Man, I love Apfelwein

[EdWort]

Im guessing that this ferments alot different than a beer. I can see a few bubbles rising to the surface. My air lock has pressure on it but is not bubbling. It is alot more cloudy today. Its been about 30 hours. I think it started at around 22 hours. Funny thing i looked at my ticket from the beer store, they only charged me .97 cents for 5 pounds of corn sugar.

That's about right on the fermentation. It will take off in a day or so. You scored on the corn sugar. Perhaps it's 97 cents a pound?

 

[Ryanh1801]

That's about right on the fermentation. It will take off in a day or so. You scored on the corn sugar. Perhaps it's 97 cents a pound?

Thats what it shows in their catalog, but for the yeast,sugar,and the BYB mag. with all the recipes it was only 7 bucks. I have enough corn sugar to last me a while.

 

[EdWort]

Sweet! I'd go back and buy 20 more pounds if it was me.

 

[dibby33]

I have to make another batch soon. Damn you evil Edwort

 

[Ryanh1801]

Sweet! I'd go back and buy 20 more pounds if it was me.

I would but, I think my roommate thinks im half crazy already from all the HB stuff i have all over the house.

Also I was reading that this stuff will cause some upset stomachs, and indigestion if you drink alot of it, have you had this problem. Good thing ill have my gallbladder out before its ready to drink.

 

[Whelk]

I would but, I think my roommate thinks im half crazy already from all the HB stuff i have all over the house.

Also I was reading that this stuff will cause some upset stomachs, and indigestion if you drink alot of it, have you had this problem. Good thing ill have my gallbladder out before its ready to drink.

Well, drink too much apple juice in any form and you'll have an 'upset stomach'. From my experiences with Strongbow, Scrumpy Jack, etc, this is definitely true for cider/apfelwein.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Also, anyone thinking what I'm thinking? Caramel Apfelwein? I'll see if I can get my hands on some extract. I know real caramel would cause more fermentation, but what about extract? Or could I just prime with real caramel? If so, how much per gallon?

If you haven't done this already....1st I'd go with recipe as it is in post #1 - Baseline it before trying anything wacky.

I thought about this too. My first choice would be to try the caramel extract route. If it can be found. If not, I would try Smuckers sugar-free caramel syrup in the primary. You'd need to liquify it in a good bit of boiling water. If you did this I'd substite some of the juice with cans of concentrate so you aren't watering it all down. This would only be for flavor though. I don't know how well it would clear...

You don't want to boil juice to disolve the caramel - you might set the pectin.

At bottling: Use healthy 3/4 cup or weigh out 5oz for priming. Prime just like beer.

 

[blefferd]

sorry i didnt want to read threw 100+ pages of this post, i read the first page and the last lol, you would bottle this just as you would beer or would you use wine bottles? i think this is going to be next on my list to make

:rockin:

when carbonated this is some what similar to strongbow? or no..?

 

[Schlenkerla]

Definately Beer bottles unless you want it to be still. You would probably want to degass it before you put in wine bottles. You could also put it champagne bottles, buy the screw on caps & cages. It would look pretty classy this way.

Its similar in the sense its hard apple cider. I think is dry and very crisp with the Montrachet, ABV 8.5%. I'd guess if you used Nottingham Ale it would be more like the English cider style. I haven't done this, but I have an English recipe that calls for; 5gal juice, 2oz of yeast nutrients, and nottinghams. I imagine the ABV ~ 3.5- 4%.

Try both!!! - I think Bird tried both and liked the Monty better. I don't think you can go wrong either way if you use good quality juice. IMHO the more fermentable sugar you have in it, the drier it will be. Less sugar, less dry, less ABV. The higher ABV will let it age very well.

 

[Ryanh1801]

This stuff looks awesome fermenting, I cant keep my eyes off of it!! It going full steam ahead today.

 

[Willsellout]

I snuck a taste and a hydro reading last weekend after almost a month. It's at 1.010 and it tastes great. Still has a ways to go but it's damn good


Dan

 

[Klainmeister]

Gah, too many pages to read through but i am about 2 weeks from bottling my second round of this apple goodness and was wondering if anyone has successfully bottle conditioned/carbed. I think it actually taste better as a kind of champagne and wanted to know how much primer to put in. Thanks guys

 

[Willsellout]

Gah, too many pages to read through but i am about 2 weeks from bottling my second round of this apple goodness and was wondering if anyone has successfully bottle conditioned/carbed. I think it actually taste better as a kind of champagne and wanted to know how much primer to put in. Thanks guys

The same as you would beer; 3/4 cup


Dan

 

[EdWort]

Gah, too many pages to read through

Whaaat? There's only 1,300+ posts. C'mon.

 

[blefferd]

well i made my first batch of apfelwein tonite, and i wasnt paying attention when I was adding the apple juice and ended up adding to much when i realized i forgot the yeast lol so i added the yeast and washed it down with a couple .OZ's of apple juice and its all the way to the top of the neck on the 5 gal better bottle... it should come out ok though (im hopping it does!)
:rockin:

 

[c.n.budz]

well i made my first batch of apfelwein tonite, and i wasnt paying attention when I was adding the apple juice and ended up adding to much when i realized i forgot the yeast lol so i added the yeast and washed it down with a couple .OZ's of apple juice and its all the way to the top of the neck on the 5 gal better bottle... it should come out ok though (im hopping it does!)
:rockin:

Did you add it to the running total??
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=20383

 

[flowerysong]

Gah, too many pages to read through but i am about 2 weeks from bottling my second round of this apple goodness and was wondering if anyone has successfully bottle conditioned/carbed. I think it actually taste better as a kind of champagne and wanted to know how much primer to put in. Thanks guys

You know, there wouldn't be so many pages if people didn't keep posting the same questions over and over.

Yes, you can bottle condition it; prime it the same as beer, but some people have noted that carbonation can take a while; be prepared to let it sit for a bit longer than you would expect.

 

[FatMonsters]

I found this thread and I'm a wannabe Apfelwein maker! I am waiting for my 5 gal carboy to free up, week and a half, but I have a couple questions. (I apologize in advance if these have been previously asked!!! But ther were so many posts to read through!)

1. Really can add 100% apple juice straight to the sanitized carboy? No heating of it required?
2. Do you need to add any kind of yeast nutrient?
3. Any suggestions if I wanted to replace some of the apple juice with some fresh crushed apples, kinda tweak it with some of my favorite apples. I am guessing I would have to heat, low simmer, the fresh apples with some water to kinda kill off any of the bugs.

Thanks for putting this brew in my TO DO list!!! Its gonna be awesome!

 

[olllllo]

I found this thread and I'm a wannabe Apfelwein maker! I am waiting for my 5 gal carboy to free up, week and a half, but I have a couple questions. (I apologize in advance if these have been previously asked!!! But ther were so many posts to read through!)

1. Really can add 100% apple juice straight to the sanitized carboy? No heating of it required?
2. Do you need to add any kind of yeast nutrient?
3. Any suggestions if I wanted to replace some of the apple juice with some fresh crushed apples, kinda tweak it with some of my favorite apples. I am guessing I would have to heat, low simmer, the fresh apples with some water to kinda kill off any of the bugs.

Thanks for putting this brew in my TO DO list!!! Its gonna be awesome!

1. Yes
2. Not required but others report that it cuts down on initial sulpher smell. Impact on overall flavor unknown. Can't hurt.
3. I woudn't risk it. If you want the character of your apples to come through, I suggest that you juice enough apples for an entire batch. Someone in this thread has done that.

 

[Hopleaf]

I'm making this soon and I'm looking forward to it...

The first thing I ever tried to make was 5 gallons of apple wine. It went well until I smelt sulphur and I thought it was ruined.. I pitched all of it...

Now I read it's pretty normal... opps

 

[Dude]

This is by far the most rancid smell of fermentation I've come across. Total funkiness going on there.

I find myself sniffing the airlock quite a bit--but not on this stuff! PEWWWW!!!!

 

[Ryanh1801]

Yeah mine is starting to smells rancid. Makes me wonder who the first person who made it wanted to drink it after the smell.

 

[EdWort]

Montrachet wine yeast can produce some sulphery type aromas for a couple days. I can't comment on other yeasts though.

After 3 batches, it does grow on you, so I hereby declare the 3 batch rule. No judgment on fermentation aroma till after 3 batches.

 

[Schlenkerla]

This is by far the most rancid smell of fermentation I've come across. Total funkiness going on there.

I find myself sniffing the airlock quite a bit--but not on this stuff! PEWWWW!!!!

Add yeast nutrient. Without it the yeast gets a case of the "Sputterfuchs" That's a technical term.

I used 2 oz as recommended in a english cider recipe. I never had a nasty smell.

By the way Lesaffrey the maker or Red Star Montrachet Yeast recomends using yeast nutrients or yeast energizer. Energizer has dead yeast hulls. The latter is slightly better. Both work well in this case.

I've done 2 oz with nutrients and gone with 1/2 tsp/gal on the energizer.

If you use Cote Des Blancs it MUST have one of these two added.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Sputterfuchs - This is kind what you get if you drink a ton of Negra Modelo and eat lots of salsa & chips!!!

:rockin:

 

[Ed_Savage]

OK I'm not sure if this has been answered yet or not..........

I guess im just too lazy to sort through 132 pages of replies.

So heres my question...........

Has anybody primed Apfelwein to make a sparkling cider by using a 750ml bottle fo Apple Schnapps or Apple Pucker?

What were your results?

 

[Schlenkerla]

I don't think so. Why would want to do that?

 

[Ed_Savage]

I hear priming with schnapps works really well with beer, I was just wondering the result with cider, or "Apfelwein".

 

[Schlenkerla]

OK - I haven't heard anyone try this yet. The closest thing to this that I've seen is a recipe suggesting to add a liquoir 2ndary to add fruit flavors. It probably a cleaner way than using real fruit. I just did this with strawberry & raspberry and I got quite a bit of pulp in some of the last few bottles.

 

[uglygoat]

i finally bottled this stuff after about two months of fermentation.

for the record, apfelwein kicked my arse hard yesterday...