2 replies to this topic

[Calder]

How much difference does the yeast make to the flavor of Cider, since it is all simple sugars?I have a couple of Brett starters going waiting for open fermenters to brew up a couple of batches of all-brett beers (well, one is pure Brett-B, the other is probably a mix of Brett and Sacc since it was cultivated from a bottle of Ommegang 'Biere De Mars').While in the store the other day I saw some apple juice on sale for $2/gallon, so I picked up a couple of gallon bottles. I know it's cheap juice (from concentrate, pure juice, no preservatives), but it's still juice.Thought I would see what would happen if I used some of the Brett starters to ferment them. I also didn't have any other yeast ready to be used; I'm not going to break out a new pack/vial/jar just for a couple of gallons. The Brett starters taste a little fruity, so thought they might complement the apple. Used a small part of each starter in a different gallon, no other yeast. I drilled a half inch hole in the caps, inserted a grommet (the type used in fermentation buckets) and stuck in an airlock. I did aerate the juice, but did not add any additional sugar.The Brett-B one started off within several hours, that one was a very healthy starter. The other is taking a long time to start, I was still building up that starter so had a much lower cell count, seems to be some activity, but only the occasional bubble (that was at 36 hours).- Has anyone tried this before, and what should I expect; drinkable/undrinkable?- At what point do I decide the second one is not going and re-pitch with a healthy yeast? I am not used to waiting any more than 12 hours for active ferment to get going. I guess I would only be out of pocket $2 if I have to pour it away ...... I just hate waste, but I think it would be more my pride that would be hurt; I'm at 97 batches (almost 650 gallons) since I last tossed one - I would really like to get to 100.fermented

[strangebrewer]

I think taste wise you'll have something very drinkable. Pretty much a guarantee that any wild cider fermentation is going to have some Brett in there and most wild ferments turn out well. I've also had a couple commercial ciders that have a brett character to them.As for the smaller brett culture, I usually underpitch brett to make it work harder and as a result it will throw more phenols. On once occasion though I way underpitched and it never really built up a big population. Instead it just crawled from 1.060 to 1.012. Took it around 25 days to do that. The beer was good in the end but it just took forever. I'm not sure where it is but Brett definitely has a critical point where it will decide to either reproduce and chew through a ferment or crawl to the finish. I wouldn't give up on it unless the gravity stops dropping.

[Calder]

I'll update as it goes. The Brett-B one is going well. The other is improving, but the time between bubbles through the airlock is still too long for me to wait and get a time on (very slow).