Which yeast to use

Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum

Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
May 4, 2010
Messages
594
Reaction score
15
Here is the planned starts

Elderberry plain (3 gallon) will be done port style with a target of 15%+ abv
Blueberry plain (3 gallon maybe 6 gallon) target abv will be around 10-11%
Chokecherry plain (3 gallon) target abv around 11-12% and dry or very slightly sweetened
Elderberry/Blueberry (6 gallon) haven't decided on making this one a port style or a dry wine.


I am still working on collecting elderberries and blueberries but I am done with the Chokecherries. So they will be the first to get put in the primary so here is the question

Which yeast should I be using to accomplish or get the best results for the above ferments?
 
On the blackberry that you plan on doing port style.. Make sure that you have a very good starter and that you use either redstar's or lavlins high alcohol yeast strain.... Im sure there are other yeast strains from other companies tho.....
 
the winemakers magazine chart recommended red star pasteur red for berries and cherries, dry, 16% abv tolerance? i'm still learning and i've only used montrachet (seems like a steady, reliable standby) and cotes de blanc...
 
Im not the one to talk about yeast esters and flavours to... Maybe Wade or Tom would know more? How high do you want the abv to go on the port?
 
I use the Red Star Pastuer red on most darker fruit wines and Cotes Des Blanc or Champagne on the lighter fruit wines.
 
I use the Red Star Pastuer red on most darker fruit wines and Cotes Des Blanc or Champagne on the lighter fruit wines.
Yea good. I fav the CDB for fruits, P.. red for others or D-47 for whites
 
The elderberry is going to be the first up,
I have cooked down 9lbs of berries and ended up with a little over a half gallon of juice. I still have another 6lbs of berries to do the same with. So I am hoping that I get around 1 gallon of juice to make the three gallon batch of elderberry port.

I will use the Pasture Red to make this one unless there is another or different suggestion.
The plan is to start with an SG of about 1.100 and let that ferment down to about 1.02 to 1.03 and add more surgar to bring it back up to 1.100 again. I am thinking that should get me close to the 15+% before the yeast start to die off. If that ferments dry the abv would wind up being around 18%+ if I figured it right.

Is there a better way to go about it or does this sound about right?
I will start another thread when the juicing is done and before the ferment starts.
 
be carefull that you dont dump too much sugar into it at one time or you might end up with some sickly sweet wine if the yeast dies
 

Latest posts

Back
Top