5 weeks between 60 and 70 F

I eagerly cracked open a liter of the still brew last night and shared it with my girlfriend. I'd say that it still has a pretty great nose of baked apples and fresh green apples, but it doesn't appear to have picked up any particularly interesting spices from the Squash Ale (which is a nice ale). The brew is quite dry, and rather like white wine to the taste. I was surprised that it seemed so unremarkable taste-wise when it smells so good. I also thought that it tasted pretty alcoholic (no idea about the ABV due to the split introduction of fermentatbles), but after consuming a good 750ml, I didn't feel especially drunk. Perhaps that had to do with dinner and drinking it slowly. I'm going to check a bottle of the carbonated stuff this weekend. Then I'm going to let my cider age while I drink the Squash Ale and the Saisson. If it improves, I'll post something.

Could the quick boil have helped to dry out some of the flavor? I would guess from what people have written that is a "no", but I don't know. I'm glad I did boil because every batch of cider meant for drinking without fermentation seemed to spoil in a most gross smelling fashion.

 

[Kadmium]

ok guys, so I followed your recipes but I used a juice from my local supermarket.. and I think I am f***ed... I read the ingredients just before and well... have a read...

Dimethyl dicarbonate: Dimethyl dicarbonate innactivates microbes and breaks down after packing within hours to components normailly found in fruit, leaving Juice Stop (juice company) preservative free....

so... my question is... will this Dimethyl Dicarbonate kill my yeast? its been about 3 hours since I pitched the yeast, I didnt rehydrate is, just sprinkled it in and poured about a quart of juice onto the funnel to rinse/mix it all in... and my cider is not cloudy yet... :S please tell me I did not just add my yeast to apple juice containing a yeast killing additive... because then I would be the biggest idiot on these forums lol...

 

[kouphax]

so... my question is... will this Dimethyl Dicarbonate kill my yeast?

I am going to go out an a big long limb here and say that there probably wouldn't be enough of the stuff in the liquid to kill the yeast. Total guess though. Does it say the quantities in the juice? What temp is the primary at?

James.

 

[Orfy]

I am going to go out an a big long limb here and say that there probably wouldn't be enough of the stuff in the liquid to kill the yeast. Total guess though. Does it say the quantities in the juice? What temp is the primary at?

James.

I'd say if they are going to use it, they'll use enough to do the job. i.e. kill anything in there. They question is, is it only effective for a short time after addition or is it still active?

How much have you made? 1 gallon or 5?

 

[Kadmium]

made the whole 5 gallons lol.... soooo yeah. It does say however it deactivates within hours of bottling the juice to leave it preservative free (big preservative free sign on the front) which is why I bought it, but when I inspected closer to see what types of ingredients it used, I noticed it... really pissed me off!

 

[Orfy]

Well you stand a chance then. What temp did you pitch at, what temp is it at now.

 

[Kadmium]

sorry for double post guys, but I just found this little bit of info out on the web,

The use of the product as a cold stabilization agent features a number of important advantages over alternative techniques including:

* Activity against a wide range of problematic microorganisms; * status as a "processing aid" not a chemical preservative by the FDA, so that listing on the ingredient statement is not required; * undergoes rapid hydrolysis to naturally present levels of methanol and carbon dioxide; * no affect on final beverage quality (taste, bouquet, or color).

Chemically, the product is dimethyl dicarbonate or dimethyl pyrocarbonate.

hopefully this means its all A O.K. but only time can tell eh? Will let you know how the yeast are reacting tomorow!


EDIT : pitched at around 23 Celcius, its around there still

 

[Schlenkerla]

Will let you know how the yeast are reacting tomorow!


EDIT : pitched at around 23 Celcius, its around there still

Mine took almost 3 days before I noticed activity. My advice is to be patient and give it a chance.

 

[seyahmit]

I finally reached the end of the thread. I picked up some juice last night. I am going to try a 1 gallon batch to make sure my wife likes it. I have been wanting to make something for her (she hates beer) and thought I would give this a try. I might do some 1 gallon experiment batches to get it to where she will like it. She hates dry wine, but loves the sweet stuff. So I may experiment with different ways to sweeten before I make a 5 gallon batch that only I will drink.

My first batch will be Ed's recipe scaled down to 1 gallon.

 

[britishbloke]

I think I tried the smackpack once on an organic cider and it turned out dry but very good.

I bought some dirt cheap cider this time (Preservative free)............

Can someone tell me if I should buy the WYeast cider smack pack?

Or just go with Notingham Dry Yeast?

 

[Kadmium]

O.K, well I dont know if this is a healthy sign or not, so I thought I would ask! never seen fermentation through glass before, only had it in a plastic beer brewer! so here I go:

My apfelwein is wierd, I had that dilema of the stuff I found in the apple juice (read up) but I figured that would be fine... now, when I woke up this morning, the juice is not cloudy, infact its the same colour as when I poured all the juice and sugar in yesterday... secondly there is a ring of yeast floating on the top of the juice, looks like a krausen kind of I think? but its just a ring of yeast... there is a little bit of pressure built up in the airlock, and I saw it bubble just once.... wondering if thats just due to evap/temp change? does this mean my yeasts are dead?

SECONDLY! if, and I mean IF my wein works, I plan on bottle carbing it. What I am wondering is, if I let it clear up nicely in the primary, and let all that trub settle at the bottom, if I then bottle it, will the yeast not be all down the bottom, hence no yeast getting in the bottles for carbing it? or is there still microscopic yeast floating around in the clear clear apfelwein goodness, just waiting to get bottled? thanks!

 

[user 4295]

When I started mine about 10 days ago I didn't see any activity at all for the first 36 hours. The juice and sugar were as clear as when I mixed them, just like you. After 36 hours was a whole different story! I woke up and it was very cloudy and the activity and bubbles rising to the surface were incredible! One bubble every second or so for about the next 5-6 days. Just give it some more time and you'll be fine.

Get ready for a few days of egg farts coming from the airlock. It's just some sulfide compounds produced by the yeast and will dissipate. At day 10 the bubble rate is down to one every 30 seconds. The batch is starting to clear and I'm looking forward to trying it in a few more weeks.

Once it has completely cleared there will still be plenty of yeast left in suspension to provide for priming and bottle carbonation.

John

 

[Kadmium]

When I stated mine about 10 days ago I didn't see any activity at all for the first 36 hours. The juice and sugar were as clear as when I mixed them, just like you. After 36 hours was a whole different story! I woke up and it was very cloudy and the activity and bubbles rising to the surface were incredible! One bubble every second or so for about the next 5-6 days. Just give it some more time and you'll be fine.

Get ready for a few days of egg farts coming from the airlock. It's just some sulfide compounds produced by the yeast and will dissipate. At day 10 the bubble rate is down to one every 30 seconds. The batch is starting to clear and I'm looking forward to trying it in a few more weeks.

John

Thank god, I planned on giving it another 3 days to show me what its got before re-starting the whole process lol... lets just pray this works!

 

[ill.literate]

Bottling ours this weekend... man I can't wait to try it!