Brewers Best Cider House Select Premium Cider Yeast

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Anyone noticing that it takes a little longer for this yeast to clear? I know I could cold crash of use some gelatin to speed things up. It's not a problem just an observation.
 
I just made a kit with this yeast and had a distinct sulfur smell. After splash racking to a secondary and adding additional nutrient it was much better. Never had this with Nottingham.
 
MarkKF said:
Anyone noticing that it takes a little longer for this yeast to clear? I know I could cold crash of use some gelatin to speed things up. It's not a problem just an observation.
Click to expand...

Mine has been in primary for a month now. Clearing, but still hazy, and still getting a bubble out of the airlock every couple of minutes. Temp in basement is now 62. Will probably transfer it to secondary this weekend.
 
My Kit had a sulfer stink to it. Tastes good smells nasty!

I re used the lees to make a mixed fruit cider and it has the stinkeys too!

I made a batch of cider from canned peaches, used yeast nutrient, and pectic enzyme no added sugar with a fresh pouch of Brewers best cider yeast and it has the sulfer stink too.

I'm gonna toss in a starsan'd Chore Boy for a day or two and see if the copper trick really works.
 
For both the Kit and the mixed fruit i did on the lees from the kit, temps were steady between 64-68. I use a spare bathroom with a small electric heater. so most days temps were 66 but it did raise and lower a few times
 
Just started 5 more gal. with this yeast. 4 gal. musselmans apple juice + 1 gal. cranberry juice + a big bag of craisins all chopped up. $30 incl. yeast.
 
That sounds really good! i have 5 gals of Musslemans spiced cider and a bag of craisins Hmmm i think I'll follow suit! thanks for the insparation :)
 
Transferred to secondary tonight (5gal. fresh pressed unpasteurized hard cider blend) it has a little bit of sulfur smell so I splash racked. FG was 1.000 from 1.060 (no added sugar) even at this point has good apple flavor and a smooth tart finish, almost st like a Granny Smith. Will cold crash in two weeks and bottle.
 
I used a starter of just juice & yeast for 24 hours then I added it to my batch yesterday afternoon and this morning I have airlock activity of one bubble a second. Temp. is low 60's with the help of a reptile heater ($7 on eBay) under the bucket in my basement which is now in the mid 50's. Love this yeast! Smells happy.
 
Just did a comparison taste test of four batches I started in Nov.

I think I like the S-04 better. It finished at 1.004. The Cider Select finished at 1.000. Ironically, the two cider selects I made side by side same recipe had slightly different flavors. Nothing off or bad just different. I'll keg and carb one soon. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1420322175.726019.jpg
 
MarkKF said:
Just did a comparison taste test of four batches I started in Nov.

I think I like the S-04 better. It finished at 1.004. The Cider Select finished at 1.000. Ironically, the two cider selects I made side by side same recipe had slightly different flavors. Nothing off or bad just different. I'll keg and carb one soon. View attachment 246438
Click to expand...

Did you use fresh pressed unfiltered in these?
 
All four were fresh pressed from the orchard same day as pressed. Both Safale batches were same pressing. Both Brewers Best batches were same day a few weeks after the Safale.
 
MarkKF said:
All four were fresh pressed from the orchard same day as pressed. Both Safale batches were same pressing. Both Brewers Best batches were same day a few weeks after the Safale.
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Some beautiful looking ciders. Hope mine clear up like that.
 
MarkKF
This may be a dumb question,but could you cork the ciders or would they need to be bottled like a beer?
 
Bottled like a beer. Temperature changes are scary with corks unless they are caged like a champagne.
 
Wow just a week and it's finished? That's damn fast. How warm was your fermentation temperatures?
My last batch was around 60-62 it took 16 days to get from 1.058 to
1.008. My current batch is in day 11 and I haven't checked it but it been running even cooler 56-58 most the time.
 
The basement is in the high 50's but I put a reptile heater under my bucket. It's not hot, you can hold it between your hands and it doesn't feel any warmer than a firm handshake. I estimate it only raises the temp a few degrees. I used a yeast starter & yeast nutrients. Did you use either?
 
MarkKF said:
So I started this batch a week ago. Pitched the yeast on Monday. S. G. 1.055

Today (Sunday) the bubbles slowed and irregular. S. G. 1.005

Nice color and smell. No farts!
Click to expand...

Did you use a previous yeast cake, or use a fresh pack?

:mug:
 
Started another 5 gal. last Monday. No added sugar just 5 lbs. Frozen peach slices. Used new yeast packet in a half gal. starter. Added the yeast on Tuesday, one week ago. Thursday had good airlock activity. Sunday it had slowed. Checked S.G. today and it was 1.006! Racked into a carboy to finish & clear. Tasted pretty good. No off flavors or odors. Here's what was left behind:View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1422387403.971654.jpg
 
What's funny about my second batch (which just reached .996, w/ 1 lb of honey added.) Is it had sulfur smell for a day or two as my first did but the first which I added nutrient and energizer to and also needed to be splash racked because it hung around. The second I did with no added nutrients and when it was done no sulfur.
 
I think it's a temperature thing. I'm fermenting close to 60 Deg. and it seems to like it a lot. Tasted my first batch which is in the keg today. Soooo good!
 
MarkKF said:
I think it's a temperature thing. I'm fermenting close to 60 Deg. and it seems to like it a lot. Tasted my first batch which is in the keg today. Soooo good!
Click to expand...

Could be. The second one I did keep cooler. First one (bottle carbed) is tasting great as well.
 
My first cider was using CHS - it was a bit slow to start (pitching 2/3 of the pack dry) and it took about 14 days to go from 1.050 down to 1.004 at 61-64*F. It's in the bottle now, hoping for some carbing.
What is interesting is I used what was left in the pack to a batch of Malkore's Not So Ancient Orange Mead, OG of 1.096. It marched from there all the way down to 1.000 in 21 days (fizzing audibly most of the time.) I was hoping for some sweet left! So added back some honey water with a bit more nutrient in the secondary, hoping to catch it before it dries out. It's going to be rocket fuel at this rate, will be a long time in the bottle I think.
Seems clean, smells nice, clears well.
 
I'm trying it out now, pitched back on 2/20. Added sugar to the cider to begin with, still fermenting today, no off odors coming through air lock.
 
I started a 1 gal batch this week, using cheap juice fortified with a can of concentrate. The yeast smelled awesome when I opened it! :) It's bubbling away, trying to adjust my room temp by cracking the window (central air is on the fritz with the warm weather).

Update: my first batch is at 1.010 already. It smells amazing, consistent with the yeast smell. However, it tastes a bit 'thin' to me. I tried a glass souped up with some more juice, but that wasn't sufficient. I then added 2 pinches of malic acid, which helped. I still think it could use more body.

So, for my next batch, I have started 1 gallon of juice plus 2 C Munton's plain light DME, no extra concentrate just b/c I didn't have any. The SG is still a respectable 1.075. I've never tried graff before, and I'm not sure if this is the right yeast for it, or the right flavor of DME, but it is an experiment! :D
 
I've been sampling some right off the primary. It is dry, which I like, but a tad too sweet, a very little carbonation. There is some effervescence on the tongue but not as much as I would like, there's another half batch conditioning downstairs. It is very potent, I'm thinking pushing 10% abv due to added sugar, not bad, interesting to see where this ends up.
 

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