An Apple A Day

As fall approaches, visions of the changing weather loom. Chief among the signs of autumnal bliss is the availability of actual, fresh-off-the-tree apples. Picked from an orchard, there’s nothing like it. For a brief, shiny moment, you can get a crisp, juicy, potent apple that hasn’t been sequestered for months in a “CA” (controlled atmosphere), oxygen-scrubbed, refrigerated warehouse.

The obvious fermentation use is cider, but less explored is the use of apples in beer. We’ll skip over the fake-apple-flavored beers that have appeared on the market, instead looking into an odd corner of the world inspired by an unlikely source—Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. In it, King describes a beverage called “Graf” as a strong dark apple and malt ale.

Homebrewers have created a few recipes that combine apples and malt. The trick to a good apple beer is finding the balance between apple juice’s simple-sugar dryness and the meaty notes of malt—all while trying to retain a noticeable apple character that doesn’t taste like a poorly executed fermentation or a cesspool of apple extract.

For this version of an extract-based Graf, I chose to ignore the “dark” description in order to go simple and clean. My desire is to express the bright apple character that comes from great juice. Go to your nearest orchard and get some unpasteurized, fresh, lively juice. (Can’t find fresh pressed? Look for Trader Joe’s Current Crop Gravenstein Apple Juice.)

APPLE-A-DAY GRAF
For 5 gallons at ~1.065, 13 IBU, 7.5% ABV

Boil Ingredients
1 gal filtered water
3.3 lb. liquid malt extract (pale)
2 tsp yeast nutrient

Hops
0.5 oz Fuggle | 5% AA | 60-minute boil

Top Up
4 gallons fresh, sweet apple juice, chilled (no sodium benzoate, no potassium sorbate)

Yeast
2 packets Nottingham

Notes
Bring your water to a boil, shut off the heat and stir in the malt extract. When it’s dissolved, add the Fuggle hops and nutrient. Boil gently for 1 hour. Top off with additional filtered water as needed. After 60 minutes, turn off the heat. Add 3 gallons of juice to your fermentor and add the wort. Add the last gallon and swirl to combine. Rehydrate the Nottingham, and pitch the foamy yeast into the graf to ferment. Proceed as you would with any other beer. ■