Fermenting with Lalvin K1-V1116

[Havoc2617]

So I am about to start my very first Mead. I am making a gallon batch with Clover Honey and K1-V1116 yeast.
My question is how low is too low a temperature and how high is too high for this strain?
I live in a warm state and the current house temp is 77-78 degrees, would the fridge (At 42 degrees) too cold?
I know the yeast says under 61 degrees for best results but i have no way currently to achieve that temp.

 

[khannon]

How large a batch? can you stick it into a tub of water and add ice as needed? 42 is probably a bit too cool(though it is the answer). You could also look at other ways of cooling, a wet cloth over the whole thing will get you a few degrees through evaporation. Also keep in mind that depending on the volume, the liquid while fermenting will be (significantly?) warmer than ambient temps.

 

[Havoc2617]

How large a batch? can you stick it into a tub of water and add ice as needed? 42 is probably a bit too cool(though it is the answer). You could also look at other ways of cooling, a wet cloth over the whole thing will get you a few degrees through evaporation. Also keep in mind that depending on the volume, the liquid while fermenting will be (significantly?) warmer than ambient temps.

One gallon as i said.

 

[khannon]

Sorry, been drinking..

I would suggest putting it(the whole fermenting vessel) in a large pot, fill it with water, and add a few ice cubes as needed to keep the water ~58-60 degrees. Colder(slightly) the more of the fermenting vessel that is out of the water.

Not sure on how long the primary fermentation on that yeast is, but that's probably roughly how long I would do this for.

As a bonus, if you have blow-off, the pot should catch it.

 

[MountainHighYeast]

What's the worst that could happen in your current temperature range?

 

[Grump]

K1-V1116 (Montpellier) does well in temperatures ranging from 59-86 deg F. Some sources cite even going as high as 95deg F. The lower temperatures w/ the right nutrient additives allows for more flowery ester production. If this is your goal, then placing the jug in a cold/cool water bath, or drape a wet cloth over the jug with a fan blowing across it (Swamp cooler) might be the way to go. 42deg F is too cold and will likely make the yeast go dormant.
If you're simply trying to make mead, then let it ride at 77-78 deg. This yeast can take it.
I'll add that any yeast, as long as they aren't being asked to produce beyond the extremes of their range, (and all other factors being equal) are generally predictable. Just keep the temperatures steady. Temperature fluctuations are usually more damaging than operating at the top or bottom end of their optimal temperatures. Severe temperature fluctuations, regardless of the yeast variety, will often result in unpredictable yeast behavior.

 

[Havoc2617]

Thank you all for your responses, it had been helpful for the fermenting process.
So I am now coming up on my 2 week fermentation mark (10/9/2020). I have kept the mead at a temperature of high 60's low 70's consistently. I made 4 staggard nutrient additions (24, 48, 72 and 96hrs) swirling the bottle each addition to get a mix. I also did another swirl yesterday (10/5/2020) to make sure any yeast on the bottom were still working (I got this idea from a video online). What I am noticing is the color of the mead is hazy and golden. The recipe tells me to stabilize (with Potassium Metabisulfate and Sorbistat K) the mead before back sweetening my question is this:
1. Should I rack the mead off of the yeast into a new bottle then stabilize?
2. Do I stabilize, wait an amount of time then rack?
3. When should I back sweeten? @ note1, note2 or do I wait and back sweeten at a later date?
I understand that the yeast may take a bit longer to reach the point where they have no more sugar to work with.
4. I am unsure how or when the mead will begin to clarify. Should I cold crash like a beer or just wait during the secondary stage keeping the mead at room temp (78 degrees?) Or colder?
At the 2 week point coming up I am planning on taking a SG reading and a taste test (which I have no idea what to expect taste wise having never had a mead before).
Thank you again for all the help with this new addition to my brewing hobby and my apologies for the length of this post.

 

[SteveO820]

Sounds like you're doing great! That temp should be perfectly fine and it's great you're adding the nutrients to keep those yeasties happy! Mead looks like a golden cloud for majority of it's fermentation. Once the yeast are done, it'll go clear even on top of a lees.

1. You could rerack it before stabilizing for clarity purposes and get it off the lees. I don't think it really matters however this is the process I take (I rerack into a secondary before the fermentation is fully complete then add KSorbate to the mix once all the sugars are gone and start cold crashing along with it)
2. You could also stabilize in the primary and then rack into a secondary later. I'd give it a little time, at least 24 hours to mix and do it's thing.
3. After you stabilize, you could back-sweeten fairly quick I believe. I'll have it cold crashing for a week or so just to let things drop out a little.
4. Cold crash like a beer for the same reasons if you have the space in your fridge. It's actually impressive how clear mead can get with just some refrigeration and time.

 

[Havoc2617]

Sounds like you're doing great! That temp should be perfectly fine and it's great you're adding the nutrients to keep those yeasties happy! Mead looks like a golden cloud for majority of it's fermentation. Once the yeast are done, it'll go clear even on top of a lees.

1. You could rerack it before stabilizing for clarity purposes and get it off the lees. I don't think it really matters however this is the process I take (I rerack into a secondary before the fermentation is fully complete then add KSorbate to the mix once all the sugars are gone and start cold crashing along with it)
2. You could also stabilize in the primary and then rack into a secondary later. I'd give it a little time, at least 24 hours to mix and do it's thing.
3. After you stabilize, you could back-sweeten fairly quick I believe. I'll have it cold crashing for a week or so just to let things drop out a little.
4. Cold crash like a beer for the same reasons if you have the space in your fridge. It's actually impressive how clear mead can get with just some refrigeration and time.

Wonderful I was hoping I hadn't messed up. I am soo looking forward to the taste test and SG reading tomorrow. I will update after that happens.

 

[Havoc2617]

.