What yeast should I use for Cider?

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TheMadHopper

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Hey guys I wanted your opinion on what yeast i should use to brew my cider. I am living in Ecuador right now so I dont have a lot of options

What I have access to is:
Safale S-04
Safale US-05
Safbrew S-33
Safbrew T-58

What do you guys think?
And in the same manner what about for Mead?
 
I can't seem to get US-05 to flocculate. It seems to taste ok, but I can't get it to clear very well. The yeast cake is always a big billowy mess. My choice would be S-04.

I'm not familiar with the other 2 and I'm not a mead maker, but I would probably use a specific mead or wine yeast for fermenting honey. I'm not sure an ale yeast would attenuate all that well. If you don't mind a long slow ferment and a sweeter finished product it might be ok.
 
Wine yeasts work best for mead. Try to find one that will fit your character whether it be fruity, earthy, spicy, plain etc. My personal favorite is Red Stars Cotes des blancs but there's quite a few choices and in no way am I saying that it is a "good for all" yeast. You can usually get sachets for 50 cents to 1.50 online.
 
for Mead I'm partial to Lalvin D-47. If you're going for a strong mead EC-1118 is a good one.

Everybody here seams to reccomend Notingham for cider, I always use Lalvin D-47 or Red Star Champagne. If you're looking for a slightly sweet cider wine Red Star's Montrachet is good too. Were the yeasts you said you have access too just the beer yeasts you looked at or did they have wine yeasts too?
 
No, sadly they only have beer yeast. I might be able to ask the supplier to special order one for me from Fermintis but at the moment its just those 4 strands :/
 
If your lhbs doesn't carry wine yeast; try the following from home brew stuff via eBay. 10 packs for under $7shipped. Search the following:
10x Packs RED STAR Champagne Dry Wine Yeast
 
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