TasunkaWitko
Well-Known Member
Any guidance would be appreciated:
http://www.eckraus.com/search?q=yeast+for+hard+cider
Thanks -
Ron
http://www.eckraus.com/search?q=yeast+for+hard+cider
Thanks -
Ron
I have made several ciders in the last year, most with crab apples or crab apples blended with other apples and a few with straight, store bought cider. Safale US-05 has been my "go-to" yeast. One I did with Edinburgh Ale yeast was very good. Champagne will take it VERY dry.
There aren't any complex sugars involved, so attenuation means almost nothing. Any of those yeasts will take an OG of 1.06-1.07 down to 1.000 or less.
When you use US-05 or Edinburgh (WLP028?), what is your FG usually? Nottingham, Coopers, and champagne yeast always end up dry for me. Looking for less attenuation.
There aren't any complex sugars involved, so attenuation means almost nothing. Any of those yeasts will take an OG of 1.06-1.07 down to 1.000 or less. Most yeasts, even bread yeast, will handle up to 10% ABV, or an OG 1.076, with ease. A better tactic would be to taste until it gets to a FG you like, rack off the sediment, add priming sugar, and bottle. When it's carbed enough(use of a PET soda bottle is recommended), pasteurize and enjoy!
Question: would anyone consider this yeast for achieving the goals I am persuing?
http://www.eckraus.com/lalvin-wine-yeast-type-71b-1122.html
Sometimes. But ale yeast will often stop a bit short of dry. My last cider used S04, and the FG was 1.004. It's still dry, but not as dry as when I use wine yeast (which will go to .990!). Of course, I like dry cider so I don't sweeten it either way, and 1.004 still is crisp and tart.
Yooper, Why would ale yeast not bring home a totally brut (dry) cider? If the starting gravity was around 1.050 why would an ale yeast have any greater difficulty in converting all the sugar to alcohol than any wine yeast? I wouldn't ask ale yeasts to work on fruit wines or meads but I start those around 1.090 (about 12% ABV) but for 6 or 7% ABV why would SO-4 or SO-5 or Nottingham conk out early?
I don't know for sure, but suspect that ale yeast is not as good at simple sugars like fructose as wine yeast- but certainly my last batch with S04 (with nutrients, but not added sugar) started at 1.048 or so (can't remember exactly) and finished at 1.004, perfectly clear and beautiful.
Champagne yeast takes it all the way dry, and usually pretty fast (not sure why it would take 8 days - that sounds like something was wrong).
I have a cider working with S-33, about 11 days in. Was 4 gallons juice, 1 gal local UV pasturized cider. Still really cloudy.
Not worried, going to let it sit until mid nov, kill the yeast, add some AJ concentrate and keg.
A friend who went to our closest LHBS (in Billings, 250 miles away) came home with 3 packages of Red Star Premier Cuvée yeast (ironically, in blue packages), saying that this type was recommended. I'll give it a shot this weekend.
Questions:
a) For my first attempt, I am going with store-bought apple product. I haven't found apple JUICE that has no preservatives; however, I was able to find natural cider that is pastuerized, but doesn't seem to have preservatives. As I recall, this is good, since pastuerized is fine, but the preservatives kill yeast. Please correct me if I am wrong. I will eventually move on to using my own juiced apples, but that's another story.
b) The yeast packages say that each package makes 5 gallons of cider. My batches are going to be ONE gallon. Should I pitch 1/2 the yeast packet, or 1/5?
c) I read the excellent article written by @podz, where he mentions adding sugar to boost the ABV. I am not really considering doing this for my first attempt, but if I change my mind, what's a good amount to add to a ONE GALLON batch to boost the ABV a little? Or would the final cider taste better without?
d) Is there any advice or information that I should know specific to using this yeast?
Thanks in advance for all assistance -
Ron
I am not interested in back-sweetening at this time, I simply want to make some cider and learn about what I'm doing through the experiences.
Hi, Roadie -
I'm not claiming that there's anything at all wrong with back-sweetening; it's just that I have made ZERO cider, so as I begin and learn the process, I want to start basic and work my way into more-involved concepts and procedures. Heck, for all I know, I might LIKE really dry cider. One way to find out, right?
It seems logical at the beginning that my first cider be simply apples and yeast - this will introduce me to the process and will also give me a base-line for comparison when I go on to adding sugar before, or on to back-sweetening etc. Plenty of time to tweak, but I want to start as basic as possible in order learn and to have a basis for comparison etc.
The nice thing about kegging cider is you can try it at whatever gravity the yeast takes it to, but if it's too dry for your liking you can backsweeten a little at a time until you hit your sweet spot. It's not an all or nothing product when packaging this way.
It sounds like some people have been getting slightly higher final gravities (which means sweeter) with S-04. I would go with that, since I usually get slightly higher FG with it. Remember that *slightly higher* isn't exactly sweet in this case. Instead of finishing at .998, it finishes at 1.002. That's still pretty dry.
Champagne yeast takes it all the way dry, and usually pretty fast (not sure why it would take 8 days - that sounds like something was wrong).
Sometimes. But ale yeast will often stop a bit short of dry. My last cider used S04, and the FG was 1.004. It's still dry, but not as dry as when I use wine yeast (which will go to .990!). Of course, I like dry cider so I don't sweeten it either way, and 1.004 still is crisp and tart.
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