Edwort's Apfelwein Without Sugar

[LoudounBrew]

I'm thinking of brewing up a batch of Edwort's Apfelwein. I used to live in Frankfurt and really enjoyed the apple wine. But looking at Edwort's recipe, he adds sugar and gets the ABV up to ~9%. I seem to remember the ABV of apple wine being around 5%-6% - and even then I'd off mix it with sparkling water, so the ABV went down to ~2.5%, i..e I could drink the stuff all day.

Anyway, I'd prefer to make a batch that matched the Frankfurt-style apfelwein as opposed to a higher alcohol style. If I don't add the sugar, will the ABV come in around 5% and be closer the German style?

Thanks.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

IIRC, I measured the OG of Mott's apple juice at 1.036. Fermenting it to a dry beverage would result in 4.6 - 4.7% ABV. EdWort uses 2 lbs corn sugar in his 5 gallon recipe. Cut that in half to achieve the ABV you desire.

 

[LoudounBrew]

IIRC, I measured the OG of Mott's apple juice at 1.036. Fermenting it to a dry beverage would result in 4.6 - 4.7% ABV. EdWort uses 2 lbs corn sugar in his 5 gallon recipe. Cut that in half to achieve the ABV you desire.

Yuri,

Thanks. I'm on my way. I miss the stuff. Couldn't really find in the U.S. for a long time. Occasionally, I'd see it in a German store but it was crazy expensive.

 

[Pickled_Pepper]

Check the gravity of your base juice before you add anything. The stuff I usually get starts out around 1.045 to 1.050. If you ferment it all the way dry starting at 1.050 you'd get in the neighborhood of 6-7%.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

I was going from memory...might've been a little low on my gravity estimate.