Seeking yeast recommendations

[Jason Lopez]

Hey everyone,
I put my third batch in the fermenter on Friday night, and used the last yeast packet that came with my super noob cider kit. My ultimate goal is a slightly sweet and slightly tart cider, carbonation optional. I'm guessing I can't go get they yeast they have in the baking aisle. Thanks in advance!

 

[bmd2k1]

My fav & goto is D47.

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/united-states/product-details/lalvin-icv-d47/


Also....check out the Cider for beginners pinned post...lots of yeast info!

Cheers & Good luck [emoji111]

 

[theinterneti]

I've found a distinct difference between ale/beer yeasts and wine/champagne yeasts.

Ale yeasts give a bit of beery funk - US 05 and nottingham are both good

Wine/champagne yeasts are cleaner with a hint of wine-like flavor - S04, Premier blanc, and D47 are all good

 

[Chalkyt]

Hi Jason, welcome!

You will probably find as many opinions as there are cider makers, however a lot of these opinions will line up. My general purpose "go-to" is SO4. I have found it to be quite fast, develops compact lees (great for racking) and tends to bottom out just a bit above 1.000 which leaves a small amount of sweetness and flavour. I found that champagne yeasts like EC1118 go fast and finish low but tend to blow off a bit of flavour.

I think that the most significant influencer is the blend of the juice itself. My very best result so far is using WLP775 just before the start of last winter. It is a bit more expensive than dry yeast but it finished at 1.002 and I topped it up to 1.003 for bottling. No tartness, nice on the tongue, so it might have actually finished a bit lower than 1.002. Having said that, I am sure that the great blend of my "leftover apples" that I used had a lot to do with it. This was a random mix of mostly pomme de neige with red delicious, cox's orange pippin and crimson knight crabs.

I have a couple of "storebought juice" batches (Nudie and Pure Tassie) on SO4 going at present. The idea being to bottle at around 1.007 then pasteurise around 1.005 in order to get a slightly sweet carbonated drop. Experimenting is half the fun.

 

[teddyearp]

Jason,

As mentioned you're going to get a lot of different answers. I'm still new, I've only used EC-1118 and S-04 so far. Well, I've got a batch on Nottingham right now, but not sure how it's going to work out.

What Chalky says about the two are correct. If you want to carbonate, I've found that the EC-1118 is more friendly for that.

 

[cidergoats]

Hello Jason.

I completely agree with Chalkyt that the juice is no less important than the yeast. If you don't have access to single varietal juices, or can't press your own, you might consider doing some trials with the same juice base but different yeasts. Experimentation is indeed half the fun. I'm fortunate to live near a couple orchards with commercial cideries. I can't always get, or afford, what I want from them so sometimes I'm starting with the generic blend store bought stuff.

Personal taste plays a huge role as well. I tend to like ciders dry and still. I was underwhelmed with my results using Cider House Select or Nottingham. Starting with off-the-shelf juice I like the results from S-04 and Cotes des Blanc when left to finish. My personal favorite so far has been with WLP670 that then spent 6 months in a barrel.

Enjoy!

 

[AzOr]

I agree w others, yeast is important but not only factor. For best results, give your cider some time. I'm always amazed when tasting my cider at 6 months. The "appleness" seems to come back and the cider just tastes more balanced. If you sample your cider just after terminal gravity it will taste light and bland.

Since I'm on this thread, I may as well list my favorite yeast; Mangrove's M02.

 

[MarkKF]

What Chalky says about the two are correct. If you want to carbonate, I've found that the EC-1118 is more friendly for that.

That is very true but it’s boring in my opinion. If you want cheap yeast I prefer 71b-1122. But I much prefer Ale yeast - S-04, US-05 & Nottingham. Safcider & Brewers Best Ciderhouse Select are good performers. All about $5-6/packet. White Labs liquid yeast costs more and isn’t always available and has short shelf life.

 

[blasterooni]

I agree with everyone on here. 1118 is very boring, I always have had to add something to make it tasty, it seems to strip the apple right on out of the juice. I'm really liking the kveik strains, and I am hoping the fast turn around will get me ahead enough to actually age a cider for 6 months I have two 750's aging in the bottle; its but a dream right now to have a barrel of cider aging). The Ale yeasts have been quite nice, I have to agree. I have liked both the 04 and 05 very much, and they seem to stop at 1.002-1.004. I'll bottle condition some of it and the rest goes into a keg with the hopes of aging the bottles, but I always seem to either end up cracking them open to see how they taste or feel, or I give them away to friends. I love being able to share now finally!

And, X2 on juice source or selection. I finally found a nice blend of store bought juices that come out pretty nice when finished. Each of them as a stand alone comes out less than I'd like in a cider. I use a blend of Sugar Bee, Sprouts Organic or Berkeley Bowls Gravenstein, and Apple-a-Day from Ratzklaff Ranch. But, the fresh picked pressed/juiced neighborhood apples have really shined the best so far.

Experimenting is a least half the fun! I have always been the type to mess around with stuff, and cider making is the perfect medium to just that! Cider = Fun

Favorite yeasts: Opshaug and Voss, S-04, and wild if I'm lucky

That being said, Have Fun folks!

 

[theinterneti]

I agree w others, yeast is important but not only factor. For best results, give your cider some time. I'm always amazed when tasting my cider at 6 months. The "appleness" seems to come back and the cider just tastes more balanced. If you sample your cider just after terminal gravity it will taste light and bland.

Since I'm on this thread, I may as well list my favorite yeast; Mangrove's M02.

Having only just tapped the keg I have been aging for 9 months, I'm finding the impact of aging to be amazing! I put this keg aside after it came down with rhino farts and forgot about it. When moving things around recently I realized that the "Fart cider" keg was still full! Pulled the blow off valve and it smelled just like apple juice.

The aged cider is distinctly appley (even sweet) when compared to the basic fresh cider we have in the other keg. This stuff was so carbed from secondary in the keg that I've had to degas it (turning of the gas, waiting, and venting) twice now.

 

[z-bob]

My favorite yeast, that I keep coming back to, is Cote des Blancs. But I've also had good luck with K1V-1116, AW4, S-33, and Voss Kveik. Beer yeast tastes different than wine yeast but both are good; you'll have to just see which you like better. (I like wine yeast better) I need to give EC-1118 another chance, to see if it behaves better without any added sugar or yeast nutrient.

 

[teddyearp]

Yes EC-1118 does strip away a bit of flavor, but I kind of like the finished product. Makes the store bought hard cider taste like some over sugary mixed up force carbonated goo. Sure it is a bit tart, but it has a nice little 'warm' finish to it. And I always carbonate my stuff. Or try to, hehe.