Apfelwein (Hard German Apple Cider)

[Tess]

Did you add the fresh grated ginger ad lemon zest in the secondary?

 

[LoneStarLori]

Nice label Tess. lol

I started a different version of something like this on Tuesday. It's the basic part of one of the apple wine and cider recipes in the book that came from Midwest supplies. I used Motts juice and 8lbs of granny smith apples. I chopped the apples finely and squeezed what I could by hand and put it in a strainer bag, then into the fermenter. I used a brownish sugar from Florida Crystals I had never seen before called Demeara. It tasted like caramel when I made it into syrup. NUMMY! Next day I pitched Champagne yeast.
I left town for a few days and got back today to a .1001 reading. (Starting SG 1.09) It tastes pretty dry but nice. I added 2 cinnamon sticks and will leave them there a few days and see what happens. I think i'm only going to have about 2 gals, but that should be enough to see if we like it.

 

[cimbaliw]

Did you add the fresh grated ginger ad lemon zest in the secondary?

Yes, several months in. I made a ginger extract and started a couple of Tablespoons at a time. I like ginger so 8T is now a start for 5-6 gallons. The first lemon experiment involved feeling no pain, seeing a lemon on the counter, cutting it in half, crushing it by hand into a pyrex cup and pouring it into the carboy through a small sieve. The result was a fantastic dry finish on the pallate.

On another note, you can go from too dry to too sweet in a hurry with apple. Probably because the juice I start with is pretty sweet. 1.005 tastes good initially but in a couple of weeks, things may be different. Vanilla also adds to the sensation of sweetness.

 

[Tess]

Well I pitched the yeast yesterday and its doing nothing as of right now. Its pretty cool on my basement. About 68. Im not sure about the brew belt with apple. What do you think?

 

[RegionRat]

Well I pitched the yeast yesterday and its doing nothing as of right now. Its pretty cool on my basement. About 68. Im not sure about the brew belt with apple. What do you think?

I would not worry about it. I am in no way an expert on yeast and what temp they like. I just feel this time of year the ambient temps of where we live are just awesome for fermentation. The natural ups and downs of temps work their magic. ..... walk away and let it do it's thing and watch the sg. Transfer around 1.010.

RR

 

[Tess]

I would not worry about it. I am in no way an expert on yeast and what temp they like. I just feel this time of year the ambient temps of where we live are just awesome for fermentation. The natural ups and downs of temps work their magic. ..... walk away and let it do it's thing and watch the sg. Transfer around 1.010.

RR

Thanks thats basically what Im doing. I did stir it up a bit today to try to give it some help. I will let you know

 

[MilesDavis]

Drinking some that I started about 5 weeks ago. It's a little young-tasting, but still quite nice.
So I went ahead and started another batch.

 

[Tess]

Its going good now! Do you back sweeten or prefer it dry?

 

[RegionRat]

I think you are just going to have to taste it when it has aged a month and do a little experimenting. Stabilize and sorbate it then draw out a pint or so and add simple syrup, ( I invert mine) a little at a time until you have the taste you are looking for. Then check sg. If have a finishing hydrometer, (.980-1.020 range) that helps. Then do the math and add sugar to get the the sweetness of the sg reading.

If the ph is low enough I dont think it needs to be sweetened. I like mine very tart so I put in ~3 tbls tartaric acid. I go by taste. Start with 2tbls and at 1tsp at a time till I get the tartness I like.

Did you order extract?

Watch this dude. He talks about sweetening and adding home made extracts.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tDP1ubIci8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tDP1ubIci8[/ame]


**Edit: This is for 6 gallon batch**
RR

 

[MilesDavis]

Its going good now! Do you back sweeten or prefer it dry?

I put one level teaspoon of cane sugar into about 12oz of apfelwein. If it were aged longer, I think it would be just fine completely dry. In the future, I may follow RR's lead and experiment with adding some tartness.

 

[Tess]

What is the final ABV when using this recipe? I saw someone in the thread talk about cinnamon addition earlier. Would like to try this and bottle in 1.5 L bottles. Would I overpower by dropping in a cinnamon stick in each bottle at bottling?

I hope you did not do this. YES one cinnamon stick dropped in every bottle will wayyyyy over power it and longer its in there the worse it will be. I was going to through about 2 sticks in my 6 gal secondary and will only leave it in there for a week or two. I'll have to taste it

 

[firejohn03]

I hope you did not do this. YES one cinnamon stick dropped in every bottle will wayyyyy over power it and longer its in there the worse it will be. I was going to through about 2 sticks in my 6 gal secondary and will only leave it in there for a week or two. I'll have to taste it

Tess , I decided to go without the cinnamon all together. Thanks for the advice. Tasted at racking and this is going to be a delightful drink, standing alone. Let me know how the cinnamon addition comes out.

 

[Tess]

I just racked mine to the carboy. Going to stabilize and back sweeten add the apple extract not sure Im going to do the cinnamon yet ether lol

 

[cimbaliw]

I racked mine to secondary yesterday. Between the additional acid and the CO2, it sure was tart. I decided a pound of golden raisins was worth a try. Previous batches, when dry, tasted a good deal like Pinot Grigio. I'm curious to see what the raisins bring to the table.

 

[RegionRat]

I just racked mine to the carboy. Going to stabilize and back sweeten add the apple extract not sure Im going to do the cinnamon yet ether lol

Just thought I would mention I almost always use Sparkaloid to help it clear. It should clear on its own though.

What kind of extract did you end up getting?

RR

 

[RegionRat]

I racked mine to secondary yesterday. Between the additional acid and the CO2, it sure was tart. I decided a pound of golden raisins was worth a try. Previous batches, when dry, tasted a good deal like Pinot Grigio. I'm curious to see what the raisins bring to the table.

How much acid did you add? Like I said earlier I like the tartness so I add quite a bit.

Funny you should sate it reminds you of Pino Griz. A friend of mine and his wife often ask me for another bottle of Pino Griz, that's what they jokingly call my apple wine, lol.

RR

 

[Tess]

I went to the link you gave me and order that one. I added 1/4 tsp per gal. How much acid blend do you add to six gals. I was going to use Sparkloid but not until I fully degas tomorrow. Did you back sweeten? With what and how much

 

[RegionRat]

I dont think it needs to be sweetened. That's just me. I have sweetened batches in the past. I use invert sugar to back sweeten. (1c sugar, 1/2 water, 1tps Realemon. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 min). I draw a couple cups of cider and add the invert sugar till I like the taste. Then I take an sg reading and figure the amount of sugar to add to the six gallons. I think the last one I sweetened was around 1.002

I like mine very tart so I put in ~3 tbls tartaric acid, I am sure you could use acid blend instead. Go by taste. Start with 2tbls and taste, then add 1tsp at a time till you get the tartness you like.

Keep us posted on your progress.

Just a side note.... I like to make this stuff and drink it ice cold by the pint. I think my next batch is gonna be in the 5% ABV range.

RR

 

[Tess]

I started at 1.090 so its gonna be strong. I think I will just top it off with some apple juice degas it tomorrow and taste it to see what I want to do next thanks for all the help and suggestions

 

[Tess]

I tasted this dry and this straight up!! taste like beer
Pretty good beer but beer. My husband would love it but not what I was going for.
It took a lot of doctoring for my taste. I added everything. I used half the bottle of apple extract!! I tasted no real apple in it at all.
I backed sweetened with 3 maybe even four cups of splenda (trying to make a skinny wine)
I added whole cloves. 2 TBLS Ground cinnamon (Felt like I could control the cinnamon Better) Allspice, Nutmeg. I almost reached for the pumpkin spice but stopped (will save that for something else)
I was tossing anything in to make it more apple wine tasting then beer.
was super gassy too. I will bulk age this one for 6 months.
Its nothing I would want to drink tonight but i remember thinking the same thing about my first batch of dragons blood and The black and Blue which I loved after 5- 6 months in the bottle.
No tellin what this is going to taste like