Man, I love Apfelwein

[Mose]

Bottled our first batch last night. I used the brown sugar in mine and it came out very tasty. Like Ed says it'll probably take a glass or two to get used too, but it was still good.

We put a dash of black cherry juice (unsweetened) in the glass during some further sampling and it went really well.

So, I put another 4.25gal of apple juice in the fermenter and .75gal of black cherry juice for the next round. I only used 1lb of dextrose this go around. We'll see how batch number two progresses, I'll probably let it sit until the new year sometime.

Thanks Ed.

 

[tomlivings]

Hey guys,
I bottled my Apfelwein 3 weeks ago to condition. Added 1 cup dextrose to 6 gallons. No carbonation yet (just opened a bottle).
Its tasty for sure, but no sparkle. Am I doomed to drink 6 gallons flat or is there a chance it will get some fizz?

 

[akthor]

What temp was it at?

 

[Hegh]

Hey guys,
I bottled my Apfelwein 3 weeks ago to condition. Added 1 cup dextrose to 6 gallons. No carbonation yet (just opened a bottle).
Its tasty for sure, but no sparkle. Am I doomed to drink 6 gallons flat or is there a chance it will get some fizz?

Wow, look at that... Answered three pages ago... by me!

Umm... no, not really. After 2 months it will be pretty much fully carbed, but 3 months would be best. This conditions much slower than beer.

But, as

What temp was it at?

asked, the temperature does matter. Make sure it's at least mid-60s, preferably closer to 70.

 

[tomlivings]

at around 74....
Thanks fellas.

 

[shadohman]

Hey guys,
I bottled my Apfelwein 3 weeks ago to condition. Added 1 cup dextrose to 6 gallons. No carbonation yet (just opened a bottle).
Its tasty for sure, but no sparkle. Am I doomed to drink 6 gallons flat or is there a chance it will get some fizz?

Did you take a final gravity when you bottled? If not could you take one now.

Fermenting at 78 degrees could have over stressed your yeast.

Bottling at 8 weeks should have left enough yeast.

 

[rsa]

Hi all,

I have my first 5gal bottle bubbling away nicely for 2 weeks now. I plan on carbing when ready to bottle. Having no beer experience I searched through the posts to learn how to prime. I still have a few questions. Is there a limit on how long you can leave it in the carboy and still have enough yeast left to carbonate? I would like to leave it at least 3 months in the carboy. Is this a bad idea? Is it better to carb & bottle at 8 weeks and then let it sit?

 

[shadohman]

You should be safe at least to the six month mark. I bottled a batch at seven months and it carbed up just fine.

I recommend reading Revvy's bottling tips if you have not done so already. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/bottling-tips-homebrewer-94812/

Hi all,

I have my first 5gal bottle bubbling away nicely for 2 weeks now. I plan on carbing when ready to bottle. Having no beer experience I searched through the posts to learn how to prime. I still have a few questions. Is there a limit on how long you can leave it in the carboy and still have enough yeast left to carbonate? I would like to leave it at least 3 months in the carboy. Is this a bad idea? Is it better to carb & bottle at 8 weeks and then let it sit?

 

[Hypnolobster]

Wow, I made a batch in early August and after it finished fermenting I stuck it behind a chair in the living room and completely forgot about it until today.

The stuff got absolutely crystal clear. It's incredible. I'm going to give it until mid-november and then I'll keg it.

What volume have people been carbing to?

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Has anyone used Bourgovin (RC 212) yeast in this? It's what my LHBS had.

 

[jgoette]

I just used all 5 gals of apple juice in my carboy, and its filled just below the top of the neck... is this too much? Should I go ahead and try to pour some out? Or will it be okay since its just Montrachet yeast?

 

[glenn514]

^^^Just leave it be, but, by ALL means, use some sort of blow-off tube, rather than an airlock, for the first week or so of fermentation.

glenn514

 

[pkincaid]

I just used all 5 gals of apple juice in my carboy, and its filled just below the top of the neck... is this too much? Should I go ahead and try to pour some out? Or will it be okay since its just Montrachet yeast?

Mine was about that full and it didn't overflow. There is practically no krausen. It bubbles a tiny bit, but that's about it.

 

[TheWeeb]

wonderful, tiny champagne bubbles. ... .

 

[pkincaid]

I know some people have used splenda to sweeten, my question....does splenda inhibit further fermentation? I'm sweetening half and bottling with the intention of carbing and leaving half unsweetened.
TIA guys!

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Well mine is bubbling away like crazy... very cool... I'll be sure to report how the Bourgovin yeast did in 4 weeks or so. Can't wait to make some nice holiday beverages from this stuff over christmas...

 

[pkincaid]

Tasted the Apfelwein while taking a hydrometer reading today. YUM!!!! It's at .997 right now, even after just 2 weeks. I was kind of expecting it to be just above the 1.000 range. I'm going to let it sit another 2 weeks before I even think about bottling for the sake of clearing and conditioning. I also used WLP720 Sweet Mead/Wine Yeast. These yeastie beasties did a brilliant job on the Apfelwein. It's quite dry with a tart appleyness, no off flavors, and hardly any yeast cake. It's clearing well also. This pic is a bit hazy cause it's just the macbook photobooth. I'll take one with the good camera in a couple weeks and post it, providing there has been a significant clearing.
I love the stuff!!!
After drinking my hydro sample, I decided to try it with a smidge of sprite in the glass and boy it's refreshing! Screw my question about splenda, we are leaving it as is Going to bottle carb a few and leave the rest straight up. The hubby seems to think he needs the bubbles. Thanks Edwort!!!

 

[TheWeeb]

man oh man i need to make another batch... I used lactose on half the last batch, but as you found out with mixing with sprite, very good! I posted this a page or two back, but really, try mixing with diet coke or coke zero, they go together so well!!

 

[pkincaid]

man oh man i need to make another batch... I used lactose on half the last batch, but as you found out with mixing with sprite, very good! I posted this a page or two back, but really, try mixing with diet coke or coke zero, they go together so well!!

Will do!
I'm going to have a hard time keeping my hands off of the stuff! It's so yummy! But I really want to see what it's like with proper aging. Yes.... 3 hydrometer readings later and I need an asprin lol...

 

[cruckin78]

i just made batch....It's in the fermenter now!

 

[BulldogBrewer]

Got mine in the carboy friday night. Left for San Francisco saturday morning and returned to this activity this afternoon!

 

[cruckin78]

yeah mine is bubbling steady ~ 2 bubbles a second.

 

[Olddog]

man oh man i need to make another batch... I used lactose on half the last batch, but as you found out with mixing with sprite, very good! I posted this a page or two back, but really, try mixing with diet coke or coke zero, they go together so well!!

I'm going to have to try that sometime soon.

 

[SlipknotMcGee]

Well, I brought a six pack of this to a birthday party on Sunday, the first venue where anyone besides me was drinking the concoction, and those who tried it really liked it. It cut through the heat of the Blair's Death Rain potato chips and 3rd Degree Burn Doritos we were eating very nicely.

We noticed that it takes about 4 sips to get used to the taste. Also, we decided to stop calling it apfelwein or apple wine, and are calling it dry cider instead. This was my first batch, and it had been in the carboy for 8 weeks and in the bottle for 8 more weeks. Fortunately, I planned ahead, and had already put a second batch in the same day the first batch was bottled, and I bottled the second batch this past weekend before making a third batch. I plan on having a batch every 8 weeks, in other words. Hopefully the first batch lasts that long...

Excellent recipe!

 

[cruckin78]

Mine going crazy

 

[BrewBarron]

So I had my first taste,

It is only 2 months old but I had to keg it and try it for myself. I carbed it up to 10 psi and served it cold. Maybe a little too cold. I found that like wine, if served too cold, 34?, it looses a lot of flavor. When warmed 10-15 degrees, a lot more flavor is released. Now, I didn't have to take a few sips to get used to it. I found it is what it is. A dry applely wine type drink. And I dig that. But my question is, how will this get better with age? It is very drinkable right now. Will it increase in flavor, complexity? I hope so. I hope it doesn't mellow out, because I think it is very mellow right now. Any experts out there that made their apfelwein last more than a few months?

Thanks.

 

[specialkaye]

Took my first Hydro sample and taste, at two weeks in the fermenter. Personally, even with the alcohol burn and not really much flavor, I didn't think it was bad. Definitely not up on my list of top ten drinks just yet. But, it is only two weeks old. Not even really done fermenting yet though I got an adjusted S.G. of 1.0025 if I did the temp correction right and my glasses weren't smudged. From the S.G. of 1.0705 (adjusted for temp) that gives me a current 8.908% alcohol. Still a bit low, but it's young.

Now, the bad news. SWMBO made some serious faces during tasting. And some nasty sounds. Yes, she sipped three times. And yes, she made those faces and noises all three times. Best I could tell her was that it would get better with age, much like her. She saw right through THAT one.

Overall impression: It has potential. And, it looks like urine. I mean, it really looks like urine. Maybe I shouldn't have made that comment just before SWMBO tasted it?

Okay, my kids are grown. (Matter of fact, we had the grand baby scare today. We thought we were going to be new grandparents but seems the first grand baby is on hold. He was trying to be six weeks early.) Now, I've got to wait for my Apfelwein to grow up.

 

[wcarter1227]

So I had my first taste,

It is only 2 months old but I had to keg it and try it for myself. I carbed it up to 10 psi and served it cold. Maybe a little too cold. I found that like wine, if served too cold, 34?, it looses a lot of flavor. When warmed 10-15 degrees, a lot more flavor is released. Now, I didn't have to take a few sips to get used to it. I found it is what it is. A dry applely wine type drink. And I dig that. But my question is, how will this get better with age? It is very drinkable right now. Will it increase in flavor, complexity? I hope so. I hope it doesn't mellow out, because I think it is very mellow right now. Any experts out there that made their apfelwein last more than a few months?

Thanks.

it will lose some of the hot alcohol taste and the apple flavor will become more pronounced

 

[akthor]

LOL I wouldn't worry two weeks isn't long enough. Two months is supposed to be the minimum before drinking 3 is recommended and 6 months or more is supposed to be even better.

 

[specialkaye]

LOL I wouldn't worry two weeks isn't long enough. Two months is supposed to be the minimum before drinking 3 is recommended and 6 months or more is supposed to be even better.

Thanks. I'm not worried. Yet. I'm planning this for the two month mark when my brother visits. He really likes the "hard ciders" and hope this will let him sleep well each night he's here.

I was really disappointed that SWMBO couldn't stand the taste or smell. Hoping for a better reaction than that.

I could definitely feel the alcohol after a few minutes. Except for SWMBO's three sips, I drank the entire sample. And I was just starting to get a mellow warm glow.

But, just to cover my bases, SWMBO requested a cream ale, and that goes in the fermenter this weekend.