Ale yeast for wine?

[hmmmbeer]

I was looking in my freezer today and noticed I have a crap ton of the concentrate juices and thought to myself (being the brewing fan I am), "I bet I can make a wine out of all that!" Then it popped into my head that I have some Ale yeast (smack pack I have ready just in case) and was wondering if it would be possible. So is it?

Any help would be great!

 

[ChshreCat]

Most beer yeasts aren't alcohol tolerant enough for making a wine.

 

[scottmd06]

lmao i did the same thing last night! i have a 3 gallon batch going with 3 cans concentrate, 3 cups sugar, 2tsp yeast nutrient, and ale yeast. the yeast will choke out around 8 percent but you should get a simple wine out of it from what ive read.

 

[hmmmbeer]

lmao i did the same thing last night! i have a 3 gallon batch going with 3 cans concentrate, 3 cups sugar, 2tsp yeast nutrient, and ale yeast. the yeast will choke out around 8 percent but you should get a simple wine out of it from what ive read.

maybe it was the spirit of College football?!?!? I just noticed you're from Arizona, Good game last night! I'm a Duck fan and ASU gave us the hardest time thus far this season. Great job!

I'm going to just wait and buy some wine yeast and nutrient. Waiting 6-12 months for something would suck if it turned out not as good as it has potential to. Thats just me.

 

[scottmd06]

well i looked at it this way. wines like arbor mist and such have a low alcohol content anyway and this wine only takes a little over a month to complete... im expecting a fairly sweet low alcohol wine just to say i tried it out. next time i will get wine yeast and follow a better recipe.

 

[ChshreCat]

I'm a Duck fan

You shoulda told me this before asking your question so I'd know not to help you.

Ya duck bastid!

 

[scottmd06]

Ha lol I'm caught in a football fan cross fire. Terrific.

 

[Justibone]

So, could one theoretically brew a sweet wine with ale yeast, get low ABV%, then concentrate it with freeze concentration and end up with the intense flavor of an ice brandy without the excess alcohol?

Anyone made an intentionally low ABV% wine for the purpose of freeze concentration?

Which beer yeast would be best for this, supplying the "cleanest" profile so that the flavor of the fruit was unimpeded?

 

[hmmmbeer]

You shoulda told me this before asking your question so I'd know not to help you.

Ya duck bastid!

Hope your not a Wash. State fan... after tonight anyways...

Just wanted to put a plug out there about how this wine turned out.

Today I got tired of waiting for the airlock to stop all together and moved it to its second fermentation stage. The airlock was going every 15+ seconds so I figured it was near its end anyways.

Everyone knows you can't bottle/transfer a brew/wine without taking a sample off the racking cane. It was very tasty even at this stage. I figure I will let it sit for another month or so and then drink it all down. After all, I only made a 2 gallon batch this time.

Thank you to all that commented on this help request.

 

[rattyrain]

Hmmm... I actually just bought some concentrates for winemaking (first time!), but it never occurred to me to use ale yeast. Does anyone know what would happen to the fermenting/flavor if I decided to use both types of yeast together? I'm guessing the wine yeast would continue to ferment after the ale yeast reached its limit.

And scottmd06, how sweet did yours end up being? I'm trying to make something not too sweet, but with enough sugar so it doesn't taste like watered-down grape juice. I tried brewing a hard lemonade with wine yeast and I forgot to add extra sugar. It tasted awful.

 

[Justibone]

Does anyone know what would happen to the fermenting/flavor if I decided to use both types of yeast together? I'm guessing the wine yeast would continue to ferment after the ale yeast reached its limit.

I would guess the same. Also, I've heard that champagne yeast will kill other kinds of yeast. *shrug*

 

[hmmmbeer]

So I've long forgotten about this post and here it is almost exactly a year later (just this time Oregon has a Rosebowl win under their belt). I've since tried both ways (ale and wine yeast) and you can tell something is off with the ale yeast but it works. I will continue to use wine yeast for wine and ale yeast for ales. With that said, it worked and it was drinkable.