St. Bigfoot Apfelwein

I love fall. Harvest time has always stirred up something primal in me, and there's nothing like a crisp, dry glass of cider on a breezy autumn night to bring out your inner noble savage. Hence, my most recent project, St. Bigfoot Apfelwein! Thanks to my sister Stephanie, whose quirky sense of humor inspired the name.

I designed this recipe after taking some cues from the viral apfelwein posting by Edworts on Home Brew Talk, as well as practical advice from some cider brewing books. I made it a couple of months ago, and it's in the secondary now. It's an attempt to merge the Old World tradition of fruit wine with a twist from a New World ingredient: maple syrup. It's what I imagine German and Scandinavian immigrants to Wisconsin and Minnesota probably threw in with their apfelwein to boost up the booze with a locally available sugar source. I also really liked The Saint by Crispin, which is a cider brewed with maple syrup and a Trappist ale yeast.

I used Red Star Côte des Blancs yeast, which is typically used for white table wines. I tasted a sample of my product when racking to the secondary and it was tart as a Granny Smith apple. This is a plus for me. I don't prefer desserty wines, and I don't want to play around with chemicals needed to backsweeten the apfelwein.

As with the mead I recently made, this is my first attempt at apfelwein. Any experienced brewers of ciders and wines who come upon this and shake their heads at my rookie mistakes have full permission to drop some knowledge on me. It's the only way I'll learn.

St. Bigfoot

Style: Apfelwein

Juice:

5 ½ gallons of apple juice (365 brand, organic, fresh pressed).
A few more cups of apple juice (if necessary) to add when racking to secondary to achieve desired volume.

Other fermentable sugars:

16 oz. maple syrup (two 8 ounce bottles, 365 brand, light amber)
12 oz. can of frozen apple juice concentrate (Sno Pac brand; thaw before adding to must)

Yeast:

2 packets of Red Star Côte des Blancs yeast

Other Ingredients:

1 tsp. of Wyeast Wine Nutrient Blend (½ tsp. added to the must on day one; ½ tsp. added to the primary on day four).

½ tsp. of LD Carlson Yeast Energizer (¼ tsp. added to the must on day one; ¼ tsp. added to the primary on day four).

The process was pretty simple. First, rehydrate the contents of two packets of the Côte des Blancs yeast in 4 oz. of warm water (approximately 105 F) in a small sanitized measuring cup or bowl.  

Then, take three gallons of the apple juice and pour into a sanitized bucket. Also add one bottle of the maple syrup. It helps to immerse the bottle of syrup in hot tap water for a few minutes to cut down on the viscosity so it pours easier. Paddle the must for 5 to 10 minutes to aerate before pouring through a sanitized funnel into a sanitized 6.5 gallon carboy.

Next, add the remaining 2 ½ gallons of juice to the bucket, along with the second bottle of maple syrup and the apple juice concentrate. Aerate for 5 to 10 minutes and then add to the rest of the must in the carboy. Add the first addition of yeast nutrient and energizer to the carboy. Stir the must vigorously for two minutes using using the narrow end of a sanitized paddle in order to fully incorporate the mixture.

Finally, after the yeast has been rehydrating for at least 15 minutes, gently stir it with a sanitized spoon. Pour the yeast into the carboy and gently stir the must to evenly distribute it.

Stir in the second dose of the yeast nutrient and energizer after four days. Ferment in the primary for two weeks. Transfer to a secondary 5 gallon carboy and add extra juice to minimize head space (though probably not necessary because of initial volume). Keep in the secondary for 2 to 3 months, or until final gravity is reached, which I'm estimating should be between 1.000 and 0.996. Original gravity was 1.064, so the ABV should be around 8.5%. Bottle still and enjoy!

You can backsweeten the wine if you don't like the dry, tart character, but make sure to do so safely. If you add extra fermentable sugar without properly dispatching the live yeast with appropriate chemicals, then get in the bunker and prepare for bottle grenades.

So make some! Taste a little this year, but hide half of it away in a closet or cellar to let it get interesting. Dust it off next November and release the beast!

Winter Beer Recommendations

Winter's that time of year when I transition from golden and amber ales, which complement breezy fall weather so well, and delve into brown ales, stouts, porters, and maybe even a few heavier lagers. I usually don't have a lot of patience for sweet, syrupy beers if they aren't balanced out by a decent hop profile, but short days and blankets of snow have a way of convincing my palate to lust for those thick, malty brews. It must be my inner caveman crying out for more calories to survive the cold. Anyway, I'd like to share a few of my recommendations for good winter beers. Many of these pair exceptionally well with holiday fare.

1. Elliot Ness - Great Lakes Brewing, Cleveland, OH. Elliot Ness is a pleasant domestic take on a Vienna lager. It has a malty aroma and a slightly sweet finish. Bring some to Thanksgiving dinner. I've paired it with smoked turkey; very tasty. It can carry you through the meal and stand up to the dessert course as well. A good beer to share with craft virgins too, as its lager body makes it more accessible.

2. Bell's Best Brown Ale - Bell's Brewing, Kalamazoo, MI. Larry, you need to bring back the old bottle art with the little sleepy owl! I'm not digging the new guy as much. The beer is a deep sienna color. It's very turbid and unfiltered, as most Bell's brews are. Best Brown is kind of like their amber ale, except the toasted barley flavor is jacked up a few more notches. The hops balance it out for a clean finish. This is a good snow shovelin' beer (winter equivalent of a "lawnmower beer"). I would pair it with pork tenderloin and roasted herbed potatoes.

3. Breakfast Stout - Founders Brewing, Grand Rapids, MI. I've always talked about how this beer would actually be delicious to have with breakfast, and I recently got a chance to experience this pairing! A few friends and I attended the Breakfast Stout Breakfast that Founders put on this year and it was amazing. The dark roastiness of the beer was delightful with bacon and grits, and the significant ABV kept us warm in the misty November morning air.

4. Dragon's Milk - New Holland Brewing, Holland, MI. Oaky aroma with a syrupy, vanilla taste. Spoon some over warm pecan pie topped with ice cream. I really enjoyed the toasted chili Reserve Dragon's Milk that New Holland released earlier this year, and I can't wait for the raspberry one that comes out this fall.

5. Rye-on-Rye - Boulevard Brewing, Kansas City, MO. At 12% ABV, it's a real winter warmer. Slight caramelly sweetness is balanced by a modest hop profile and a gentle bite of rye. Pair with an aged cheddar or Uniekaas Reserve.

Old Bill

This is an English barley wine that I made last year for Christmas. It named it in the honor of my grandfather, who was known to drink a few beers in his day. I wish he were here to taste it. He had a sweet tooth too, so I think he would have enjoyed the cloying raisin viscosity.

Old Bill (2014)

Style: English barley wine

Water:

2 ½ gallons in brew kettle, heated to 155 F to steep specialty grains.

1 gallon in separate pot, heated to 155 F for sparging specialty grains.

Grains:

1 lb. 55 L British crystal malt

Extract:

11 lbs. extra light DME

Hops:

2 oz. East Kent Goldings pellets (bittering @ 60 min.)

1 oz. East Kent Goldings pellets (flavor @ 15 min.)

1 oz. East Kent Goldings pellets (aroma @ 5 min.)

1 oz. East Kent Goldings pellets (dry hop)

Fruit:

1 lb. of golden raisins added on the third day of primary fermentation. Bring to a boil in a quart of water and simmer for ten minutes. Turn off heat and use a potato masher to mash raisins into a pasty consistency. Cool and add to the primary.

Yeast:

Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale (two packets pitched in the primary).

A third packet of Wyeast 1084 (added to the secondary 3 days before bottling).

Other Ingredients:

1 Whirlfloc tab or 1 tsp. or Irish moss (added 15 minutes before flameout).

Water to add to the wort to achieve 5 ¼ gallons of total volume in the primary fermenter.

¾ cup of corn sugar or 1 ¼ cups of ex light DME boiled in 2 cups of water for five minutes to prime beer before bottling.

Notes:

I estimate the original gravity to be about 1.104 and the final gravity to be around 1.024, and the ABV should be around 10.5%.

Last time I made this I kept it in the secondary for about six weeks to thoroughly allow fermentation to complete and to let it clear. The end result was good, but sweeter and less carbonated than I would have liked. I think the yeast were tuckered out in the last mile. I think adding a second packet of 1084 at the beginning might help get a healthy fermentation started right away.