Tag: yeast

Kviek Cider

stoutmaker2 Comments

So I needed to brew something with Kviek yeast for a club monthly brew. I figured everyone was going to do some kind of beer. So I decided to do a cider.

The lhbs has a few choices in Kviek, but the dried Voss is one I didn’t use before.

Other than that, I’m just going to do as simple of a recipe that I can. 3 gallons Juice, 1 lb brown sugar and the Voss. Of course will be doing the nutrient program with it.

(yes this is juice)

Starting gravity was 1.070. but hopeful that I’ll be able to get this bottle primed for the August meeting. We will see!

Yeast problem

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This past Saturday I stirred up a cider. Just the normal store bought juice that I use all the time, and a bit of the raspberry wine base. Pretty standard stuff.

Usually I use Nottingham yeast for my ciders. Finishes a bit sweeter and has the apple-ish esters that go great in a cider. But this time I used new yeast.

The Brewer’s Best Cider House Select. This is the yeast that comes with those fantastic cider kits. And while I couldn’t find much info on the yeast it’s self, I have had the ciders made with those kits many times and it was great.

There isn’t much to do in cider when starting with bottled juice, except to add some nutrient, stir and put in the 67F chamber.

I do a staggard nutrient, meaning add some at pitch, some on the third day with a good stir to release some Co2. This helps the yeast out, and really keeps the fusels down.

Day 2. No signs of life from this yeast. If this would have been my normal Notty yeast I would have been worried. But this stuff is new to me so maybe it’s a slow starter.

Day 3. Still nothing. Now I’m worried. But it’s also nutrient day, so I’ll be opening it up to see whats going on. Maybe my lid just wasn’t on right.

Nope. Nothing going on in there at all. Even stirring got no push of bubbles from Co2 escaping like it normally would if there was activity. Some yeasts are slow starters, but after 3 days…time to do something.

Well I gave it another dose, and threw in the Nottingham. Next day, blam! We got the normal Notty heavy action.

I don’t know what was up with that cider yeast. Dont know if it has a super lag. But 3 days is a looong time with nothing. But from the stir it didn’t look like anything bad took over. So we should be good.. I hope

Learn to Brew Day Saison

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When the Saisons started showing up on shelves I wasn’t a fan of them. Those yeast profiles just were not my thing. But the rest of the dryness, sometimes spiciness really stuck out for me. And I eventually found that I kinda liked them.


So I have brewed a few here and there, and changed some things to get back to where I like this style, since its very hard to find a plain ol’ Saison nowadays. No fruits, no spices, no nothing.

I use a regular old US two row malt. I think it lets the other things like the wheat and Saaz hops poke through a little more. Rye malt is great here as well, just don’t get crazy with it. It would cover up a lot in this bare bones version. 


Get your bittering somewhere in the 25-30 range. Been using Tettnang hops for my smaller batches or Target hops for bigger batches just because of the bigger bang for the buck Alpha. These give a decent amount of that earthy Saison thing without standing out. Saaz hops for the late editions is almost mandatory for me. They seem to work best if kept around the 10-15 minute range.

And probably the most important ingredient in a Saison…the yeast. I’m not one for the big blasts of banana, so I stick with the Belle Saison dry yeast. It only has a bit of background banana, but it gets almost a black pepper and lemon/orange thing going when purposely underpitched. Ferments fairly dry, but not nutz. But it doesnt like to clear all that well. But hey,, thats fine in this beer!

I wouldn’t usually even consider adding fruit, but for some reason raspberry just feels like it would work here. Small amounts though. Raspberry is pretty powerful and this is a very light profiled recipe.

Any way,,, this is what I’ll be brewing this Saturday for the 2020 “Learn to Brew Day” Check out my gallon version.

3 gallon Saison OG 1.054, 30 IBU  
-5 lbs US 2 row
-½ lb crystal 10L
-½ lb  wheat malt red or white (malt,, not flaked wheat)
-1oz tettnang hops @60
-1oz Saaz at 10 min
-¼ packet Belle Saison yeast. (we are trying to stress it a bit for character. Don’t worry, that’s more than enough yeast)
Mash at 150. Ferment a bit higher than normal.. 70F

May not be “traditional” in a strict sense, but it’s what I want in a Saison.