Apple juice and brewers yeast?

[hilljack13]

I am thinking of trying some mead later down the road but I also want to experiment a little bit. I have see a few things about using apple juice with no added preservatives. If the only yeast I could get a hold of was brewers yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), would that work as a very simple recipe? Also wondering if there is a way to ferment straight out of the bottle with a makeshift blow-off? I don't have access to a fermenter lock either

EDIT: I think this might go in the cider forum. I'm new to this part of homebrew.

 

[fluketamer]

yes.
brewers yeast makes great cider
heat a metal knife and cut a small notch in the mouth opening of the bottle of juice then replace the cap the notch will act as a air escape valve.
search grahams apple cider its delicious and easy.

 

[bernardsmith]

For a primary you really don't need a blow-off or airlock /bubbler. Simply cover the opening with a clean cloth. You are not brewing beer. Fruit is not nearly as susceptible to laco-bacteria infections as grains (which are covered in the bacteria). For your secondary, you DO need an airlock and the wine needs to be filled right up into the mouth of a carboy shaped vessel. The less headroom, the less contact with O2 and so the less possibility of oxidation and aceto-bacter infection (vinegar can result)

 

[hilljack13]

And away we go! 1" of headspace, 4L jug, +1 cup light brown sugar.

 

[Rish]

Looking good! Make sure your lid is loose enough to let the CO2 escape.

 

[LudovicoManin]

The first mead I ever made was honey, apple juice and yeast. Didn't really know what I was doing as all the corks popped off... but the few bottles I did have were quite lovely. Also, Mott's for the win. One of the only brands I have found that you can use in this sort of thing.

 

[hilljack13]

Only 12 hrs and there was small bit of krausen. Faded away as I woke up, but there are still lots of tiny bubbles hitting the surface I can see at just the right angle.

 

[hilljack13]

So all those apple juice "brews" worked like a charm.

Now that I am back stateside, I wanted to try and test this again. I am getting 1 gal of the Mott's. I have yeast on hand and curious which you would choose and why. I mostly do beer so S-04, S-05, and an extra pack of K-97.

Thanks!

 

[Barzahl]

They've got a great grocery store juice to cider thread going on in the cider forum https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/plumbers-cider.730652/ never done cider so I've got no idea which yeast is better

 

[fluketamer]

hey that is a great thread . lol

use so5 i love it for cider. the k 97 will dry it out more imo . i like ciders with ale yeast better than wine yeast. or champagne yeast


so4 also will work

 

[bernardsmith]

Yeah , brewers tend to go for Safale yeasts, but 71B has an affinity for malic acid - the predominant acid found in apples. Its' a harsh acid and 71B chews about 40% up and transforms it into lactic - a far more smoother acid, one that wine grape makers prefer but they need to add bacteria to allow their wines go thru MLF . I would suggest that 71B is the better choice for cider or apple wine. But it's your call.

 

[WayFrae]

I brewed a few ciders with Nottingham yeast and I loved them

 

[z-bob]

Try Red Star Cote des Blancs yeast, a.k.a Epernay II. It's a lot cheaper than beer yeast and I think it makes the best tasting cider of them all. I keep trying different yeasts and I come back to this one. I also recommend using white sugar, and less of it. A lot of people think brown sugar and molasses taste nasty when fermented (I haven't tried it), and too much sugar of any kind will burn up most of the apple flavor (I have done that before)

What you've got looks fine, but make sure the lid is loose so CO2 can escape through the threads. Good luck, and HTH

 

[MightyMosin]

Yeah , brewers tend to go for Safale yeasts, but 71B has an affinity for malic acid - the predominant acid found in apples. Its' a harsh acid and 71B chews about 40% up and transforms it into lactic - a far more smoother acid, one that wine grape makers prefer but they need to add bacteria to allow their wines go thru MLF . I would suggest that 71B is the better choice for cider or apple wine. But it's your call.

I haven't done cider yet, but there is nothing here to disagree with. 71B is a great yeast.