Yeast guide

Lalvin 71B

If our recipes had a house yeast, this would be it. 71B is the friendly all rounder of fruit winemaking: it throws pleasant fruity esters, and it partially metabolises malic acid, which takes the sharp edge off acidic musts like blackberry, plum and rhubarb.

15 to 30°C

Ferments at

14% ABV

Alcohol tolerance

Lallemand

Maker

What it's like

That acid softening is the party trick. Fruit wines and melomels often start sharper than grape wine, and 71B smooths them into something drinkable months earlier than a neutral yeast would. It is also forgiving of ordinary room temperatures, which makes it an easy recommendation for a first batch.

Its 14% tolerance is plenty for table strength wines and meads, but not for big dessert styles; pick a stronger yeast for those. Standard advice is to get the wine off the heavy sediment within a few weeks once fermentation is done.

Use it for

Melomels, country wine, rosé, young drinking meads. Most of the country wine and melomel recipes on this site list 71B first for a reason: it flatters fruit.

Plan the batch: honey for a mead, sugar for a wine, then ABV from your readings. All free.