Does any one have an experience with Red star Premiere Cuvee?

I have 2 batches which fermenting with Red Star Premiere Cuvee wine yeast.
One is Blackberry melomel 5L and another one is a basic mead.
The melomel has been racked to the secondary almost 1 month and it's gonna rack again soon. I've tasted at the last rack it's quite good.
The Red Star Premiere Cuvee wine yeast is able to ferment under high temperature up to 35 C.
So, dose anybody have some experience with this yeast, how it turn out?
I just had a bad experience with D47 because I could not control the temp as the weather in Asia is quite high and I don't have enough space in my refrigerator.

AsianMead said:

I have 2 batches which fermenting with Red Star Premiere Cuvee wine yeast.
One is Blackberry melomel 5L and another one is a basic mead.
The melomel has been racked to the secondary almost 1 month and it's gonna rack again soon. I've tasted at the last rack it's quite good.
The Red Star Premiere Cuvee wine yeast is able to ferment under high temperature up to 35 C.
So, dose anybody have some experience with this yeast, how it turn out?
I just had a bad experience with D47 because I could not control the temp as the weather in Asia is quite high and I don't have enough space in my refrigerator.

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Well I'm guessing it's a type of Champagne yeast - which I try and stay away from as they do seem to blow a lot of the aromatics and some of the more subtle flavouring elements out of the airlock - I prefer to use K1V-1116, which has similar characteristics i.e. wide temp range etc etc. It's known to be good with meads and does seem to retain a lot more of the aromatics etc.

We don't get the very hot/humid weather here, so I have no way of knowing whether these "wide range" yeasts will produce any negative elements in the ferment (like D47 is reputed to do if fermented too warm). so it might be that you need to think of more cost effective temp management - something like evaporative cooling - so during the day, when it's at it's hottest, you have the fermenter wrapped in a towel or something that holds water well and then you just keep the towel/cloth damp.

Either way, whether there's anyone who's in similar climatic conditions as yourself, and has tried it, well that's a different question.....

Good luck with your efforts

regards

fatbloke

Thanks fatbloke..
Actually It's not that hot in my fermentation chamber. I keep them in the dark room which the temperature is not over 32 c and it can be lower if it's rain. No way to get over 35 c in this rainy season actually it's colder during the day and hotter during the night. So I will keep watching them and we will know how it turn out since they are still fine in the primary and secondary.

Premier Cuvee is the same strain as Lallemande's EC-1118, but produced by Red Star instead. It isn't a great choice for high temperature fermentations of traditional mead in most cases. You might be better using K1V or D21.

This why I choose Red Star premier cuvee


Origin
Premier Cuvée originates from France and was specially selected by Lesaffre.

Fermentative Properties
The fastest, cleanest and most neutral fermenter of all Red Star yeasts. Able to ferment within a wide temperature range: 7°C - 35°C (45°F - 95°F).

High tolerance to ethanol (till 18% vol.) and free sulphur dioxides. Ferments to dryness.

Organoleptic Properties
Neutral strain allowing varietal aromas expression of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir either on the own or in blends.

Produces characteristic aromas of the Champenoise method: bread crust, hazelnut, butter...

Premier Cuvée is specially recommended for the prise de mousse of quality sparkling wines by valuing base
wine varietal characteristics.

Applications
Ideal for high quality sparkling wines processed with classic or Charmat method whose base wines are made up of Chardonnay, Pinot (Noir, Blanc and Gris).

Well adapted for the production of dry white wines with varietal expressions (Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Gris).

Performs very well for restarting stuck fermentations.

I really don't know how is it work with mead.
I'll update again after the next taste.

It works just like EC-1118, which is to say that it will make good meads, but it tends to blow a lot of the aromatic elements out during fermentations. It doesn't do particularly well with traditionals above 75-80F. In those situations it produces a lot of fusels and makes a very harsh mead that will take considerable aging in most cases.

Thanks Medsen.
I plan to age it over 6-10 months.

With a high-temp fermentaton you may need 2+ years.

MedsenFey said:

It works just like EC-1118, which is to say that it will make good meads, but it tends to blow a lot of the aromatic elements out during fermentations. It doesn't do particularly well with traditionals above 75-80F. In those situations it produces a lot of fusels and makes a very harsh mead that will take considerable aging in most cases.

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When you suggest it makes a 'lot of fusels', what measures can be take to deal with that?

Boomtown said:

When you suggest it makes a 'lot of fusels', what measures can be take to deal with that?

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By keeping the temperature down during the ferment !

According to the available info, you should be good to go with the Cuvee. On your batch made with D-47, if they're not too bad, those fusels will age out; might take a couple years though. I had a batch made with D-47 that fermented too warm & made it taste like rubber stopper for a few years; after aging , no hint of fusels & it was very tasty. You might find this useful:
http://winemakermag.com/resources/yeast-strains-chart
Regards, GF.