Cyser is the name given to beverages fermented with a combination of apple juice and honey. Brown sugar doesn't come into it, so if you did an apple juice and brown sugar ferment it would make a "fortified cider," while the same recipe using honey instead of the sugar (or along with it) would be a cyser.
Just a naming convention, and "cyser" is reserved for those made with honey.
Personally I like K1V-1116 for ciders because I find that although I get a strong ferment that always goes dry, enough of the apple aroma and flavor remains (and more returns after some aging) that the apple character is not lost. I've also had good luck with R-HST in a cyser. I know I'm unconventional, as many hard-core hard cider makers tend to favor some of the Wyeast liquid yeast cultures. BTW - the types of apples pressed into juice will make far more difference in the flavor of your resulting cider than will the selection of yeast, or the inclusion of brown sugar. I personally don't like brown sugar additions in hard ciders, since they tend to impart a "hot" and somewhat oxidized character that I don't care for. That's my personal taste, although I know of lots of folks who like their apple-sugar ciders. I prefer more fresh apple flavors and less of that cooked sugar (rum-like) flavor in my ciders.
