Solera Cyser: avoiding camden tablets

[RPh_Guy]

barely a hint of sweet honey taste.

I can't detect the honey.

Is the Costco honey a product of the US? If not, it's probably been cut with other sugars and may be part of the problem.
You could try using a much more flavorful honey variety like buckwheat. Honey is not all the same.

Also, fermenting at a low temp tends to better preserve the volatile apple esters (increasing desired flavor).

The yeast choice really isn't going to make a huge difference with how much honey flavor is preserved, especially since you're backsweetening.

If not, I'll do the solera route.

It certainly doesn't need to be a "solera" to use that method. Mix your ingredients. Monitor fermentation. Bottle when it's near your desired sweetness. Put it in the fridge. If you want some carbonation, then leave it at room temp for a few hours before refrigeration.

Alternately, you can ferment dry, and then just sweeten and bottle. Again, if desired you can leave it a room temp for some time to carbonate before refrigerating.

It's very simple to make sweet sparkling low-ABV wines if you don't care about shelf stability.

Cheers

 

[kmarkstevens]

Costco honey is pure honey (and not adulterated with sugar or other additives). I have a batch with WLP02 going now and will see how low that finishes out at.

 

[wasully]

Costco honey is pure honey (and not adulterated with sugar or other additives). I have a batch with WLP02 going now and will see how low that finishes out at.

RPh Guy mentions the US because mislabled honey is nearly a certainty for imports.

 

[kmarkstevens]

It's been about a month. The WLP002 batch seems to be at FG of 1.000. I gently rouse the yeast to see if it will dry out further but that seems to be the FG.

If anyone is interested, I have a cyser with Sake yeast #9 going. it's at 1002 right now. I've made this before but didn't take detailed notes on where it finished. The challenge with a sake yeast cyser is it goes thru a "puke" flavor phase for a month or so. Not pleasant but it eventually fades away. I also previously did a sake & Nottingham blended yeast that eventually tasted fine but also went thru a "puke" phase. That one finished around 0.996.

I've also tried WLP546 Marañón Canyon Wild Cacao. The yeast sounded neat but didn't thrill my cyser palate. Likewise, WLP611 New Nordic Ale Yeast, did not seem to fully benefit from the 100+ lab hours that went into making it commercially viable.

I think I'll go back to the WLP Scottish Cider blend, keep it going as a 2.5 gallon solera, drink it still in the 1005-1020 range, fill the odd PET bottle for light carbonation, apple jack a batch, pasteurize some and drink it still.

Still have it on the list to one day test out Methode de champenoise.

appreciate all the replies and insights. If I've got an update will come back here to share.

 

[kmarkstevens]

deleting duplicate

 

[kmarkstevens]

Both the WLP002 and WY4134 (Sake #9) have finished at 1.000. Extremely dry.

Looks like nothing in my arsenal finishes at 1010 or somewhere thereabouts. They least dry is the 1.000 and more yeasties finish below that.

Net net, if I want something less dry naturally, then need to bottle in the sub 1020 range and watch the carbonation. A solera is pretty straight forward as in just keep re-pitching the wort when it get's low.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Tried to tell you.

 

[kmarkstevens]

@RPh_Guy Not that I didn't believe you, but I do like playing around with yeast and seeing what they do for the end result. I've got a dozen or so strains. Appreciate your comments and keeving is on my list to get to someday.

 

[Ben E Lou]

I am drinking some of the cider I added whole, unground mustard seeds to. I do not sense a mustard taste in the drink and it does not seem to have turned vinegary. So, success?