Graff (Malty, slightly hopped cider)

[winenewb172]

I've only brewed with hops twice and once I strained and had a bunch of hops in the strainer and the other time there wasn't any I don't think you need to strain pellets though

 

[idrinkstuffnthings]

Ready to brew this up, was wondering if I could skip the torrified wheat. Does it add flavour or is it just for the head?

 

[Safa]

Just head as far as I know.

 

[winenewb172]

Nothin like good head

 

[pagerage]

Nothin like good head

You beat me to it!

 

[winenewb172]

You beat me to it!

You said beat

 

[ender416]

so i brewed my batch 3 days ago. was wondering if fermentation was going to even start. it started, and the airlock was bubbling along nicely. now its stopped. i took the lid off my bucket and taste tested, its carbonated, and bubbles are popping on the surface. it looks as if its still fermenting, but not from looking at the airlock it doesnt. should i be worried?

 

[Loodachris]

Is this recipe supposed to be like a Hornsby or Angry Orchard? That's the style my wife is looking for

 

[ender416]

kind of worried cause my apple juice wasn't cheap. ran me like 36 bucks for 4 gallons.

 

[sweed]

kind of worried cause my apple juice wasn't cheap. ran me like 36 bucks for 4 gallons.

Did you take a gravity reading? Could be a small leak where the air lock goes in? What yeast did you use? If there are signs, then it's probably fermenting.

 

[caburdet78]

would appreciate some help:

looking to make the recipe at the beginning of this thread but only want to do a 3 gallon batch ... I use BeerSmith and can scale down the grains and such but having issues figuring out how much cider to use

 

[sweed]

would appreciate some help:

looking to make the recipe at the beginning of this thread but only want to do a 3 gallon batch ... I use BeerSmith and can scale down the grains and such but having issues figuring out how much cider to use

2.4 gallons, x/3=4/5

 

[Scottie61]

I just did a 2.4-2.5 gal batch. I ended up using three 96oz containers of juice and used 1 quart of water as my boil with 1 lb DME and 4 oz brown sugar. After cooling I added that to my juice to come up with about 2.5 gallons total. My only problem is I forgot to aerate it before pitching! It's fermenting, but not very actively, so we'll we what happens.

Good luck!

Scott

 

[hopmonster2189]

Bottled my second batch 2 weeks ago using Treetop.

used 3 lb light DME and C-120L,
1oz of Centennial.
It went from 1.072 to 1.020 in the 2 months it was in primary.
Bottle primed with a can of treetop frozen AJ (Has like 3.7 oz sucrose).

I must say I like it more than my original batch, this graf's FG was higher which I preferred and the frozen juice can for priming I think added a little apple aroma and taste back in, I'll definitely do this for graf in the future. I think I might try a grain even darker than C-120 on the next one I brew.

 

[kingogames]

2 months in primary? I only did one month and mine still tasted a little yeasty, that's probably why.

 

[Loodachris]

Is this recipe supposed to taste like a Hornsby's or Angry Orchard?

 

[mike_in_ak]

Is this recipe supposed to taste like a Hornsby's or Angry Orchard?

Not even close to either.

Maybe if you backsweetened the heck out of it and pasteurized or force carbed.

 

[smonteton]

this sounds good

 

[Scottie61]

This is pretty weird -- I started my 2.5 gallon batch on the 16th at 1.062, and after checking today, it's already at 1.002. I never thought it would go that fast!

My last ed wort apple wine actually got stuck.

Is this normal with this recipe?

Scott

 

[mike_in_ak]

I'd say that's totally within the realm of normal with most anything on here. Maybe faster than average for that OG, but not crazy.

Apfelwein's probably more picky because its an even higher OG and doesn't have the nutrient goodness provided by the malt in graff.

 

[Scottie61]

I'd say that's totally within the realm of normal with most anything on here. Maybe faster than average for that OG, but not crazy.

Thanks, very good to know.

I've got it cold-crashing right now, and will probably bottle and do a stove-top pasteurizing this weekend. It tastes pretty good, and I may add some concentrate to back-sweeten just a touch, as it is pretty dry. I don't tend to carbonate very much like a lot of folks do.

Scott

 

[kenstogie]

I just finished a bottling up some haad cidah (maybe wine at this point) and damn it's got some kick (12.5% abv!!) but next time I am going for something a little mellower like this.

 

[sweed]

I just finished a bottling up some haad cidah (maybe wine at this point) and damn it's got some kick (12.5% abv!!) but next time I am going for something a little mellower like this.

Sounds wicked awesome ked!! You might have to age that a bit lol. I added a lb of brown sugar to mine, so it's probably in the 8-9% range. I still need to bottle it and it's been in the fermenter for over a month.... No time and don't know what to put it in??

 

[kenstogie]

Yea sweed it is WICKED and AWESOME but it'll get better with time (unlike most of my gf's LOL)

I added 2 or 3 bags of LBrown sugar and used nottingham yeast. For a while I thought it wasn't even fermenting.... boy was I wrong. I didn't think the yeast was going to hang with that much alcohol and there'd be some sweetness left...wrong again. It was in the fermenting bucket for 2 months.
OG 1.090 FG .995
I only added 1 or 2 oz of corn sugar to give it a light carbonation and in a few months or so the alcohol bite will go away...maybe.

 

[sweed]

Yea sweed it is WICKED and AWESOME but it'll get better with time (unlike most of my gf's LOL)

I added 2 or 3 bags of LBrown sugar and used nottingham yeast. For a while I thought it wasn't even fermenting.... boy was I wrong. I didn't think the yeast was going to hang with that much alcohol and there'd be some sweetness left...wrong again. It was in the fermenting bucket for 2 months.
OG 1.090 FG .995
I only added 1 or 2 oz of corn sugar to give it a light carbonation and in a few months or so the alcohol bite will go away...maybe.

Haha, I think I'm just going to back sweeten it and keep it non carbonated. I'll at the potassium sorbate (I think that's it) to keep it from fermenting when I add a can of juice concentrate to it. I'll either do apple/ peach or cran/raspberry. I'm thinking the peach sounds good.

 

[hunter_le five]

Just put a batch of this into my fermentation chamber. OG 1.055. Can't wait to try the finished product!

 

[CHUM_]

Couple day sago I added 1 gallon wort (2lbs light DME) to an existing 1 gallon Belgian Wit (on yeast cake) and 3 gallons of apple juice....

OG - 1.060

and it was going nuts the first 48 hours....now it's only kinda nuts

 

[jgonzo108]

Well here is my last personal review of Graff. I brewed this back in November 2012 following OP's recipe. I bottled it after 2 weeks primary and 2 weeks secondary. Primed with corn sugar as normal. 3/4 cup. After 2 weeks in bottle, I cracked one open and it was fully carbed. Back then, the flavor did not sit well with me. So I let it age another month and tried it again. The flavor was not to my liking however the profile did change. I figured I would try one periodically to see if it would finally be to my liking. Lets say I cracked the last one that I am going to try the orher day. This stuff has been conditioining for over 5 months and eventhough the flavor has changed, I have to say this stuff is still disgusting. I have since made a more traditional hard cider and have decided to dump out the remainig 1 1/2 cases I have left of the Graff. I am glad I tried this recipe because I would have been curious to see what this stuff tasted like. I can hinestly say that I will not brew this again.

P.S. if there are typos I overlooked, please forgive me. I typed this on my phone.

 

[Wraithraider]

Morning all.

I've tried making this twice now. Once with the original recipe and the second with a few small changes to adjust for my tastes. Each time before kegging I've tasted it and found it enjoyable. Crisp, lots of apple, and great body/mouthfeel. However once I keg it, it's a different story. Where it was once clear it's become cloudy and the flavor gets sort of a funky/yeasty flavor. I've checked my keg and it's tight as a drum. I also sterilize it within an inch of it's life and you could perform surgery in it. I do stabilize before kegging as well.

I'm new to kegging in general so is there something that could account for this wild shift in flavor and profile? Any insight would be welcome. Thanks.

 

[LabRatBrewer]

Well here is my last personal review of Graff. I brewed this back in November 2012 following OP's recipe. I bottled it after 2 weeks primary and 2 weeks secondary. Primed with corn sugar as normal. 3/4 cup. After 2 weeks in bottle, I cracked one open and it was fully carbed. Back then, the flavor did not sit well with me. So I let it age another month and tried it again. The flavor was not to my liking however the profile did change. I figured I would try one periodically to see if it would finally be to my liking. Lets say I cracked the last one that I am going to try the orher day. This stuff has been conditioining for over 5 months and eventhough the flavor has changed, I have to say this stuff is still disgusting. I have since made a more traditional hard cider and have decided to dump out the remainig 1 1/2 cases I have left of the Graff. I am glad I tried this recipe because I would have been curious to see what this stuff tasted like. I can hinestly say that I will not brew this again.

P.S. if there are typos I overlooked, please forgive me. I typed this on my phone.

I made a small batch and didn't really love it. I forgot about it, and tonight pulled a bottle thats probably a year old out of my keezer and wow is it good. I came to the thread to say how much I liked it, and saw your post. I felt like you until this bottle.

 

[caburdet78]

Started my first batch last night

 

[timcadieux]

I don't have Crystal 60L but I do have Crystal 80L, could I substitute, would it be the same amount (0.5LBS)?

 

[BrewerBear]

I wouldn't worry too much about it Tim,if that's what you have use it.

 

[naga77777]

I just saw that this thread was in the top 20 pages of new posts, and decided to come in and say I love this Graff

I followed the OP pretty much exactly. I used some leftover hop pellets I had, and just adjusted the quantity to make the AAU's equal to what the OP called for. I think I used some OLD us-05 trub I had in the fridge for a few weeks in a pint jar.

Been in the keg for a couple weeks, and is crystal clear, even though I used the AJ to cool it, and the OP said it'd cause it to be a little less clear. Just more evidence that time in a cold keg will usually clear most anything.

Not NEARLY as dry as Apfelwein. I like the body and "beer-like" quality the malt extract adds. Prolly got a little to do with the yeast as well.

Either way, this is a pretty solid recipe in my opinion, and I'll be doing a batch to put in bottles. With how strong it is, I Dont anticipate me kicking this keg quickly by myself.

 

[EVBrewing]

What ABV are people ending up with on this recipe? Mine finished out at an 8% and tastes like sparkling apple wine. My mistake may have been to high of a fermentation temperature. I averaged about 70 degrees, and had a couple temp spikes up to 75 degrees. Most likely where I went wrong.

 

[mike_in_ak]

Morning all.

I've tried making this twice now. Once with the original recipe and the second with a few small changes to adjust for my tastes. Each time before kegging I've tasted it and found it enjoyable. Crisp, lots of apple, and great body/mouthfeel. However once I keg it, it's a different story. Where it was once clear it's become cloudy and the flavor gets sort of a funky/yeasty flavor. I've checked my keg and it's tight as a drum. I also sterilize it within an inch of it's life and you could perform surgery in it. I do stabilize before kegging as well.

I'm new to kegging in general so is there something that could account for this wild shift in flavor and profile? Any insight would be welcome. Thanks.

This happened to my apfelwein in bottles. Was delicious, then not so much once bottled.

Somebody suggested that I look up "bottle shock" but it doesn't seem like that was the case. Would love to have this figured out because it was amazing.

And I would describe my off flavor pretty much exactly like you did.

 

[EVBrewing]

I found a way to back sweeten if i comes out too tart and wine tasting that solved my problem. Most people probably consider this completely cheating but the results were exelent. I simply poored a jigger of the unfermented cider i started with into the bottom of a frosty mug and filled it with a 12 oz bottle.

 

[winenewb172]

My god this stuff is great like I said mine is made with wheat dme and hefe yeast but wow is it great!

 

[mike_in_ak]

I found a way to back sweeten if i comes out too tart and wine tasting that solved my problem. Most people probably consider this completely cheating but the results were exelent. I simply poored a jigger of the unfermented cider i started with into the bottom of a frosty mug and filled it with a 12 oz bottle.

That's not cheating man, it's smart.

 

[Dangeruss]

I did my first graff but made some changes when I bottled it. I first bottled about 3.5 gallons of the regular graff. What I did different was a week before I put it in a bottle I toasted about 3 tsp. of fennel seeds and soaked it in 2 ounces of Vodka and then add it to the bottle bucket. Also used brown sugar in the boil. Did a side by side taste test and the fennel ad interesting note that I really enjoyed. I came up with the idea because there is a apple and fennel salad so I figured why not. I am on my second graff and I put a tablespoon of fennel seeds in the mash be interesting what will happen I will taste it before putting it in a bottle.