Yeast for store juice cider

[FatDragon]

I found a great deal on 100% apple juice today so I bought 45 liters. It's just regular drinking apple juice, but the ingredient list is just "100% apple juice", so I don't think there are any preservatives or anything - presumably it's just filtered and pasteurized. I've only ever done cider once before, and it was a pretty straightforward batch: 4L juice (like this, but a different brand), S-04, and then a bit of juice for priming. It was tasty but nondescript. I'm fine with that, though I wouldn't complain about a bit more characterful brew this time. The main goal is to make something fairly light and tasty that my breastfeeding wife can drink a bit of on occasion, so bumping it up with sugar is not in the cards, and concentrate here is full of preservatives (no FAJC in China) so that's out too.

That said, I've got a number of yeast options on hand and I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I'll take non-yeast suggestions too, of course.

Option A: S-33. Dry.

Option B: Lallemand Abbaye. Dry.

Option C: Belle Saison plus dregs from a Boulevard Saison Brett - a few months old. Would need a starter.

Option D: US-05 plus lacto from a broad-spectrum probiotic - fairly fresh.

Option E: S-04 from a porter - several months old. Would need some serious TLC.

Option F: Buy some dry yeast (you name it from MJ, Fermentis, Lallemand, or Mauribrew, it's probably available), but when there are already five other options that don't cost any money, this is at the bottom of the list.

Oh, and I've got Goferm, Fermaid K, and DAP if they're useful for this project.

Acid additions? Oak? Hops? Anything else that might be worth trying?

 

[RPh_Guy]

I vote for option C. And skip the starter.

Add some Fermaid K about 12-24 hours after fermentation starts.

Adjust acid to taste when packaging. Malic acid is best IMO, but an acid blend (malic + tartaric + citric) is fine too.

Tannin and/or oak is certainly a good option. I like FT Blanc Soft.

 

[FatDragon]

By a few months, I think it's six or seven months old, and a lot of it is trüb. Wouldn't that be a pretty drastic underpitch with unhealthy yeast? I was thinking I'd have to start options C or E in a liter or two of juice with some nutrients and then add juice to 20 liters after a few days, or maybe step it up a couple times first.

What kind of time frame would I be looking at with a sacc+Brett cider? I plan to bottle with juice to prime, but no backsweetening. What would the Brett contribute?

 

[RPh_Guy]

A starter is fine. Whatever you want.

The Sacc will finish within a normal timeframe, depending on your ferm temperature. A few days, weeks, or months.
Brett with add character within weeks to months, depending on the fermentation vessel material, temperature, other sources of oxygen, strain, and other factors.
Oak takes time to extract flavor, depending on the form used. Clarity may take some time as well.

You can bottle it without waiting for the Brett to add flavor; it will develop in the bottle.