New to meads, I have yeast question

I am looking to make my first mead and I will going with the Joe's Ancient Orange recipe. In haste, at my LHBS, I picked up a pack of Lalvin K1V1116 to use in my first batch. I will be using a 6.5 gallon glass carboy to ferment then rack to 5 gallon secondary for clearing and aging.

My quesiton: Will the Lalvin K1-V1116 be suitable for mead? And will one packed due the trick or do I need more?

Also, should I rehydrate before I pitch the yeast or just get the mix close to temperature and pitch then?

Thanks in advance, have a lot to learn.

The JAO recipe actually calls for regular Fleishmann's Active Dry Yeast. Although I'm new (and only on my first batch fo the same) I did read that if you start off with JAO you should follow it to the T.

Also, on a side note, another thread in here was saying that Lavlin-V116 is good for mead, and actually better than 1118.

But like I said, I'm as new as new can bee.

I cannot vouch for V116, but if people here like it, excellent. I made a bang-up batch of JAOM with D47 that even the picky girlfriend enjoyed!

So you can use Fleischmann's if you're really interested in trying the Fleischmann's, but understand it's not a brewing yeast. It's bred to make gas, not alcohol, and so it can do funny things with flavor. The spices in JAOM are (imho) a bit brisk to cover up any funny bits the bread yeast produces. That said, there is nothing wrong with a bit of a yeast upgrade. I suspect that JAOM was produced for the beginner first and for someone without access to a homebrew shop second.

I have never actually made a batch of JAOM with the bread yeast, though I've made cider with it and I have to say it doesn't work well. If you live near a homebrew store, you've the option of making something so much better..

If you google your yeast strain, you can usually come up with company copy on what it does. For instance, your yeast is here.

That sheet says it doesn't mind a tough ferment, which is good, but that it produces fruity esters which could be great or a bit overdone in a spiced already-fruity mead like JAOM. Further, it advises you use 25-40g of yeast per hl (hectalitre?) of must - one pack will do the trick (remember yeast multiply!) but it may take a little time to get rolling. If you're in a hurry or the packet is old, no harm in pitching a spare.

I'm not a rehydrator but I usually work in smaller batches. If you're gonna pitch one pack, you might as well give that yeast the best start you can, ya dig?

So by all means tell us how it goes with your yeast, JAOM is pretty foolproof but there's certainly room for variety. Good luck!

Thanks for the input twofish.

After reading the product data on the yeast, I feel a little more comfortable using it. I don't mind buying another pack of yeast considering I would rather err on the side of caution. And for a couple dollars, it doesn't hurt to be safe.

Other than that, I think I am going to try and get this rolling soon.