A little rusty...

Ok - I made a 5 gallon batch of Mead about 15 years ago (the last bottle still has not been opened, but I opened one two years ago and it was great) and decided it was time to make another batch. On my first go-round, I used the recipe from The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing book and I was still a relative newby at brewing. On my first batch I used 13 lbs of store bought clover honey and dry Red Star Champagne yeast and added crushed fruit to the primary. Turned out pretty good, but I thought for this batch I am going to step it up a bit.

I have procured 15 lbs of fresh local honey direct from the bee keeper. The taste is stong and slightly bitter on the end. I have yeast fuel and acid mix from AHS. My question is the yeast - is dry Champagne yeast still ok, or is there a better choice. Also - any suggestions on boiling vs. not. Thinking of bypassing the fruit this time, but fruit seems to hide the problems if you know what I mean.

Thanks,
Dan

I would suggest something like K1V-1116. It retains much more enters and depth of flavour. It achieves a similar alcohol tolerance and needs low nutrient requirements.

I try not to use champagne yeast anymore, despite what the uninformed seem to suggest.

IMO, it ages beautifully and that is pretty much why I prefer it. I also like D21, which is the current incarnation of "maury" yeast originally used by Brother Adam (of bee breeding and mead making fame) at Buckfast Abbey ( he changed to using the Gervin version of K1V when he could no longer get the Maury). He used to make his means from comb and cap washings, by the barrel. Then age it for at least 7 years.....

Hence they both get my "thumbs-up"

fatbloke said:

I would suggest something like K1V-1116. It retains much more enters and depth of flavour. It achieves a similar alcohol tolerance and needs low nutrient requirements.

Click to expand...

Is this a dry or liquid yeast? Also - where can I get this?

Thanks,
Dan