cider with brett?

Question

Got a great deal ($! per) on half gallon jugs of Ryan's cider. I bought everything the store had (7 gallons of "spiced" cider and 3 gallons of standard cider). I plan on making three batches with this, one 3.5 gallon spiced cider on 100% Brett Bruxellensis (WLP650), 3.5 gallons spiced cider on Lalvin D47 (dry wine yeast), and the last 3 gallons of regular cider on the same D47 yeast.

So here is the questions: -has anyone fermented "spiced" cider as opposed to the standard cider before? -Is there any recommendations or experience using brett in a cider, yeast nutrients? Ferm temp? Ferm length? whats to be expected? -Also what about the wine yeast I selected, has anyone used any wine yeast fermenting cider? Ferm suggestions? Ferm temp?

Thanks everybody in advance, I will most likely be going ahead with my fermentations in the morning (12-15-12) but still curios, if not for information, or next time, what everyone thinks or knows?

Answer 1

That's a lot of questions. Here we go:

• I have taken regular apple cider, added spices, and fermented it. It works fine. If spicing yourself, the advantage of adding spices after fermentation is that you can periodically taste and add more as needed, or rack off of the spices when you reach the desired level. Since you're using pre-spiced cider, the amount of spice is already determined. But you could add more later if you want to.
• I haven't used brett in a cider, although I have heard of people doing it. Good luck.
• I have used wine yeasts for cider with good results. Cider is lower in nutrient than beer, so I'd suggest adding yeast nutrient at about the levels you would use for wine or mead. I use 1 tsp of fermax yeast nutrient per gallon. It will ferment dry, so be patient and it will get better with age (6months to a year). For fermentation temp, cooler is better, down to the lower end of the yeast's range (59F). So keep it cool, but don't refrigerate it.