Apfelwein success! Next steps

[Listen_Up_Sonny]

Hello All,

First off, this is my first post. I just bottled my first batch of apfelwein (following Ed's recipe to a T), and I am very pleased with the results. This is my first time brewing/fermenting anything. Thank you ed + others for freely putting your knowledge on the internet. I couldn't have done it without you.

I let it ferment for 4 months and I've been drinking it unsweetened and uncarbonated. The dryness suits my tastes well. There is a slight bit of sourness, which from my reading, mellows with age. At the same time I started this batch, I started a second carboy which is still sitting. I think I'm going to try to let that one go another two months unless I get desperate for some more apfelwein before then.

So...I'm hooked. I just ordered two more carboys, so I'll have three open ones to play with plus the one I still need to bottle. I am definetly going to make another batch of original, and I want to experiment a little bit. I know there is tons of information already on here, and my ideas have come from other peoples' experiments. Can you just have a look at my ideas and tell me if you think I'll run into any other problems and let me know if you have any other insight.

For the batch that is already fermenting, I am going to carb. it this time. I would like to have a little more apple/fruit flavor. So, I was thinking instead of priming sugar to use a juice concentrate. I was thinking either pear or AJ concentrate. Will this work or should I stick with priming sugar?

This apfelwein is a little strong for weeknights . I wanted to make a lower % version that had a more prominent fruit/apple aroma and flavor. Instead of dextrose, I was thinking about two cans of peach/grape concentrate. Do you think the fruit flavor will hold up and will the % be lower.

Finally, I was thinking about trying a different yeast. Do yeasts change the flavor or just have different alcohol tolerances?

Sorry, that got long. I'm excited. If you've made it this far, thank you for your time.

Sonny.

 

[SPR-GRN]

Glad you are enjoying the afpelweine, it's a favorite on this board.

1.) priming with juice concentrate will give you a hint more flavor but not much, the quantity it takes to carbonate is not enough to impart much flavor.

2.) for a lower percentage of alcohol with more fruit flavor/aroma use more concentrate in place of dextrose AND use an ale yeast in pace of champagne yeast - champagne yeast will chew through those sugars and give you the same high alcohol.

3.) a yeast change will have an affect on the flavor of the cider, use a neutral ale yeast (US-04 US-05) those will not affect the flavor profile as much as others.

other options for dropping the ABV are to pasteurize and back sweeten with concentrate, but then you'd have to force carb.

Ed or others will probably chime in with more options and comments.

 

[Listen_Up_Sonny]

Thanks for the tips SPR-GRN!

Based on your insight, I just put together a batch as follows:
4.5 gal. AJ
2 cans AJ concentrate
2 cans peach/white grape concentrate
s-04 yeast

I was a little worried that the different yeast would cause too much krausen, so I left an extra 1/2 gallon of headspeace. I'll let you guys know how it progresses.

Bring on the rhino farts.

 

[Alfonsotropolos]

I always find I want more apple flavor as well. I just tried something called “Frozen Apple” with massive flavor, they freeze the apple juice before fermentation to concentrate it which raises everything because they pull off the water as frozen ice, then the resulting wine is quite sweet with high sugar, high alch, high acidity and high flavor, it’s well balanced but really a slow sipping after dinner kind of wine. Here is an idea that I’m going to take a run at very soon on a pretty large scale. See if you can get some local cider from a farm stand with recently picked apples, because it’s early in the season maybe the acid and flavor will be there but the sugar will be low. Freeze the juice a little and separate out some of the ice crystals thus reducing the water content. After fermentation inoculate with Malolactic bacteria to convert some of the malic acid into lactic acid. I’m not entirely how well MLF goes with cider so be forewarned I have no idea what I’m talking about but could be a fun thing to play around with if you want to keep your acidity in check but increase flavor.

 

[SPR-GRN]

Thanks for the tips SPR-GRN!

Based on your insight, I just put together a batch as follows:
4.5 gal. AJ
2 cans AJ concentrate
2 cans peach/white grape concentrate
s-04 yeast

I was a little worried that the different yeast would cause too much krausen, so I left an extra 1/2 gallon of headspeace. I'll let you guys know how it progresses.

Bring on the rhino farts.

looking forward to your updates; hope it works out the way you want it to, if it doesn't I'll give you a hand getting rid of it

 

[Listen_Up_Sonny]

We are coming up on 48 hours. So far:

Nothing much happened on the first evening before bed.

I awoke to a very active airlock, and there was a thick krausen. I'm glad I left the 1/2gal headspace or it would've blown over.

By last evening, the mix had gone very cloudy. It still was bubbling away with the krausen.

I woke up this morning to active bubbling, but the krausen was gone and a thick yeast cake has begin to form. I think the mixture is clearing a bit, also.

So far, the smell is much more fruity than farty.

A QUESTION:
Do you think I should just let this one sit in the primary for several months like the original apfelwein, or do I need to rack to a primary? Should I ferment as long as with the montrachet yeast. I'm using s-04

 

[StoneArcher]

First off, I have to say that I am pretty darn happy that your first batch went well!

I do not think that you should let it sit in the primary as long. I would rack upon or just before the yeast flatlines, but that's just me. Also with ale yeasts, I believe they have a greater impact on flavor if left on the dead stuff. Not to mention, why not practice cleaning some of that yeast for your next batch?


I know that it's too late to add this suggestion, but:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f25/quick-apfelwein-qs-424442/

Is a thread on possibly maxing out the apple flavor using juice and/or all concentrate. I believe, TexasWine did one of these. We will have to see how it turns out. I am going to do one with max apple as soon as my 6 fermenting carboys get to aging stages.

Best of luck and keep us posted!