Apple Ale??

[dover157]

Not sure if this is the right location for this one but seems more a beer than a mead so I thought I would give it a shot. I had read on a few posts and in a book that adding crystal malt to a cider could leave some non fermetable sugar behind to keep it from going totaly dry, as well as a "caramel" taste so I though I would give it a shot. I know that its not an original idea, but I did not folow a recipe just kinda made it up as I went and it's good..... so im kinda happy. Not sure if I can really call it a beer as there are no hops in it, but I left them out on purpose, I never really have liked the bitter after taste of most beers ( I know let the booing comence lol) but for my next batch I think I will add a small amount of mild hops, never know I may like it even more.

Here is what I did

Dovers Apple Ale........

1 gal of apple juice ( ground in a food grinder and pressed by hand..... need a press lol)
1 camden tab crushed (into juice at pressing)
1/2 tsp petic enzyme (into juice at pressing)
1/2 lbs caramel malt 10L
1/2 lbs Mesquite honey
1 packet Coopers brewing yeast


11/06/10
Pressed the apples into juice and added the petic enzyme and camden tab. Let sit covered overnight. Placed 1 qt of juice in a small sauce pan and added 1/2 lbs of crystal malt, brought to just boiling then turned off heat and let sit for aprox 45 min. (fyi malted barley steeping in apple juice smells great!!!) strained grains from juice and added back to primary. Stirred in 1/2 lbs mesquite honey (not sure why I put in the honey did not need the sugar oh well) pitched yeast covered with airlock and let it do its thing. Not sure why but I decided to taste the malt that had been soaking in the apple juice...... wow other than the texure of the hull that was great... was going to give the spent grains to the chickens, but think I will make it a dover snack instead.

O.G. 1.080

11/08/10

airlock bubbling like crazy, area around the bucket smells like the most wonderfull combination of bread, beer, and honey......

11/10/10

Decided to take the lid off and have a check. bubling has stoped S.G. 1.001 man that was fast if it does not change in the next 3 days I will bottle on friday night. Tasted my sample......... wow taste like a dry smooth ale hint of apple...... no bitter at the end (perfect just what I wanted)


I plan on heading to the LHBS in the next couple of day's to pick up some crown caps and a capper. Any sugestions on what to prime this with? Honey, sugar, corn sugar? Im a total noob and dont have much of a clue what im doing just want a nice bubbly drink that wont explode while sitting on the shelf.

 

[akueck]

Sounds good! I've been meaning to try a cider with a little malt in it for body/sweetness.

For priming, any simple sugar should do equally well. I use corn sugar since I'm used to it. It does dissolve easily, which is nice. I use a priming calculator to figure out how much to add. If you use honey, remember it is about 20% water so you'll need to add 25% more honey (by weight, always by weight!!) than corn or cane sugar to get the same amount of CO2. 2.5-3 volumes is probably a good spot to aim.

 

[Fisher kel Tath]

Unibroue makes an apple ale with an IBU of like 10, which I can't say is really noticable, I dislike bitter beers as well, but would of still used some, either goldings or crystals in a very small amount at the end for aroma and a little flavor

 

[icedmetal]

For those looking for a malty/cidery super tasty beverage, try Graff. A buddy and I made 5 gallons each, and oh my goodness, this stuff seems to have the best parts of beer mixed with the best parts of cider, combined into sheer awesomeness. That gets you HAMMERED. ;D

 

[dover157]

Thanks for the tips, a Graff is def on my list as soon as I get the equipment for 5 gal batches.

11-12-10
Racked into clean carboy with 1/4 cup of mesquite honey ( dont have a scale at the time, all the recipes I have for beer said to prime with 1 "cup" of corn sugar for 5 gal batch. With the added water in honey 1/4 cup seemed to be about right for a 1 gal batch) got 9 full bottles and 1 about 3/4 full. At least this was an excuse to pick up a new toy to play with (crown caper). will pop the less filled one in about a week to see how its going, will let you know if they explode I have them stored in a heavy cardboard box for now...... just incase.

 

[Medsen Fey]

Did you happen to take a gravity reading after adding that honey? That'll tell you as much as a scale - maybe more. 1/4 cup of honey may only get you about 1 volume of CO2. When you start carbonating things, either a scale or a narrow range hydrometer become essential equipment.

 

[PitBull]

Excellent tool!

For priming, any simple sugar should do equally well. I use corn sugar since I'm used to it. It does dissolve easily, which is nice. I use a priming calculator to figure out how much to add. If you use honey, remember it is about 20% water so you'll need to add 25% more honey (by weight, always by weight!!) than corn or cane sugar to get the same amount of CO2. 2.5-3 volumes is probably a good spot to aim.

I wish I had known about this a few days ago when I bottled my barleywine type braggot. This calculator says I'll have about 3.5 volumes of CO2, where 2.3 volumes is "recommended". At least I'm confident that I will not have bottle bombs. The flat "green" braggot tasted pretty nice. Hopefully the brew won't be overcarbonated enough to ruin the taste.

Thanks a bunch for the info. I'll be sure to use this tool in the future.

 

[akueck]

The one thing about the calculator that is less than helpful is the "residual CO2" number. This work great for beers that get bottled a few days after fermentation ends, but less well for anything that sits around degassing for awhile. I've found that even a few weeks at room temperature is enough to dissipate half or more of that residual CO2, meaning you need to add more sugar to get where you want. [meadmaking has made me lax about bottling beer, a month in primary is not unusual for me...] So you probably won't end up with 3.5 volumes, since your braggot probably degassed more than the calculator thinks it did.

 

[dover157]

Medsen, did not take a grav reading at bottling (oops) but 1/4 cup seems to have been more than enough.... Decided to open the bottle that was only 3/4 full, had read that more headspace = higher carb rate so thought I would try it a few days early................ How does one get beer off of the ceiling anyway? Did get a small bit left to taste after the fountain, not bad, strong (around 10% by my math) tart, sour bit more sulfer than I would like hopefully will age out. Dry with good mouth feel, would def use some hopps next time and stronger cyrstal malt. Just to see I took one of the full bottles to check the carb level, was smart enough to take this on out side, but was at room temp, shot about 1/2 of it accross the yard in a few seconds...... I think I over carbed it...... will have to serve this verry verry cold and hope I dont make to much of a mess when opening. Gonna tape the lid closed on the box and place in the colder spare room for a week or so to age out some of that harshness then move to a cooler full of ice for sampling on thanksgiving day.... May not warn my brother in law to open slowly, could be fun to watch. Now that I have tasted this a graff is def on the planning list

 

[Medsen Fey]

Clearly they need to be chilled before opening.

It is also possible that it wasn't completely done fermenting at 1.001. You should consider checking the gravity of the next batch you sample (after de-gassing the sample) to see what it reads.

 

[dover157]

All gone......... :crybaby2:bummer that did not take long. Decided to share with some friends over the holiday and got rave reviews from all. Placed in a cooler with ice the day before serving to make sure they were cold enough, even then it was a rush to get it in the glass before spilling out of the bottle. Reread the recipe's in my home brewing book and it seems that I did add to much honey at bottling, it says if using honey to prime to use 1/2 cup for a 5 gal batch of beer....... hmmm.... that could explain some things. This is def on a do over list, but with some hops added next time, after mellowing for a couple of weeks the hot nasty flavors were gone, had kind of a sweet / sour thing going on. Due to the over carbonation the head formation was amazing, but without any oil additions the head was gone way to fast taking quite a bit of the taste with it. I have to say that being a bit of a lightweight, drinking a 10% abv beer knocked me loopy:tard: faster than I expected. Now that I have tasted this I cant wait to get a batch of graff going..... then a batch of graff with some honey added to bump up the abv. Dangit I need some new equipment to get some larger batches going.... wait its the holiday season........................ "Oh honey!......"