Lalvin 71b-1122 Yeast, you're personal experiences.

I've used 1122 for every Mead I've made (Currently at 9 batches in the last 1 1/2 years) mostly due to my current housing situation and my lack of fine temperature control (I live in L.A. where the temperatures vary wildly and they don't believe in AC). What I have noticed is a lack of definitive Practical Use information regarding this yeast that my local Brew Shop claims is practically the only yeast they sell to Mead Makers.

We know that it has an Alcohol Tolerance of 14% on average and it's Ideal Temperature is between 15° and 30°C (59° and 86°F). But I've had it get above 14% and I've had several Meads from 1122 be delicious at 2 1/2 Months from Primary (that's not to say that some aging wouldn't be necessary regardless). The Coffee Cinnamon Bochet I made with it was so good at 2 1/2 Months that I had to invent reasons to stop myself from finishing that last bottle!

What are your experiences with 1122?
Has anyone found it's sugar tolerance?
How many of you have gotten it above 14% ABV?
What is your experience with Aging Time?

I'm just looking for Anecdotes really, someone more than the sales pitch given on the Lallemand Website. I feel like this could be helpful for everyone because most of us are just making this stuff by ourselves at home.

Thanks and Cheers!

 

71b is great for fruit based meads. Especially cysers (apple cider based meads) because it can ferment malic acid to a higher degree than most yeast. For many years, it was considered a fast mead yeast because it is generally drinkable around 8-10 months (with proper SNAs). This has been usurped by BOMM methods.

Problems? You better rack religiously. Mead left on a 71b yeast cake (lees) will gain a slew of off flavors. Very bad autolysis issues.

Typically, 14% is what you see, but...As with all yeast, under the right conditions they will put on their super suits. I've seen 71b hit 17%, but it's not reliable. It love love loves apples. Fruit in general, but mostly apples.

Many commercial meaderies use 71b exclusively. If you are willing to rack constantly and age properly, it's a fine yeast. I personally am forgetful and never rack enough. As a result, I gave up on 71b. We broke up. It's me. Not 71b.

 

I prefer ec-1118 for my meads and I back sweeten them if needed. My first batch I didn't use any energizer just nutrient and it fermented long (like 3 weeks) and I got some off flavors (rubber taste from the yeast over working) but that aged off by the year and five months mark. I finally used 71b for the first time for my Christmas mead and I just racked it for the third time (after a month and a half) and it's quite wonderful, but I do like the Abv I can get from 1118, and like i said I'm not adverse to back-sweetening but I know some are.

 

71B is a preferred yeast for mead (commercial mead makers seem to use this as their go -to mead ) and this is my preferred mead too. In my opinion it is a low maintenance yeast - it does not result in the production of hydrogen sulfide; it does not stall easily and I have never experienced problems with autolysis and off-flavors (two to three months between rackings does not create any discernible problem).
It is cultivated to be tolerant to about 14% ABV, but who makes wines or meads in excess of 14%? How sweet are you making your mead to balance that amount of alcohol?
Rather than look at a sales pitch locate the spec sheet. It tells you just about everything you need to know... Certainly, (living in upstate NY) I try to ferment at the lower end of its temperature range but then I think that fermenting at higher temperatures creates all kinds of problems.

 

I just put it on a 1.130 OG bochet, so we'll see! Fingers crossed it makes it to the advertised 14% but if it goes a little beyond, I'd be fine with that too. Anywhere 1.018 to 1.030 would be good with me.

 

I'm using this yeast right now for my first batch. I heard it can retain more Apple flavor than some others. Overall, the experience is a pleasure.

I'm one week into primary at 62 degrees. The bubbles are easing up, and the yeast cake is about 1.5cm.

Is the best timing for racking immediately after finishing fermentation?

Would there be any benefit to racking a a few points before FG to get it off its lees? Does that risk stalling fermentation? Im interesting in any info that can help preserve the Apple character with this yeast.

 

I have used it a few times for making mead, including harvesting the slurry from one batch and pitching it into the next.

I made a Wildflower honey mead in early 2014 and sampled it this year and it was not too bad, from what I can remember. I foolishly left it on the lees for too long but I think I got lucky there.

One batch I made this year might have been compromised due to a racking incident where I ended up pouring the dregs into the new jug to fill up headspace so it has been sitting on a thin layer of lees.

 

I really hoped I could get away with going direct from primary to bottles and let the bottles condition longer, and avoid a secondary. Would help me keep the O2 out and reduce the chance of infection etc. Sounds like this isn't a feasible thing to do? If I rack to another 1 gallon jug I could add some fresh honey/water mixture to reduce head space but will probably just end up with another cake...

 

If it ferments it should end up with another cake, unless you add pre-made mead from a smaller backup batch brewed for that specific purpose. Adding sorbate, a chemical I have yet to use but never say never, could also remedy that problem.

Suspended particulate in the mead could drop out and form a sediment even after active fermentation has ceased, I think.

 

Yeah I think I will top up in primary once the krausen drops with a honey/water mix to get as much in there as possible, let it ferment out again, then when i transfer to secondary i'll just top up with only water. cheers!

 

I have used 71B for about half of my meads and I love it.

With respect to my pineapple coconut melomel which I have made a bunch of times:

What are your experiences with 1122?
- It metabolizes malic acid, which really smooths out the pineapple after a few months. It doesn't destroy all the fruity esters from the pineapple like some others I have tried. The difference is subtle, but real.

Has anyone found it's sugar tolerance?
- Not Yet. My biggest OG was 1.12 and it had no trouble starting with proper nutrient additions.

How many of you have gotten it above 14% ABV?
- This melomel goes to 14.5%. With an appropriate margin of error that's 13-15%.

What is your experience with Aging Time?
- 3 months is required to take away the medicinal pineapple smell. Anything less and it's very hot and sharp. At 6 months it is very smooth and drinkable. I haven't had a bottle last more than 9 months : )

 

I've personally had very good luck with this Yeast in my Bochet (I've made 3 so far). My first Bochet was finished in 2 months even! It finished Primary so fast the first time that I thought it had stalled until I did a Gravity reading. For some reason this Yeast also clears very fast in a Bochet for reasons I have yet to fathom, it's especially weird since a previous post mentioned how many times you usually need to rack using this yeast. Also my Botchets have always had a distinct Cherry Flavor to them that I believe is helped by 1122.

My current batch was OG: 1.120 and after racking to Secondary yesterday it's currently at G: 1.017 which puts it at roughly 13.5% ABV. I'm assuming it will drop more though as it hangs out in Secondary. In a few weeks I'm adding the Coffee and Cinnamon.

 

Cheers Dr Floyd, your latest batch inspired mine!

Being my first mead I have no baseline to judge from but I'm surprised how steady the fermentation has been on my bochet, at least by the CO2 production. It's been 14 days now and it's still bubbling once every 1.5 to 2 seconds (on 1 gal batch). I was expecting to wait until it slowed down to every 4 or 5 seconds before racking but I expect I shouldn't wait too much longer based on the lees comments I've read. I haven't taken gravity yet, was planning to wait till activity slowed

 

Question regarding time in primary, as I've heard several mentions that the mead should be taken off the lees as soon as possible. How long are we talking here? I am at 15 days, fermentation has been steady (though not vigorous) this whole time and the bubbles are still coming. I took gravity tonight and there is still quite a long ways to go, I've dropped from 1.130 to 1.078, hoping to make it to 1.030 or less. At this rate I expect I'll need quite a bit more time! I knew the high OG start would be risky, hoping it doesn't backfire.

 

I have a batch of bochet in primary using 71b, started on 10/3, OG: 1.103. I plan on checking the gravity this weekend and hopefully racking for long term aging.

Personally, I wouldn't rack until primary fermentation has completed - or until it has hit, or come close, to a reasonable FG.

 

Also used 71b on a melomel (1.122 in primary for a month, racked on top of blueberries and raspberries for ~3 weeks, then racked off the fruit and aged for ~5 months prior to bottling). FG was 1.005 at bottling

After primary fermentation (SG: 1.010), it was already above 14%. The fruit might have lowered the ABV some, but the FG kept dropping, so the yeast was still active at that point.

 

Don't forget to add some nutrients at the 1/3 breaks, otherwise it might stall..

 

Cheers, looks like I forgot to mention I fed it right after taking that reading - another 1/4 tsp of energizer and somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp of 'superfood' (shouldn't have tried to pour onto spoon)

It's still bubbling once ever ~2 seconds almost another week later at least

 

NibblesNM...resurrecting a 4 year old post here...I am VERY interested in a proven, tasty, pineapple coconut melomel recipe. Any chance you can post yours? Thanks!