Is there a mead yeast calculator?

[Elysium]

I am thinking of using safale yeast for my first mead and I'd like to know how much to pitch. Is there a calculator like the mr.malty calculator?

 

[bernardsmith]

I guess I don't really understand your question. The sugars in honey are - for all intents and purposes 100 percent fermentable. Any yeast that you pitch in a must where honey is the source of sugar is 100 percent attenuated. But the only problem I see is that to produce a mead with sufficient flavor you will need to use at least 2.5- 3 lbs of honey per gallon. That means the SG of the must will be about 1.100 - 1.120 and that means that the potential ABV of that mead will be about 13 - 16 %. Will your safale tolerate 15 or 16 % ABV? If it will then no problem. If your ale yeast is not up to tolerating that kind of concentration of sugar or that amount of alcohol, then you might want to think about using yeasts designed to ferment wines (71B, QA 23, D47 , even champagne yeasts if you don't mind their aggressive nature and their tendency to blow off flavor and aromatic molecules. Dry wine yeasts are packaged to ferment 1-6 gallons of must without blinking..

 

[MNSmitty]

I am thinking of using safale yeast for my first mead and I'd like to know how much to pitch. Is there a calculator like the mr.malty calculator?

Maybe Ive been doing it wrong, but its worked out for me. I use the same calculations for beer as mead. Sugars are sugars as far as yeasts go in my experience. It hasnt been an issue so far. For instance my current BOMM, I used to smack packs of 1388 with an original gravity of 1.12
I didnt make a starter, just used the smack packs

 

[fuelish]

Seems beer brewers are overly anal about a lot of things any more - not singling you out, Elysium, just an observation.... one package of dry wine yeast is sufficient for up to 5 gallons easily.....rehydrate, and one is good to go. I started homebrewing beer a long time ago....don't quite understand all the fuss these days...it used to be laid back...I love making mead, it's easy and not stressful in any way..when did beer homebrewers become so fussy about every lil thing? I must've missed the memo, or something

 

[bernardsmith]

I think the thing is that wine makers view fruits and saps and honey as always teetering on the edge of fermentation. You just show them the yeast and they go gangbusters. The secret is to make sure that you get out of the way of the yeast. With brewing my sense is that nothing worthwhile will happen unless and until you spend 6-8 hours cajoling the right enzymes out of the grains then collecting the sugars in just the right way , then boiling that tea for just the right amount of time and then cooling it so fast that it makes your eyes weep. In short, wine makers are kinda laid back and trust their yeasts while brewers are wracked with anxiety that something so complex must go wrong...and hence the necessary mantra RDWHAHB ...
Just kiddin'