Hi there! I made many beers and meads, and now that I have a nice centrifuge power juicer (thanks Xmas sales!), I wanna try ciders and 100% pure fruit winves/beverages.
This morning I had a large glass of juice extract from 3 different types of pears. I felt in love completly, it was fantastic. So my first cider will be 100% pear. I have few questions about it. It's gonna be a 1 gal batch for testing.
1- Yeast and temperature
Does ''cider'' yeast like Wyeast 4766 or WL775 really worth it? Otherwise I recently began to use Lalvin K1, because of its ''K'' nature. That's probably what I will use, because for a 1gal batch, it's quite a waste to buy a 10$ vial. But still, i'm curious about the cider yeast, for next big batches.
I would like a dry finish, but with the biggest fruity flavor possible from the pear. Does the fermentation temperature affect that, just like with beer yeast? The Lalvin can go from 10 to 35 C (50 to 100 F). What temperature I have available is 50, 65-70 or 78-80.
What about beer yeast, could it be an alternative? I have us-05, s-04, s33 and t58.
2 - Original gravity
What OG should I expect from pressed pears? If I boost it with sugars, how much it affects the taste? I'm thinking honey (a smooth one, like clover) or maybe brown sugar.
3 - backsweet
I want a dry finish, but if it finish TOO dry (because Lalvin K1 is a beast), i guess i would backsweeten it. Metabisulfites and sorbate seems to be the way to go, but I'm always worried, because it doesn't kill the yeast, but only numb them. Since Lalvin K1 is so resistant, i'm always worried that she will wake up and make my beverage sparkly or pop the cork.
4 - Sulfites or not?
If I use the Lalvin K1, I won't use sulfite to sanitize the juice before adding the yeast, but, let say I use other type of yeast. Should I drop a campden cap to the juice a day or two before pitching the yeast, or should I trust the nature?
5 - Juice / Pulp
Should I use only the juice, or also the pulp? that is I guess full of great things.
Thanks a lot!
Francis
This morning I had a large glass of juice extract from 3 different types of pears. I felt in love completly, it was fantastic. So my first cider will be 100% pear. I have few questions about it. It's gonna be a 1 gal batch for testing.
1- Yeast and temperature
Does ''cider'' yeast like Wyeast 4766 or WL775 really worth it? Otherwise I recently began to use Lalvin K1, because of its ''K'' nature. That's probably what I will use, because for a 1gal batch, it's quite a waste to buy a 10$ vial. But still, i'm curious about the cider yeast, for next big batches.
I would like a dry finish, but with the biggest fruity flavor possible from the pear. Does the fermentation temperature affect that, just like with beer yeast? The Lalvin can go from 10 to 35 C (50 to 100 F). What temperature I have available is 50, 65-70 or 78-80.
What about beer yeast, could it be an alternative? I have us-05, s-04, s33 and t58.
2 - Original gravity
What OG should I expect from pressed pears? If I boost it with sugars, how much it affects the taste? I'm thinking honey (a smooth one, like clover) or maybe brown sugar.
3 - backsweet
I want a dry finish, but if it finish TOO dry (because Lalvin K1 is a beast), i guess i would backsweeten it. Metabisulfites and sorbate seems to be the way to go, but I'm always worried, because it doesn't kill the yeast, but only numb them. Since Lalvin K1 is so resistant, i'm always worried that she will wake up and make my beverage sparkly or pop the cork.
4 - Sulfites or not?
If I use the Lalvin K1, I won't use sulfite to sanitize the juice before adding the yeast, but, let say I use other type of yeast. Should I drop a campden cap to the juice a day or two before pitching the yeast, or should I trust the nature?
5 - Juice / Pulp
Should I use only the juice, or also the pulp? that is I guess full of great things.
Thanks a lot!
Francis