Using Cider Yeast for Beer?

[Viggoman]

Hi! First post here, so please let me know if I got something wrong with the post.

I have a cider yeast, Mangrove Jack's M02, laying around. I'm not much of a cider person, so I was thinking to maybe use this for a beer. Anyone have experience with a cider yeast for making beer?

From what I have read, cider yeast creates a distinct cidery flavor. I was thinking of maybe using this for a fresh, spicy and juicy beer, maybe with some mango and/or pinapple. I imagine if the yeast in fact would make some kind of beer at all, the cidery flavor might work well with these fruits. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[mashpaddled]

If by "cidery flavor" you mean some sort of fruity flavor then maybe that's true. I would be more concerned about whether the cider yeast could consume enough of the malt sugar. Wine and cider yeast are selected for their flavor and durability in solutions with a large volume of fruit sugars. Some of those yeast can consume malt sugars, especially if given enough time, but whether this is such a strain I'm not sure. That's something you could run by Mangrove but they may not be in a hurry to commit to an answer to that. If you wanted to try it out I would have a sachet of beer yeast ready to add just in case it doesn't work out.

 

[ebbelwoi]

With Mangrove Jack's yeasts, it's always a bit of a mystery. I wouldn't take the chance in this case.

 

[dmtaylor]

Cider and beer yeasts are actually the same species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, all derived originally from beer and bread yeasts. You'll still get beer if you try it. And it might even turn out great. I have never tried this but it could make for a good experiment. I say go for it. I would NOT expect "cidery" flavors or anything terribly unusual from the fermentation, honestly. Probably will just make a "normal" beer, with possible low attenuation as hinted at by @mashpaddled . If you try this, please report your results, thanks!

 

[Viggoman]

Cider and beer yeasts are actually the same species, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, all derived originally from beer and bread yeasts. You'll still get beer if you try it. And it might even turn out great. I have never tried this but it could make for a good experiment. I say go for it. I would NOT expect "cidery" flavors or anything terribly unusual from the fermentation, honestly. Probably will just make a "normal" beer, with possible low attenuation as hinted at by @mashpaddled . If you try this, please report your results, thanks!

I think I will give it a shot. Was going to throw the cider yeast anyway

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Coming late to this but be aware that many commercial cider yeasts are in fact wine yeasts, which are almost all POF+, which means that they will tend to produce saison-style phenolics when presented with wort.