Yeast for cider

[Tkeonce]

Very new to brewing and through together a 1 gallon batch of cider last night. I went to the supply store and he suggested a champagne yeast. A lot of what's in this particular store looks to be aged to me although the package of yeast was in the fridge. My concern is I don't see any noticeable reactions yet. Maybe I'm just being paranoid!

It was a pretty basic recipe, just a gallon of pasteurized cider, the yeast and I threw in a 1/4 cup of sugar.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Maylar]

Depending on temperature and how much yeast you used it can take a few days before things start going. Have patience.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Tkeonce. Welome. You say that you are new to this. I agree with Maylar, that there can be a lengthy lag time as the yeast reconstitute, "wake up" repair themselves, bud (reproduce) before they really begin work on transforming the sugars in the must (the fruit juice before you have pitched (or added) the yeast). BUT... you say the apple juice was "pasteurized". OK. Is it possible that sorbate was added to help lengthen its shelf life? Sorbate will in fact prevent your apple juice from fermenting. If you bought a non alcoholic "cider" - apple juice made simply from pressed apples - sold in chiller cabinets - and which was not filtered then it is often sorbated before being sold to supermarkets. If you bought this from a farmers market it is unlikely to be sorbated and if the juice was clear apple juice (like Mott's or some other national brand) shelved at room temperature, it is unlikely to be sorbated... But the nutritional label will tell you whether the juice you bought can be easily fermented or not. You do not want to see the word "sorbate".

OK, by noticeable reactions, I assume you mean froth or bubbles in an airlock. Cider does not always froth very much- and the seal on your airlock may be defective. The only sure method of determining fermentation is to measure the density (specific gravity) of your must. And you measure this with a glass instrument called a hydrometer (costs about $7.00). Before you pitch the yeast I would expect apple juice to have a specific gravity of about 1.040- 1.050. As the yeast converts the sugar in the fruit to alcohol and carbon dioxide the density drops. It can drop as low as about 0.994 and that means that all the sugar has been converted.
Brewers are near paranoid about taking samples of their brews to measure the density (the specific gravity) and they shudder at the idea of returning the sample to the fermenting carboy. But if you sanitize your measuring cylinder, your hydrometer, the "thief" (could be a baster) that you use to suck up the sample from your carboy and pour into the cylinder you don't need to be fearful that returning the sample will contaminate your cider. I have been fermenting for years and have never contaminated /infected my wines by returning the sample back to an actively fermenting bucket or carboy.

 

[Tkeonce]

Thanks for the detailed response Bernard. It was apple cider from a farmers market with nothing but apples in it. Do you have any opinions on the yeast being one used for champagne and the 1/4 cup of sugar? One thing I read was that the champagne yeast will make for a cloudy cider and over power the apple taste. Any suggestions on making secondary flavor like cherry or berry?

Hi Tkeonce. Welome. You say that you are new to this. I agree with Maylar, that there can be a lengthy lag time as the yeast reconstitute, "wake up" repair themselves, bud (reproduce) before they really begin work on transforming the sugars in the must (the fruit juice before you have pitched (or added) the yeast). BUT... you say the apple juice was "pasteurized". OK. Is it possible that sorbate was added to help lengthen its shelf life? Sorbate will in fact prevent your apple juice from fermenting. If you bought a non alcoholic "cider" - apple juice made simply from pressed apples - sold in chiller cabinets - and which was not filtered then it is often sorbated before being sold to supermarkets. If you bought this from a farmers market it is unlikely to be sorbated and if the juice was clear apple juice (like Mott's or some other national brand) shelved at room temperature, it is unlikely to be sorbated... But the nutritional label will tell you whether the juice you bought can be easily fermented or not. You do not want to see the word "sorbate".

OK, by noticeable reactions, I assume you mean froth or bubbles in an airlock. Cider does not always froth very much- and the seal on your airlock may be defective. The only sure method of determining fermentation is to measure the density (specific gravity) of your must. And you measure this with a glass instrument called a hydrometer (costs about $7.00). Before you pitch the yeast I would expect apple juice to have a specific gravity of about 1.040- 1.050. As the yeast converts the sugar in the fruit to alcohol and carbon dioxide the density drops. It can drop as low as about 0.994 and that means that all the sugar has been converted.
Brewers are near paranoid about taking samples of their brews to measure the density (the specific gravity) and they shudder at the idea of returning the sample to the fermenting carboy. But if you sanitize your measuring cylinder, your hydrometer, the "thief" (could be a baster) that you use to suck up the sample from your carboy and pour into the cylinder you don't need to be fearful that returning the sample will contaminate your cider. I have been fermenting for years and have never contaminated /infected my wines by returning the sample back to an actively fermenting bucket or carboy.

 

[bernardsmith]

Champagne yeast does not "overpower" anything. What it tends to do is ferment very actively and that can mean that subtle favor and aromas that are in the fruit are blown off. IMO, if you are making your first batch of cider or wine (or mead) that nuance is less important than you have all the techniques and processes pinned down.. When you make your second or tenth batch you might want to modify your selection of yeast, but champagne yeasts are powerhouses and they tend to take control of their environment in ways that are supportive of novice wine makers.
One thing that you may want to do - down the road is to take the same apple juice and pitch different strains of yeast to see how they affect the flavor and aroma of the cider.
Not sure how many ounces a quarter cup will raise the gravity (density) of the juice. I am thinking 1 C = 4 oz so 1/4 C = 1 oz (or 1/16 of 1 lb) One pound will raise the gravity of 1 gallon by .040 which will more or less double the sugar content of the juice. One ounce will add about .003 to your gravity (pretty insignificant - and so not really necessary).

In what are you fermenting your cider? If you have one gallon of juice and you are fermenting this in the gallon container it came in then you may want to remove a cup or more of the liquid to allow any foam and froth to build up. Brewers tend to prefer to use their sealable carboys as their primary fermenters but wine makers tend to prefer to pitch their yeast into wide mouthed buckets (food grade) . That means that during the active fermentation they can stir their ciders and wines and meads to allow air into the liquid. Yeast need air during this stage of the fermentation. And the stirring forces out the CO2 that the yeast produce: half the weight of the sugar in the apple (and the sugar you added) will be converted into carbon dioxide gas. When the specific gravity drops to around 1.005 you should siphon (rack is the term that vintners and brewers use for this process) the cider into a vessel that you can seal with an airlock (to keep air out and yet allow the CO2 to escape). There should be no headroom (space above the surface) between the cider and the bung being used to seal the mouth of the container. (when I say no headroom, I mean that the liquid should be up inside the mouth of the container but should not be touching the rubber bung. An inch of space is OK but filling your container to say the shoulder of the carboy is asking for trouble. By trouble I mean oxidation. Oxidation will spoil the taste and the color of your cider much in the same way that rust (which is oxidation) spoils the color and integrity of iron.

 

[Tkeonce]

So it's pretty active now. It's fermenting in a 1 gallon glass jug. The liquid goes to just under the neck of the bottle. I do have a blowoff hose in the cap which runs to a small container of sanitizer. My plan was to put an airlock in once I see less action in the jug, I wasn't going to move to a secondary. I'm about 4 days in and the cider has gone to a yellowish orange color. I'm pretty patient so I figured I'd let it go about 3-4 weeks before adding honey, bottling and refrigerating.

Champagne yeast does not "overpower" anything. What it tends to do is ferment very actively and that can mean that subtle favor and aromas that are in the fruit are blown off. IMO, if you are making your first batch of cider or wine (or mead) that nuance is less important than you have all the techniques and processes pinned down.. When you make your second or tenth batch you might want to modify your selection of yeast, but champagne yeasts are powerhouses and they tend to take control of their environment in ways that are supportive of novice wine makers.
One thing that you may want to do - down the road is to take the same apple juice and pitch different strains of yeast to see how they affect the flavor and aroma of the cider.
Not sure how many ounces a quarter cup will raise the gravity (density) of the juice. I am thinking 1 C = 4 oz so 1/4 C = 1 oz (or 1/16 of 1 lb) One pound will raise the gravity of 1 gallon by .040 which will more or less double the sugar content of the juice. One ounce will add about .003 to your gravity (pretty insignificant - and so not really necessary).

In what are you fermenting your cider? If you have one gallon of juice and you are fermenting this in the gallon container it came in then you may want to remove a cup or more of the liquid to allow any foam and froth to build up. Brewers tend to prefer to use their sealable carboys as their primary fermenters but wine makers tend to prefer to pitch their yeast into wide mouthed buckets (food grade) . That means that during the active fermentation they can stir their ciders and wines and meads to allow air into the liquid. Yeast need air during this stage of the fermentation. And the stirring forces out the CO2 that the yeast produce: half the weight of the sugar in the apple (and the sugar you added) will be converted into carbon dioxide gas. When the specific gravity drops to around 1.005 you should siphon (rack is the term that vintners and brewers use for this process) the cider into a vessel that you can seal with an airlock (to keep air out and yet allow the CO2 to escape). There should be no headroom (space above the surface) between the cider and the bung being used to seal the mouth of the container. (when I say no headroom, I mean that the liquid should be up inside the mouth of the container but should not be touching the rubber bung. An inch of space is OK but filling your container to say the shoulder of the carboy is asking for trouble. By trouble I mean oxidation. Oxidation will spoil the taste and the color of your cider much in the same way that rust (which is oxidation) spoils the color and integrity of iron.

 

[Maylar]

So it's pretty active now. It's fermenting in a 1 gallon glass jug. The liquid goes to just under the neck of the bottle. I do have a blowoff hose in the cap which runs to a small container of sanitizer. My plan was to put an airlock in once I see less action in the jug, I wasn't going to move to a secondary. I'm about 4 days in and the cider has gone to a yellowish orange color. I'm pretty patient so I figured I'd let it go about 3-4 weeks before adding honey, bottling and refrigerating.

The only time I've had cider foam into the airlock was within a couple days of starting. You can install an airlock any time now.