How much and what type of yeast nutrient do you all use when making cider?
I just use my regular nutrient and amount.
Same here - the amount I use for beer, that is.
Another +1 to using regular nutrient, Wyeast in my case. I use the same amount.
None. Nutrient does not serve any useful function in ciders in my experience. I haven’t used it for many years.
Depends on what you’re after. If you’re in it for the long game, then I will certainly defer to you. I can imagine that if you’re looking for a cider to naturally finish semi-sweet, then skipping the nutrient might also encourage the yeast to stop a bit sooner.
For a quick turnaround cider, then nutrient is a big help in reducing sulfur production. With nutrient and pectic enzyme I can go juice-to-glass in 2-3 weeks.
Sometimes I get a bit of sulfur. This year I didn’t get any sulfur at all, out of four batches. Not sure the rhyme or reason, but it does go to show that nutrient is not always necessary. If I’d fermented at room temp, the ciders would be done already. Mine at colder temps since mid-October are just about done now. I’m beginning to think about bottling, maybe, but I want to be certain they’re totally done. Gravities are all still >1.005 for natural sweetness, yay. I should just drink them out of the fermenters.
I’ve never used nutrient for beer or cider. That’s pushing 500 batches and only 1 stuck ferment.
What do you consider “colder temps”?
My garage here in Wisconsin has ranged from 30s to 60s with an overall average of 45-50 F.
Dave, I saw in another thread that you like Cote des Blancs and US-05 as cider yeast. I didn’t realize these yeast varieties would like 45-50 degree temps. How long does it take for the cider to fully ferment?
Takes at least 2 months or maybe 3. I keep wondering if I should bottle mine from October – I probably could but I am also lazy and it is likely still fermenting anyway. A couple of my 4 batches are definitely still slightly active yet. Guess I should check on all 4 again and see where they are at.
I also find it easy to forget my ciders. I’ve been trying to find a way to leave more of the fresh cider taste in my fermented cider without having to back sweeten.
Keeping fermentation as cool as possible will help retain the volatile apple flavor/aroma compounds that a fast fermentation blows off. I’ve used Premier Cuvee in the past at about 45F and been very happy with the residual apple flavor. Premier Cuvee also performs well with minimal nutrient additions (not producing sulfur), and adding less nutrients helps slow down fermentation (along with temperature).
Dave firmly believes in low and slow from what I’ve seen. I do too. I avoid nutrients whenever I can. I don’t know a better way to put it than the yeast don’t seem to be working hard enough to be stressed…does that make sense?
a great many people use nutrient, including many pros. I’ve done it too. But there’s so much subtlety in a dry to off-dry cider with halfway decent apples that in my experience can be blown off with an aggressive ferment (or covered up with excessive sweetness, but that’s a separate topic…)
drinking such a cider now. More Golden Russet than anything else. 1.001, definite faint impression of sweetness and plenty of fruitiness, though no overt apple. Drink something this dry ice cold and it is bland. It’s also 8.6% so I suppose I’m getting into applewine territory but whatever. There’s some Baldwin in there that is likely supplying the faint rose character. Bright Northern Spy and crab acidity, faint bitterness. Lovely.
My cider with Cote des Blancs that I fermented in the 40s & 50s in my garage and racked like 3 times during fermentation finished and cleared back in early January, and actually ended up semi-sweet! I was very pleasantly surprised. No chemical additions at all of any kind. I didn’t measure FG yet but I imagine it might be as high as like 1.005 (OG was around 1.045-ish). I got a refractometer for Christmas so I think I might just have to test out a drop in the next few days and see where it ended up (using Sean Terrill’s adjustment calculator as well – actually, I wonder if that’s even accurate for cider, not beer?! probably not?!).