Wal-Mart Special Cider

[BrewFrick]

I put this one together tonight, should be pretty simple and straight forward.

4 - 96 oz. Wal-Mart brand Apple Juice Bottles
8 - 12 oz. Wal-Mart brand Apple Juice Frozen Concentrate Cans
1 Pack Cotes de Blanc yeast

Got all the stuff but the yeast on the cheap at Wally World. Just warmed up two of the bottles with all the concentrate to about 120 F. Added the other two bottles plus two gallons of water to a cleaned and sanitized Ale Pail and then dumped in the warm juice, pitched at just under 100 F.

Took about maybe 30 minutes start to finish and cost around $20.

This is my first time on this recipe using Cotes de Blanc, I used Nottingham the last time and I think it came out a little too sweet for my tastes. I know this will give the same fruit flavor and hopefully will take it a little more dry for me.

 

[Adolphus79]

Cote de blancs is quite good for cider. I use it for my New England Style cider. It finishes pretty dry, but not as tart as Montrachet.

 

[BrewFrick]

What is the top ABV for this yeast, anyone know?

I know all the apple juice and concentrate I used mad the OG very high, with a total of about 3 gallons juice and then a gallon of concentrate. This might top the yeast's limit and then leave some unfermented sugars.

I have also heard that this yeast is slower than most, as compared to ale or champagne yeasts. Anyone have this experience with it also?

 

[Austinhomebrew]

I have had my best luck using beer yeast for cider because it is designed not to ferment completely dry like wine yeast is. It still doesn't come out as sweet as the commercial cider but it is not soooo dry.

 

[BrewFrick]

Well I have one that I am now drinking that used just two of the 96 oz. bottles of juice and then 10 total cans of concentrate, then fermented with Nottingham yeast. That stuff is really good, not too sweet but also not like that dry/tart taste you get with most wine yeasts. I was wanting to see what Cote did before making the other recipe my new "Official" cider recipe.

 

[Nurmey]

I have had my best luck using beer yeast for cider because it is designed not to ferment completely dry like wine yeast is. It still doesn't come out as sweet as the commercial cider but it is not soooo dry.

I did my last two ciders with Nottingham for that very reason. Can't wait to taste it but it's going to be a while.

 

[Adolphus79]

Directly from the PDF...

Red Star® Côte des Blancs (Davis #750) a strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, has been derived from a selection of the Geisenheim Institute in Germany. It is a relatively slow fermenter, identical to Geisenheim Epernay, but, producing less foam. This yeast requires nutrient addition for chardonnay fermentations. Côte des Blancs produces fine, fruity aromas and may be controlled by lowering temperatures to finish with some residual sugar. It is recommended for reds, whites, sparkling cuvees and non-grape fruit wines (especially apple, it is reported). Ferments best between 17° - 30°C (64°-86°F). Sensitive below 13°C (55°F).

I'm not sure the ABV tolerance, but I've taken it up to 14% in the past...

 

[BrewFrick]

Wow, I used it totally correctly just by guessing. I used apple juice, I am fermenting at around 66 - 68 F, and I topped the 6.5 gallon fermenter up to 6 gallons hoping it wouldn't foam too bad. I can tell about the slow fermentation since it should be in full hard ferment by now but is just bubbling regularly like it had been through the initial hard ferment already. Perfect stuff to use as long as the taste comes out correct.

 

[BrewFrick]

This stuff is still just bloop bloop bloopin' along in the bucket, no nasty rhino fart smell on this one either. I was wondering about trying to carb this up, anyone think that is a good idea?