AGED Spiced Apple Wine - Improved or Not?

[@JoeSteffy1932]

I've been making what I call faux meads. I use cane sugar for the fermentation, then back sweeten with honey and pasteurize. Using honey all the way through gets expensive so I save a few bucks by doing it this way. I still get the honey flavors and mouth feel that I like with this method. 😁🍻

[@christopherklaassen7584]

Spiced apple wine is one of my favorites so far (only been doing this for 9 months) but my spouse keeps giving away bottles of it. So I need to make more 😁

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Ah… the double-sided compliment of making good stuff! In my case, it’s my daughter and (kind of) my father. My daughter asks every time and my father just gushes about it and then suggests “I’m sure she’ll be happy to give you a bottle. (Turns to me) Won’t you? You make it all the time.” 😂 Me: I’ll see what I can do. I didn’t bring any today…” Best thing you can do is to have multiple brews going, and to label a few bottles as “Destined for ageing -Do NOT touch!” Tip: tell your husband to always ask for the empties back. Saves you from having to get new ones all the time.

[@iamno1864]

Here’s my go to cyser…3lbs Kirkland wildflower honey ( bochet half 1 hr in cock pot) 3 lbs of honey crisp apples cut into 8ths and baked at 350 for one hour, 1 gallon of apple juice, 1 packet of 71-b..fermaid o and degas at 24-48-72…in secondary add 1 cinnamon stick, 3 allspice berries, and 1 clove..rack of spices and let clear after the 1 week

[@jill6255]

I have been binge-watching your videos this week. I love watching you over any of the other brewers. I made some dandelion wine last year with minimal tools and it wasn't bad but I look forward to trying more recipes when my new tools get here this week.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Thank you!

[@huntinginsweden]

Made a kind of cyser, inspired of this wine and it´s very promising. Just waiting for it to clear right now. Used apple juice concentrate with less water to increase sugar content, honey and some granulated beet sugar. Tannins from tea and spiced in primary with cardamom, clove, cinnamon, ginger, raisins and seville orange. Love to watch Your channel.

[@eddavanleemputten9232]

Spiced apple wine is one of my favourites. Spiced cyser with a similar ABV is right up there with it. And you’re right: aged one year it’s absolutely worth making… over and over and over. And yes: a little extra honey rounds out those edges. Which is why I back sweeten right up to that level. That means when it’s young I go a tad higher than I think I’d need to go to. I’d have to check my notes on how high a gravity that would be but I’m packing boxes for a temporary move right now.

[@Max_Snellink]

This gets me excited for the spiced pear and apple mead i pitched June 1st SpGr 1062. I'm giving it another fortnight before its first reading and flavanoid test

[@brady783]

I made this recipe right after you did and it came out so good. Apple pie filling in a glass. My last bottle didn't make it to the year mark 🤣

[@georgecolby7488]

My boil-concentrated apple wine pulled the same trick on me. Early on, about 4 months in, it was ok but not great. I waited 15 months and it MAGICALLY turned amazing, even while dry. When it comes to my apple stuff, time is the best ingredient. Cheers!

[@docautrisim885]

I love Cysers and will often warm it up and spice it for the holidays. I think I may make this as a cyser for next year!

[@1radarghost]

I just racked my bottle of spiced apple wine today. I started it on 8/6/23. Hydro'd @ that time at 1.090, and the hydro'd today was .0999. I did a week earlier than you guys did, but it tasted really good. I also racked a half gallon of elderberry mead that I did from before I got a hydrometer. (anyway to measure abv without a prior hydro measurement?) And the taste test of that was awesome. I'll be making a much larger batch as soon as I get my hands on some local star thistle honey. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You can estimate abv if you have exact measurements for your recipe.

[@1radarghost]

@@CitySteadingBrews I do. any links I can go to? Or, here's the recipe, three cups of honey, and six cups of elderberry juice,1/2 teaspoon fermaid o, 1/4 of a mandarin orange peel and a packet of lalvin D47. With an end hydro reading of 1.060. And yes it is wonderfully sweet.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

You need to figure out how much sugar is in each ingredient and add them together.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Sounds like it’s not done.

[@1radarghost]

@@CitySteadingBrews No activity in the airlock, I started it on 7/9 and I added more yeast on 8/10. When I racked it today there were lee's on the bottom of the 1/2 gallon carboy/bottle. I'm out of Lalvin d47 but I do have some red star classique I can add. Any suggestions?

[@the_whiskeyshaman]

I made a apple pie base for year end festivities. And fermented the base and fortified it with apple brandy. Pretty dang good.

[@shannoncraig509]

I make something similar to this apple wine (baked apple pie cyser). It tastes much sweeter than its final gravity reading.

[@nicholaskarako5701]

Racked a batch of banana durian mead yesterday that yielded around 96 oz.. Starting gravity on 6/5/2023 was 1.130 and gravity reading as of 6/21/2023 was 1.010 so about 16.2 abv. Just glad the 4 oz of freeze dried durian powder did not over power banana flavour from the one pound of banana syrup I had used and the honey notes from the two pounds of raw honey i used were able to come through. Added about 24 oz of Jack Daniels honey whiskey cold brewed with chai tea around 35% abv. I doubt I will need to add more of of the slightly sweetened batch of the chai infused whiskey from hug bottle I have left. I am going to let sit for a couple weeks and settle out/ clear out before I taste it, adjust it if it needs it, then bottle it.

[@Bob-kd2be]

I love your videos and have learned a lot along the way. I remember one apple video where you concentrated / cooked down the apple juice but can't seem to find it. Help. I wore my "THWACK YOUR PACKET" t shirt to a docktor appointment and got the strangest look , and then asked, and just what kind of packet are you thwaching? "That's my story and I'm sticking to it" !!!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It’s concentrated apple wine. And lol. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWnIanqqptumeJY

[@jasminhill130]

You two always make me want to drink 🍷.. it's 8am right now! ☕

[@CitySteadingBrews]

But… it’s 5 o’clock somewhere!

[@alexlarsen6413]

Do it! Do the spiced cyser. You won't regret it. I made 15L ~ 4 US gallons of it in early February of this year, I just bottled it this past weekend. It's divine! At only 4 and a half months old and 16% abv. Easily the best mead I've ever made. I'm not sure if it was inspired by this - the original making of video (could've been) or something else, but no water, just apple juice, honey and lots of apples I'd had frozen for months - 6kg to be precise. The spices were cinnamon, nutmeg and clove...in the secondary.

[@austin_brown]

Curious if you have any thoughts on your scores going down? Did it really get worse? On the 1 year ago video "bottling and tasting" your scores were 10.5 and 9.5.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

People’s taste change. We are always growing and learning so it could have gotten better but our palates are more discerning.

[@austin_brown]

@CitySteadingBrews Thanks for the feedback! Love your channel. I have a variation on your recipe that went to secondary yesterday. The only differences are a slightly lower ABV of 12%, and I just added the spices in secondary.

[@lup7271]

An idea i had that could be worth trying, pressing apples and then mixing the pressed remains with water and sugar to ferment, how much apple flavor is actually left in what is usually discarded? Could also ferment the pressed apple juice to compare the flavor.

[@tylerstout1549]

Definitely imparts flavor, and also color depending on the varietal. It will also provide the majority of tannins.

[@Foodstamp9162]

I use Kirkland honey, The price went up over the past 2-3 years. Used to be $10...now it's $15 or so. I was hoping you'd talk about it.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

We have been buying it lately!

[@Alf_4]

Have you done a video about bottle orientation for aging/storage?

[@Alf_4]

Come to think of it an aging deep dive would be interesting to see. Even just a talking head video. Of course I speak only for myself 😂

[@CitySteadingBrews]

There’s no secret to bottles. Unless you have corks they stay straight up. Deep dive on aging? I wouldn’t say that I am qualified to discuss that in depth. We simply leave them alone for a while.

[@Alf_4]

@@CitySteadingBrews I've heard that the inverted 30ish degree angle allows the shoulder of the bottle to catch sediment. But that wasn't from a source I'd trust

[@CitySteadingBrews]

@@Alf_4 that's for pouring :)

[@Alf_4]

@@CitySteadingBrews that makes more sense

[@HappilyMundane]

So, I'm a Brit, and I have always thought of Wine as being specific to Grapes. Having said that, in cooking we also have more Eastern wine from Rice, literally Rice Wine. Until recently I would have imagined an "apple wine" to just be an above-normal ABV Apple Cider (or I think Hard Cider for you guys?) I assume that is also literally the only difference, being ABV. But then there are also Beers and Ciders that have been made stronger through the Freeze-distillation process and retain their Beer/Wine denomination, (I believe one is called "Snake Venom") so are there other factors other than ABV that designate something as a Wine vs a (Hard) Cider or are those companies just being cheeky in their wording? And if they are simply being cheeky, is the order of production as such: Cider -> Wine (or Wine Vinegar where I guess it's unable to be continued as other alcohol?) -> Brandy -> (I want to say "Vodka" but would "Neutral Spirit" be better, for the really high proof stuff). Or can you skip steps entirely and turn a cider into a brandy without waiting for it to become a wine, ignoring the fact it would be wasteful. I apologise for the probably confusing wording and fair amount of questions not entirely relevant to the video, just curious so thought I should just ask. Spiced apples are some of my favourite things so I imagine this to be great if the flavours work out, I'm imagining like an Apple Crumble on a cold night. Edit having finished the video: Yes yes YES that sounds absolutely delicious and now I want to figure out how to make some myself xD

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Actually... this is not true. Laws do vary from country to country, but in the US, wine can be made from any fruit, not just grapes and legally be called wine. The term country wine is largely from the UK.

[@wtfpwnz0red]

The absolute BEST brew i ever made was a cyser with a few cardamom pods dropped in. It came out wonderfully. Have also made a cyser with a little vanilla and cinnamon that was like drinking apple pie. So tasty.

[@1ndexfossil]

I'm not sure if/when you'll see this since this video is like a month old, but could you elaborate a little on the weirdness you mentioned you've experienced with ascorbic acid? I'm very new to brewing and a few days ago I started this recipe, without watching this update video first, and I'm pretty sure the juice I used had ascorbic acid. Was hard to find any that didn't at my local grocery store and I didn't feel like waiting and looking elsewhere lol. Just curious how that might affect the final result! 💚

[@jpelesky]

11:30 pm off the subject but I’m making a coffee mead with highlander grogg flavored coffee. What are your thoughts about this?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I couldn’t tell you. Never had it :)

[@HeartFelt520]

When you mentioned the smell and flavor, I developed a wondering.. I got a very young cider, with a bit of black-currant, when i smell it or taste it, i kind of smell only fermentation and alcohol, the same when i smell my young Mead, i dont smell the apple of blackcurrant at all, is that normal?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

In young brews yes.

[@Legion_One3]

Not related to this video but..what would you call the mojito kilju if you added 500g of orange blossom honey?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Mojito kilju with honey. :). But now it’s not the same.

[@Legion_One3]

@@CitySteadingBrews very true, kinda wish I hadn't added it now.. oh well we live and learn ayy🤷🏻‍♂️😅

[@danielmartinez3889]

can yiu add dried apples to the secondary CSB

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Sure.

[@matthm65210]

I have an unrelated question. If you tried pastuerizing (>140°F for 20 mins), backsweetening with gran. sugar (into the glass not the bottle) afterward shouldn't restart fermentation, correct? If it does restart fermentation, would you recommend trying another pazteurization?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

If fermentation starts, you can pasteurize again.

[@keithmcauslan943]

I have a silly question, besides this channel how much honey do you go through in a month? I seem to go through about 6 Lbs of table sugar doing 2 brews a month.

[@r3sistxwampa685]

Cigarrs and traditional mead pair together very well. Just saying😊

[@piet711]

Hi guys, amazing videos and i learned a lot from you 2 the last year. I got a off topic question if you don’t mind. I got a (2 times racked) 25 liter in my basement. It’s sitting there for over 6 months now because i didn’t had the time to bottle yet. I just siphoned it to another container and i noticed that it has a slight “oily” layer on it. It still smells amazing though. Am i in trouble now? Thanks and good luck!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Most likely fine. Maybe rack it to leave the oil behind?

[@grnd4y]

Would 71B do alright for this? Only because I have a bunch of it.

[@CitySteadingBrews]

To he honest... most any yeast will work with most any brew. The differences are not that huge in flavor. Some will be a little better, some not, but it's not like one is disgusting and the other is an 11. :)

[@jasonhuettl1075]

Could the sweetness be from malolactic fermentation??

[@CitySteadingBrews]

MLF converts malic acid to lactic acid. It doesn’t make sweetness, but it can tone down harsher flavors.

[@jasonhuettl1075]

@CitySteadingBrews Ahhh OK. My bad. Thanks Brian

[@CitySteadingBrews]

No worries, good to be always thinking!

[@mickmakle5698]

I made a wine out of apple juice it doesn't look rotten at all but it smell sour and taste sour is there a way to fix this or should I dump it?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I need more information to really help… quantities, other ingredients, gravity readings, but… most likely it is just very dry. We show backsweetening and how to do it safely as well as bottling and stabilizationbin any of our videos. Aging will help too.

[@kirtgunnard1038]

Would it benefit it to carb it?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

It’s personal choice for carbonation. I don’t remember where this is for alcohol tolerance so not sure if it would work or not.

[@kirtgunnard1038]

@@CitySteadingBrews you could force carb, but do you think if you did it planned in the original recipe would it benefit? And have you ever carbed a Cyser?

[@CitySteadingBrews]

I don’t always like carbonation so… to me? Nah, I don’t think it would benefit. Some may prefer it carbed though.

[@kirtgunnard1038]

@@CitySteadingBrews thank you! I appreciate you!

[@elijahcalvi7859]

Can anyone help me save my Caramel Apple mead? I started this mead 5 days ago, after reading everything I came across that may help, did I totally screw up? 6-22: Into a 3 gallon glass carboy I added 5lbs of wildflower raw honey, 2lbs of caramelized brown sugar and 2 gallons of Poland Springs water. Gave them a good shake and stir to combine. Took a specific gravity reading at 1.092. 3tsp yeast nutrient per the instructions on the bag, and a packet of Lavlin EC1118 champagne yeast. Added 2 lbs of apples to close up headspace, then a mesh nylon bag to keep them submerged. Over the next few days I've been getting these wonderfully sweet smells. Bubbles roaring. 6-27: carbonation looks...done. Dead. No bubbles. Took specific gravity at 0.992. Figuring there's nothing left to get out of there. Maybe I'm not supposed to, but I tasted it and you would've thought I was making a 25% ABV because it is HARSH. Dry and just feels like drinking rubbing alcohol. I'm planning to rack shortly if I take a gravity reading tomorrow and it hasn't moved. I've read apple can be notorious for needing time to mellow but I'm really hoping for some seasoned advice for how to get this back on the rails; because if the end result is anything like what I sipped the other day, this is going to be a dump. Is this just how harsh a 5 day mead is? Or have I made a mess? Please Help!

[@CitySteadingBrews]

From what you said, it finished and it's just really young and really dry. We have tons of videos showing backsweetening and pasteurizing so you can do that if you like, or let it age and see if it improves to your liking.

[@SL0S0L0SL]

Is 1.128 too high for a payment Mead????

[@CitySteadingBrews]

A little. I prefer closer to 1.100. I assume you mean starting gravity?

[@coryclark7706]

at first i thought Darica said that the only thing that would make it better was to make it a meme .. and im like "wha! hows that going to help‽" lol

[@hammelbreu2059]

Thanks for the nice content. Btw you probably won´t believe this but you did NOT backsweetened it a year ago (@1.002) 😉

[@timlarsson]

It would've been interesting if you took a reading on it when you questioned the 1.002 final gravity :)

[@CitySteadingBrews]

Yup! Missed opportunity.

[@lukechaney8601]

Can’t wait for the day when I drink for the flavor and not the side effects that come with it 😂

[@Satobob]

I watched the earlier episodes and at five weeks she rated it 10.5 and he rated it at 9.5. After a year they both rated it at 8.5. So, drink it young.

[@bavelnaard]

Nice video and a good incentive to make one again (or two?) of my favourite flavours I chose two, haha, why not. One 2 gallon heavily spiced pure apple mead and another 1 gallon with applecherryplum juice. Named them both appropriately Spicester and Feeblejuice. 😇 Extra edit: just as I'm writing this, I see foam coming out of an airlock, ow shoot.... #blowofftube

[@fredtirbo4411]

Pour cam = pourn

[@CitySteadingBrews]

LOL, love it.