QA23 for RED wines ?

[Bramble]

QA23 for RED wines ?

Why not?

I often see advice that this or that yeast is for reds or whites... what is going on ?
What does color have to do with flavor?
w/yeast?
w/wine quality?

What is behind these suggestions?

 

[CK55]

QA23 for RED wines ?

Why not?

I often see advice that this or that yeast is for reds or whites... what is going on ?
What does color have to do with flavor?
w/yeast?
w/wine quality?

What is behind these suggestions?

its for white wines, its actually a white wine yeast from portugal. Some yeasts just work better with whites and some with reds. Its as simple as that. Color does and doesnt really have much to do with flavor. But some yeasts can better stabilize colors of wines. For example BM4x4 which is a italian red wine strain is especially good at stabilizing color and adding to the flavor and body, wine yeast can impact flavor drastically.

 

[Bramble]

I want to test several yeasts for a berry wine that I make every year. Am I wasting good wine if I test this ?
The instructions/ info says white, but noone says what to expect if I use it (eg. QA23) in a red. You mentioned color stability. I can imagine that perhaps some yeast might partially decolorize a red wine, but I haven't read that this is the case. If it is an issue of color, I am more interested in the flavor/aroma at this point, but if something gawd-awfull is produced by the yeast in red juice, ruining the wine, then the test is a no-go. I am curious - but I don't want to dissect a seed that I could better sow.

 

[CK55]

I want to test several yeasts for a berry wine that I make every year. Am I wasting good wine if I test this ?
The instructions/ info says white, but noone says what to expect if I use it (eg. QA23) in a red. You mentioned color stability. I can imagine that perhaps some yeast might partially decolorize a red wine, but I haven't read that this is the case. If it is an issue of color, I am more interested in the flavor/aroma at this point, but if something gawd-awfull is produced by the yeast in red juice, ruining the wine, then the test is a no-go. I am curious - but I don't want to dissect a seed that I could better sow.

Feel free and test, but if you want a guaranteed good wine then i would say you are wasting time, you should go with what works and not mess around because if you are waiting another year for more berries to make wine and you lose a batch its going to suck.

If you want good flavor and aroma try RC-212 or BM4x4 both are for grape wine and fruit wine but will significantly impact aroma and flavor. And typically can amplify fruity flavors white wine yeasts can put out compounds you want in white wines but not in reds. For vigorous fermentations you can try EX-1118 but its going to strip or not add a lot to the wine if it adds anything at all. Its just a fast yeast, it doesnt really impact the quality like the others do.

 

[Stressbaby]

QA23 is known for bringing out passion fruit-like esters and thiols, and if you try it you can appreciate that. I would only use it on a "red" in which you want to bring out those tropical sorts of aromas - I make a strawberry guava wine for instance which comes out more like a rosé actually but which is nice with QA23. Needless to say, I use it on my passion fruit wine. I used it on pawpaw wine which came out decent. I can't think of a native (temperate) red berry in which I've used it.

 

[Bramble]

Do you think it would clash with Blackberry? I think it would with Raspberry.

 

[Ajmassa]

QA23 for RED wines ?

Why not?

I often see advice that this or that yeast is for reds or whites... what is going on ?
What does color have to do with flavor?
w/yeast?
w/wine quality?

What is behind these suggestions?

Yeast selection is not 100% based on flavor profile tho. And your likely in the minority by having no concern for color and only focused on flavor. Getting a nice rich color extraction is part of the makeup of a good wine. Even though “good” is relative- and color may not matter to you. But it does to wine critics, judges, and UC Davis scoring curriculum. Plus it’s the first thing noticed when pouring a glass.
Other factors of selection are circumstantial. Based on tolerances with current conditions, or nutrient needs. Extracting notes of Passion fruit won’t matter much if the ferment gets stuck because of a low ph tolerance.

 

[Ajmassa]

In selecting its best shoot for a nice balance of complimenting the wine and best chances for a healthy ferment to finish successfully.
I’ve also heard that for the bigger bolder barrel aged reds, the profile aspects gained from the yeast wont matter much. With all the tannin, high abv, acid, and 1-2 yrs in oak, those yeast characteristics will fade anyway. And main focus should be chances for healthy successful ferment.

 

[mainshipfred]

Is there a reason you want to use the QA23? There are so many yeasts on the market to choose from.

 

[Bramble]

Re color... True; however, I think flavor and aroma should be the king and queen; color, well we can learn to embrace any color, any hue that we want, it is just an issue of getting used to it; green lemons, yellow watermellons, blood oranges, green apples, red carrots, purple tomatoes, Schwarze Weisse the list might be rather long... perfection is fine, but variety is the spice....

Re why QA23?
Well no particular reason... humm, I noticed that it was described as changing some chemistry, of being unique in some now forgetten way (my notes are not here) I just wanted to try something different that might give me something new... that is one reason. Another is that I have it on hand now. and while I do not stick to it, I am interested in yeasts that will give me wildly different results; Many I have tried were different but sometimes it was not so easy to choose "clearly better" yeasts... the flavors tended to mellow out over time and more or less acidic, sharp or harsh observations became less important as the wine aged. I am sure my palet is far from being "good" but still I want to find something that is both delicous and different. So the yeasts mentioned above are interesting and if I can find them here soon, I will try them. I just want to try something special... different. It is true I was not aware there was so much interest in the color... my wine is usually very dark and doesen't get stared at all that much.