Best yeast

[brewmaster48]

Getting ready to make cider commercially, have my choices of yeast. Wondering what everyone thinks is the best out there? Loking for semi-sweet.

 

[Maylar]

No such thing as a semisweet cider yeast.

Do you have temperature control?

 

[Kickass]

What yeast strains do you currently use when making cider?

 

[Chalkyt]

Have a search through recent posts by others. A few people are trying the new Fermentis yeasts (AS2, TF6, etc) which are claimed to enhance the fruit notes and sweetness of cider. I tried M02 this year and was quite happy with its contribution to sweetness, although S04 is still my go-to for an all round cider.

According to some taste test information published by Fermentis, TF6 and AS2 scored highest for most of the fruit notes (especially banana/pear and red fruits), whereas AC4 was more biased towards crisp citrus and floral notes, and AB1 was mainly centred on apple. Interestingly, TF6 bottomed out (stalled?) at around 1.010 (25g/L of sugar) whereas the other yeasts tested all went to 1.000 or below.

 

[brewmaster48]

No such thing as a semisweet cider yeast.

Do you have temperature control?

Yes have temp. control and what I am looking for is some opinions on a yeast that has low attenuation as to leave a some residual sugar. Plan on kegging then cold crashing to stop fermentation. I have used mostly ale, wine, champagne yeasts. My three top choices after some research is the MO2, AS2, 71B. SAFCIDER. we are not back sweeting yet. Just want to get a high quiality base to start then move from there. Thanks.

 

[Maylar]

Yes have temp. control and what I am looking for is some opinions on a yeast that has low attenuation as to leave a some residual sugar.

Attenuation is meaningless with cider, mead and wine. Unlike beer, the sugars are simple and 100% fermentable. Some yeasts will ~typically~ leave a bit of sugar, but it's not guaranteed. For instance, S-04 at 60°F will usually stop at 1.002-1.004 but at 68° it'll go well below 1.000. The TF6 that Chalky mentioned finishing at 1.010 is very unusual. We did a group buy here a few years ago of a White Labs cider yeast that was advertised as 80% attenuation, and that was BS, mine finished at 0.996 like any other yeast would.

What works on a homebrew scale is to ferment dry, stabilize with sulfite & sorbate, back sweeten and force carbonate. I don't know what they do on a commercial scale.

 

[z-bob]

The best yeast I've found (and I keep trying new ones and come back to this) is Red Star Cote des Blanc. It's cheap, it has a good flavor, and even tho' it ferments totally dry there is a slight hint of sweetness. I haven't taken a final gravity reading but guess it stops around 1.000 instead of dropping below that.

If you want naturally carbonated sweet cider, the safest way is probably to sweeten with Splenda or a sugar alcohol like erythritol. It takes a lot less sweetness that you'd expect to bring the apple taste back, maybe because the ethanol is a little bit sweet.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

The sticky is an obvious palce to start...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/results-from-juice-yeast-and-sugar-experiments.83060/

 

[brewmaster48]

Attenuation is meaningless with cider, mead and wine. Unlike beer, the sugars are simple and 100% fermentable. Some yeasts will ~typically~ leave a bit of sugar, but it's not guaranteed. For instance, S-04 at 60°F will usually stop at 1.002-1.004 but at 68° it'll go well below 1.000. The TF6 that Chalky mentioned finishing at 1.010 is very unusual. We did a group buy here a few years ago of a White Labs cider yeast that was advertised as 80% attenuation, and that was BS, mine finished at 0.996 like any other yeast would.

What works on a homebrew scale is to ferment dry, stabilize with sulfite & sorbate, back sweeten and force carbonate. I don't know what they do on a commercial scale.

Thank you for the response. what if you cold crash at say 1.015? that would leave some sugars? Under pitch? Just spit balling

 

[z-bob]

Thank you for the response. what if you cold crash at say 1.015? that would leave some sugars? Under pitch? Just spit balling

Sure that will work, but the yeast is very likely to start back up again in the bottles. If you do this, use plastic bottles because they can contain more pressure than glass and if they do explode they don't send broken glass everywhere.

I've had root beer bottles explode before, many years ago when I was young and stupid. One bottle blows and it starts a chain reaction and you lose about half of 'em. What a sticky mess! Nobody and nothing of value was hurt, but it can be very dangerous.

Edit: wait a minute, do you want sparkling cider or still?

Edit2: Commercial scale, use glass bottles or metal cans, and pasteurize it.

 

[Maylar]

Thank you for the response. what if you cold crash at say 1.015? that would leave some sugars? Under pitch? Just spit balling

I've read that cold crashing and force filtering through a .5 micron absolute filter can remove yeast and leave residual sugar, but that's a bit outside the equipment of a home brewer so I've never tried it. Under pitching does nothing but slow down the ferment a bit.

 

[Falstaff]

I love D47 from lallemand. Fruity which won't make it sweet, but ups the perceived sweetness, IMO. Wide temp range.

 

[madscientist451]

My three top choices after some research is the MO2, AS2, 71B. SAFCIDER. we are not back sweeting yet. Just want to get a high quiality base to start then move from there. Thanks.

I've been making hard cider for almost 20 years and have tried all kinds of apple and yeast combinations. I've also become very picky about what cider I like and what I don't like. I'm in an apple growing area but most of the apples I can get make an inferior cider. Now and then I get some decent apples and/or juice.
I've narrowed my yeast choices down to Cider House Select and 71-B. This season I tried a new yeast (for me):
Safcider TF-6 which is supposed to provide some residual sweetness. I usually don't taste my cider until spring, but perhaps I'll steal a sample and see how the TF-6 yeast is working.
Is your goal to make an industrial cider like Angry Orchard?
I recommend the Cider Chat pod cast that has recently featured some episodes about starting a cidery.

 

[McMullan]

If you're getting ready to make cider commercially you'll have the yeast and the apples. Otherwise you're not ready at all.

 

[Kickass]

what if you cold crash at say 1.015? that would leave some sugars?

Won’t work. It’ll slow fermentation a lot but won’t stop it. The key is to ferment to completion, stabilize with k-meta & k-sorbate, then back sweeten. It’s predictable, repeatable and, most importantly, safe.

 

[JimRausch]

I'm sorry O.P., but the questions you're asking are VERY basic. Questions that most homebrewers/cider makers are able to answer for themselves after just a few batches, and a little research. Are you sure you are ready for commercial production?

 

[Kickass]

@brewmaster48 i am a bit interested in what your experience is and how you’ve found yourself in a commercial cidery position.

 

[Kees]

I think the choice of yeast is especially important when you want to ferment to dryness. The yeast will have to be paired with the apples you are going to use.

 

[RufusBrewer]

Fermentis has has 4 dry ciders. You can get a brick if that is what you need to pitch a healthy cell count.

https://fermentis.com/en/fermentation/active-dry-yeast-cider/