My first Apfelwein, when apples and cider collide

[devoted101]

well, 3 years ago I made plum wine for the first time because my plum tree had a bumper crop. I had never done it before, but my grandfather used to always make wine and he has given me all of his old stuff since he is 92 and not making wine anymore.

I basically just asked a brew shop, besides the hardware, what do I need?

Believe it or not, it turned out really nice. Oddly, the consistency was a bit strange, but the flavor and strength were great. I never used my hydrometer because frankly, I don't know how.

I am not a complete idiot, I have 4 college degrees and I'm bilingual, but sometimes I get too excited to do my homework and I jump right into things like a 5 year old.

ANYway, my aunt and uncle had a decent amount of apples left on their trees when I paid them a visit in early October so I picked a bushel of apples, juiced them, DID NOT pasteurize the juice, which gave me about 2 gallons of juice, then added a gallon of apple cider from the farmer's market (not exactly market, I live in farm country so basically farmer bob's apple cider - which is pasteurized).

Now, idiot me thinking my carboy was 5 gallons (in actuality it is 3 gallons) proceeded to use EdWort's recipe.. for 5 gallons. My dextrose had not arrived so i scrounged the house for sugar. I used maybe a cup of corn syrup, honey, some molasses, brown sugar, and regular white sugar. I was not trying to be creative and take risks, I just wanted what I felt would be about 2 lbs. of sweetner for my 3 gallons (which I somehow still was thinking could be 5 gallons), and I used the montrachet yeast - and followed the recipe and instructions as laid out.

I had an additional 3 gallons of bought apple cider that is in another carboy.

I did watch some instructional videos on youtube, and I did sanitize as per directed - so there is that... at least...

So, I put in the bungs, the airlocks with the vodka, and put them in the same place in the basement where I did the plum wine.

24 hours later....

The carboy that is 2/3 freshly juiced apples and 1/3 farmer/store bought apple cider ERUPTED overnight. Not a considerable amount but it was like a foam that had somewhat hardened into clay-like apple smelling brown goo.

I cleaned up the mess, re-sanitized the bung and airlock, popped it back in, and left it. Meanwhile, the carboy with 3 gallons of farmer/store bought apple cider was fine.

Juicy-Phresh was "breathing" as I could witness with the airlock, while Phat-Farm was, for lack of a better term, effervescent, but not "breathing" as noticeably at least.

5 weeks later... (aka Present Day)

Juicy-Phresh and Phat-Farm are drastically different colors, yellow and brown respectively, both with about the same amount of sediment at the bottom. Juicy-Phresh is cloudier than Phat-Farm as well. (The names are just to be more fun than saying carboy A & B and I have no intention to call it that when drinking.. well, I mean, depends on how much I drink I guess...)

I still see some little bubbles in Phat-Farm, there is a bit of foam on Juicy-Phresh but no mold or foul odor. They both smell, basically, like apple cider. No vinegar smell, no off smell. I've included some pictures...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qb40hxn9iq...lwein.jpg?dl=0

Comments? Advice? What Say You?
devoted101 is online now

 

[WVMJ]

You could have easily learned to use a hydrometer in the time it took you to write that post You can start a 3 gal batch in a 5 gal carboy to avoid the eruptions, we keep 6 gal carboys to start 5 gal batches of cider, not nearly the mess from having it boil over the top. Once it reaches dry we rack off into the right sized carboy and let it finish up. Have you done your homework on sulfites yet?

WVMJ

 

[devoted101]

fair enough.

i was just curious as to why one boiled over while the other didn't. i know the variable is the fresh apples but what specifically about the fresh apples caused that?

i did use sulfites when i made the plum wine but i feel like i was following rules without knowing why that time. does it stop the fermentation?

i picked the plums, juiced them, made wine of them... as i said previously, the taste was great but the consistency was so strange. it seemed almost viscous like a muscat but it was rather dry and potent.

thanks for the reply. sorry for the "war & peace" first post, but it was my introductory post to homebrew.

 

[Yooper]

Sulfites don't stop fermentation. They work as antioxidants as well as kill wild yeast and bacteria in fruit. Apples are loaded with natural wild yeast and bacteria and need to be sulfited before using, unless the wild yeast are desired.

You have a ton of sediment in those carboys, so it's time to rack to a new vessel and top up and let it clear.

 

[devoted101]

thank you very much. i was wondering if i should rack to another carboy or not. the recipe did not mention it so i was not clear on it (even with the sediment)..

i only learned about wild yeast recently but i did not know or even consider it would be here for some reason. is wild yeast bad?

 

[devoted101]

i admit that i am a total and complete newb and am at the mercy of the kindness of forum posters. i just really love the idea of making my own wine and/or cider and i am still in the learning phase.. i really think i got lucky with my plum wine, beginners' luck.

 

[Newsman]

Probably some wild yeast in the home-made apple juice. That is why you should have pasteurized it or sulfited it (a little... not too much as otherwise your yeast would not grow and reproduce.)

 

[devoted101]

i realize my plum wine of 2010 question is not related to Apfelwein 2014, but i just thought it odd that it was viscous but not sweet or anything

 

[Newsman]

i realize my plum wine of 2010 question is not related to Apfelwein 2014, but i just thought it odd that it was viscous but not sweet or anything

Hmm... did you filter the juice and/or plum wine? It may have a lot of dissolved solids in it. Just guessing.

 

[devoted101]

Hmm... did you filter the juice and/or plum wine? It may have a lot of dissolved solids in it. Just guessing.

well, after i picked the plums, i pressure cooked them until they were a bit mush, strained out the juice, then juiced the remaining pulp (after removing stones), and strained the entire thing again.

i really feel like the consistency was set here.. maybe

the wine wasn't thick like an old porto, it was more like a late harvest muscat, just as viscous but not at all sweet. i did not want it sweet so i was fine with that, i was just so curious as to the viscosity. after the 2nd or 3rd racking i added some concentrated cassis syrup, but at this point the viscosity was set already anyway. the cassis syrup *originally* was added to add sweetness -- i did not even consider that it would be fermented as well, i knew nothing about that in the slightest and only know slightly more now.

thank you, and everyone, for not kicking my ignorant butt! you're all really kind.

 

[lukebuz]

It looks more like "when apples and enemas collide"

:cross:

 

[devoted101]

ok, re-rack and flavor test...

the good: the explosive fresh apples 3 gallon carboy tastes great, apply, dry, and clearly stronger than 12%...

the OTHER: less sediment, sweeter (as sweet as juice), if there is alcohol in there it is light.. i did add a lot of sugar to that, and it is only as sweet as juice so i guess the yeast did eat and convert some.. but i dunno... the flavor is a bit like the original apple cider used... sort of like ..

eat a fruit cake or a christmas pudding and burp... that's sort of how it tastes..

wish i saved more of the sludge in the apple batch, even in a glass that was bubbling and making the drink effervesce.. it feels like its more than wine, less than brandy.. slight beer sensation at first sip, then the alcohol, then strong apple finish.. i can see why people carbonate..

the bottle in question... i've added more sugar and more yeast... bad idea? good idea? ive attached some pictures