Cider yeast test

I am starting a yeast test on some cider. I have been using wine yeast to make the ciders but not tried any ale or lager yeast. I will test these once a week for SG and clarity then post the results. Went to the LHBS and picked up a few 1 gallon carboys. I will be making 4 identical batches:

1 gallon Apple Juice(minus 1 cup)
1/2 cup sugar

Then I will add a different yeast to each carboy. I have the following Yeast; Coopers, Muntons, Superior, and Nottingham.

I will post pictures on my site and put the links here and any other information I get. This should be a 6 to 8 week process.

good luck with your endeavor, this should be an interesting experiment
You'll be doing all of us a favor

Thanks, I believe I will do this with mead the next time. Honey is not cheap this year and a bit hard to come by. I also like to keep the temps down and it's a nice winter project along with the Wassail cider.

It has begun! Started thetest tonight. Four 1 gallon carboy each presently has 3/4 gallon of apple juice and a half of a cup of sugar. Nottingham is know for producing hurican like conditions so I hope it won't blow the airlock at that level. The batch started with 1.06 OG but I may add a bit of sugar later to get it above 7%. The pictures are here if you want to see how they look. I will continue to update everything about once a week.

Coopers, Muntons, Nottingham, then Superior are the order of the most activity. Coopers and Muntons started within 15 minutes and are ranging a bubble every 2 seconds. The Nottinghan took about an hour but is bubbling about once every 3 to 4 seconds. The Superior was slow and took almost 24 hours to see the activity. Still a bit slow on the bubbles, about 1 every 6 seconds.

How long are you planning to condition before consuming? Very good experiment!

mgayer said:

Thanks, I believe I will do this with mead the next time. Honey is not cheap this year and a bit hard to come by. I also like to keep the temps down and it's a nice winter project along with the Wassail cider.

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I was over at CostCo and saw 6# of clover for $8. Check that out!

New2HomeBrew said:

How long are you planning to condition before consuming? Very good experiment!

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I figure 6 weeks till done and then testing the taste. My idea is for what each yeast gives or imparts in a side by side comparison. Time is also one of the tests.

Interesting note! Last night the Nottingham started dropping the lees and clearing. Airlock activity has slowed in all but the Superior it appears that it has a slow start but continues its slow steady pace. The temp is 74 and steady. Will top off early next week and that should increase the activity.

Thanks for the testing. I'll be tracking this thread as its almost fresh squeezed cider time here in the PNW

So I'm not sure as to which kind of yeast you said you were using, wine, ale or lager?
P.S. Good experiment. Should come in handy.

JohnBarleycornATL said:

So I'm not sure as to which kind of yeast you said you were using, wine, ale or lager?
P.S. Good experiment. Should come in handy.

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Follow the link under the the Test Started post I taped the packets on the carboys and you can see the pictures! I have done the wine yeast before but not a side by side with ale and lager

All carboys topped off on Sunday. Had to clean out the airlock three different times on the Nottingham batch.

In 1 week:
Fastest to slowest start: Muntons, Coopers, Nottingham then Superior

Clearing rates: Nottingham, Coopers- Clearing well and compact lees
Both Muntons and Superior are equally milky but forming lees.

Temps still maintained at 74 degrees

Nothing really great to report this week but am waiting for airlock activity to slow to get some gravity readings. I am expecting the 25th or 26th to be able to do that. Will also post more pictures at that time.

This weekend checked the airlocks and thought I would get to test the gravity. Still way too many bubbles however. So I will look at next weekend.

Updates:

The coopers yeast has cleared. It has a nice light color much like a very light beer. Airlock activity at 1 per 20- 30 seconds.

Superior yeast ranks 2nd for clearing. Still has a bit of cloudiness. Still producing bubbles in the airlock 1 per 10 seconds.

Muntons rank 3rd but still has a bit of milky quality. Airlock activity at 1 per 20- 30 seconds.

Nottingham rank 4th with milkly color. Airlock activity at 1 per 20- 30 seconds.

Sorry for the delay! The Ren Festival kept me busy this weekend. Airlock activity is almost completely ceased. 1 bubble in maybe 5 to 10 minutes. All still have a champagne like CO2 release of varying degrees.

Clearing rates:
Coopers has cleared completely. Can read a newspaper through the 1 gallon jug. Didn't take gravity yet but the taste is fairly dry and a bit on the sour side with lots of mouthfeel. Seems like the yeast flavor is not there or very neutral. I am impressed by the speed as 22 days and ready to age. Still throwing a bit of CO2. Lees are very compact, and it has a nice glow with a light test and almost has a polished look.

Superior has cleared nicely. Can read a newspaper through the jug but still a bit blury. Still has CO2 and bubbles on the top. Taste is semi dry with some hints of yeast. Taste is not as sour as the Coopers but the effect is on the sides of the tongue. Still very nice for 22 days. Should still have some clearing but I believe it is ready to age. Not as polished looking but appears to still have the potiential to have the glow.

Nottingham is third on the clearing, can see through but very hard to make out newspaper except for very large print. Sour to taste and as soon as it hit my mouth it foamed. Very simular to carbed drinks. More like the effect of a warm Sprite! Foamy and still throwing CO2. Mouth feel was hard to explain as the foam was so strong but got more back of mouth and yeasty after taste. Does have some nicely formed lees but not as compact as Coopers and Superior, it does shift and disturb the lees with very little movement of the jug. Needs more time in jug before aging. However it has started dropping the lees much better than Muntons.

Muntons is still milky. Almost impossible to see any newspaper print through the jug. Light test will penetrate completely but too milky for any visible shine or glow. Taste hits sides of tongue immediately and sour yeast flavors are present. Not much CO2 bubbles, just a few random releases. Not at all ready. Needs a lot more time to drop lees. However the lees are very few on the bottom. Hopefully this will increase with the next week. Interesting that this had clear more last week but the lees are not dropping and really no change has occured in the last week.

Will try for gravity readings this weekend.

wow, so the nottingham went from 4th to 1st? I was expecting the Cooper's to be the most cleared after your last update.

I think I'll still stick with the cooper's for my wicked tea, as I don't want a dry, sour product. Keep the updates coming!

Adolphus79 said:

wow, so the nottingham went from 4th to 1st? I was expecting the Cooper's to be the most cleared after your last update.

I think I'll still stick with the cooper's for my wicked tea, as I don't want a dry, sour product. Keep the updates coming!

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So sorry I was asleep at the wheel yesterday. I am editing the posting to show the correct yeast comments. Once again sorry! The editing is finished!

No problem, you just had me scared for a moment...

Cooper's is still my choice for my next test batch tho. Awesome test...

mgayer said:

Needs more time in jug before aging. However it has started dropping the lees much better than Muntons.

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I'm a newbie still... what are "lees"? From my experience Muntons drops out once it's done fermenting after about 1 month.

Some info on different yeast flavors in Apfelwein:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=29003

gyrfalcon said:

I'm a newbie still... what are "lees"? From my experience Muntons drops out once it's done fermenting after about 1 month.

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Lees are sediment in the must. This can be anything from yeast, pectin, pulp, or even some spices. Basically anything that keeps the must from being clear.

Kayos said:

Some info on different yeast flavors in Apfelwein:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=29003

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Although this is one of the threads that got me to thinking about testing most don't do it in a side by side comparison. I do like the Apfelwein but this is cider not Apfelwein. I will crack open a bottle, as I did last night, of the Apfelwein but I don't think a comparison of a 6 month aged product to a fresh from the fermenter product is a fair test.

Lees are wino for trub.

Is Superior a cider yeast?

Superior is a Lager yeast.

Okay I gave up the Ren Fest Saturday so I could rack and test everything. Getting a bit behind on stuff with the festival. It's Sunday night and just back in from the Festival. Here is what I found 9/15/07:

Coopers has cleared the best at the fastest rate. However the lees looked the most compact but move considerably during racking. I actually got a bit into the aging jug. It will fall out in time! Nice cider color with some gold. Does not glow with light test but may with more time. The taste was very netrual. Not overly appley but not yeasty either. Very smooth as the acid level was just right for the palate. If this gets better with age it will be excellent but could stand a bit more apple flavor. Gravity .998

Superior had cleared very well. Very golden in color. Lees very compact and didn't disturb at all. Was impressed with a light test as it almost glows with strong light on white background. The taste was excellent and far exceeds the others. It has a wonderful creamy texture and flavor was applely. This is what I will use for ciders from now on. Acid levels matched coopers and very smooth. I can't wait to see how this ages! If it improves and retains the creaminess it would be a drink of choice! Please forgive me Mead Gods!! Gravity .998

Muntons was third on clearing. Easily could read a newspaper through the gallon jug. Lees compact and hard to disturb, I was surprised at how few lees were actually on the bottom. Color was more on the yellow side with gold. It did have some glow with a light test but the glow was strongly on the dark yellow side not gold. Taste was really bad! Still exceedingly sour! not so much of a yeasty taste but sour apples. Did not want a second taste! This needs a lot of aging! Gravity .998

Nottingham was the slowest on the clearing. Still had some cloudiness and could not read the fine print of a newspaper. Headlines were readable however. This also had some lees on the bottom but not as many as the others. Color was a yellowish gold but no glow as of yet, This may develop when cleared. Taste was awful!! Muntons was bad but this was even worse! It took courage to even taste after getting the smell. Stong yeasty sour apples. I will not attempt a taste until it has cleared. Hopefully the next 30 days will make a difference but if the smell has not improved I don't think I will taste it then. Needs lots more aging! Gravity 1.0

Thanks for the update, awesome experiment. :rockin:

I'll have to look into some Cooper's and Superior for my Wicked Tea experiments. Being in Northern Maine, I'm kind of stuck with cold fermentation unless I want to get a heat pad for my carboys (maybe one day), especially with winter fast approaching. So I may have to check out the Superior. Is Cooper's a lager yeast also?

Coopers is an Ale yeast. I think Winter is the best brewing time! Most of these yeast can handle low 60's and still produce very smooth drinks. It may take a bit longer but I think the best meads are fermented at lower temps especially using the D47 yeast.

Thanks! Will update in 30 days.