Cider with Champagne Yeast

Hello everyone. This past weekend I started another batch of apfelwein. This time I was given the advice from multiple people of using champagne yeast. I went to my local homebrewing supply and they hooked me up with a pack of dry yeast. here is the exact yeast I used:

Red Star Wine Yeasts 5 grams. Pasteur Champagne. :: Midwest Supplies Homebrewing and Winemaking Supplies

I know you are supposed to keep the cider aging in a carboy for about 6-8 weeks with montrachet yeast....but how long do I let it age with this yeast? Is it the same or different? Thanks for your help.

until you can clearly see through it.

a few things are different between cider and beer:

1- higher ABV = longer fermentation
2- the smell (see rhino farts)
3- taste at time of bottling (after 2 months the taste may still gag you; at 1 month it is putrid)

At 4 months it is appreciable. It is my understanding that at six months it tasts awesome BUT I may never know... .... it's like the liks to a tootsie roll pop question I am up to 3 months and I only have 10 bottles left.

I agree that you should wait until the cider has cleared. Now are you making Ed's apfelwein and just substituting the yeast or are you making regular cider (ie. did you add the 2 lbs of sugar?) The reason I ask is that I made a batch of cider with only a little brown sugar (1/2lb) added and with epernay 2 yeast and mine only took about 3 weeks to clarify and everyone seems to be pleased with how it turned out. If you have all that extra sugar the yeast is going to need time to go through it. I know one of the big things with the montrachet yeast is that it's supposed to really improve things with age but as I'm still a newbie myself so I don't know if your yeast will be like that or not.

I used the same yeast in my first attempt, a month or so ago. I decided to just start off with a gallon, and go with the "lowest common denominator" of making cider. I got some bottled AJ at Sam's club cheap, the only thing in it was ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), which the forums say is OK. I just sanitized a gallon glass jug & airlock, poured in the AJ, and sprinkled in the champagne yeast. IT was bubbling well in a few hours, and I set it in a corner of the dining room & sort of forgot about it. I went back yesterday and it had cleared, so I racked it. I suppose I'll wait ??? until bottling, probably not too long since it tasted OK, throw in some carb tabs as I bottle, and then maybe try it in a month.....

Ok I will wait for it to get clear. Now with the montrachet yeast I let it sit in the carboy for about 8 weeks maximum. I was clear by the 5th or 6th week but I was told it was better to bulk age the cider. I followed the recipe exactly the same as Ed Worts but I just changed the yeast. What is the maximum amount of time I can have the cider in the carboy with this yeast? Thanks.

bump...if anyone can tell me what is the absolute longest I should have my cider in the carboy with this yeast I would really appreciate it.

Mesa512 said:

bump...if anyone can tell me what is the absolute longest I should have my cider in the carboy with this yeast I would really appreciate it.

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I don't know- one or two years? Maybe longer, but I've never done it.

I don't mean to sound like a smart-ass. You can leave it until it's done. And then you can leave it some more. We're talking about very long term aging before you'll have any problems with leaving it on the lees.

I rack my ciders and wines after primary fermentation is over, but you don't have to. I rack my wines/ciders whenever there are lees more than 1/4 " thick and it's been about 60 days. If I don't get thick lees, I don't rack. I've left some wines with champagne yeast for two years without racking if no sediment has fallen. I usually don't go that long without racking or bottling, though. I've never left it "too long", though.

So I did 4 gallons of Apple juice and 1 lbs of honey for my recipe. Then I added champagne yeast. The first 3 or 4 days it was really bubbling like crazy, but now I'm not seeing any bubbles. It's been in the carboy for a week and a half at this point. Is this ok? I'm just curious because I have never used this yeast before. I hope that I'm just being impatient.

Also, I smelled around the airlock and it smells like a boozy-appley-fart smell. Is this a concern?

I've done plenty of beers, but this is my first cider and my first time to use champagne yeast. Any help is appreciated.

Which champagne yeast, what temperature is it fermenting at, and did you use any yeast nutrient?

Maylar said:

Which champagne yeast, what temperature is it fermenting at, and did you use any yeast nutrient?

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Fermenting at 70 degrees, and I used Lalvin EC-1118 Dry Champagne yeast. I didn't use a nutrient.

jimbomij said:

So I did 4 gallons of Apple juice and 1 lbs of honey for my recipe. Then I added champagne yeast. The first 3 or 4 days it was really bubbling like crazy, but now I'm not seeing any bubbles. It's been in the carboy for a week and a half at this point. Is this ok? I'm just curious because I have never used this yeast before. I hope that I'm just being impatient.

Also, I smelled around the airlock and it smells like a boozy-appley-fart smell. Is this a concern?

I've done plenty of beers, but this is my first cider and my first time to use champagne yeast. Any help is appreciated.

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So I'm not sure exactly what your concern is regarding being impatient (I might need more coffee) but if it helps, I usually use EC-1118 and airlock activity seems to subside after about 5 days or so. I pull it when it reads somewhere around 1.006-1.003 and that takes a week to ten days. The smell around my airlock is usually a bit more pleasant than "farty" but others have described it your way, so perhaps it's just our different nasal palate.

To sum up, everything sounds fine.

buMbLeB said:

So I'm not sure exactly what your concern is regarding being impatient (I might need more coffee) but if it helps, I usually use EC-1118 and airlock activity seems to subside after about 5 days or so. I pull it when it reads somewhere around 1.006-1.003 and that takes a week to ten days. The smell around my airlock is usually a bit more pleasant than "farty" but others have described it your way, so perhaps it's just our different nasal palate.

To sum up, everything sounds fine.

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Thanks for the feedback!!! Sorry if I was vague. I've never done a cider, and I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't screwed anything up. Do you rack to a secondary? And how long do you let it age or bottle condition?

Takes 2 weeks to 98% ferment out. I use it all the time in my hard Lemonaids. Should end up at 1.000.

Did an Apple cider 18 months ago with same results.

jimbomij said:

Thanks for the feedback!!! Sorry if I was vague. I've never done a cider, and I just wanted to make sure that I hadn't screwed anything up. Do you rack to a secondary? And how long do you let it age or bottle condition?

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You haven't screwed anything up... so far! But this is where you should probably stop regarding me as an authority - I've only been at this a few months, and have developed an unorthodox procedure. After dropping the gravity to my preferred range, I siphon directly into large fridge-friendly storage containers with built-in spigots I purchased for just this reason. After 2-3 days "cold crashing" in the fridge all the yeast drops out and forms a thick sludge on the bottom, leaving clear slightly effervescent cider on top. Then I drink it and repeat the process. I know, I'm an animal. But it's delicious.

I do have one batch I racked to a secondary carboy squirreled away for about 2 months now, it's currently generating about 1 tiny champagne sized microbubble every few seconds and obviously the airlock stopped long ago, but I'm leaving it alone until it's completely 100% done before I even touch it again, for fear of exposing it to oxygen. I've never used sorbates or sulfites etc, so I'm being cautious, and will probably ask this forum for advice when I decide it's time to bottle. As of now, I have no idea how it tastes.

tl;dr Up until now you've done everything right, and I'm of no further use to you.

Just realized my tl;dr might seem rude, totally not my intent - ask me anything! I just haven't gone much further down this road. But if you wanna make some quick 'n dirty fridge cider, I'm your guy.