I am at a loss.
I will be getting 6 gallons of fresh Canadian Ice Wine juice next month or
so. I hear the brix is around 45.
My question;
If I use Lavin 1118 or 1116 both are 18% tolerant. I don't want to go that
high. Kits use the Red Star Cuvee than add a "F-PAC".
Should I use a 12-14% yeast like Red Star Cuvee or Cote de Blanc?
Will that yeast work in a high brix?
Any Ideas ?
Any one make Ice Wine from fresh juice ?
I only made Kit ice wines before.

Tom


--

On Sep 25, 11:06*am, "Tom" > wrote:
> I am at a loss.
> I will be getting 6 gallons of fresh Canadian Ice Wine juice next month or
> so. I hear the brix is around 45.
> My question;
> If I use Lavin 1118 or 1116 both are 18% tolerant. I don't want to go that
> high. Kits use the Red Star Cuvee than add a "F-PAC".
> Should I use a 12-14% yeast like Red Star Cuvee or Cote de Blanc?
> Will that yeast work in a high brix?
> Any Ideas ?
> Any one make Ice Wine from fresh juice ?
> I only made Kit ice wines before.
>
> Tom
>
> --


Whether or not the yeasts will tolerate the high brix environment,
letting yeast die off at the alcohol tolerance threshold is not a
reliable way to proceed...there is a range, and you have no way of
knowing where in that range the final result will fall.

I would personally recommend using the yeasts that are suggested for
icewine/late-harvest use--a stuck fermentation would not be good,
obviously. However, this is just my preference, as I know of others
who use "weaker" yeasts so that the fermenation will be easier to
stop, but there is a greater chance of a stuck fermentation.

Since icewine fermentation generally proceeds much more slowly than
"normal" fermentation, you will be able to monitor the progress of the
fermentation, and when it gets to the point where you want to stop
fermentation (alcohol level yes, but more important it suits your
taste in terms of sweetness-acidity balance), you can cool it as
rapidly as possible (place it in a refrigerator set to a near but not
quite freezing temperature, for example), or rack/coarse-filter/
sterile-filter it if you have the equipment, to stop the fermentation
at the ideal point. If using the cool-down method, you'll want to
rack and sulfite to stun the yeast while it cools down. It'll take
awhile for the wine to settle, so be prepared to leave it in the
cooling environment for a couple of weeks. This is also a good time
leave it long enough to cold-stabilize.

Then you'll need to use potassium sorbate to inhibit re-fermentation.
Filtration is definitely a good idea with a risky high-sugar
environment, but not everyone has the means. If you are not filtering
I would definitely be liberal (within reason) with the sulfite and
sorbate additions.

I hope this helps, and also that some others reply so that you get a
few opinions ! ;-)


Chris.