[ARCHIVED THREAD] - HOMEBREWERS OF ARFCOM UNITE!!! GoatBoy will create a homebrew subforum if we can get the support!!! (Page 5 of 7)
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Add me in! Just made my first batch of Edworts Apfelwein. I recently cracked a bottle that was almost a year old....it was amazing. I used S-04 instead of Montrachet, though (I like some sweetness). My roommate got a bunch of carboys for free from his family, so we are going to make a shit ton of apfelwein at one time, trying different yeasts. I think I may have asked this before, but, if i started a batch next week could it be ready to go for Christmas presents? No, not if it's EdWort's Apfelwein. I haven't made any other ciders. However, it would be amazing to make now and hand out next Christmas. You must have lots of patience if you're going for optimum quality. Use a starter and yeast nutrient and it'll be finished in 4 weeks, carbonated in 5. It's not that big or complex that you need months and months. It just doesn't have any nutrients in it, so a packet-only fermentation is going to be slow. That's fixed easily enough. |
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I said tolerance, and I'm sorry. 6-8% is your target range for a medium-sweet finish. Tolerance does not drive attenuation. They are related, but attenuation always goes down as alcohol yield increases. Nottingham finishes medium-sweet in the 6-8% range, trust me. It also puts off some fruit esters (again, English yeast) that I think compliment cider very well. Using just juice and honey, it gets pretty close to Strongbow. I'd have to experiment with other yeasts to get it exact, but it's in the neighborhood. In the 4-5% range, Nottingham remains medium-dry, and above 8% it finishes cloyingly sweet. In a beer, I wouldn't go over 6%. In cider, it works well above there. I wouldn't push it above 8% for anything. Ok, I'm new to cider, so I'll try the Nottingham, shoot for 8% or so and see what happens  The wife would like sweeter, Woodchuck compared to Strongbow, so maybe I'll make 6 gallons, split them into 2 x 3gallon secondaries and mess around!Woodchuck is going to be much more difficult to replicate. I haven't tried yet even though it's by far the superior cider. Their 802 is miraculous. Someone else can weigh in there. Careful about pushing the ABV up too high. It starts to get "hot" and you can run into diacetyl problems with cider if you run your nutrient levels down too low. Additionally, if you're using honey, careful about a cold-mix method (like the "shake and bake") because you might not get full solution. Above 2.5 pounds, you're going to waste some of it, almost guarateed. You can use heat to dissolve it in a small amount of juice before mixing but supersaturated solutions are often too dense to ferment well with anything but turbo yeast. That's why most high ABV beers use secondary extract or sugar additions, to keep the gravity in a normal range. I would caution trying it at 6.5 to 7% first, and then getting crazy if you really want to. But, really, as long as you keep it clean and maintain good nutrient levels, the worst that can happen is it takes a little longer. Or you could just use a different yeast. Something like a Scotch Ale yeast might work really well. I'd go a bit larger on the starter for that, probably 750ml or so. Or you can just do the calcs and find optimum pitch volume for however big you're making it. Remember, most homebrewers really underpitch and that's the source of a lot of slow fermentations and other problems. |
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I've got 10 gallons to bottle this weekend! Dude, keg that shit. I only bottle when I'm giving to friends are entering competition. For the aspiring home-brewers in here, think about kegging from the beginning if you have a spare fridge or freezer. This. Sanitizing bottles is a good way piss yourself off real quick. 
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For a bump to this thread, here's some pics from a recent brew day of mine... A recent Belgian Tripel fermenting... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/Tripel_ferm.jpg Brewing stand setup.... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/preps.JPG Sparging..... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/sparge2.JPG All-Grain..... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/grains.JPG A Black-Berry Weizen I did for Spring/Summer.... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/BBWeizen.JPG Nice! A "Tier 1" TopTier! 
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Quoted: Quoted: Just to clarify I'm not trying to make Apfelwein, I've already done that, I'm trying to make cider. Here are the stats on Nottingham: A relatively neutral ale yeast, capable of medium-high attenuation. Has high flocculation rate, and can reach ABV of 11%-13% in normal conditions, 18% when adding Fermaid-K as fermentation progresses. Fast fermentations, frequently done in under 48 hours. So, given that the yeast, if allowed to go it's course, in this case, it will eat all of the sugar avab (let's say I add 2 pounds of sugar to 5 gallons of juice) in the fermenter, leaving no sweetness....like apfelwien; hence the cold crash question. I'm not planning on using the cold crash to clarify the cider but to knock the yeast out of action before they consume all the sugars. Make sense? If I try to back sweeten with a can of applejuice at kegging I'm slightly affraid that they'll come to life again, and hence the splenda idea. This makes me wonder how companies like Ace and Woodchuck make their ciders. I said tolerance, and I'm sorry. 6-8% is your target range for a medium-sweet finish. Tolerance does not drive attenuation. They are related, but attenuation always goes down as alcohol yield increases. Nottingham finishes medium-sweet in the 6-8% range, trust me. It also puts off some fruit esters (again, English yeast) that I think compliment cider very well. Using just juice and honey, it gets pretty close to Strongbow. I'd have to experiment with other yeasts to get it exact, but it's in the neighborhood. In the 4-5% range, Nottingham remains medium-dry, and above 8% it finishes cloyingly sweet. In a beer, I wouldn't go over 6%. In cider, it works well above there. I wouldn't push it above 8% for anything. TrojanMan, I am going to become a big fan of yours. I didn't understand most of what you said but I am eager to learn. |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Add me in! Just made my first batch of Edworts Apfelwein. I recently cracked a bottle that was almost a year old....it was amazing. I used S-04 instead of Montrachet, though (I like some sweetness). My roommate got a bunch of carboys for free from his family, so we are going to make a shit ton of apfelwein at one time, trying different yeasts. I think I may have asked this before, but, if i started a batch next week could it be ready to go for Christmas presents? No, not if it's EdWort's Apfelwein. I haven't made any other ciders. However, it would be amazing to make now and hand out next Christmas. You must have lots of patience if you're going for optimum quality. Thanks for the information. I will start some later this year then. Could a cider be done in time? |
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Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Add me in! Just made my first batch of Edworts Apfelwein. I recently cracked a bottle that was almost a year old....it was amazing. I used S-04 instead of Montrachet, though (I like some sweetness). My roommate got a bunch of carboys for free from his family, so we are going to make a shit ton of apfelwein at one time, trying different yeasts. I think I may have asked this before, but, if i started a batch next week could it be ready to go for Christmas presents? No, not if it's EdWort's Apfelwein. I haven't made any other ciders. However, it would be amazing to make now and hand out next Christmas. You must have lots of patience if you're going for optimum quality. Use a starter and yeast nutrient and it'll be finished in 4 weeks, carbonated in 5. It's not that big or complex that you need months and months. It just doesn't have any nutrients in it, so a packet-only fermentation is going to be slow. That's fixed easily enough. I stand by my post above.  |
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For a bump to this thread, here's some pics from a recent brew day of mine... A recent Belgian Tripel fermenting... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/Tripel_ferm.jpg Brewing stand setup.... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/preps.JPG Sparging..... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/sparge2.JPG All-Grain..... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/grains.JPG A Black-Berry Weizen I did for Spring/Summer.... http://home.comcast.net/~atldiver/BBWeizen.JPG Nice! A "Tier 1" TopTier! Si, I started out with a self-built brew stand but it was cumbersome and a pain to setup/take down. My loving wife surprised me one Xmas with the top-tier and I've been a happy owner since. Blichmann's stuff isn't cheap but it's built very well so if you're really into the hobby you can easily justify the costs. |
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I've got 10 gallons to bottle this weekend! I've got 40 gallons kegged, and 13 gallons about to be kegged. Oh, and brewing another 10 gallons either this weekend or next.  I'm doing a 10 gallon batch this weekend and plan to keg 7 in a 1/4 keg sanke and bottle the rest. |
[ARCHIVED THREAD] - HOMEBREWERS OF ARFCOM UNITE!!! GoatBoy will create a homebrew subforum if we can get the support!!! (Page 5 of 7)
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