Fruit cider yeast recommendation?
Scott Harring
I’m planning on making a batch of fruited cider with black currant. I never found the time to harvest my own this summer, so I bought concentrate from CurrantC. The base cider will likely be a desert apple blend.
Wondering what yeast strain might do well with this? I have EC-1118, 71B, the full Safcider series, and Wyeast 4766 on hand. I could also try a wild ferment, but I might want to stick with something predictable the first time.
Also, should I add the concentrated before fermentation, or later for best results?
Alexandra Beaulieu Boivin
Hi Scott,
I love fermenting blackcurrant; it is very red wine like.
It sure is a pretty intense fruit, both for flavor and for acidity. A few things to keep in mind:
1. Concentrate handling
You’ll want to rehydrate the concentrate according to the supplier’s dilution ratios before blending. Black currant tends to be acidic , so you’ll likely want to balance it with your cider to keep the final blend above ~3.2–3.3 for a healthy fermentation as well as preserving the apple flavors.
2. When to add
Co-fermentation (adding the fruit/concentrate at the start of fermentation) usually integrates the fruit character more fully and softens some of the sharper edges. If you add it post-fermentation, you’ll get more “on top” & ''juicy'' aromatics but less integration.
3. Yeast choice
-
71B (Lalvin): It metabolizes some malic acid, which helps naturally smooth out red berries acidity. It is usually what I use when fermenting red fruit wines.
4. Practical tip
Make a bench trial of you blend first; blend your rehydrated concentrate with your apple must in small beakers/jars to see what proportion gets you into a good flavor and pH range.
I hope this helps!
Let us know how it turns out,
Alexandra
@alexandravinumartisan
Scott Harring
Thanks Alexandra, exactly the kind of advice I was looking for! I’ll try a co-ferment with 71B. Good point about the blackcurrant acidity. That was not something I was thinking about until you brought it up.
Scott
Alexandra Beaulieu Boivin
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Erik Nilsson
Alexandra Beaulieu Boivin
For comparison:
Grapes: 0.1–0.7 g/L citric acid
-
Blackberries: 6–12 g/L citric acid
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Haskap: 20–35 g/L citric acid
71B lowers malic acid by metabolizing it into ethanol and esters, which softens acidity but doesn’t touch citrate directly (to my knowledge!). It is also compatible with LABs.
- When I make haskap wine, I do inoculate with LAB and run MLF despite the high citric acid (I don't know what is the starting level in wine after the pre-fermentation dilution), I’ve had very good results.
- In fruity ciders, though, I usually don’t add LAB or let MLF happen, because I want to keep it nice and crispy. Instead, I manage balance up front through dilution before fermentation.
- I love letting natural MLF happen in wild apple ciders
I hope this helps!
Alexandra
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Alexandra Beaulieu Boivin
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