A new product for George to get... Liquid yeast!

[rshosted]

Ok, I've got about 100 Gallons of wine aging in my basement. All types. I've started making beer and bought a bunch of equipment to do so, and have learned copious amounts in that time (I forgot how much fun it was to learn all the things I have about wine).

Well because of my new hobby (beer), I have found a new product for wine! Unfortunately through a different retailer.

I know beer used to have a quality problem, partly because the yeast was substandard. Now one can buy "liquid yeast" for beers. Essentially this is just a yeast starter with yeast that have never been dehydrated. They work quicker, more efficiently, and are fresher. They have improved beer brewing exponentially.

Ok, I'll get to the point. I have found that there are liquid yeasts for wine! I can only imagine they will improve wines as much as they did with beer. I can imagine why kit manufacturers don't offer them (since they have no clue when a wine will be made, and liquid yeasts do have an expiration date). I can almost guarantee my next kit or fresh fruit wine will be made with a liquid yeast. I will let you know when I do, but I don't plan on making a kit for a little while, until I get some of the wine I do have bottled and ready drinking...

If anyone has tried a wine Liquid yeast, please pop in and give us your 2 cents!

 

[Wade E]

Is this the yeast that has 2 ares that you squeeze together like an ice pack? If so I believe Masta has used this before.

 

[rshosted]

that is the one....

 

[Wade E]

I did a search using liquid yeast and Masta and there were a few results, all with beer.

 

[laneygirl]

I googled for liquid wine yeast and came up with several options....most all of themare from White labs, but it'd be interesting to try. It's ironic this came up on today's posts since I just had a conversation about this today with someone who's considereing making wine.


I've had the same experience with liquid yeast cultures for making beer since that's what I started out doing...I actually moved to buying test tubes of my favorite types of beer yeast cultures and propogating my own up to a bigger volume to pitch in the 5 gallon batches.


I think I might order one of these for the next red kit I have on my shelf to make. Thanks for bringing the subject up. I'm interested to hear what George has to say...if he's tried it and what the difference in results were, etc.

 

[Waldo]

I used it making a Port style wine and it worked great.

 

[masta]

I have never used liquid yeast for wine just beer. Both the two main players in the liquid yeast industry make strains for both red and white wine along with strains for cider and sake.


The main issues for these is fairly short expiration time compared to dry yeast and ability to keep it cold during transport. The cost is also 7-8 times as much.


My guess would be that these yeasts would work great for certain styles or varietals.

 

[PolishWineP]

I used a liquid yeast for my first batch of sack mead. The mead was wonderful! It was a situation where I had my recipe, I was going to be someplace where I could get that yeast, and I went for it. It was alot more expensive, but the mead was spectacular. I don't know if the yeast made the difference, but I'm not going to regret the cost.

 

[Dean]

I've used both liquid and dry yeasts, and it doesn't make as great a difference in wine as it does in beer. Also, i've found that after a year or so in the bottle, the differences between the same wine fermented with different yeasts are very small and almost seem to disappear over the taste of the fruit.

I do like the liquid yeasts for mead sometimes, as I can taste a bigger difference there.

 

[smurfe]

I am getting into beer making as well and have been using the White Labs liquid yeast. If you are trying to clone a particular beer these type yeasts are just about a must have. I wouldn't even consider a dry yeast with beer as every batch I make I am trying to duplicate my favorite beer styles. If you were making just an average everyday beer to drink I probably would use some of the dry varieties. A few get very good reviews.


Masta is right, they aren't cheap. I made a road trip to Houston a couple weeks ago to a home brew shop (closest I could find to me)since we don't have a local shop anymore (guess they closed) and stocked up on a few vials of White Labs yeasts. I believe they were $6.50 each. I do believe the shop I went to had some White Labs liquid wine yeasts in their cooler. They had quite a variety there.


In regards to kit manufacturers offering them in kits, I really doubt we will see that. They have to be kept refridgerated and do not have that long of a shelf life. They need to be kept cold during shipping as well.It would be nice if retailers gave you an option to upgrade your yeasts at the time of kit purchase but in reality, all you are going to be doing is buying the extra yeast and would probably still get the dry yeast pack as well since they cost next to nothing. Edited by: smurfe

 

[scotty]

To really omprove the fermentation when using dehidrated yeast one has the option of not just rehydrating the yeast but making a starter bottle and nursing it for about 8 hours.By adding must to it every 4 houre one can end up with a very strong liquid startilg culture of yeast that is a;ready acclimated to its future home.


We can have the best of both worlds if we want to.


Start with 4 ounces of water in a wide mouth jar or beaker
1 teaspoon sugar
a pinch of both nutrient and energizer


mix a bit
sprinkle in yeast
Cover with a sanitized cloth and rubber band


wait 4 hours
add 4 ounces of the juice etc


usually do this after the sulfites have been im the juice fpr over 234 hoursand/or waiting for pectic enzymes to work.Edited by: scotty