Which Yeast?

[hgrundy]

Howdy,

I'm making my first batch of cider tomorrow. I have two types of yeast. Wyeast Labs 1968 ESB Ale (suggested by Austin Homebrew Supply) and Red Star Champagne (suggested on some websites). I'm planning on adding 1# of honey, 1.5# brown sugar, cinnamon, and some yeast nutrient. I want a dry cider that I'm planning on priming and bottling to carbonate.

Any thoughts on which yeast to use?

Also, how much yeast nutrient do y'all suggest? I believe the brand is Fermax.

Thanks in advance!

 

[schwiz]

I think ale yeasts make a better cider for my tastes. You are planning on adding a lot of extra sugar might be a better idea to pick a target og and add additional sugar to reach it rather than just blindly add 2.5 pounds of sugar. I think adding sugar covers up the apple flavor.

 

[CJ1]

If you're really going to add 2.5 lbs. of sugar, I would certainly recommend the champagne yeast. It's my go-to for cider anyway, but I have yet to try 1968 for cider. That project is coming soon, though, as I have an ESB in the fermentation chamber now, and I want to try that yeast on both cider and perry next.

 

[z-bob]

If you're going to use Red Star yeast, try the Premier Cuvee. It's a sugar monster.

 

[number40fan]

I went with 4 gallons of apple juice, three pounds of brown sugar and two US-05. She dropped like a rock to 1.002 when I bottled it. It has been a few months now and I believe this was the 4th bottle I have tried. Getting very good!

 

[hgrundy]

I think I will go with the ale yeast. Any suggestion for a target OG?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[Yooper]

I think I will go with the ale yeast. Any suggestion for a target OG?

Thanks a bunch!

It depends on what you want from your cider, and how you want it to taste.

My favorite cider is 100% fresh pressed cider, and yeast. That's it. It tastes like hard apple cider. I often go the other way, and make apple wine. That has an OG of 1.090-1.100, and tastes nothing like apples. Instead, it's more of a pinot grigio type of wine flavor- fruity, but much more like a dry white wine.

In the middle is everything else. I personally despise the taste of brown sugar once it's fermented out, so I would say the right amount of that is 0.

I use a bit of honey in my crabapple wine, as it 'smooths' out the flavor nicely.

I wouldn't use either in a large quantity if I wanted the cider to taste like hard cider, though. The higher the ABV, the less "apple-y" the resulting beverage would be.

The best way, in my opinion, to do this is to figure where you want the ABV to be. For me, 5-7% is nice. It's an apply drink, but like beer in alcohol level so you can have a couple. If that is my goal, I start with an OG of 1.045 or so.

 

[krackin]

Brown sugar doesn't work too well for me personally either. The last batch I made went to jack which improved it somewhat IMHO. I also generally use ale yeasts because that is what I have on hand.

I'm having some now that was made from fresh pressed local (ME) apples and bottled up 2 years ago, US aught 5 for yeast. Not bad at all. Time to make more.

 

[hgrundy]

Sounds awesome. Didn't get to it today, but I realized I have two empty carboys, so I think I'll try them both. Thanks so much for the advice. I'll post updates if they are worth it. Cheers.

 

[evilhomer]

Hey Yooper can you point me towards a thread with the steps for making a simple cider. That is what I'd like to do. There's an orchard near me that will fill your fermenter or carboy for $4/gallon. My plan is leave them an ale pale and then just add yeast.

 

[Yooper]

Hey Yooper can you point me towards a thread with the steps for making a simple cider. That is what I'd like to do. There's an orchard near me that will fill your fermenter or carboy for $4/gallon. My plan is leave them an ale pale and then just add yeast.

There isn't a real list of steps that I know of.

Just get the cider in a sanitized ale pail, until it's done or nearly so. Then rack to a carboy with no headspace to clear and condition. That's about it.

You really need a vessel with no headspace once fermentation is over, so it'd be important to bottle or rack to a carboy or keg at that point. An ale pail won't work long term.

 

[evilhomer]

What about with the method I've seen on some recipes where there's only a 2 week fermentation? If I wanted it to be in the 5-6% alcohol range, could I use one of those methods? Ferment for 2 weeks, bottle with or without more cider and then pasteurize the bottles to stop fermentation in the bottle?