Well, I had just finished bottling my Mexican Cerveza and I had thought that this was it for the day. So I went out to the local supermarket to purchased some bottles of apple juice for the Apfelwein (Hard Apple Cider). I didn’t expect to be buying over 16 litres of juice in one shot! There were offers everywhere! I couldn’t believe it. First I went to Shop N Save and they had offers on Cyprina Apple Juice and I got 6 packs. Then I went to Sheng Siong, they had offers for Just Juice Apple Juice. I got 10 bottles of apple juice from them. And it was a big saving, about S$3 per 2 packets of 1 litre Just Juice. Normally, it would cost about S$2 per pack from most supermarkets. I was lucky to find such a deal today. Anyway, I guess I got a little carried away and I bought all the 10 bottles of Just Juice.  I had to take 3 seperate trips to the supermarket, which was actually quite near. But you have to understand, carrying 5/6 bottles (16litres in total) of apple juice is not as easy as seems. Okay, okay, I am weak.

In all, the actual “brewing” process took about an hour to complete. First I had to open up the bottles of apple juice, then pour the apple juice carefully into the fermenter, add dextrose, yeast and cinnamon sticks to the fermenter and then wait for it to complete fermentation. The problem with brewing with apple juice is well….the apple juice. It attracts insects easily so you have to be careful when you are pouring the juice into the fermenter. You certainly don’t want any apple juice to the spill on the fermenter or on the floor/table. But in all seriousness, pouring apple juice into the fermenter and not spilling any is impossible. This is because the opening on the juice pack is never perfect and thus when you pour, the juice tends to come out in spurts and this will easily result in spilling.

Anyway, enough of my whining, I will post the pictures of the Apfelwein brewing process.

Yes, these are the ingredients for making the Apfelwein.  That’s 6 litres of Cyprina Apple Juice, 10 litres of Just Juice Apple Juice and 8 litres of Ceres Apple Juice. The brown sticks are the cinnamon stick while the green package is the Cote des Blanc yeast. Oh, the small bottle is the yeast nutrients. I forgot to take photo of the dextrose. And I was told that this picture with so many packets of apple juice looks like some primary school lunch hall.

Well, this is the photos of the 1kg of dextrose. From what I am told, the alcohol content of a fermented apple juice is about 5-6%. So, if I add 1kg of dextrose, the final product will yield about 8% ABV. Isn’t it cool?

Yes, these are the Cote des Blancs yeast. As you can see from the photo, I am using 2 packets of yeast instead of 1. I am looking forward to the yeast having a head-start when they are producing alcohol, so why not 2 packs of yeast. The bottle with the $3.00 sign is the Yeast nutrients. These wonderful stuff will ensure that I get a healthy and vigourous fermentation so that we can get clean tasting alcohol without any off-flavours. We hate off-flavours here.

Cinnamon sticks. How many of you guys like Cinnamon Buns? If so, then I am sure that by adding some Cinnamon sticks into the brew, I will get a cider with some cinnamon sweetness, aroma and flavour.  I guess the main reason why I am adding the cinnamon stick is because the apple cider is just too tart and I am sure that most casual drinkers don’t like their wine too tart.

Yes, this is the Ceres Apple Juice I have been talking about. No sugar added 100% pure apple juice. I need to complain about NTUC and their way of handling apple juice boxes, they need to handle it with care. All the boxes I bought were dented at one side.

Yes, we are correct. It is made from pure apple juice. Wow, there is added Vitamin C and nature identical flavourant.Healthy!

Cyprina 100% Natural Apple juice. Nice packaging by the way.

Oh, this is made from apple concentrates. Too bad they don’t add any extra Vitamin C.  And why are they the most expensive of them all?

Just Juice Apple Juice. Really cheap this one. 2 for S$3. I don’t think that we can find any other brands which is so cheap out there. Only at Sheng Siong. I think Sheng Siong gets its supplies from Malaysia and this Just Juice is manufactured in Malaysia.

If I am not wrong, this is made from apple concentrates. Apparently Just Juice buys apple concentrates from somewhere and then add water and sell them as Just Juice Apple Juice.

Well, this is me attempting to rehydrate the Cote des Blancs yeast. Actually it is just a picture of a bottle half filled with water. Not too sure why did I take a photo of this.

Oh, this is  correct photo of me rehydrating the yeast. Made a big mistake by not sprinkling the yeast over the entire surface of the water and thus, we are seeing clumps of yeast whichstill may not get rehydrated.

Okay, as you can see above, I have filled the fermenter with all the 24 bottles of apple juice. It was tough work and I deserved a drink. Notice the foam? Well for your information, it was caused by those stupid small uneven openings of the packets of apple juice. Not too sure whether this will caused excessive oxidation to the juice.

Now after adding the dextrose (which dissolved pretty easily), the yeast nutrients and the cinnamon stick, I pitch the yeast and cover the fermenter. Notice that I didn’t have an airlock on. I am going to let it breathe for a few hours first before I attach the airlock. This is what Wine makers normally do. So, I guess why not try it here. Should have some good effects on the wine at the end.

And thanks for reading. I am going to let this ferment for about 4 weeks or so. Then hopefully, we are going to have yet another great tasting alcoholic beverage to enjoy.

PS: By the next day morning, the apfelwein has started bubbling. The sweet smell of apple juice fills the entire room! Ahhh….life is great!