Any dry yeast better for Kirkland Signature (Costco) juice than Nottingham?

[ebbelwoi]

I've done a few dozen batches, by my count, and the best combination of yeast and juice that I've found is Kirkland Signature and Danstar Nottingham. I generally backsweeten with the orginial juice at about a 4:1 ratio.

I love the body, the taste, and it's got an interesting off-ish-flavor: a little musty, a little musky... almost a little... sexy... anybody know what I'm getting at here?

I'm just wondering if there's another ale yeast that'll give me some similar characteristics. I've tried wine yeast like Montrachet, Premier Blanc, Cote Des Blancs and Premier Cruvee, but I think ale yeast is what I'm better off with. I've tried S-04. It's not bad, but not as good as Notty. I tried one small batch of US-05, but wasn't sold on that one, either. Tried w34/70, and it was fine. Just fine.

Anybody have any suggestions for readily-available dry yeasts to dethrone Notthingham?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

It seems that in general British ale yeasts are the best place to start - in CvilleKevin's trials, his favourite all-rounder was Brupak Ale, which probably has the same origin as Windsor and S-33. So try one of those?

 

[MarkKF]

Safale S-04 is very close to Notty. Notty has some odors that some people don’t like. S-04 doesn’t have them.

 

[bmd2k1]

Currently my go-to for ciders below about 10.5% is S04. Cold crashes great...nice clear & flavorful cider...rock solid lees.

For higher ABVs in the 14% range I use D47. Amazing apple flavor/aroma...with other fruity tones...solid lees and no odd smells/flavors.

Both are best for me when fermented in the mid-low 60Fs.

S04 typically goes about 7 days. D47 4weeks.

All my ciders get FAJC on the front-end to increase the SG.

I flavor condition post fermentation using 100% Fruit Juice concentrates from www.brownwoodacres.com

I've used S05 and didn't really care for it.


Cheers & Good Luck

 

[ebbelwoi]

Thanks for the input. I've been thinking about Windsor as it is available in my area. Can anybody else recommend any ale/lager yeasts that they prefer with straight KS juice specifically, besides S-04, US-05 and w34/70?

 

[Shawn3997]

EC-1118 fermented cool gave me the best results. It left the most apple taste.

 

[Saunassa]

I split the cider between two 1 gallon jugs. Fermented one with Nottingham and other with safcider. The Nottingham cider is a good and like a funky semisweet wine. The safcider at two months i do not care for. Next time EC-1118.

 

[Shawn3997]

White Labs and Wyeast both make good cider yeasts as well. Some people also use sweet mead yeasts and others.