Almost all the kits I have done have been with EC-1118 or the
71b-1122.

What the most prominent differences that I will see with these two new
yeasts?

They both have started fermenting within 18 hours and now are at 71F
in a 68F room, so they seem to have started just right.

The RC-212 is in a Brew King limited edidtion Syrah/Mourverde from
springtime that I finally got a chance to start and the Cuvee in a
Brew King Italian Pinot Grigio also purchased in Feb/March with a
Jan03 manufacture date.

So far I have been very impressed with the quality of these kits. I
did two batches of their limited edition Chardonnay from Jan; I did
one with the EC-1118 and the other with the 71B and both tasted great
as I bottle from carboy last weekend.

Michael,

Very glad to hear that Brew King is continuing to use some different
yeasts. The Premier Cuvee is actually quite similar to EC-1118, both
of which are saccharomyces bayanus strains that some call "killer
yeasts" -- they are very fool-proof but don't give the best
flavour/aroma properties to the wine. I've found that the EC-1118
seems to be a little more neutral and better, while the Premier Cuvee
leaves quite a noticeable character that masks a lot of the varietal
difference. At least that was the case with the first several Brew
King kits I did, all but one of which used this yeast. I did some
experiments where I split the kits into 2 and did 1/2 with Pasteur
Red, and found that to be much better especially for
Chateauneuf-du-Pape style wines.

Most other yeasts available for winemaking, including RC-212 and 71B,
are saccharomyces cerivisiae strains. There are quite a few different
cerivisiae strains with quite different properties. The RC-212 would
be a logical selection for an S/M blend.

If you haven't started these yet, I would not use the Premier Cuvee
but instead use EC-1118, or better yet, a cerivisiae strain. Try this
link for some general info on yeast
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/yeast.asp or this one for info on
specific strains http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp

Be sure to save some of your wine (especially the red) for a minimum
of 18 months. My Brew King reds that are past 2 years in the bottle
are easily 10 times more enjoyable than during the first 6 months, and
much better than after even 18 months.

Enjoy your wines!

Richard

(Michael) wrote in message . com>...
> Almost all the kits I have done have been with EC-1118 or the
> 71b-1122.
>
> What the most prominent differences that I will see with these two new
> yeasts?
>
> They both have started fermenting within 18 hours and now are at 71F
> in a 68F room, so they seem to have started just right.
>
> The RC-212 is in a Brew King limited edidtion Syrah/Mourverde from
> springtime that I finally got a chance to start and the Cuvee in a
> Brew King Italian Pinot Grigio also purchased in Feb/March with a
> Jan03 manufacture date.
>
> So far I have been very impressed with the quality of these kits. I
> did two batches of their limited edition Chardonnay from Jan; I did
> one with the EC-1118 and the other with the 71B and both tasted great
> as I bottle from carboy last weekend.