Fleischmann's Rapid Rise bread yeast...Oh yes i did!

[408IPA]

So just yesterday I was in an experimenting mood...after looking through a few threads on the use of bread yeast I was determined to give it a go, simply to see 1. how far bread yeast will ferment and 2. what the hell kind of product does it make.
Since I figured this would be relatively cheap I decided to use martinelli's apple cider, no additives, nothing. poured out 3 cups and added 3 cups of brown sugar and pitched the yeast. SG:1.090
I also had a 2 quart of Welchs lying around and the yeast packs came in three so I decided what the hell why not. poured out 2 cups and added 2 cups of powdered sugar and pitched yeast. SG:1.160
These things are already bubbling away like crazy and it hasnt been 24hrs since the yeast was pitched. Again these are literally inspired by curiosity and I have no idea how these are going to taste, thoughts and opinions welcome wether good or bad!

 

[step]

Look forward to the results. I have been wondering about something similar for awhile. I think the curiosity comes from JAOM and its use of bread yeast to leave a bit of residual sweetness.

 

[medusa1066]

This is great!!!! Keep us posted

 

[onthekeg]

It may not clear too well for you because powdered sugar has starch in it as an anti caking agent I believe.

 

[kingboomer]

I've uded bread yeast a few times for apple cider. It tasted pretty good after a few weeks in the bottle, but nothing spectacular imo.


-Kingboomer

 

[408IPA]

Ya I was curious to see how the powdered sugar would perform. Im not worried if the welchs doesnt clear. How long do you guys think I should let it ferment out? I was thinking along the lines of 7-14 days, I'll do a hydro reading at day 7 to see where they are at.

 

[Daze]

It may not clear too well for you because powdered sugar has starch in it as an anti caking agent I believe.

that is correct powdered sugar does have corn starch in it. good news is it should setle out

 

[Zgoda21]

With using a cheap rapid rise bread yeast, you will often find your mash getting the "bready" smell/taste to it. With the combination of powdered sugar and rapid rise yeast, it will be hard to clear- but have no fear.

Simply rack the brew nearing the end of the first week and have little head space left in your 2nd fermentation- if you need to, make the right ratio of sugar:liquid and add it into the second fermentation unit. And then repeat any time you see a good layer of yeast at the bottom of your unit. (the longer you let this rapid rise yeast sit and die, the nastier it will taste).

Clearing will happen within the 4th week (approx). During the 2nd/3rd week I like to add some sort of fruit to the mash if I am simply doing a sugar mash... i wait so long because it should be over 5% abv to be self cleaning.

I've noticed- when experimenting- that there are some very strong strands of yeast in the rapid rise yeast that give off "so-so flavor" but can withstand a decent amount of alcohol. I've found this out by using some of the yeast each time i rack it and adding it to another unit. Eventually- the fastest CO2 producing yeast will die off and you will have a fair strand of yeast... i guess due to quick adaptation? I'm not completely sure... but it's worked out very well so far.

ANYWAYS- I've recently made a sort of meade, it's more similar to the russian's "stavlenniy myod"

I made a very simple recipe in a very makeshift way- I was going very cheap on this one.

In a two liter I added my honey, a little bit of white sugar (about .25 cup), and then about .5 tbs of mollasses, give or take. Added the water to limit the headspace, added an equivalent of half a packet of fleischman's rapid rise (except i used some from previous blends in the method i described above). Fermented for 7 days, racked it and then...
Added a handful of crushed "kirkland brand dried blueberries"- those are delicious.
Racked it two more times in the span of a month, let it sit for another 2 weeks then bottled.

Opened one of the bottles approx 3 months after beginning the process and it was fairly good- I like wine to be sweet, and it was also a little carbonated. That was very good for the amount of money i spent. Sorry for the long post

 

[408IPA]

I realize its been almost a year but I figured some would be interested to know how this little experiment turned out! So the cider and the "wine" actually cleared up with a couple months of settling! I can't remember the exact gravity's but the cider came out to about 13% and the wine finished around 15% I want to say!! Anyway they tasted like you would expect...cheap!! For the money I would say this is definitely a poor mans recipe and definitely hooch! After 6 months of literally just sitting around (forgot about them haha) they really straightened out in flavor. If anyone is curious to try it out I say go for it!!

Cheers, and happy brewing!
-Ryan