Looking to make Lithuanian mead (midus) with juniper. Suggestions on yeast needed

Being Lithuanian I just my try to make this Lithuanian mead.

http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewrecipe&Itemid=459&recipe_id=152

Most stuff I have tried from the old country is really high octane distilled stuff. Not going to try that, since I don't have the equipment. But I would like to get the mead to highest ABV a newbie can get it to.
Which yeast would you suggest? Recipe calls for 8tbsp of wine yeast. Something tells me that would get me only to 8%ABV

I don't know about what the mead is supposed to taste like, but wine yeast will get way over 8%. You should be able to get 14% easy.

As long as you provide the environment that Lalvin's EC-1118 finds satisfactory, 18% is do-able. Others may, as well; the best place to search is the yeast suppliers' respective websites. They usually have a TON of good info regarding the properties and preferences of their yeasts.

You could go au naturel:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/can-i-culture-yeast-juniper-berries-169156/

P.S. - I'd follow that gotmead recipe that you posted (except for the amount of yeast!), but NOT necessarily the procedure; I would NOT boil the honey, and also for the volume listed I'd suggest only going with a packet of something along the lines of EC-1118, which contains 5-grams of yeast which equates to what, roughly a teaspoon or so? IDK what the "8 teaspoons wine yeast" is all about, that's a confession of ignorance not a condemnation of the recipe listing. A single packet of good wine yeast will do.

passedpawn said:

you could go au naturel:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/can-i-culture-yeast-juniper-berries-169156/

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+1

I am getting dried juniper berries from a local spice shop. Not sure natural yeasts will be on it. And for a beginner, I am almost guaranteed to screw it up with something that complicated.

BTW, where the heck you buy your honey?
22lb for $100 shipped is about the best deal I found. Bit much for an experiment.

Maybe I need to scale down the recipe to just 3-4 liters.

Buy your honey locally. Google "apiary" or "beekeepers" etc.

I recently paid $40.00 for 24#

Just about any wine yeast will take the ABV to at least 12%; most will take it a bit higher, but some will go as high as 18 or even 20% ABV under the right conditions. One 5 gram sachet of dry wine yeast is enough to handle a full 5 gallon batch, no need for the "8 teaspoons" of yeast. I wouldn't boil honey, you'll lose a lot of flavour if you do. BTW, ABV is not determined by time in a barrel; it's determined by the yeast strain, the temp, & amount of fermentables (and time).

Here is a link to a list of wine yeasts & their properties: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp

You might find a good source for honey with this: http://www.honeylocator.com/locator/find/

Hope this info helps. Regards, GF.

agurkas said:

Being Lithuanian I just my try to make this Lithuanian mead.

http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_rapidrecipe&page=viewrecipe&Itemid=459&recipe_id=152

Most stuff I have tried from the old country is really high octane distilled stuff. Not going to try that, since I don't have the equipment. But I would like to get the mead to highest ABV a newbie can get it to.
Which yeast would you suggest? Recipe calls for 8tbsp of wine yeast. Something tells me that would get me only to 8%ABV

Click to expand...

I know this is an old topic, but how did your mead ended up?

FYI, OP hasn't been on here since 2013.

Rish said:

FYI, OP hasn't been on here since 2013.

Click to expand...

I know. Doesn't mean it will hurt trying to reach out