Staggered Nutrient Additions?

[Thomas Barnes]

I've heard of staggered nutrient additions being used to make mead and wine, but I've never used them to make cider. When I have used nutrients, I just stir them in before pitching the yeast. But, this technique might be useful when making highly alcoholic chaptalized ciders. I was wondering if the industrial cidermakers use it, or if anyone making an "apple wine" had successfully tried it.

Staggered Nutrient Additions consist of adding smaller amounts of nutrient over the course of fermentation to keep yeast in the growth phase and to reduce off flavors. One recipe is 1 gram diammonium phosphate (DAP) and 0.5 gram Fermaid-K (Lallemand’s micronutrient blend) at pitch and at 24-hour intervals for three days (or the last addition when 30% of the sugar has been depleted). The juice is also oxygenated to provide the yeast with sufficient oxygen for growth.

[Richard Reeves]

Thomas:

This is similar to my approach. Day 1 SO2. Day 2 pitch yeast. Day 3 add 1/2 gram per gallon Fermaid K (no additional DAP, Fermaid K has a DAP component, IIRC it's 16% but don't quote me). Add another 1/2 gram per gallon Fermaid K at 1/3 sugar depletion, about a week give or take, depending on the batch. This is more or less Lallemand's recommended protocol for those of us unable or unwilling to measure for FAN/YAN (free amino and yeast available nitrogen). I don't aerate, but I believe need for that is minimal for batches of 5 gallons, more important perhaps for big tanks. So far (three vintages), all have finished bone-dry and squeaky clean. Too dry and too clean perhaps, depending on one's preferences. I plan to try something "dirtier" this year just for fun, not all the juice mind you, but some.

Cheers, Richard Reeves     Lake county, California

[Dick Dunn]

Richard - Interesting, but seems like a lot of work!!

OK, yes, SO2 and then pitch. (Don't forget pectinase if you think you'll
need it.) But after that...multiple controlled/staged additions of
nutrient, that's my question. Why?

Some of us think about "optimal" fermentations, giving the yeast the best
they might like. But again, why?

First, they'll get by as long as there's sugar and some minimum level of
nutrient they need. If we're stingy they might get even with us by giving
us a bunch of H2S, but that's a manageable problem.

Second, what we might think of as "optimal" for the yeast may not be
optimal for making the cider we want! For example, if we would like a more
complex character to the cider, we might want to encourage a fermentation
which begins with some of the "more wild" yeast such as apiculate. If we
give nutrients which encourage some common S. cerevisae, we're cutting off
the possibility of a more interesting and diverse sequence of yeast. Yes,
we'll get a clean, dry cider...but is that all we want?

Don't think of it in terms of coddling the yeast!

On Mon, Jun 03, 2013 at 07:22:32PM -0700, Richard Reeves wrote:
> This is similar to my approach. Day 1 SO2. Day 2 pitch yeast. Day 3 add 1/2
> gram per gallon Fermaid K (no additional DAP, Fermaid K has a DAP
> component, IIRC it's 16% but don't quote me). Add another 1/2 gram per
> gallon Fermaid K at 1/3 sugar depletion, about a week give or take,
> depending on the batch. This is more or less Lallemand's recommended
> protocol for those of us unable or unwilling to measure for FAN/YAN (free
> amino and yeast available nitrogen). I don't aerate, but I believe need for
> that is minimal for batches of 5 gallons, more important perhaps for big
> tanks. So far (three vintages), all have finished bone-dry and squeaky
> clean. Too dry and too clean perhaps, depending on one's preferences. I
> plan to try something "dirtier" this year just for fun, not all the juice
> mind you, but some.
>
> Cheers, Richard Reeves Lake county, California

--
Dick Dunn rc...@talisman.com Hygiene, Colorado USA

[greg l.]

I read some research about Nitrogen utilisation which claimed that the
nitrogen in juice is harder for yeast to utilise than the nitrogen in
nutrient supplements. It is meant to be better to let the yeast use
the nitrogen in the juice before adding extra nitrogen, if this is
necessary. Otherwise the nitrogen in the juice will remain unused and
be a possible trigger for spoilage organisms at a later stage. Many
winemakers are wary about adding too much nitrogen to the wine because
it can help spoilage micro-organisms get established. I presume the
same principle applies with cider.

Greg

[Mike Beck]

Dick
We use a staggered approach to Nutrient additions. We start by selecting
amino based nutrients at lower midrange of label instructions. I have read
that ammonia based Nutrients can be harsh on young yeast. We watch (smell)
fermentation closely during the initial phase. Sniffing for H2S constantly,
We feel that any amount of H2S is unacceptable. If we do smell H2S, we
start DAP additions. Small amounts at a time, hourly sometimes. Maybe
adding just 1/2 gram/gallon (.125g/l). We do this until the egg salad
sandwich smell goes subsides. A lot of work, sort of, gotta go to the cellar
in your pajamas once a night for a week or so.

We have never stirred a fermentation before; but we are going to start doing
it this year. Maybe we will use less DAP as a result. Clean, dry cider is
just fine by me. Hopefully the fruit selected show off something we did
well in the Orchard.

I guess we treat our approach to N in Cider like our approach to N in the
Orchard.... Never more than needed.
BTW - I applied calcium Nitrate to the Orchard floor on our light soils last
weekend. First time in a long while.

Regards,
Mike Beck
St. John's, Michigan

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