Gooe all around yeast

[Poorboy]

I am new at wine making, and I was wondering if there is agood all around yeast for fresh fruits. I plan on making wine with fruits and berries that are avalable in my area, such as watermelon, apple, strawberry, and elderberries. and does the type of yeast you use affect the amount of alcohol in the wine?

 

[Wade E]

Some yeasts are better then others for certain fruits. Pasteur Red is a pretty good all around yeast but Cotes Des Blanc and Montrachet are also good and better at certain things like bringing out a more delicate flavor. With fruit wines you dont really want a high alc as it will mask too much of the fruit flavor on some, especially watermelon. I have not tried watermelon but heard it is 1 of the hardest as the fruit usually goes bad early from what Ive heard on Jack Keller's site. welcome Poorboy, do you have a wine you are looking to make as we can recommend a recipe that works well usually or help you out with an existing 1 as some of the recipes out there on the www can get you into trouble by not being specific about starting sg's and acid as those will vary quite a bit even with the same fruit as sugar content and acidity will vary from when a fruit is picked kind of like picking a grape too earl or picking it when the grape is really ripe, big difference! Welcome to the forum and hope you stay and learn with us all!

 

[JWMINNESOTA]

Welcome to the forum Poorboy, as you will discover, the alcohol content in your wine is determined by the amount of fermentable sugar present. We check this with a hydrometer, that will tell you the potential alcohol level in your must. Different yeast do indeed have different characteristics, and different levels of alcohol they are able to tolerate and continue to do there job of converting the sugar to alcohol. A good place to look would be on Georges catalog (Fine Vine Wines)at yeast, and see the different characteristics and levels of alcohol they can produce. Each winemaker may have a different opinion on a good all around yeast, some Montrachet, some 1118, etc. Look forward to sharing this adventure with you!