Interesting Cider yeast to try

Full disclosure: I ordered this yeast a couple of weeks ago but they won't ship it until they get another hundred orders. So here I am, flogging it to you.
September is upon us and cider making time is near.

WLP603 Torulaspora delbrueckii

Wild yeast isolated from fruit trees in Denmark. This is one of the three strains that make up the WLP611 New Nordic Yeast blend. This wild yeast has been used for ciders and wine but also ferments well for beer. Produces a lot of esters and contributes some phenolics as well.

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Check it out at:
https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast-vault

Thank you for this info! I'm interested in this strain, also interested in the WLP611 blend. Planning on ordering both in the next few days.
Regards, GF.

I'm gonna order some too. Thanks for the idea and the link! Lots of cool stuff on their site to try.

92 orders to go.

I'm really hoping this gains some momentum.

I was looking at this last week. Unfortunately being an international consumer has it's downfalls unless someone wants to ship me some? 😁

Maybe I needed a catchier thread title. Still over 90 orders to go.

Help me choose from the following new thread titles to generate more interest:

1. Secrets of Viking Cider Makers Revealed!

2. This one small trick will make your cider wild.

3. What Danish Cider makers don't want you to know.

4. What made these Danish farm girls drunk?

it sounds interesting and i'd be up for trying it in a cider or mead to see what happens.

After doing a little more searching I found this article that talks about the yeast quite extensively: https://eurekabrewing.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/hello-my-name-is-torulaspora-delbrueckii/

I'm not sure about the esters though.... "T. delbrueckii showed higher ester notes (mainly banana, rose and bubblegum)"

TandemTails said:

I'm not sure if I'm fully getting this thread. Are you trying to set up a group buy for this yeast? If so, would they ship all the yeast to you and then you'd distribute it or is your LHBS saying they won't order it unless they can order/sell 100 pouches? How much would a package of this yeast cost?

it sounds interesting and i'd be up for trying it in a cider or mead to see what happens.

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I believe the way it works is that the yeast company will not manufacture the yeast until they get enough orders for it to make it worth their while. Until then this yeast strain will not be manufactured. Then if they do get enough orders (however long that takes -- months or years!), then they'll mail out the orders to each customer individually. So it's not exactly like a group-buy. The OP is just trying to drum up some interest because he doesn't want to wait months or years for the yeast to be made and sent.

Just ordered this then I saw your post only 90 more. It's doing way better than the WLP075 Hansen Ale yeast blend I ordered months ago

dmtaylor said:

I believe the way it works is that the yeast company will not manufacture the yeast until they get enough orders for it to make it worth their while. Until then this yeast strain will not be manufactured. Then if they do get enough orders (however long that takes -- months or years!), then they'll mail out the orders to each customer individually. So it's not exactly like a group-buy. The OP is just trying to drum up some interest because he doesn't want to wait months or years for the yeast to be made and sent.

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Thanks. I realized that after I posted the message

Only 86 more orders to go.

At this rate...we will never get there.

Shameless bump to encourage the rest of you to order this yeast.

Interested but skeptical. I've done many yeast experiments with cider and have come to the conclusion that the right apples make better cider, the yeast has a supporting role.
Using this yeast with the typical juice from dessert apples may or may not be all that great.....
I'm on the fence about ordering.

Very cool! In Canada. Don't think they ship up here...

Only 72 more orders to go.
That's down from 92 on September 8, so that's 20 order in 38 days. So that is around one order every two days, so at this rate it is only 144 more days.

Progress!
The ship number dropped from 72 to 56 orders in "only" 12 days.

I ordered this, the funky cider and Scottish cider yeasts in January. I was really hoping they'd all pick up steam this fall in order to use them in some cider. However, looks like it'll be next year now.

46 more to go.

it's been released - just got the email!

Too bad we couldn't get it in October during fresh juice season (at least in Northern Hemisphere). Any Aussies or South Americans order this yeast??

Better late than never I guess.

The email contained the following note about fermentation

...This strain should be used in a mixed fermentation....

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Any notions about what they mean by that?

Nope. Was trying to figure out what I might wanna do with this but I might just throw it into my standard cider recipe and see how it tastes next to my Cry Havoc cider I still have a bit of. Anyone planning on doing something more "interesting"

BrewSavage said:

Better late than never I guess.

The email contained the following note about fermentation

"should use in mixed fermentation..."

Any notions about what they mean by that?

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They might be trying to say that the flavors formed by this yeast are quite strong and off-putting on their own, so you might want to blend the final product? Either that or the yeast does not perform well all on its own and needs help to reach final gravity or something to that effect?

BrewSavage said:

Better late than never I guess.

The email contained the following note about fermentation

"...This strain should be used in a mixed fermentation...."

Any notions about what they mean by that?

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It means it's a low attenuating wild strain that won't get the job done by itself. You'll have to add a second yeast at some point to finish the fermentation.

Mixed fermentations use one yeast to impart some unique characteristics and a second yeast to do the bulk of the ferment. An example would be using both Brett and Sacc strains to make a sour beer.

Another example is some wine makers allow the wild yeast from the grapes to ferment the first 3-4% then pitch their wine yeast. It's supposed to add complexity to the wine.

dmtaylor said:

Too bad we couldn't get it in October during fresh juice season (at least in Northern Hemisphere). Any Aussies or South Americans order this yeast??

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Hmmm, there are a couple orchards here in West Michigan that press cider into March. They must have their apples in cold storage and press as needed. There are a few others that press everything in the fall and then freeze it.

dmtaylor said:

Too bad we couldn't get it in October during fresh juice season (at least in Northern Hemisphere). Any Aussies or South Americans order this yeast??

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They don't ship here.

laredo7mm said:

Hmmm, there are a couple orchards here in West Michigan that press cider into March. They must have their apples in cold storage and press as needed. There are a few others that press everything in the fall and then freeze it.

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That's cool. I believe most or all orchards here in eastern 'Sconsin juice right away in the fall and freeze it. But, I could also be wrong.

Just stirring this thread back up and seeing if anyone is interest in this blend....
https://www.whitelabs.com/yeast-vault

This one interests me:

2. WLP773 Scottish Cider Blend 95 ORDERS UNTIL WE SHIP

This cider blend is an exciting blend of two of our favorite ale strains and one wine strain. Unlike a lot of ale strains that typically dry out most ciders, this unique blend of Saccharomyces strains still leave some residual sweetness for the perfect mouthfeel. This strain is perfect for those looking for a still cider with some lingering apple characteristic or a dryer sparkling cider.

In 12 Plato apple juice: 80% attenuation

But how long will it hold in the fridge?

Good question, since cider season is done for us.

I have a tube of this. And I'm really not sure what to do with it. There doesn't seem to be a lot of info on the White Labs site on it. Does anyone have any info on alcohol tolerance? I'm thinking about making a cyser with it; but am wondering if I'll need to do a mixed fermentation (maybe with D47) to get it up to even beer strength.