Giving this Mead thing a try!

Just started my 3rd mead! It will be a standard still mead.

20 lbs. of desert wildflower honey (honey was taken from the cappings that came off the honey frames. This means there is a little bit of wax and other stuff mixed in with the honey.)

6 gallons of water.
5g Lalvin EC-1118
5g Lalvin 71B-1122
Yeast Nutrient

That is it!

I boiled the water to get rid of all the nasty stuff, then set the jars of honey in the water with the heat turned off. This makes it much easier to pour the honey out of the jars. Once the honey was thoroughly mixed with the water, it was poured into primary, once it had cooled to 80 degrees I put the yeast in. Now it is bubbling like crazy. SG was 1.120

The only thing I might do is add some oak to the secondary to give it a little character.

Let me know what you guys think.


Cheers!

Did you place both yeasts in at the same time? Different strains of yeast don't like each other and the first to become the dominant yeast will probably kill off the other. Using a starting and finishing yeast is fine if you want specific flavor profiles but I don't think used at the same time is appropriate. However I am sure this will still turn out fine because the recipe looks sound otherwise.

My only suggestion is to use Lalvin k1v-1116 over ec-1118. 1116 ferments slower and preserves more aroma than 1118 while still achieving the same alcohol levels.

I didn't know that, thanks for the info. They are what the guy at the local brew shop gave me. I guess this means I will "have" to make another batch and see the difference for myself. Oh darn!

If you make a new batch and still want to use both yeasts then look at either bumping up the honey or lowering the initial volume to 5 gallon rather than 6. Lalvin 71-b will just about take that recipe dry and probably a little on the semi-sweet/dry side. The 1118 or 1116 will not have much effect. Also you want to rack off the settled yeast of 71b as soon as you have 1/4 inch of the stuff because 71b does not like to go stagnant. You will probably not need to worry about that as much with this mead because I would bet 1118 will take over as the dominant yeast. Lalvin d47 is much more forgiving in that manner but you need to keep the fermenting temperature under 68*F with that yeast.

Just do research with all the different yeast types out there because it is amazing at how different they all are and what you can do. Have fun!

I definetly recomend medium toasted oak and a touch of vanilla extract (1 teaspoon per gal)or 3 vanilla beans. You might not get much vanilla but it will round out the honey flavor. The oak I would do 1 oz of chips in for about a month. This will make the mead smoother too. I would put the oak in the last part of the secondary, just before bottling.

Matrix