Does yeast make a difference to taste?

[deano469]

Since starting out home brewing, all the batches I have made have been done with wine yeast. Would using a different yeast make any difference to the flavour or is it generally all the same stuff? I tend to make cider so if it does affect flavour, can anybody recommend a good one to use?

 

[oldbloke]

Yes, the yeast does make a difference.
After Christmas I'll be posting a report on a cider test where 8 fermented side by side with the same juice mix but 4 different yeasts
From the bottling time leftovers I can already say the yeast does change the taste.
Young's cider yeast: clean crisp flavour
Munton's Gold ale yeast : softer, not sure what other differences at this stage
Gervin D wine yeast: Definitely funkier
Young's red wine yeast: Can't remember, but subtly different again.

If it's turbocider you do, and you have demijohns, it's simple enough an not too expensive to make up some side-by-side test batches
As a yeast pack easily splits across 2 demis, my 4 yeasts are also each split between straight and very slightly sweetened

 

[evanvine]

The yeast contributes about 70% of the flavour!

 

[tonyhibbett]

I assume that 70% applies to cider, and probably accounts for why I am not too keen on it, as I am an avowed Marmite hater! However, it raises an interesting question about yeast. If, after fining, all yeast is removed, what part can it play in the flavour? After primary fermentation most of the dead yeast is removed as it would have a detrimental effect on the flavour, but during a sustained secondary fermentation and thereafter, a small amount of dead yeast is considered to have a desirable subtle effect on the flavour, through a process called autolysis.
Someone else claimed that it is malic acid which gives apples their flavour. Yet a 'good' cider has undergone a malolactic fermentation, converting the malic acid into lactic acid.
Alcohol itself has no flavour and is inherently toxic, frequently quoted as the cause of the breakup of families, anti-social behaviour, schlerosis of the liver, fatal failure of the pancreas, brain damage, addiction, heart disease, crime and fatal accidents. The carbon dioxide produced by fermentation is foul and noxious, as anyone who has sniffed a large vat of brewing beer will testify. It's all a bit of a mystery the role that such a a simple organism as yeast plays in our lives.

 

[graysalchemy]

I was always lead to believe it was the by products of metabolism which leads to different flavours. Very apparent in beer due to fruity ester production. In cider and specifically MLF it is the by products which give it the 'aromatics' a similar process to the breakdown of sewage in farmyards and silage, hence the aroma. When a yeast is said to be clean then it produces less of these products and will thus have less of an influence in the finished product.

ale yeasts most certainly do, wine yeasts ............ I haven't got a clue. :lol: :lol:

 

[tonyhibbett]

Most eloquently stated, and probably exactly on the ball, but, as I often find: 'The things you're liable to read in the bible, well they ain't necessarily so!' (Gershwin).

 

[deano469]

As usual, cheers for the informative replies. Looks like I may need to get my mitts on a few different yeasts to try, I did read somewhere that Nottingham yeast gets a good result with cider so may try that and the young's cider yeast.