The Blind Spot: Why Had I Never Used Cider Yeast?

My channel is mostly about beer. Brewing beer, fermenting beer, obsessing over beer, and occasionally doing things I probably shouldn’t — all in the name of science.

But I have brewed quite a few ciders.

They’ve been good.
Some have been very good.
A few were… educational.

After a previous cider experiment using Angel Yeast A01 that turned out surprisingly well, Angel Yeast casually mentioned:

“You know… we actually make cider yeast.”

And suddenly, it clicked.

I had used:

• Lager yeast

• Different ale yeasts

• Sourdough starter

…but never cider yeast (or wine yeast, for that matter).

That felt wrong. Almost irresponsible.

So this experiment was born.

Why BV818 Makes Sense for Cider (Even If It Says “Wine Yeast”)

BV818 is technically a wine yeast, but its characteristics line up beautifully with what we want in a dry, clean cider:

• Wide fermentation range: 10–30°C

• Alcohol tolerance: up to 18%

• Low H₂S and volatile acidity

• Neutral sensory profile — it lets the fruit shine

In other words:
It doesn’t try to be the star of the show.

It lets the apples speak.

For cider, that’s exactly what you want.

Gravity, Volumes, and the Numbers (Yes, We’re Nerdy)

Before adding concentrate, the gravity sat at 1.044.
After adding the concentrate, it landed at 1.055.

I measured both batches.

Because I’m that guy.

The final volume came out to 3.7 liters, which fits perfectly in the iGulu fermenter. Everything neat. Everything controlled. Very satisfying.

Fermentation: Warm, Fast, and Aggressive

This fermentation took off instantly.

Almost suspiciously fast.

Temperature Schedule

• 25°C for 2 days

• 26°C for 2 days

• 28°C for 3 days

That’s warm.

On purpose.

Under 22 PSI, I was honestly a bit confused that the pressure didn’t hold down the krausen quite as much as I expected.

Which makes me wonder…

What would have happened at these temperatures without such high pressure?
Would it have tried to escape through the safety valve?
Would I be cleaning apple foam off the ceiling?

Experiments for another day.

Conditioning Time (Patience, Doctor…)

This cider was brewed on November 30th and tasted again on January 5th, giving it about a month to condition.

I did try it very young in a slightly questionable bonus video for my OnlyHans followers (aka Patreon) — curiosity got the better of me — but this post is about the properly conditioned version.

And yes.

Time matters.

The Pour: Looks Can Be Deceiving

The pour was… beautiful.

• Pale yellow

• Slight haze

• Aromatically very clean

I didn’t use finings. Just time.

And it carried no head whatsoever.

Which — yes — it’s cider.
Calm down.

Final Numbers (Here’s the Fun Part)

• Original Gravity: 1.055

• Final Gravity: 0.998

• ABV: ~7.5%

That’s wine strength.

If you don’t want something that strong — skip the concentrate. Simple as that.

Aroma & Flavor: Wine-Like, Dry, and Sharp

The aroma is unmistakably apple — but not sweet apple.

More like fermented apple juice drifting into white wine territory.

Very dry.
Very clean.
Slight alcohol presence.

This is not a crushable summer cider.

This is a sip-and-think cider.

If you like wine, you’ll love this.

So… Is This “Real Cider”?

That’s the question this brew raised for me.

Because after tasting this, it suddenly made sense why:

• Cider yeast exists

• People don’t always use beer yeast for cider

• Some ciders taste more like wine than beer-adjacent apple soda

This was absolutely beautiful — and it might explain why people choose cider yeast in the first place.

Final Verdict (And What’s Next)

Fermenting cider with BV818 under pressure delivered:

• Clean fermentation

• Insane attenuation

• Wine-like dryness

• Zero nonsense

Would I do it again?

Absolutely.

Next up:

• A Saison yeast cider, recommended by one of my YouTube followers

• A proper head-to-head comparison

I do these experiments so you don’t have to.

DrHans out. 🍎🍺

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