LalvinWine Yeast EC-1118 10pk

My latest foray into huge DIY projects is brewing my own cider. It sounds like an extremely daunting task, but after watching a couple of youtube videos on people making their own, I figured that it wouldn’t be the most difficult of tasks. I opted for pre-pressed cider for the first run, and flavored it with maple syrup and a little cane sugar for sweetness. Exactly one week later, I prepared my second batch, and this time I included a bit of the Lalvin’s Wine Yeast, honey, and a little bit of cane sugar. One week after that, I went for cane sugar, Lalvin’s Wine Yeast, and my favorite Citric Acid Powder - Ultra Fine Pure Powdered Crystals - Natural Preservative Food Grade Quality (16 oz), Nature’s Candy. Winter soon turned into (less winter? definitely not spring) and it was time for me to bottle my different ciders. Honestly, this next part is going to sound a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, but I tried the first batch, whoa way too sweet for me (but my teenage stepsister adored it) the second batch was better, but a little lackluster for me, and the third was absolutely delicious. I think it was the combination of the wine yeast, which gave it a bit of effervescence, and the citric acid, which gave it a little kick. The third batch was very well balanced, and I absolutely loved it. In terms of the ingredients, they’re all very easy to reuse, obviously cane sugar, honey, and maple syrup are all household items. and the citric acid is honestly the best household cleaner I’ve ever used, and you can also use it in tons of food stuffs. As for the wine yeast, I’m actually going to give making my own wine a try, although I’m a little more concerned with how the results are going to be for that one. Anyway, I definitely recommend it, and I think it works perfectly for its purpose.

This yeast showed up fast, well-packaged and fresh. I use it to make a 12-14% dry honey mead that only gets aged 2 months maximum before being consumed.This yeast is a very fast starter. It makes a robust kreuzen (yeasty head) at first but then it gets heavy and drops down at about 36-72 hours. That is when the fermentation really goes fast. At 70 degrees f and with good nutrition this really makes the air lock sing with bubbles!It finishes dry (in a 12-14% scenario) in 2-3 weeks and it flocculates to a nice clarity at that point. I add bentonite clay to accelerate clarity just because we drink the mead very young, no aging. I have never had this yeast stall out or slow start.I have used this yeast with synthetic nutrients and it peaks very early. Now, I brew with natural nutrients and it is very steady. Either way it is still a fast starter, consistent producer and a fine finisher. In fact, I love the way this finishes with a high floral trait/tag when you use a raw and unfiltered honey. When I uncork my EC-1118 mead made with raw honey it smells like a bouquet of flowers, but it will get you drunker than Cooter Brown.This is the only mead yeast for me since I brew at about 65-80 degrees f and do not age my meads much. Compared specifically to D-47: D-47 would give some off flavors near 80 degrees f fermentation and it needs to be aged longer.I sincerely hope this helps you! I write reviews to help people be wise with their money/time/energy/efforts. If you found this review helpful please hit the "helpful" button.Thank you!

I use this yeast in mead wines and it works great.

Nice to have some extra yeast.Keep in the fridge or freezer

excellent yeast for a high ABV. Good taste as well.

Lalvin FC-1118 Wine Yeast:I've used this for over a year and find it reliable through summer and winter. Since my batches are small (one gallon jugs in a bathtub), an inexpensive yeast keeps costs down.This works quickly and reliably on frozen grape (and other) juices, has good alcohol tolerance and yields good flavor.This yeast produces good results for sparkling wine in pressure bottles.This has become my "go-to" yeast because it gives a decent product in only a few weeks. When out of my usual bread yeast, this came to the rescue!2023 updateI continue to use this yeast because it continues to give good results. After putting some 24-day old mast in the garage (in Phx area AZ) in winter into pressure bottles, fermentation continued; temperature varied between early 40's to low 70's - got some nice sparkling wine now. Don't know how long I've use this - since before that Covid-19 hit, for sure. Maybe that's why I'm so mellow?

Well priced, timely, proportions work for small-time production.

I use Lalvin EC-1118 for making what I call my "jailhouse hooch" and it works great! Even though it's a champagne yeast, it makes great wine too! Makes about (5) half gallon batches of 18% ABV wine out of a single package (1gm / 64oz of must). I use store bought 100% juice (not the corn syrup sweetened kind) and add cane sugar to get up to the 18% potential ABV. This yeast will tolerate 18% alcohol, so ferment it all the way out and it actually comes out really nice! Makes a really nice fruit wine (or 'jailhouse hooch' whichever you please).I know all the wine "purists" out there will rain fire all over me for my review, but it works, it's fun and it's really good too! Oh, and I broke my wine glass with my big mitts trying to hold my pinky out away from the glass while ...'imbibing on my apertif'...so now I just toss the jug over the back of my hand and chug it right from the source, bootlegger style! OOOooooohh WEE!