A standard Lalvin pack is what 5 grammes ? Well it's the same as it is for a "normal" wine. So while it's incorrect to say that mead needs more yeast, as it doesn't need any more, there is some limited research around the size of the amount pitched........ Last time I was reading about that, they were alluding, not to an extra pack or two, but the difference between a correctly managed "single pack" batch and another batch that had had 20 packs pitched into it..... I think for control purposes they were using 5 gallon batches.
With meads, the problems are usually surrounding nutrients, as honey is pretty much lacking in all the kind of nutrients that yeast thrive the best on, hence if making Show meads i.e. just honey, water and yeast, you can get some very long, drawn out fermentations.
For bellaruche, the answers are still the same. Presumably you used a bread yeast, well that would just mean that the yeast colony is larger and in theory, will reach the toxicity point quicker i.e. when the level of alcohol climbs enough to become toxic to the strain of yeast and it "poops out".
The extra yeast will only be an issue when racking, because bread yeast doesn't settle/flocculate very well, so you'll find that you might have to rack off as much as you dare with a normal racking cane, then find a tall slim bottle/glass type container, rack off the last of the liquid (still try not to pick up too much sediment/sludge) into the tall, slim bottle or glass, then store that in the fridge for a couple of days until you've got a clear line in the contents. You'll find it a lot easier to rack off the last bit then, minimising racking losses.
regards
fatbloke
p.s. and bellaruche, if you can follow the instructions religiously and leave it be until the fruit has dropped and it's cleared you'll pretty much have a benchmark batch of JAO (presuming that the only difference was the larger yeast quantity.....)
