Monday, December 31, 2007

Apfelwein Anyone?

I believe that my next brewing adventure will be an excursis into Apfelwein: a German hard cider or apple wine. I love hard cider and as I was buying a six-pack of Woodchuck Dark Draft ($9.95) I thought, "Hmm.. I bet I could brew something like this!" I started researching hard cider and viola! I found Apfelwein!

This hard cider seems to be popular in Germany and actually has a special 0.3 liter glass that is used to quaff it called a "Geripptes" or a "Schoppen." For larger quantities, Apfelwein is served in a 1 - 1.2 liter stoneware jug called a "Bembel" that is gray with blue detailing. Look out eBay!

The recipe seems simple:
5 gal Apple Cider
2 lbs Dextrose (corn sugar)
1 packet Montrachet yeast

After fermentation and clearing, I will try my hand at carbonating with more corn sugar and into either flip-top bottles or growlers. The Apfelwein should finish dry (FG: 0.99) and be quite quaffable (ABV: 5-7%). The best part is that I should be able to make 5 gal for less than $20.

-Safari Bob

2 comments:

Linden said...

Hey! This is great! I am still going to email you those pictures, but what I saw in Marburg just had to have been a Bembel!

Safari Bob said...

Woo Hoo! Line 'em up!