Wine Yeast - Dry

 

How many times have you made wine and wondered if you were using the correct yeast?  Or, it late at night and all that you have is a Burgundy yeast and you are making strawberry wine.  Will it work?  Hopefully this and the next post (Tuesday) will help you.  This post will deal with dry wine yeast and only for Lavlin and Red Star (The most common).

I use dry yeast all the time.  Mostly for 2 primary reasons.  1) I never have the luxury of planning when I am making a batch of wine 2) Dry wine yeast is cheaper.  So I will start will Lavlin yeast, my yeast of choice.

 

Lavlin Dry Yeasts

KV D-47 - Is primarily for dry white. blush or sweet mead and contributes mouthfeel.  It works best at temperatures from 59 - 86 degrees F and the maximum that it usually ferments to is in the 14% range  I like the D-47 yeast since it is a low foaming yeast.  Helps prevents from blowing off the top.

Bourgovin RC 212 - Used on red wines and enhances varietal notes along with promoting color stability.  Likes the 50 - 86 degree rang and will ferment out to 14%. 

71B - Use this for just about anything especially with juice concentrates.  It will add fruit esters along with softening the acidity.  Another 59 - 86 degrees yeast that ferments to 14%.

KIV 1116 - A great yeast for taking care of a stuck fermentation, making cider, or making a high alcohol wine.   You can go up to 18% on this yeast and it thrives on the 59 - 86 degrees temperature range.

EC1118 - Champagne, Dry meads, late harvests or stuck fermentations is the best environment for this yeast.  Another 18% yeast that will tolerate temperatures from 45 - 95 degrees.

 

Red Star Dry Yeasts

Pasteur Red -  Most read wines along with berry or cherry wines.  Promotes fruit flavors and aromas and works well at temperatures between 64 - 86 degrees.  Can ferment to 16%.

Montrachet - use for a full bodied intense colored red or white wine with a maximum alcohol content of 13%.    This yeast thrives in the 59 - 86 temperature range.

Cote de Blances - One of the lower alcohol producing yeasts (hits the 12 to 14% range) and is used for blush wines, Riesling, Chardonnay and cider.  Slow fermenter that builds flavor and aroma.  Quite temperature sensitive so keep this one in the 64 to 86 range.

Champagne - Used in fruit wines, mead, cider, dry whites, and cabernat.  Great for restarting stuck fermentations  Likes the 59 - 86 degree range and will produce a wine with alcohol between 13 to 15%.

Premier Cuvee - Anything but residual sugar wines.  Will ferment to 18% and likes the 45 - 95 range.  Great for starting stuck fermentations.

I've used all these with great success.  I've also used the wrong yeast for a wine and it still turned out ok.  So I think that for us home winemakers, we can make that occasional mistake,  or use the wrong yeast a midnight and not worry too much about it.

 

Stop by Tuesday when I go over liquid yeast.

 

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Pumpkin Ale

That time of the year to start thinking about making a batch of pumpkin ale for your Halloween party.  If you never tried pumpkin beer your in for a treat.  It's like drinking your pumpkin pie but with a little kick.

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains and pumpkin)
OG = 1.048 FG = 1.012 IBU = 19 SRM = 6 ABV = 4.6%


Ingredients

1.25 lbs. (0.57 kg) Muntons Extra Light dried malt extract
3.5 lbs. (1.6 kg) Northwestern Gold liquid malt extract
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.0 lb. (0.45 kg) CaraPils malt
5–6 lbs. (2.3–2.7 kg) pumpkin (cubed)
5 AAU Cascade hops (60 mins)
(1.0 oz./28 g of 5% alpha acids)
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
Dried ale yeast
0.75 cup corn sugar (for priming)

Step by Step

Boil pumpkin cubes in water for 15 minutes. Heat 0.75 gallons (2.8 L) of water to 163 °F (73 °C). Place crushed grains in steeping bag and steep grains at 152 °F (67 °C) for 45 minutes. When pumpkin is ready, add chunks to grain bag and add cool water (to maintain 152 °F (67 °C) temperature). Combine grain and pumpkin "tea," dried malt extract and water to make 2.5 gallons (9.5 L) of wort. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops at the start of the boil. Add liquid malt extract and spices with 15 minutes left in the boil. Cool wort and transfer to fermenter. Top up to 5 gallons (19 L) with water. Aerate and pitch yeast. Ferment at 69 °F (21 °C).

All-grain option:

Replace malt extract and 1 lb. (0.45 kg) 2-row malt with 8.0 lbs. (3.6 kg) 2-row pale malt. Boil pumpkin cubes in water for 15 minutes. Mah grains and pumpkin chunks at 153 °F (67 °C) for 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops with 60 minutes left. Add spices with 15 minutes left in boil. Ferment at 69 °F (21 °C).

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How To Brew Beer Index

Extract Brewing

Partial Mashing

All-Grain Brewing

Other Recommended Links on Brewing Beer

John Palmer's Site

Instructables

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Wine Kit Tips

 

I'm not a great fan of making wine with kits.  I think it is because I'm basically too cheap or maybe it is because I want to do it "The Old World" way.  Like telling time by the position of the sun.  How many of use do that? 

 

Wine kits do have their advantages.  For a person just starting out they provide a very easy way to get into the hobby.  For the more experienced winemakers, they can save time.  Overall, they are easy to use and usually pretty fool-proof. 

 

Here are a few tips to use when making wine from a kit.

 

Read the instructions -  Different kits have different instructions as to when to add things or the manufacturer has found a better way.

 

Cleanliness - Hey you drink this stuff, so if your equipment is full of crud, your wine will be full of crud.

 

Write it down - keeping track of your wine allows you to see how you made great wine or lousy wine.  I generally write down the ingredients, the date started, original gravity, when racked etc.

 

Keep fermenters full - Pretty much a no-brainer.  Don't put 3 gallons of wine in a 5 gallon carboy and allow tons of space.  That will generally cause oxidation and make a very bad wine.  You can either fill your fermenter with water or I use a watered down peach wine to fill most of my fermenters.

 

Stir well - Juice concentrate and water need to be blend very well.  So stir like crazy and make sure it is thoroughly mixed.

 

Control temperature - Make sure that the temperature where your wine is fermenting is between 68 - 72 degrees F.  Also, try and keep it from doing to extremes.  ie from 60 to 80 in a matter of a few hours.

 

Time - Take your time.  Most kits will be ready to bottle in 1 to 2 months but the wine should age for at least 6 months.

 

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