Using Cider and Wine Yeasts for Brewing Beer

[Jazz]

Can anyone tell me what affect cider or wine yeasts would have if added to a regular beer kit ?

Is it something worth experimenting with ?

Thanks

Jazz

 

[alanywiseman.]

I have never done it but it has been done commercially. Dogfish use a few different yeast to brew 120 min IPA. THIS episode of brewmasters shows the brewing of it and explains a little of how they do it. The whole series is worth a watch if you have the time :thumb:

 

[Jazz]

Ah ok,

So the fermentation would be quite quick. It may produce a strange taste though ?

 

[alanywiseman.]

Yeast produces a large part of the flavour profile in a beer. Brew the same wort with 2 different ale yeasts and you will have 2 different beers.

 

[Vossy1]

I would imagine you'd have to be quite choosy as to which recipes you were to use wine yeast with, as it has a higher alcohol tolerance than beer yeast, 10%+.

 

[Jazz]

If everything else is constant (beer kit with normal amount of sugar)....

What would I expect if I added a cider or wine yeast ?

I'm guessing a faster fermentation hence a different flavour profile...


I can see you'd probably have to be careful conditioning the bottles or they might explode ?

 

[Vossy1]

If everything else is constant (beer kit with normal amount of sugar)....
What would I expect if I added a cider or wine yeast ?
I'm guessing a faster fermentation hence a different flavour profile...

What I was trying to allude to above is that one of the differences between ale and cider/wine yeast is it's tolerance to alcohol. The amount of alcohol present in the beer/wine is one of the factors that stops yeast working/makes it go dormant.
Wine and cider yeast have a much higher tolerance to alcohol so they will ferment much more of the sugar than a ale yeast would do and that will lead to an overly alcoholic brew which will not be in balance with either the malt or hop profile.
If however you were making a big malty barley wine it might actually be beneficial to finish fermentation by using a wine/Champagne yeast, but the beer should still hopefully still be 'balanced'.

 

[rpt]

Would a wine yeast work at all as they can't ferment maltose?

 

[Vossy1]

Would a wine yeast work at all

yes, they are usually used as a secondary/tertiary yeast after an ale yeast has gone dormant (due to alcohol tolerance) to increase attenuation/prime BIG barley wines. Zainasheff & White make mention to multiple yeast strain use in 'Yeast' page 55-57 including use of WLP 715 (Champagne yeast P57, when feeding with sugar) for fully attenuating very strong ales/increasing alcohol content.
This is an exert from White Labs

Yeast and Fermentation Notes: Big beers demand big performance from yeast. Beers such as barley wines require a great proportion of healthy yeast. High gravity beers can accentuate esters and fusel alcohols, so you want to use a clean fermenting strain such as WLP001California Ale Yeast, WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend, and WLP010 10th Anniversary Blend (available through December 2006). If you are using your house yeast, consider finishing with a strain such as WLP715 Champagne or WLP730 Chardonnay; some North American breweries use this approach for bottle conditioning because these strains provide good carbonation and are tolerant of high alcohol levels.

You will want to double or triple your pitching rate because you don’t want a lot of yeast growth with this beer. You will not be reusing yeast with this beer.

Ideally, when making barley wines, you will want to use the third to fifth generations of your yeast. So if you have acquired a special strain to make your barley wine, we suggest you make a lighter beer first. A good idea is to experiment using the strain with your house beer and comparing the differences in flavor.

Barley wine requires at least two weeks of aging, but remove the yeast as soon as possible. If you do not do so the high alcohol content will cause the yeast to change character and could add unwanted cardboard-like or yeasty flavors.
Chris White, White Labs

 

[rpt]

But if you use a wine yeast with a beer kit, will it be able to ferment the maltose?