need a yeast recommendation for a sweet wine

I just did a kit wine with the wife (orchard breezin pommegranite something or other) and it turned out quite well, but it was backsweetened and I'd like to avoid that if I can.

We like our wine on the sweet side (Barefoot sweet red is our favorite by far), so what yeast should i use for a sweeter wine from frozen fruits?

What you are looking for is a yeast that will stop fermenting early, before the wine has fermented to dry in order to retain some of the natural sugars, this is called residual sugar.
Off hand, I don't know of any wine yeast that doesn't have an alcohol tolerance of at least 14%, most have an alcohol tolerance of at least 15%-16% , with some up to 18%.
It would be much easier to ferment to dry then back sweeten, far less headaches, I'm sure that a few people will tell you how to add so much sugar that the yeast dies, but I think that you'll run into more issues with the yeast getting stressed and as a result, the wine will start to have a strong rotten egg odor.
I hope this helps to point you in the right direction.

I am looking for same yeast did you find anything that worked good

I prefer Montrachet. Its supposed to max around 13%. Some cider specific yeasts might work also. Im trying safcider yeast atm with a starting 1.08 which will probably still end up dry.

I see that you would rather avoid back sweetening your wine, is there a reason for this?
If I'm reading this correctly, you basically want to have residual sugar left in the wine after fermentation is complete, there are a few reasons why I would recommend this:

• It will be very hard to stop a fermentation, potassium metabisulfite and/or potassium sorbate will not stop active fermentations, which brings me to the next potential issue -

• Bottling a wine that hasn't completed fermentation can result in bottle bombs - this is extremely dangerous, even when using champagne bottles you need to know how much pressure you are creating in the bottle. I've had a bottle explode, thanks God that the shards of glass that flew across the room missed my wife and I!

• The residual sugar in wine can result in spoilage organisms using it as a food source.
• The sulfites from potassium metabisulfite removes the oxygen from your wine to prevent micro-organisms from getting established while sorbic acid from potassium sorbate renders yeasts and molds unable to reproduce.

• Sorbate will not stop an active fermentation.

These are just a few reasons why I highly recommend fermenting to dry and back sweetening.

Sorry for the long post, I hope that it helps.

When you are talking sweet wines, to be honest you can use many strains of yeast, depending on what you can get your hands on.. I have just finished fermenting a batch of Icewine using a blend of 2 yeasts (can explain further if you like) . but if you build up your yeast culture (could be anywhere from 4 hours to 24 hours depending on what you want ) and make sure it has the nutrients it needs to keep it happy you can make any yeast ferment a sweet wine.. and in terms of microbes, refinements, etc. to stop a ferment Potassium metabisulphite (KMS) is often used in combination with cold temperatures and maintaining the Sulphite levels though the post ferment process helps.. and filtering to a fine level prior to bottling will help reduce any remaining yeasties.

sputnam said:

I just did a kit wine with the wife (orchard breezin pommegranite something or other) and it turned out quite well, but it was backsweetened and I'd like to avoid that if I can.

We like our wine on the sweet side (Barefoot sweet red is our favorite by far), so what yeast should i use for a sweeter wine from frozen fruits?

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As pumpkinman2012 suggested, it is best to finish fermantation fully, and then just add sugars according to your taste, to make it sweet. Otherwise you risk losing your drink if fermentation starts over

I'm in Australia and our homebrew yeast options are limited. Is there a good yeast for sweet red wines? Something close to dolce or cienna.

Give D47 a whirl.....[emoji111]

bmd2k1 said:

Give D47 a whirl.....[emoji111]

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What he said. D-47 usually tops out at around 14% so can usually leave a good bit of sweetness.

Shawn Cassidy said:

What he said. D-47 usually tops out at around 14% so can usually leave a good bit of sweetness.

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Indeedy. Seems to get to 14% for all my ciders....though my 1st Welch's vino it pettered out at 13% - which was just fine with me [emoji111]

bmd2k1 said:

Indeedy. Seems to get to 14% for all my ciders....though my 1st Welch's vino it pettered out at 13% - which was just fine with me [emoji111]

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Double vote for D47 also. Don't give it any yeast nutrients and it may not even make it over 11%. It doesn't produce off flavors either if it is underfed. It has left me with residual sugar so often that I'm now only using it for my sweet wines. And my starting brix is only like 21, so it petters out early.

Thanks the advice vents, definitely taking a look into it

A late harvest concord or vidal juice will get you your desired sweetness with little Xtra work, usually 3 weeks into primary, rack and add 1 cup dissolved sugar, wait 3 months then rack again. 10 months after start up you should be good to bottle.