The only think I ever made was a mead/pyment with Welches Concord Grape Juice. Turned out good, but a lot of trouble for something that tastes like Lake Country red table wine.
Anyway, has anyone done anything simple with a certain juice that was good? I'm talking juice, yeast, water, suger, etc, and let it set then drink.

Apfelwein is pretty easy.
5 gallons of apple juice-no additives or preservatives(absorbic acid is okay--vitamin C)
Couple of pounds of corn sugar.
Yeast-Montrachet wine yeast, champagne yeast or Nottingham are all decent.
Ferment-rack-chill-drink.
There will probably be more posts filing in with better details and do's and don'ts.

I had never tried it until last night. I hope it turns out "good enough". Started one with a gallon of Musselman's organic cider, dissolved 1 # of sugar (white cane sugar, not perfect, but had it on hand) into boiling cider (about a qt), mixed that into the original jug, had about 1 pt left over which went into the canner (already had it going for something else), dumped most of a packet of Montrachet yeast (expired late '11 but was stored in freezer), and put on airlock. This morning, it was bubbling merrily away.

I haven't brewed in 3+ years. I'm trying to use this as a quick kick-starter to get me back into it. I normally do beer and even have all the ingredients for an IPA sitting here. But, for beer, I would have to thoroughly clean and sanitize all my stuff that was stored in the barn after the move.

There are other threads around such as: http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_171/1430273_Apple_Cider_____your_preference.html.

Granted, that one was hard cider-related.

Let us know if you try something else and how it turns out.

I was planning to make my first batch of apfelwein this weekend, before I even saw this post. Google EdWort's apfelwein (I'd post a link, but I work for the .gov and sites are blocked). That seems to be a common recipe and rather simple.

It follows the recipe that proto-moose posted. Proto's "couple pounds of corn sugar" is literally 2 pounds in case you don't make the connection.

EdWort's recipe calls for sanitizing a 5 gallon carboy, rubber bung, airlock, and funnel.
Take two 1 gallon bottles of apple juice (no additives, try to get pasteurized) and pour half of each in the carboy with the funnel.
Add one pound of corn sugar to each of the now half-empty bottles of juice.
Shake the bottles up to dissolve the sugar and pour into the carboy along with the other 3 gallons of juice (may not fit the last bit of one bottle, but you don't need much room at the top as there is no krauzen).
Add one 5 gram packet of Red Star Montrachet yeast.
Put the airlock on and let ferment at 70-74F for 2 months minimum.
If you want it flat, start drinking. Otherwise, bottle just as you would for a batch of beer.

Some changes to the recipe that I've heard of:
Use brown sugar instead of corn sugar.
Add cinnamon sticks to the carboy.
Use 1/2 gallon of cranberry juice.
Let sit for a full 6 months before drinking/bottling.

I have made it with apple juice and grape juice.  The best batch I have made to date was made with, believe it or not, Fleischmanns Rapid Rise.  I added a pound bag of brown sugar to a gallon of Mott's apple juice, shook it up and added the yeast.

Five days later I strained it through a sanitized washcloth and bottled it.  It was drinkable right away.

I do the apple wine too.

Hawaiian punch + a bunch of sugar + whatever yeast(bread yeast works). Rack then freeze and enjoy an alcoholic slushy.

I always do Apple Cider + brown sugar + cloves + cinnamon + bread yeast and shove an airlock in the apple cider jug. drink a week or 2 later

I do a lot of wine, and I'm fortunate to live within a reasonable distance to many NY wineries. I buy juice from them every year to create different varieties. I also experiment with different whole fruits for fruit wine. Both of these require a fair amount of time and effort or work. I enjoy doing it though.

    I'm also not a purist. I make a couple cheap kit wines every year. I like the Cornucopia kits when I want to do something simple. These don't produce a high quality wine, but they do produce a pretty decent drinkable product that is smooth, tastes decent and is ready in a month or so. These kits contain everything you need to make the wine (juice, additives, yeast, labels & corks). You need something to ferment them in, an airlock and stopper and bottles. You also need to read the directions. These are simple and straight forward.  A cheap hydrometer would help, but isn't really necessary with these;

    I prefer a sweeter white variety and have had excellent results with the Pear Chardonnay and Tropical Riesling kits. This one is about $35 with amazon prime.

Amazon Link

Want to tell more about this?

I'd think a wine or champagne yeast would yield a superior product to a bread yeast.

Anybody tried one?

what he said

I've been using champagne yeast for Apfelwein, I actually have never tried bread yeast in it.

I just brewed my first batch of cider found here. It turned out ok. It is a little dry for my taste and lacks the apple flavor I was expecting. It is a good starting point I can work off of though.

I have made a lot of wine from frozen fruit juice concentrate. It is fairly simple.
6 cans of frozen concentrate (100% juice concentrate, no "cocktails")
4-6lb sugar depending on what you prefer
1 pack yeast
5gal carboy

I usually pour all of the sugar in a small bucket and cover it with warm water, Stir to dissolve. Pour it in your carboy. Dump the 6 cans of concentrate in the carboy. Top off with water, drop in the yeast, shake, and seal with your airlock. Wait 6-8 weeks depending on the yeast and the amount of sugar you added. Once fermentation is dead hit with a few dissolved campden tablets and bottle.

Check out the 1000 page thread on homebrewtalk.  I've made about 25 gallons of apfelwein....and drank about 20 gallons myself.  



 

Why use bread yeast...campaign yeast is only $1 a packet.  Plus I hate how bread yeast doesn't pack down after fermentation is complete.



 

This thread has peaked my interest.


How's the hang over with homemade cider like this?



I only ask because I tend to get plowed when I partake.

I've made about 8-10 varous types of Skeeter Pee.  The basic SP recipe:  Skeeter Pee Recipe

My favorite is Apple Jacker's Limeade version from HBT:  AJ's Limeade recipe

I can't keep up a stock.  People keep walking off with it.  





My personal favorite variation is the swap out 3 gallons of the apple for 3 gallons of cran-raspberry juice.  





I've got a cran-strawberry going for the first time that I'm going to bottle tonight.





ETA: Strawberry's not bad.  I'll definitely make it again.   Only let this batch go 8 weeks, in case it sucked.  I'd love to let one go 8 months.





 

You mean this one?  man-i-love-apfelwein

I've used Montrachet, Safale S-03 and 04 and WL007. Check out My 4 batch cider day.

Carmel Apple Hard cider.  Update on page 42

homebrewtalk

This sounds delicious. Now I'm anxious to see the recipe when I get home since HBT is blocked at work

Yes, yes i do.



 

I do the apfelwein recipe with 4.5# brown sugar, heavily toasted oak chips soaked in Bulleit Bourbon, and a half dozen cinnamon sticks with Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast. Ferment, rack to secondary 4-6 months. Bottle. Drinkable right away, but even better at one year+.

It's pretty mild until you try to get up from a seated position

I've got a couple of three-gallon glass jugs with twist-on tops that I got at the LBS that I will fill and toss in the fridge to take to parties.