Man, I love Apfelwein

[CCBrewer]

three months and mine has finally mellowed, another two and it should be to my preference for a wine.


This stuff rocks, I may have to experiment with non fermentable sugars , as I added one lb of white table and one lb of dark brown sugar

 

[kc9eci]

I hope it mellows. I took a 12 ounce sample of mine on week 5 as I was transferring it in to a keg to age and it was a bit harsh.

 

[tennesseean_87]

can you use juice that is from concentrate? That is all that is available around here

Yes. Think of juice concentrate like malt extract. I added some to juice instead of sugar for more flavor, as others have done.

 

[musicawal]

Sooo kegged my first 5g batch 3 days ago after 31 days of fermentation. My recipe was 4gals apple juice, 1/2gal apple cider, 2lbs brown sugar, 1 pack US-05, and back sweetened with one frozen apple juice concentrate. Easiest alcoholic beverage ever. Took my first sip this evening and it is incredible. This will now be on permanent tap in my house like so many others. It's slightly dry yet sweet at the same time and has a pretty "nasty" little bite to it when it sneaks up on you after a few!

 

[Sarisa]

Mine is already clearing up after only twelve days of fermenting (k1v-1116) but my fermenting temp has been 70-73F so I think I shouldn't worry. No idea of the gravity at the moment since my meter sort of flew to the wall somehow...

Taste isn't that bad, but I guess I need the three glasses.

 

[grouperdude]

So I made a bone head move and put 4pounds of dextrose in instead of 2! If I but a half pound of sugar in would I be over the tolerance of the yeast?

 

[Accidic]

I usually assume 1.5% abv for cane sugar which is a bit forgiving I believe. With corn sugar having less fermentablesugar/lb I'd guess you'd be fine with a 12%+ tolerable yeast. I'm sure I'm explaining that using the wrong words so pls noone shoot me.

 

[birtsbrew21]

Just threw this together today and i used 5 gallons of regular pasteurized apple juice and added 2 pounds of light brown sugar and alvin EC1118 yeast. I got an OG of 1.062 and hope it turns out alright... anyone want to give me some insight into thought of my recipe. i know its very similar to what everyone else is doing.

 

[NineMilBill]

Just threw this together today and i used 5 gallons of regular pasteurized apple juice and added 2 pounds of light brown sugar and alvin EC1118 yeast. I got an OG of 1.062 and hope it turns out alright... anyone want to give me some insight into thought of my recipe. i know its very similar to what everyone else is doing.

It'll be great. Plenty of people have done this same thing.

 

[TroutSwimmers]

Alcoholic koolaid wooo hoooo! I just started 3 one-gallon batches as an experiment. 1) With corn sugar and Nottingham ale yeast. 2) With corn sugar and Montrachet yeast (Ed Wort's original recipe). And 3) With organic cane sugar and Montrachet yeast. Also using Martinelli's 100% pure apple juice... no additives whatsoever. I'll post in about a month the results. Have a feeling the Montrachet yeast will taste best but it will be interesting to compare the different sugars.

 

[LMGK]

Apfelweingizer thread, it keeps going and going ..... I've read the first 15 pages, anybody ever try And read all of them?

 

[Tw0fish]

I definitely threw some Notty in with a gallon of cider, two cinnamon sticks and a pound of brown sugar. I planned on crashing it.. then I got busy with school.

Did I just make an apfelwein? Because it's sure a lousy cider. I've got a sixer of it sitting in crown-cap beer bottles and another 750ml in the fridge.. mayhap I should let it sit a while?

 

[Sarisa]

Has anyone tried to bottle carb this with just adding apple juice, I know It'd lower the abv, but I don't really care unless it halves it. I thought it'd be sweeter and more appley that way.

Maybe adding 1/3 more apple juice? so in my 8L patch would need ~2,5L more juice thus the abv going to the 5,5-6 % or some such something.

Though downing that would be way too easy and fun I assume.

 

[Chuckabrewski]

Alcoholic koolaid wooo hoooo! I just started 3 one-gallon batches as an experiment. 1) With corn sugar and Nottingham ale yeast. 2) With corn sugar and Montrachet yeast (Edwort's original recipe). And 3) With organic cane sugar and Montrachet yeast. Also using Martinelli's 100% pure apple juice... no additives whatsoever. I'll post in about a month th results. Have a feeling the Montrachet yeast will taste best but it will be interesting to compare the different sugars.

You should start a thread for this and maybe add some Splenda to keep it sweet.

 

[jarett]

I'm a noob... I have a 5 gallon batch of apfelwein going now with a few "experiments" in one gallon jugs (pineapple concentrate, cranberry juice, etc.) and haven't gotten to try any yet.

I'm on post 7,000 and wanted to ask this so there might be some answers by the time I get to the end.

There has been a lot of talk about back sweetening with lactose and such at bottling: Is there any reason you can't add lactose during fermentation so you don't have to add it later?

The other thing I'm curious about is adding a berry to three to the bottles to add a hint of berry flavor to compliment the apple while bottle conditioning. I'm sure this could affect carbing though. Has anyone tried this?

 

[RaginCajun112]

Made my batch back in June '11 and bottled it (no carbonation) in Oct '11. Wasn't a big fan and drank it sparingly. Around January this year the apple really came forward and it is really a nice smooth drink now. This is a very nice, easy to concoct beverage, and patience is definitely rewarded.

 

[crbrown25]

I "brewed" a batch of this on Jan 7. Now it's been bottle conditioning (dextrose) for 2 weeks. Tasting it for the 1st time right now. I read most of this thread in the months before i made the batch, so i'm not sure how much of it i remember (not to mention the fact i had a couple dfh 60 mins and a couple pilsner urquells before trying the apfelwein). For those who have experience with it, my question is...do you find the taste to be quite tart with only some hints of apple? I'm thinking it could be because it's only 7 weeks old, as it reminds me of a "green" beer taste. How will it change with time, if at all? Prost!

 

[smagee]

The apple definitely emerges much stronger as time goes on; I find that it doesn't really become significant until around 6 months. Early on, it's definitely dryer and has significantly less apple to it.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Can I use Nottie yeast on the next batch? Its what I have left...

 

[SwampassJ]

Can I use Nottie yeast on the next batch? Its what I have left...

Experiment. You might like the notty more. I did a cider batch with hefeweizen yeast, tasted like a jolly rancher candy.t

 

[LMGK]

Ridiculous! Just ridiculous... First taste at six weeks. Blown away. I did two 6 gallon batches one following the recipe the other with five pounds of wild clover honey which is awesome. Like a mead cider combo.

 

[Ramitt]

Can I use Nottie yeast on the next batch? Its what I have left...

Yes, in fact I think I may prefer it to Montrachet.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Mine is about 60 days old. Siphoned off a bottle to give to a friend that I won't see again for a very long time, plus poured an extra glass for myself. Tastes wonderful, a touch hot still. Mixed with 7up and it disappeared. This could get me in trouble. Thanks Ed!

 

[Brianyear]

I have always done this recipe with 2 exceptions:
Brown sugar instead of Corn sugar, and Lalvin 1118 yeast instead of Montrachet.
This time I followed the recipe to the letter and for the first time I am experiencing what has been affectionally dubbed the "Rhino Farts".
My kitchen smells like the south end of a north bound mule.

 

[stikks]

First time for me 2.5 g on 2-7-12 no rhino farts.I used Ed Worts recipe to the T
except for the brand of juice.Used Indian Summer,I plan on letting it set till August.

 

[robin850]

I also used very fresh and cloudy apple juice. Pectic enzyme helped a bit, but I always use a wine filter before bottling. My local shop rents it for just $10/day, as long as you buy the filters from them. Went through 2 sets of "coarse" filters to get through the 5gal carboy, then 1 set of "standard". Turned out crystal clear.

cheers,

robin850

 

[BrewPirate]

I made two batches the first week of January (about 7.5 weeks), one with Montrachet and one with Cote des Blanc. Both with only one pound of sugar instead of two. My wife and I just found out last week that we are going to be expecting our second. So, I was thinking it would be neat to have a batch brewing for the same 9 months or so, then bottle it and give it away to family and friends when the time comes. To decide which yeast to use for the new celebratory batch, I pulled samples from each of my existing batches today and wanted to provide my thoughts and comparison between the two.

Montrachet is definitely dry. It fermented down to about 0.99. Hardly any sweetness, light body. I get a champagne vibe and think it will be good carbed up.

Cote des Blanc was sweeter. It only fermented to about the 1.008-1.010 and you can taste that difference compared to the Montrachet. It has more of an apple taste too which is true to form since the packet said that it was for fruitier wines. Because of the extra sweetness and apple flavor, it tastes more like a dry cider than the Montrachet.

I was going to take a picture and post, but they are identical in color and clarity, so nothing exciting to show.

I'm leaning towards sticking with the original recipe and using the Montrachet. The Cote des Blanc is good, but I think the dryer champagne taste of the Montrachet may work well with the occasion.

 

[kc9eci]

Congrats old man!

 

[ArtimusBeerimus]

Eleven weeks in... kegged tonight...

And it was good.

Note to self: Sunday night is a bad night to crack open a new batch of EdWort's Apfelwein.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Does the count go down again if you finish drinking your batch? If so... sorry...