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Apfelwein

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GrantLee63

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Feb 19, 2006
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Clarkston, MI
I know a lot of you who hang-out on this site, obvioulsy frequent other mead / beer / hard cider sites as well, and therefore I'm sure that many of you have heard of Apfelwein - particularly the recipe posted here:

http://tinyurl.com/yuputm

I am currently washing down my breakfast with a glass of Apfelwein (I knew this was going to happen when I got into this 'hobby' - hope it doesn't become problmatic!) made from this exact recipe. The only exception is that I bulk-aged mine for 6 months before kegging it, and all I can say is that it is a great, refreshing, 'buzz-in-a-bottle' libation that is going to be in regular rotation in my kegerator. Give a batch a shot if you haven't already done so.

- GL63
 
Oooh, sounds wonderful! Someday....

I have to figure out how to convert corn sugar measurements to honey measurements. But then again, he gave a starting gravity, I could just shoot for that..... I don't know. Any suggestions on that? I know that, in terms of volume, one would obviously be using more honey, but how much? :icon_scratch: I think this was covered before, I gotta do some research! :icon_study:

Edit: Ask, and ye shall receive!

Dan McFeeley said:
In general, when converting from country wine recipes to mead recipes, 3/4 lb sugar is equivalent to 1 lb honey.
Click to expand...

Just what I was looking for. And so, it goes on the list of meads to make!
 
Apfelwein is a wine/cider that was designed by a beer brewer as a quick, easy and cheap beverage that happened to be very refreshing and quite tasty (though I don't care for it that much myself). The use of corn sugar (not cane sugar or corn syrup) is because is easily ferments, imparts no flavor on the wine and dissolves easily in liquid. Also most beer brewers use this sugar to add to the beer at bottling time for bottle conditioned beer, so it is usually handy.

It is so cheap and easy I would recommend making your first batch using the instructions provided. Then after you have some experience consider modifications. The only changes I would make would be to add a small amount of yeast nutrients to prevent the sulfur smell that sometimes occurs during fermentation.

I think the apfelwein thread on homebrewtalk.com is the longest thread on the site.

Craig
 
I made a different batch using Wyeast Hefeweizen yeast which, at least according to some, leaves a bit more residual sweetness, and enhanced flavor characterists - we'll see. If you're going to make it, approach it like a lot of folks do here with meads - experiment a bit. Here is another thread that discusses making Apfelwein using different strains of yeasts:

http://tinyurl.com/4jgt9j

- GL63
 
I ended up brewing a one gallon test batch of this.

2 1/2 gallons of trader joe's apple juice. No preservatives, etc.
1 package of D37 started in go-ferm as per instructions.
Just under 2 cups of Dextrose (corn sugar)

I put nothing else into the recipe as that was what the original article covered. Fermentation went bonkers from about an hour in, at about 70 bubbles a minute. It's only been three days and fermentation has considerably slowed down and the entire color has changed it's very pale yellow now and I am already seeing tons of lees on the bottom of the jug. Is it possible for this to ferment this quickly? Fermentation is now down to about a bubble every 5 seconds.

Temperature at 72 degrees.

Any thoughts?

Edit (like three times): I took a wiff of this just before refill the airlock. It's sort of heinous. Is it supposed to be that high, I remember something about D37 being a lower-temperature yeast, is it possible 72 was too high?
 
Oh, about the smell. I figure I'll leave it for four weeks and see what happens. :)
 
Is it a sulphurous odor? If so, that would be considered normal for ciders / apfelweins. The apfelwein I'm currently enjoying on tap right now had a slight sulphur odor when it was undergoing fermentation 6 months ago - and it has long since dissipated. The hard cider, and other apfelwein I made which are now bulk-aging, also exhibited sulphurous odors when undergoing fermentation and the temp in my basement back then was 62 F.

- GL63
 
It is a bit sulfurish. Being that the website it's 4 weeks for a 5 gallon batch, I won't even begin to worry until it's three weeks out.
 
GrantLee63 said:
CBBaron said:
Apfelwein is a wine/cider that was designed by a beer brewer as a quick, easy and cheap beverage ..... *snip* .....
Click to expand...

Well ..... not quite - it's been around for a long time:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apfelwein

- GL63
Click to expand...
Yes the drink has been around a long time but the recipe all the hype is based on is designed to be quick, cheap, easy and have a higher ABV than original.

As for the sulfur smell. That has been reported by many brewers on that other forum. Noone has reported it being a problem in the finished product. It is possibly due to a nutrient shortage so adding nutrients to the must may help.

Craig
 
As for the sulfur smell. That has been reported by many brewers on that other forum. Noone has reported it being a problem in the finished product. It is possibly due to a nutrient shortage so adding nutrients to the must may help.
[/quote]

I through in 1/2 a tablespoon of fermaid K, and left it alone. The aroma is a little er, eh, unpleasant
 
UDV said:
I ended up brewing a one gallon test batch of this.

2 1/2 gallons of trader joe's apple juice. No preservatives, etc.
etc...
Click to expand...

I'm still trying to figure out how you fit 2.5 gallons in a 1 gallon batch :laughing7:

Craig
 
I'm still trying to figure out how you fit 2.5 gallons in a 1 gallon batch :laughing7:
Click to expand...

The way I phrased it came out wrong. It's 2 containers of 1/2 gallon each of apple juice, a gallon! :)
 
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