in the middle of mead making need help? please

[garlicbee]

the only yeast at the store was lalvin ec-118 when got it home it says must add to sulfited must!

dont know what that means

was going to add it to honey, cherries, a few raisins and water?

or should i just throw in some fleischmans yeast a la modified JOAM?

its cooling as we speak!

 

[Insomniac]

I wouldn't worry about it. Some people don't like 1118, and there are better yeasts out there but I would choose it over bread yeast for anything other than the jaom recipe. I've never sulphited my meads and have had no problems. I think its more for fruit based drinks.

 

[Insomniac]

Oh, and sulphiting the must is adding 1 camden tablet per galon 24 hours before adding the yeast, it is done to kill of wild yeasts that might be living in your grapes when making wine.

 

[garlicbee]

ahaha that makes sense- the honey was heated so should be ok


thanks for the answers

 

[fatbloke]

ahaha that makes sense- the honey was heated so should be ok


thanks for the answers

Sort of right. Honey is one of natures most anti-fungal and anti-bacterial substances. It doesn't ferment on its own, it needs to be watered down for that.

Heating it up is an unnecessary step, which often removes a lot of the aromatics, and possibly some of the more subtle flavours, which is the same as what often happens when you use a champagne yeast as well (and yes, 1118 is a champagne yeast).

It's all to do with paying for a nice varietal honey and keeping as much of the aroma and flavour as possible.

As insomniac says, there are many better yeasts for mead making, but you should end up with something drinkable just that it probably won't have the wow factor.

If you have a look over at the gotmead forums, they link their "NewBee guide", which is well worth the read, as there's a stack of good advice, tips and tricks that aren't always obvious to the new mead maker.....