Premier Curvee = fast fermentation?

I have two batches of mead brewing. One used EC-1118, made a nice thick krausen, and has started to clear. The other used Premier Curvee and never formed much of a krausen. It's still cloudy, buy has a good depth of lees on the bottom of the carboy. Did my yeast die out too soon?

ya know, it can be different with every brew...

EC1118 tends to work fast. I wouldn't worry about it. If you have lees, it means you had yeast reproducing and making more and more yeast that were eating up more and more sugars.

Without the specific recipes and conditions, I'll harbor a guess that you're meads are okay!

i can add that premiere cuvee works really fast also. I had a gallon jar with apple cider and 1 1/2# honey that feremented out in a little over a week. I did add a little nutrient and energizer too.

AZ_IPA said:

ya know, it can be different with every brew...

EC1118 tends to work fast. I wouldn't worry about it. If you have lees, it means you had yeast reproducing and making more and more yeast that were eating up more and more sugars.

Without the specific recipes and conditions, I'll harbor a guess that you're meads are okay!

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Let me add some details now that I'm sober.

Both batches are:
3# honey
spring water
1 orange, peeled and cut into eighths
2 cinnamon sticks
a bunch of cloves (I like cloves)

Sterilized, added honey and water, shook like mad while the yeast was blooming in a sanitzed bowl, added yeast and fruit/spices, shook some more, then topped with stoppers and airlocks.

I didn't measure the SG (don't own a hydrometer, need to drive across town and get one), so I'm kinda stumped right now. The EC-1118 was started about 3 weeks before the Curvee and is starting to clear nicely.

Uhhh, guys, it may be worth keeping in mind that Lalvin's EC-1118 and Red Star's Premier Cuvee are both essentially the same yeast produced by two different companies. Their behavior (and flavor) will be the same so any differences you see are due to other ingredients or conditions of fermentation.

Medsen

MedsenFey said:

Uhhh, guys, it may be worth keeping in mind that Lalvin's EC-1118 and Red Star's Premier Cuvee are both essentially the same yeast produced by two different companies. Their behavior (and flavor) will be the same so any differences you see are due to other ingredients or conditions of fermentation.

Medsen

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Welcome aboard. Too bad about the other place, huh?

summersolstice said:

Welcome aboard. Too bad about the other place, huh?

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Thank you for the welcome. I figured I need to broaden my horizons. I hope Joel is able to get it restored - that would be a huge accumulation of data to be lost permanently.

Salud!

I've lost half the power to my house, so my mead is crashing from the temperature. No heat, it's about 53 inside the house right now.

Don't worry, EC-1118 will perk up again as it warms up (and it is capable of fermenting at 50 F).