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Apfelwein

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IrishMonk

IrishMonk

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 30, 2010
97
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Mesquite, Tx
I'm currently fermenting an Apfelwein...

1 gal all natural apple juice
2 # cane sugar
dash of cinnimon
handful of raisins
1 tsp fermax
D-47 yeast
SG-1.111

Should be good ;D
 
Mmmm, sounds good. I've made a few batches of apfelwein using Red Star Montrachet wine yeast. Carbonated, it makes a nice dry sparkling cider. I'm sure D47 will do a great job.
 
How long do you usually age your ciders or afelweins in the bottle? I have found that the ones I have made usually take a while to become drinkable.

It seems that they usually have too much sulphury and "green" or yeasty flavors for months after fermentation has ceased.
 
Gardenmead said:
How long do you usually age your ciders or afelweins in the bottle? I have found that the ones I have made usually take a while to become drinkable.

It seems that they usually have too much sulphury and "green" or yeasty flavors for months after fermentation has ceased.
Click to expand...
You wouldn't normally age a cider, as once the fermentation is complete, there's not a high enough alcohol content to act as a preservative - hence it's the reason why commercially produced ciders are fermented, then sulphited/sweetened/etc etc and then force carbonated and bottled.

Apfelwein would be different as they'd normally have the alcohol to preserve and if necessary extract tannins/vanilins/etc from oak.

regards

fatbloke
 
Cane sugar

can one substitute honey for the cane sugar?
Does cane sugar not produce too much alcohol too soon causing esther and the burn of alcohol on the tongue?
 
Absolutely you can use honey, I make crabapple wine almost every year and it's great with sugar and also great (but distinctly different and more expensive) with honey.
 
I adore Apfelwein, and will be added it to my drink rotation once I get another carboy. ;) I went to Langen (about 15km outside of Frankurt am Main) a little over a month ago, and had a bunch of locally-produced Apfelwein....I was floating for a few days ;)

I also have a Cyser going, to try and remind me of that taste, but it does indeed have a distinctly different flavour.

Sounds delicious!
 
I think with Cyser the recipe is generally pretty simple unless you're spicing it. Try doing some searches, and think about whether you want it sweet or dry. That will lead you to pick your honey amount and yeast.
 
fatbloke said:
You wouldn't normally age a cider, as once the fermentation is complete, there's not a high enough alcohol content to act as a preservative - hence it's the reason why commercially produced ciders are fermented, then sulphited/sweetened/etc etc and then force carbonated and bottled.

Apfelwein would be different as they'd normally have the alcohol to preserve and if necessary extract tannins/vanilins/etc from oak.

regards

fatbloke
Click to expand...

I beg to differ on this one, but cider needs to be aged. In the days of old, the juice was barrelled up in the fall, allowed to ferment all winter (natural yeast on the apples) Come spring the malic/lacto fermentation occurred, aged some then drank. In my modern carboy, the juice is fermented in carboys, bottled when clear, the secendary fermentation occurs, aged for a few months, and walla, an excellent beverage with the rough edges nicely rounded off.
 
Apfelwein and Cyser

Ok here are my plans; I will make a gallon of both.
I will look for two similar recipes. I am not concern about the dryness I can back sweeten - I need to learn this too.
From there I will move into the realm of spices, but first I need to figure which one I really like.
I live in Oregon so apples will be plentiful in late summer. Normally we have to pitch a ton of apples away, but now I will make potations.
I will post both recipes and ask for some comments before I start.
How does that sound guys?
 
Sounds good. My recommendation is that you mix one up first, then while it's sitting mix up the other - the key thing is whether you do the sugar or honey one second, start with a little less than you think you'll need, and measure the gravity, adding as you need to. In a comparison like this you don't want to deviate by more than a couple graviity points so that you know the differences you taste come from ingredients, not processes or ABV.
 
I think that if the commercial cideries are using backsweetening, stabilizing, and force carbonation instead of aging in the bottle, they are probably doing it mostly for economic reasons. (A lot of the commercial ciders I see also include the open-ended "natural flavors" in the ingredients list. A good way to cover up some off flavors that might otherwise fade with some aging...A recent "perry" that a friend brought over, depsite it's strong pear aroma turned out to have NO pear in the ingredients only apple juice and natural flavors. ?tangent?)

I don't know very much about cider making at home or commerically, but I have done about 6 or 7 batches with a wide range of techniques ingredients and results. One common factor I found was that bottles aged over 6 months were always better tasting (less yeasty, sulphurous, and "green"). The apple aromas actually came through and despite the relative dryness (compared to a lot of commercial examples) still were quite pleasing and smooth.

I have yet to have any problems with aged bottles of ciders (important to note, I have never aged in for more than 12 to 16 months). I think that with an ABV hovering around 7% aging for 12 to 24 months or a little more should not pose any problems.

All I know is that I have not liked the taste of any of my or friends' ciders younger than 7 to 11 months in the bottle.
 
FWIW, my wife and I make what yall call apfelwein, with 10lbs of sugar to about 4 gallons of fresh pressed cider. And we get people telling us to enter it into contests when it's three months old because "it's the best thing I've ever tasted". Your mileage with cider can and WILL vary. Just know that aging, while useful in cider, isn't always necessary.
 
I just tasted this wine... wow. Very strong alcohol with a touch of apple aftertaste. I'll let it sit a bit, maybe back sweeten with fresh apple juice.
 
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