2nd Mead: To Kveik or not to Kveik

[blasterooni]

Given the wonderful outcome of my first mead, I have decided to make a second. I'm going to follow the same nutrient protocol as with the last batch using TOSNA. This time I have some potassium carbonate if I need it.

The question now is, do I use 71b-1122, or should I run with a kveik? I have an Opshaug already started that I was originally going to dry or store in slurry form to save for later, I also have some Voss and Tormodgarden, for both I would need to make a starter before pitching. There's also some Hornindal ready to go that harvested and washed from a cider. That too I was going to store as a slurry in some test tubes; there's plenty of that to use now.

I have read that folks are having great results using Kveik for mead, however, since I only have one mead under my belt, I am a little hesitant to use it this early in the mead game. If anyone has an opinion, feel free to share it

 

[Redeemer]

I would use the Kveik. You can't go wrong with the Hornindal or Voss.

Question though, why do you feel you would need to make a starter before pitching? It won't hurt, but this yeast is pretty resilient. Even with a high OG I think you should be ok with just pitching it, so long as the must and the yeast are at the same temps.

 

[FunkyMunk]

I see no reason not to try the kviek. I'm not positive but I believe it is a nutrient hog. Also, I don't think the potassium carbonate will be necessary if you're making a traditional mead. Highly acidic fruit MAY drop the pH enough to stress the yeast but honey on its own should be fine.

 

[Seamonkey84]

I see no reason not to try the kviek. I'm not positive but I believe it is a nutrient hog. Also, I don't think the potassium carbonate will be necessary if you're making a traditional mead. Highly acidic fruit MAY drop the pH enough to stress the yeast but honey on its own should be fine.

Honey has no buffer to it, so ph swings do occur once it starts fermentation. Though it may not be always needed, it helps prevent the batch from stalling from a ph crash, and added some potassium for the yeast.

 

[FunkyMunk]

Honey has no buffer to it, so ph swings do occur once it starts fermentation. Though it may not be always needed, it helps prevent the batch from stalling from a ph crash, and added some potassium for the yeast.

Ok. I've heard different things about it, was just passing along what some other experienced mazers had said. Is potassium supplied at all by nutrients?

 

[blasterooni]

I see no reason not to try the kviek. I'm not positive but I believe it is a nutrient hog. Also, I don't think the potassium carbonate will be necessary if you're making a traditional mead. Highly acidic fruit MAY drop the pH enough to stress the yeast but honey on its own should be fine.

I didn't add potassium carbonate last time and it turned out great, I did add malic acid at the start thinking in terms of cider, which could have been a mistake, but ended up fine as far I could tell. I won't add it this next batch though.

 

[FunkyMunk]

I didn't add potassium carbonate last time and it turned out great, I did add malic acid at the start thinking in terms of cider, which could have been a mistake, but ended up fine as far I could tell. I won't add it this next batch though.

Glad it turned out ok. I got a recipe from my LHBS that called for adding acid upfront, I think, but the prevailing wisdom now seems to be to wait until after fermentation, backsweetening, etc. (basically the last thing you do before clarifying/bottling). I did some tasting trials on a 1-gallon batch that stalled at around 1.010 or so, and added 1 gram of tartaric acid, which seemed to balance the sweetness pretty well. I have some potassium carbonate that I got to try and fix a cider that was way too sour. I eventually realized that the cider had some sort of bug. Still held on to the potassium carbonate but haven't needed it yet.

 

[blasterooni]

Glad it turned out ok. I got a recipe from my LHBS that called for adding acid upfront, I think, but the prevailing wisdom now seems to be to wait until after fermentation, backsweetening, etc. (basically the last thing you do before clarifying/bottling). I did some tasting trials on a 1-gallon batch that stalled at around 1.010 or so, and added 1 gram of tartaric acid, which seemed to balance the sweetness pretty well. I have some potassium carbonate that I got to try and fix a cider that was way too sour. I eventually realized that the cider had some sort of bug. Still held on to the potassium carbonate but haven't needed it yet.

I cracked a bottle open last night (ran out of cider, and wifey was a little stressed, so...I didn't want to open one, but you know how it goes sometimes), and even with about a week of aging if you could even cal it that yet, its already mellowing out a bit, not as hot as it was when it was freshly done.

I once thought that I had an lacto bac infection, but it turned out that I had added acid up front according to my notes. I then used the same yeast that I had dried on another batch of cider with different apples/juice, and no problems. I am sure a more seasoned palate could tell the difference right away between acidity and a lacto bac infection. I'm not there yet

 

[blasterooni]

I would use the Kveik. You can't go wrong with the Hornindal or Voss.

Question though, why do you feel you would need to make a starter before pitching? It won't hurt, but this yeast is pretty resilient. Even with a high OG I think you should be ok with just pitching it, so long as the must and the yeast are at the same temps.

I'd need to make a "starter" so there's even enough to pitch. So, not do much a starter as it would be propagating and using some of the slurry to pitch with, and dry the rest for later.