Man, I love Apfelwein

[EdWort]

How well does Apfelwein age? Should I age it in the fermentor or the bottle?

It gets much better with age. Bottle, Fermentor, keg...All work well.

 

[Richard]

Can anyone recommend me something to buy that tastes decent and has bottles that work well for Apfelwein?

 

[Richard]

It gets much better with age. Bottle, Fermentor, keg...All work well.

I'll probably bottle it after a couple of months in the fermentor then...after all, I want to make other stuff.

 

[blacklab]

Can anyone recommend me something to buy that tastes decent and has bottles that work well for Apfelwein?

BEER

Any flip off bottles will work. Some use twisty's, but I personally avoid them. I bottle the A-wine in 22oz'ers.

 

[Richard]

Sounds good. Thanks.

 

[EdWort]

Can anyone recommend me something to buy that tastes decent and has bottles that work well for Apfelwein?

Buy Tecate or Carta Blanca in the 32 oz. bottles. Don't for get the lime.

They make for easy bottling.

 

[terrapin421]

Hello! I've read most of this thread and followed the directions perfectly. However, I am coming up on four weeks and I swirled the fermenter the other day to try and get the yeast to start working again. My problem was when I did this my fermenter bubbled quite a bit. I decided to take a sample, and it tastes great with still a bit of sweetness. My concern is that the sample was slightly carbonated. Is this normal, or does anyone know why this would happen? Thanks!!

 

[EdWort]

Hello! I've read most of this thread and followed the directions perfectly. However, I am coming up on four weeks and I swirled the fermenter the other day to try and get the yeast to start working again. My problem was when I did this my fermenter bubbled quite a bit. I decided to take a sample, and it tastes great with still a bit of sweetness. My concern is that the sample was slightly carbonated. Is this normal, or does anyone know why this would happen? Thanks!!

What temperature is it fermeting at? Has it dropped clear yet? Swirlling will cause outgassing of the CO2, so that was normal.

Have you taken a hydrometer reading yet?

 

[DUCCCC]

Hello! I've read most of this thread and followed the directions perfectly. However, I am coming up on four weeks and I swirled the fermenter the other day to try and get the yeast to start working again. My problem was when I did this my fermenter bubbled quite a bit. I decided to take a sample, and it tastes great with still a bit of sweetness. My concern is that the sample was slightly carbonated. Is this normal, or does anyone know why this would happen? Thanks!!

I bottled my first batch in Heineken beer bottles, and I didn't prime at all. I didn't expect it, but I get a small hiss when I open these bottles. It's suspended CO2 from fermentation. This last batch I just bottled I put in wine bottles with regular (Nomacork, anyways) corks, and I wanted to make sure I don't have any corks popping out, so I degassed the AW. It's simple process, really. In my case I used a "Mix Stir" device with a power drill and simply stirred up the AW enough to release the light carbonation, but not enough to get a real whirlpool action going, which would be aerating your wine and oxidizing it, which is undesirable. You could probably do the job just as well with a big sanitized slotted spoon.

The action of stirring up your carboy the other day did the same thing.

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

Hey, anyone know what the deal is with "Low acid" Apple juice?? Allens makes some. It this better or worse for cider and apfelwien?

Also, and significant difference between using pasteurized juice made from concentrate vs regular juice? The juice "made from concentrate" is always really cheap.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

made from concentrate" is always really cheap

It also doesnt make as good a product imo-

 

[Tonedef131]

I made a batch of this following Eds instructions and it is 4 weeks old. It is clearing up very nicely and has slowed down to about one bubble every 30 seconds or so. After it slows down a little bit more I will grab a gravity reading and see how we are doing. If this turns out good I will be experimening with ciders and cysers a lot in the future.

 

[Jonnio]

Also, and significant difference between using pasteurized juice made from concentrate vs regular juice? The juice "made from concentrate" is always really cheap.

You could probably think of it like all grain vs. extract. With the pasteurized juices you have a better chance for it to be more fresh and never frozen, but just like extract beers there are some very high quality from concentrate juices.

 

[BigKahuna]

If this turns out good I will be experimening with ciders and cysers a lot in the future.

You might just as well get started now.

 

[mrhead]

I just finished assembling my first batch of apfelwein, took me less than five minutes.

I'm starting out with a one gallon batch to see how me and the misses like it. I used 1 gallon of Mott's applejuice, 1 cup of packed brown sugar, and 1 packet of montrachet yeast. Removed 4 cups juice from container, boiled 2 cups of the juice and dissolved the brown sugar then poured it back into the jug, shook, added yeast, and topped it off with the remainder 2 cups of juice. Got it setup with one of my homemade airlocks sitting in the bathtub with my other wine and beer. Hydrometer read SG at around 1.065...slightly lower then my other wines, hope this will work.

I'm gonna do a half carb half uncarb batch to see what we prefer; i'm sure we'll end up sticking to the carbed and chilled variety.

Thanks for this great recipe ed.

-mrhead

 

[Richard]

It gets much better with age. Bottle, Fermentor, keg...All work well.

What do you think the limit of improvement over time would be? A couple of years? I guess it depends on how long you've been making this stuff.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

What do you think the limit of improvement over time would be? A couple of years?

Laws of diminishing returns IMO at 1 yr or greater.

Besides this stuff never makes it longer than 2 months in the Flynn house

 

[wiseman]

Well my first 2.5 gallon batch of Apfelwein is coming along well. It went into the Mr. beer fermenter on the 25th of last month and I had a couple of concerns about temperature regulation (it spent over a week outside).

Well I took a hydrometer reading (the hydrometer is located in my belly) last night and I found it was coming along nicely! Not sweet at all any more, no longer fizzy when poured, but still a bit fizzy in the mouth. It has begun to clear up, but in a wine glass you notice it's still translucent.

If nobody told me it was made from apples, I would have assumed it was a light white wine, like a pinot grigio or something. Very good stuff, can't wait to try the final carbed product later!

*edit*

Oh, I was planning on bottling in ~1 liter glass screwcap bottles. At safeway they have the Organics soda in the perfect bottle for this, but they're like 4.50 each and I'm not gonna drink 3 gallons of pomegranate soda. A cheaper alternative would probably be the 32 or 40 ounce ghetto beer bottles (MALT LIQUOR), but I'm concerned that I'll look like a retard buying them and they don't look very classy sitting around either. Can anyone recommend a nice, cheap, glass bottle of around a liter that will hold pressure for this?

 

[AnotherFinch]

I've found that there are two good places for me to get bottles cheap, but it may be different in your area.

One, there's a World Market near me. This means lots of hand-blown glassware from around the world, saki setups and stuff like that. They have tons of cool shaped large bottles capable of storing wine in, and it's not too expensive.

Next to that, obviously, is the brewing store in the city centre. Basically, they'll sell around 20 different types of wine and beer bottles, in sets. I'm about to spend $25 on 12 Grolsch style bottles with the EZ-Cap that you can keep putting on and off.

 

[Donner]

So, i promised myself i wouldn't post an 'is something wrong with my apfelwein' but i have to i feel.

I followed the recipe, but didn't get enough dextrose in the mixture (had measuring issues), so my starting gravity didn't seem to be high enough to produce the 8.5 % abv that Ed said i should expect. No really worries there, though.

I made my batch on march 8th, went through my 4 weeks and it was still very cloudy. It has since started to clear, but i don't get a good sense of how clear it should get before it's ready. I took a hydrometer reading sunday and it said 1.002, so no the 'below 0.099' predicted. The temperature in the room where my fermenter lives did fluctuate with the changes in weather we've been having lately, so i know that could be a factor in all this.

When i look at the better bottle i still see bubbles coming out of the solution to the top, but i don't really have any airlock activity anymore. Is that a sign the yeasts are still working? I assume it is since i hadn't hit the final gravity yet.

So, my question is if there is anything wrong, or do i just need to give it more time? I'm going to check my gravity again soon to see if it's moved at all, but i don't know if it's too soon for any real change.

Really, this is mostly about the fact that i need the better bottle for a batch of beer i want to move to secondary.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

 

[EdWort]

It's just over 5 weeks old. Patience is what is needed here. Another Better Bottle is what is needed here.

 

[brett]

Just finished my last bottle of 5 month aged apfelwein.

Dear lord, everything Ed Wort says is true! It REALLY IS 10x better!!!

The apple flavor resurfaces and is very delicious. The alcohol heat dissipates and becomes very smooth. The overall experience is very, very enjoyable. It almost is a different beverage. Soooo tasty.

Hide away 5 or six bottles for 5 to 6 months if you can!

 

[AnotherFinch]

I REALLY need to pick up some of this Montrachet Yeast. I've been using Lalvin EC-1118 Wine Yeast for my Apfelwein. Has anyone here done that? Do you think it'll still work out okay?

I mean, it's only been two weeks, and it's still pretty cloudy, I just worry that this yeast is gonna take forever to clear out.

 

[EdWort]

I REALLY need to pick up some of this Montrachet Yeast.

Austin Homebrew Supply sells Montrachet Wine Yeast for 79 cents a packet.

Go ahead and order some and some 1 lb. bags of corn sugar while you are at it. You'll be good to go for your next few batches.

 

[Jonnio]

I mean, it's only been two weeks, and it's still pretty cloudy, I just worry that this yeast is gonna take forever to clear out.

Even Montrachet is cloudy at two weeks...My latest batch is going at about 5 in the primary and is starting to clear nicely now.

 

[mrfocus]

I REALLY need to pick up some of this Montrachet Yeast. I've been using Lalvin EC-1118 Wine Yeast for my Apfelwein. Has anyone here done that? Do you think it'll still work out okay?

I mean, it's only been two weeks, and it's still pretty cloudy, I just worry that this yeast is gonna take forever to clear out.

EC-1118 is fine. I've done two batches so far and they both cleared up extremely nicely. As with the montrachet, it took between 4 and 6 weeks to finish fermentation.

 

[Tonedef131]

You might just as well get started now.

As soon as this carboy is free I will!

 

[fusion94]

My first batch has been in the bucket for 5 days now. It truly smells awful. This better taste like Liquid Crack or the SWMBO isn't going to allow another batch.

 

[EdWort]

That's OK. Send it to me and I'll dispose of it.

Did you follow the directions?

 

[fusion94]

That's OK. Send it to me and I'll dispose of it.

Did you follow the directions?

Exactly as you posted them...the only difference was:

1) I feremented in a bucket as I don't own proper carboys
2) The Montrachet Wine Yeast I picked up had a Best Before Date of February 2008

Completely my fault on #2 as I didn't check at my LHBS but did check when I pitched.

Just smells like rotten eggs. Sulphuric etc.

*EDIT*
I don't own proper carboys as the flat I live in in San Francisco isn't large and space is at a premium. Removing spigots from buckets and stacking them works out nicely. Cannot do that with carboys.