Which of these yeasts should i use for Blackberry Wine?

[JunkTruck]

Hi All,

I'm using up some "stuff" I have around the house, making a 5 gal batch of Blackberry wine. I have a 96 oz can of Blackberry wine base and 5 lbs of frozen home grown black raspberries. I have 2 lbs of clover honey, 8 lbs of cane sugar and a pack of mr beer booster i'm gonna toss in just to use the darn thing that ive had forever.

I have 2 packs of dry yeast about to expire soo.....

should i use the EC118 or Monotrachet?

looking for a slightly sweet fruity wine

(i realize that with either i would need to sweeten after stabilizing)

So what one of the two would work best or is the difference not worth worrying about?

 

[siletzspey]

After doing lots of research, I settled on Lalvin EC-1118 and RC-212 for my Fall-2014 blackberry, raspberry and plum wines batches. My wife and I just tapped into some of the EC-1118 raspberry and plum wines, and have been very happy. Having only done 1 gallon of blackberry, I'm waiting for it to age a little more before trying.

1/19/2015 CORRECTION - see my followup post. I used 71B-1122 recently, and EC-1118 in the past.

--SiletzSpey

 

[goosen1]

I have used EC-1118 with great results! I was also thinking about using 71B-1122 on my next batch of blackberry wine.

 

[WVMJ]

EC1118 will eat all the sugars and make it dry, Montrachet has to be fed right and at the right temps or you next post will be why does my wine smell like a big old fart. There are better choices, you are not going to have a lot of acidity, with your ingredients I would make this a 3 gal batch and pick a better red wine yeast. Beginners like EC1118 because its a very strong fermentor with a wide range of temp and nutrient requirements, cant hardly screw things up with it. Your easiest plan for a sweet wine to it to take this dry and then stabalize and sweeten when finished. Dont worry to much about the expiration date on your yeast, if you keep them in the refrigerator they can last years past the due date. WVMJ

 

[siletzspey]

I goofed on my first post - I used EC-1118 in 2012 and 2013, but used 71B-1122 (and RC-212) this 2014. This time from my notes...

With EC-1118 on the '12/'13 raspberry, plum and strawberry, my wife and I were very happy with the results. I fermented to dryness then bottled; no attempt to bottle with residual sugar. At serving time, ~1.5-2 tsp of sugar per ~8-10 oz pour seemed perfect.

With 71B-1122 on the youthful '14 plum and raspberry tasted so far, also fermented to dryness, the fruit flavor is well formed, sophisticated and airy. We think its a tad better than EC-1118. And unlike EC-1118, it tastes good as-is, but ~1 tsp per ~8-10 oz pour makes it even better.

--SiletzSpey

 

[goosen1]

I have around 15lbs of blackberries in the freezer now. I keep buying them every time there is a sale! When I get up to 60lbs... I will have 10 gallons up and rolling with 71b-1122!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Hi All,

I'm using up some "stuff" I have around the house, making a 5 gal batch of Blackberry wine. I have a 96 oz can of Blackberry wine base and 5 lbs of frozen home grown black raspberries. I have 2 lbs of clover honey, 8 lbs of cane sugar and a pack of mr beer booster i'm gonna toss in just to use the darn thing that ive had forever.

I have 2 packs of dry yeast about to expire soo.....

should i use the EC118 or Monotrachet?

looking for a slightly sweet fruity wine

(i realize that with either i would need to sweeten after stabilizing)

So what one of the two would work best or is the difference not worth worrying about?

One of the lcl wineries uses Montrachet for their blackberry wine. With proper nutrition, shouldn't be any problem with odors.
Regards, GF.

 

[jensmith]

I have used monstrate yeast often. Never had any problems. I like it better then 1118 for mixed fruit wines. It has a more mellow flavor then 1118. 1118 can leave a sharp flavor in your wines. Especially whites. That may not be a problem if you backsweeten. I always leave my wines bone dry, so I can't say for sure.



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[JunkTruck]

Well i ended up using the Montrachet in a Peach and the Blackberry wine. I used the Ec118 for Dragons blood.

I will do a few yeast nutrient/energizer additons with the Monotrachet along the way in the ferment to ward off the Rino Farts