Thats not even close to as good as it gets unless you meant it aged for over a year.
Man, I love Apfelwein
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Thats not even close to as good as it gets unless you meant it aged for over a year.
baseballstar4
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I've got a batch of this ready to bottle and I'm debating on using swing tops. I'm going to bottle it still and am wondering how well the swing tops will keep a seal for aging. The plan is to bottle age another 6 months. Any help is much appreciated!
mike_in_ak
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Make another! It takes no time and you'll want it anyway.
I need to find space. My wife has been very supportive of my brewing efforts so I dont want that to change. She has lost a bit of space in our laundry area to my primaries.
Happy wife happy life. Ill do it once my Lager is done brewing in a few days.
Happy wife happy life. Ill do it once my Lager is done brewing in a few days.
There have been plenty of people who leave the apfelwein for months and can still naturally carb it- it just takes a little longer.
So it wasnt any less likely to carb, just took longer. Its near foolproof.
Until you have 3 stable gravity readings taken a day or more apart. IE: Until you hit FG. You can leave it in primary longer, but you need to wait until fermentation is complete at least.
Opinions on any more time then that vary widely.
Opinions on any more time then that vary widely.
high5apparatus
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I put the bourbon soaked oak chips into the Apfelwein fermenter yesterday, then realized I can't just call it Apfelwein this time and use the bottlemark caps I already have. Some names that have been thrown about: Drunken Cider, Whiskey Dick Hard Apple Cider, and Dry County Hard Cider.
Any other ideas?
Any other ideas?
CreamyGoodness
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Hard Dickens Cider
Zoom!
Zoom!
Then it still wasn't finished carbing when you opened it- no matter how long that was. It might have taken months longer, but it would still eventually carb, as long as you had any yeast at all.
Remember, the yeast don't dictate how much CO2 is produced- only how quickly they eat the sugar. The amount of sugar you put in for priming, as long as you're fermenting dry, will always produce a predictable amount of CO2 volume.
If you want, you can always mix up a little fresh yeast with your priming sugar for your bottling bucket. It'll of course give you back some yeast haze for a while, but you'll get the benefits of aging AND fast carbonation at the cost of a small amount of shortlived haze.
The other option is to forget naturally carbing and force-carb in a keg before bottling... that's what I'm planning for my wedding favor batch.
Popped open a bottle of 4 week old apfelwein (4 weeks in bottles, 6 fermenting) and it taste very sour/tart. I tried adding a tsp of sugar to it & it foamed up immediately and made it taste worse.
This was my first batch & I'm curious if anyone has some insight of what went wrong or if time will heal it.
This was my first batch & I'm curious if anyone has some insight of what went wrong or if time will heal it.
Goofynewfie
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bottled to soon, wasmt done fermenting or it needed to be degassed before you bottled.
Wen you say 4weeks bottled 6 weeks fermenting do you mean 6 weeks fermenting then bottled or 6 weeks total ( 2 in carboy 4 in bottle)
Wen you say 4weeks bottled 6 weeks fermenting do you mean 6 weeks fermenting then bottled or 6 weeks total ( 2 in carboy 4 in bottle)
Anything granulated will make anything carbonated foam. If you would like it a little sweeter, add some apple juice to every glass.
CreamyGoodness
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Adding 7-up to the glass at table is another good little trick for getting a sweeter, sparkling apfelwein.
Acyr90 said:
The tartness will vary, depending on what kind of juice you use.
It will also change with age. Six months seems to be the standard.
That is pretty much what you should expect depending on what juice you used. By making apfelwein you have pretty much taken all the sugar out of the juice and turned it into alcohol. Some juice will be higher in malic acid which is what makes apples sour, and is added to make many candies taste sour.
Personally I have always wanted my apfelwein a little bit more sour and am wondering how much acid I could reasonably add to it. Obviously it would vary based on the juice and preference, but I'm not even sure of the magnitude - 100mg, 1g, 10g for 5 gallons?
Cool, thanks. Sounds like it turned out 'normal,' but it just wasn't what I was expecting 'normal' to taste like based off of the recipe description. I'll try mixing it with apple juice & 7-up to see if I like that better & then let the rest sit.
Also, does it age better warm or cold? I don't have much fridge room, but its starting to hit the 100s out here in California. Room temp will run around 80 degrees, is this too warm for aging?
Also, does it age better warm or cold? I don't have much fridge room, but its starting to hit the 100s out here in California. Room temp will run around 80 degrees, is this too warm for aging?
Optimal would be cellering temps: 55F-65F
But it isn't terribly picky. If you keep it in the fridge it will age at a snail's pace though.
But it isn't terribly picky. If you keep it in the fridge it will age at a snail's pace though.
It would also vary depending on the acid you used. 1/8 tsp of citric acid in 1 cup of water produces a mildly tangy liquid. Since you are starting with a liquid with acid in it already, I would suggest starting with 1/4 tsp in 1 quart and move up in 1/4 tsp increments to establish your desired acid addition. That is, if you decide to use citric acid.
If you aren't worried about carbonation you can also use some simple syrup. I keep that around for mix drinks.
mearhartford
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Just made my first batch tonight, after forgetting the yeast at the LHBS (i was excited), and a costco trip its all fermenting now.
I deviated a bit by using 4 gallons of costco apple juice and then a mason jar full of fresh cider concentrate. (i froze a whole gallon and freeze distilled it off and added it to it) originally wanted it to back sweeten some cider but it ended up being sweet enough.
I deviated a bit by using 4 gallons of costco apple juice and then a mason jar full of fresh cider concentrate. (i froze a whole gallon and freeze distilled it off and added it to it) originally wanted it to back sweeten some cider but it ended up being sweet enough.
TangoHotel
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I just jumped on the Apfelwein bandwagon. I used Ed's recipe along with a pound of turbinado sugar dissolved in 96 oz of apple juice. After 4 hours, there was some cloudiness, and i woke up this morning to bubbles. I ended up with a SG of 1.073, and based on some of the posts on how dry the finish is, I'm projecting 10.2 ish percent! This is my first non beer brew, so I am a little out of my brewing comfort zone. However, SWMBO and I are excited because it was so easy to make. Thanks Ed!
Walter_Whites_Batch
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FWIW, I’ve been using the apple juice that my local costco has on sale: Rougemont, and it is advertised on the label as “low acid”. So no wonder I’ve found mine to be dry but not sour. I am getting ready to bottle carb my mega-batch (54 Litres) tonight, I will have to divide the dextrose into 3 bottling buckets, and I have to bottle it in my basement because I think it is dangerous to try and move the behemoth. I think I have 5x24 of sterilized stella artois 333ml bottles, and about 32 grolsh-style bottles ready to go. I figure about ¾ of a cup per bottling bucket, and I will try and hit around 18 litres in each bucket. Wish me luck. I’m starting to think I need an assistant... Pinkman??
May all be well with your bottling of this libation.
mearhartford
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Walter_Whites_Batch
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I got it done last night using swmbo (let's call her Skyler) as my assistant. I had a bit of a problem with the bottling wand sticking open, but I was bottling on a concrete floor, with a floor drain right there, so I manage to keep the mess to a minimum. Man that is a lot of liquid, and a 54 L demijohn is a lot harder to clean than a glass carboy... I think I going to fill it up again and bulk age it though...
Hello all,
I'm going to start my first batch of this recipe soon and I just have a quick question. Does anyone hydrate the yeast before pitching or do you just sprinkle it in the carboy as per the instructions?
Sorry if it's already been asked a time or two..
Thanks!
I'm going to start my first batch of this recipe soon and I just have a quick question. Does anyone hydrate the yeast before pitching or do you just sprinkle it in the carboy as per the instructions?
Sorry if it's already been asked a time or two..
Thanks!
Goofynewfie
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I just throw it in
I've done it both ways, not consistently, but haven't noticed a clear difference. Rehydrate if you feel like it, but I wouldn't consider it necessary
Thanks. Would you choose citric? Some posts I found on ciders suggest an acid blend which would be citric/tartaric/malic, I was originally leading towards malic due to its presence in green apples. I currently have tartaric/malic/ascorbic on hand but wouldn't mind ordering more for the future.
