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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