Pitching rates

I'm primarily a beer brewer ( made my first cider, didn't turn out well but I know why and that's a different story ). I've read a bunch of articles and I come across some people saying to only pitch 1-2g of dried yeast. Anybody else do this? Reasons, experiences?

I pitch a standard amount of yeast in a 5.5 gallon batch of 1.051 cider. Either a 11g package of Notty or S04, or a one liter decanted starter of WLP002. I ferment at about 62 degrees and stop it at 1.011 by racking, cold crashing, and racking again.

I wouldn't think a 2 gram pitch of yeast for a 5 gallon batch of cider would be enough. It would probably be fine for a gallon sized test batch.

I do one gal batches of meads and ciders, 5 gal beer. I mean ****, wine yeast is like a dollar a pack, 1 gal apple juice/cider isn't expensive either so I'll try it some see what happens. Thanks for the input.

I've read people suggesting underpitching will stress the yeast and produce more fruity esters.

My understanding is closer to BrewSavage as well. There are a lot of different schools of thought when it comes to making cider. Some go for the fast ferment and product similar to beer. Other cidermakers go for the wine approach. The idea is you starve the cider of the resources it needs to ferment, low temps (55f/13c) no added sugar, partial pitch, and no nutrients. This slows the fermentation process a lot taking several months to get through just the fermentation. The idea is a richer fuller cider full of of flavors, these type of cidermakers probably age for over a year. I dont think there is a benefit to doing this with store bought juice, but if you get a rich mixture of cider it is very applicable. I have learned a lot by listening to the podcast Ciderchat. I know Nat West and Rev Nat likes to ferment a lot of his ciders at 82F/28C using a saison yeast, where I think it is Farnum Hill that uses the slower starvation process ( I could be wrong on that one) Bottom line I dont think there is any right or wrong way to do it, just ways to get different types or products. I did see a recipe not that long ago that called for under pitching the yeast to get that flavor.

That being said it is all about your yeast. Look at the temp tolerance of your yeast and where its happy spot is. I had a saison pitched cider sitting there for months not finishing until I realized it was sitting at 62 and it wanted to be in the 80's or 90's. Wine yeast on the other hand can get really cool and with the use of a fermentation chamber you can do that slow fermentation. It took me a few batches before I realized those ideal temps for the yeast.

There are many brewers here that do not have precisely controlled fermenting spaces, so they brew lagers when it's cold and Saisons when it is warm. Is is very important ro stay in the happy zone of your yeasts.
The fist time I made hard cider and fermented it too warm, it smelled like nail polish remover and took months to get rid of that smell.

Brew Savage you are mostly correct; not all yeast strains give fruit when stressed, some give off really nasty fusel alcohols.

I use wyeast "cider" yeast 4766. https://www.wyeastlab.com/he_c_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=62

No technique for any kind of back sweetening, I just make dry ciders.

I just started my second batch of cider using 4184 Sweet Mead Yeast. My first batch started @1.086 plus 4 cans of FAJC. It finished @1.002 and a little over 12% ABV. I made a 3 step starter and less than 12 hours after pitching there were solid bubbles. This time I am making another starter but I will split it and put the 1/2 left over back in the fridge until I start the next batch. I added 1/8 tsp. of Fermaid O, and 1/8 tsp DAP to a 1.080 starter and less than 2 hours later the yeast was going crazy.
I fermented the first batch @65-68 * F and the bulk of the fermenting was done in the first 7-10 days. I left town for a week and the fermentation was done by the time we got back. I will use the same recipe this time as I did last time and I hope to get the same results. I have read a lot of people are having trouble with 4184 and it not finishing, and I can't guess why it is happening.

MindenMan said:

I just started my second batch of cider using 4184 Sweet Mead Yeast. My first batch started @1.086 plus 4 cans of FAJC. It finished @1.002 and a little over 12% ABV. I made a 3 step starter and less than 12 hours after pitching there were solid bubbles. This time I am making another starter but I will split it and put the 1/2 left over back in the fridge until I start the next batch. I added 1/8 tsp. of Fermaid O, and 1/8 tsp DAP to a 1.080 starter and less than 2 hours later the yeast was going crazy.
I fermented the first batch @65-68 * F and the bulk of the fermenting was done in the first 7-10 days. I left town for a week and the fermentation was done by the time we got back. I will use the same recipe this time as I did last time and I hope to get the same results. I have read a lot of people are having trouble with 4184 and it not finishing, and I can't guess why it is happening.

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Not to take us of topic but what is your opinion of this yeast, do you like the cider you get out of it?

Yes, 4184 is by far my favorite yeast to date. At the end of fermentation the apple flavor is not lacking in any way as I have experienced with many other yeasts. Even though the ABV is quite high, the alcohol is not obvious or "hot" as I have had in 12% ciders before made with different yeast. My brewing partner was as pleasantly surprised as I was with the first batch flavor and mouth feel from a "let's try this and see what we get" previously untested recipe, and that is why I started another identical batch right behind it. The first batch is on it's way to becoming apple jack right at this moment and our preliminary testing (tasting) has shown us it will be well worth the wait of at least one year, but most likely two years just like the old-school New England apple jack makers used to wait before they had refrigeration available...