Apfelwein
Photo: Eva K. on Commons / Eva K. on German Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 2.5

History

When Frankfurt's riverside vineyards faded, pressed apples took over, and by the 18th century Ebbelwoi was the city's daily drink. The service ritual is fixed: the grey salt-glazed Bembel jug, the diamond-cut Gerippte glass that grips greasy tavern fingers, and the deckel lid to claim your place. Sachsenhausen's taverns turned the drink into a civic institution, several still pressing their own, and autumn brings the young stages, sweet Süßer and part-fermented Rauscher, straight from the vats.

Book a food experience

Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.

Browse all food experiences

Make it at home

Yield Makes about 4.5 litresHands-on 1 hrTotal 720 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 6kg tart pressing apples, or 5 litres fresh unpasteurised apple juice
  • Wine yeast, one sachet
  • A 5-litre fermentation vessel with airlock
  • Sterilising solution for all equipment

Method

  1. Press or source fresh juice and fill the sterilised fermenter, leaving a hand's width of headspace.
  2. Pitch the wine yeast, fit the airlock, and ferment at cool room temperature.
  3. After about two weeks the bubbling slows; rack off the sediment into a clean vessel.
  4. Let it clear for another two weeks, then bottle. Drink it young, dry and lightly chilled like the taverns do.

Tip from the editors. Aim for sharp, acidic apples; sweet dessert fruit makes flabby Ebbelwoi. Fully dry is the authentic Frankfurt finish.

Where to eat apfelwein

Apfelwein in Frankfurt

Lorsbacher Thal ★ 4.6

€€ Wine barSachsenhausen

Lorsbacher Thal treats apfelwein the way a wine bar treats Burgundy, cellaring over 300 bottlings in barrel below its Frankfurt tavern in Sachsenhausen.

WineAn apfelwein cellar list of over 300 entries, aged in barrel

FoodHessian tavern kitchen without shortcuts

TipOrder by flight, not Bembel, and let the host sequence the pours from bone dry to barrel-aged rarities.

Directions

Zur Buchscheer ★ 4.5

€€ GermanSachsenhausen

Zur Buchscheer pours self-pressed apfelwein under garden trees in Frankfurt's quiet south, the tavern locals protect from the crawl routes each night.

OrderThe house pressing with Handkäs mit Musik

Why locals goIt sits in residential Sachsenhausen-Süd, a 15-minute walk from the tavern strip, so tour groups never make it this far.

TipWeekday evenings are regulars-only calm; weekends from noon bring Sachsenhausen families for the long lunch.

Directions

Apfelwein Solzer ★ 4.4

€€ BreweryFifth-generation self-pressed apfelwein in BornheimBornheim

Apfelwein Solzer's pressing house off Berger Straße has fermented Frankfurt's other beer, self-pressed Ebbelwoi, in family hands since 1893.

TipSit in the Kelterhaus, the old pressing room, and drink the estate Schoppen where it was made; the garden holds 300 in summer.

Directions

Zum Rad ★ 4.4

€€ GermanSeckbach

Zum Rad has pressed apfelwein in Seckbach's village lanes since 1806, the Frankfurt tavern garden that rewards the longest detour in the city.

OrderThe in-house pressing with Grüne Soße and eggs

Why locals goSeckbach is a village swallowed by the city; the courtyard hides in lanes no tram-line tourist ever walks.

TipU4 to Seckbacher Landstraße then ten minutes uphill on foot; the chestnut courtyard justifies every step in summer.

Directions

All Frankfurt signature dishes →

More cities are in research. Want apfelwein covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →