On Yeast and Mead

[Disco_Fetus]

So I've listened to the mead episodes, and scoured the forums looking for some answers on this. I am looking into making my first mead and am curious about yeast strains. I know the typical strains for mead and wine yeasts and some of the high gravity strains for beer. I'd like to use a beer yeast to try to capture some of the yeast profile in the mead, but am uncertain of what kinds of flavors would occur and whether or not the strain will produce flavors that you would find common in those strains, esters, phenols, D, etc. Would you try to use time and temp, the way you would with a beer to control these, or just let it ride. Also, how would you keep alive a lower alcohol strain in that environment, aside from massive O2 and yeast nutrient? Any suggestions and successes with beer yeasts, or should I just stick to wine/mead/cider yeasts until I get a feel for the whole process? Thanks!

[dmtaylor]

With mead and cider, I find that yeast choice isn't terribly critical and you actually want a neutral yeast that won't get in the way of the honey or fruit flavor. Also, what works great in beer doesn't necessarily have the same effects in mead or cider. For example, the beloved Belgian beer yeasts don't necessarily give out the same desirable spicy phenolics when you use them for mead, cider, etc. I haven't made a mead with beer yeast yet, but I imagine it would have less alcohol tolerance than wine or mead yeast, which could result in a sweeter, higher FG beverage than if the standard wine or mead yeast was used. This could be good or bad depending what you want, but also less predictable. The wine yeasts will tend to finish in the 0.990s for gravity. If you want a sweeter mead, you can rack often and add sorbate and sulfite to stun or kill the yeast, and backsweeten to taste.

I still have lots to learn, but that's my general understanding of how yeast relates to mead (as well as my current fling, cider).

[Disco_Fetus]

Thanks man! I think I'll reserve the beer yeasts for braggots. Any suggestions on a yeast strain in general? I'm looking at using Tupelo honey...which I may have spelled wrong. Possibly almond honey though. Not 100% sure. I'm going to be heading to the Renn Faire to decide. The store owned by www.beefolks.com there is pretty amazing and they add new varieties each year. Although the wife likes the Tupelo.

[snowcapt]

Although the wife likes the Tupelo.

Tupelo it is!
Wyeast sweet mead is worth a shot!

[Bugeater]

Besides looking for a yeast with neutral flavor characteristics, you need to look at the attenuation figures for each yeast. If you want a sweet or semi-sweet mead you need to use a low attenuation yeast (sweet mead yeast is one such yeast). If you want to use a high attenuation yeast and still have the sweetness you will need to treat the mead with sorbates after fermentation is complete and then back sweeten with more honey. I don't really like using extra chemicals in my mead, especially those that will create medical problems with some folks. The other alternative would be to use a shitload of honey and end up with a 16-17% ABV mead with enough residual sugar to keep it sweet.

Wayne

[dmtaylor]

I've had good success with the Wyeast Sweet Mead yeast. However, don't be fooled -- even this yeast would like to finish around 1.000 if you allow it. If you want to maintain sweetness, when the gravity gets within 10 points of where you want it to finish, rack it. This reduces yeast cell count and slows the fermentation down. You can also add sulfite and sorbate to kill the yeast, at the same time, or at bottling time.

[tavish2]

i find a better method is to work within the alcohol tolerances of the yeast if you know your yeast has an alcohol tolerance of say 13-15% then you know that its going to want to chew up between 99 and 114 specific gravity points. (99*.131 = approx 13% and 114*.131 = approx 15%)

so if you wanted your mead to finish out around 1.010 you know that your going to have to start off with a must of 1.109 - 1.124.

since most honey is really simple sugars, yeast are going to tend to ferment to the higher side of their tolerances so i would error on the 1.124OG side for a 15% semi sweet mead that finishes at 1.010FG

using this method, you dont have to put a whole bunch of chemicals in to stop the yeast.

the other method is to filter it

[dmtaylor]

But not everyone wants 13-15% alcohol in their mead! I like mine sweet and easy to drink, around 7% alcohol. Maybe that's not as traditional, but I'm more of a beer guy as opposed to wine guy -- I'd rather be able to gulp my beverage than have to sip it to get the same amount of alcohol.