lagering a mead.

[Jeepsn beer]

Just curious if anyone has ever tried cold fermenting a mead. It could be a pretty lengthy experiment so I thought I'd ask first. A lager yeast like a Cali lager yeast maybe? Is there a cold fermenting wine or mead yeast. Any thoughts on the results? I might try a 1 gallon batch just for the hellovit.

 

[Alamo_Beer]

Look through these:

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/index.php?cPath=178_24_28_29

I've thought about using Lalvin EC-1118 for lagering an apfelwein bc it's lowest temp is 45.

Good luck!

 

[homebrewer_99]

A mead is NOT a lager. Cold conditioning is a waste of time.

 

[NurseNan]

Mead takes a long time to ferment/age. Lagering at lower temps will slow that fermentation even more. That being said, the slower mead ferments, the smoother it is. I have put secondary fermentors into my cold storage room in winter, with temps in the high 40's/low 50's. It might not look like its doing much, but it keeps fermenting, smoothly.

 

[Jeepsn beer]

A mead is NOT a loager. Cold conditioning is a waste of time.

It is a lager if I make it one! The point here is that I'm looking at incorperating some lager yeast flavors into a mead, not saving time. Thanks.

 

[Jeepsn beer]

Mead takes a long time to ferment/age. Lagering at lower temps will slow that fermentation even more. That being said, the slower mead ferments, the smoother it is. I have put secondary fermentors into my cold storage room in winter, with temps in the high 40's/low 50's. It might not look like its doing much, but it keeps fermenting, smoothly.

Perfect. Did you use a lager yeast by chance? Could you pick up flavor differance? If you didn't use a lager yeast could you still pick up flavor differances? Better/ worse or indifferant?
My last Blueberry mel took 5 months at room temp, it could have taken a year or more at 45-50 degrees.

 

[Foreigner]

FWIW: I have a vanilla orange mead that has completely fermented out (0.998). It is still cloudy and shows no signs of dropping yeast soon.

At last racking I put a cloudy glass in the fridge. The yeast began to settle very quickly to the bottom, leaving a nice clear layer to sample from free of the yeast bite of the still young mead.

Not quite an answer to your question, but in the same ballpark. It was brewed with champagne yeast.

 

[david_42]

Sounds like an experiment. Even the Great Mead Yeast Experiment of 2002 did not try a lager yeast. It's worth trying a gallon & reporting back.

[The main mead maker I know, thinks this is a crazy idea and it will take years to ferment. Prove him wrong]

 

[Jeepsn beer]

I have some california lager yeast and a 3 gallon carboy, I'll get this experiment rolling with a 2 gallon batch. Hopefully it wont take years, but I'm willing to wait a year if necessary. I'll try to keep it around 1080-1090 and ferment near 45-50 degrees.

 

[malkore]

It is a lager if I make it one! The point here is that I'm looking at incorperating some lager yeast flavors into a mead, not saving time. Thanks.

keep in mind, i've never lagered a beer....but isn't the point of making a lager to produce a cleaner beer (or mead) without any yeast character, esters, etc?

 

[homebrewer_99]

It is a lager if I make it one! The point here is that I'm looking at incorperating some lager yeast flavors into a mead, not saving time. Thanks.

That is quite true. Even though I make meads I can't comment on the results using beer yeast.

I hold honey as too valuable to experiment with.

 

[67coupe390]

Great thread! I will be making mead here soon and threads as interesting as this make me think mead will be as fun as beer! Good luck with the lager too. Keep us posted!

 

[newguy]

So did anyone ever try this out?

 

[mgayer]

Just curious if anyone has ever tried cold fermenting a mead. It could be a pretty lengthy experiment so I thought I'd ask first. A lager yeast like a Cali lager yeast maybe? Is there a cold fermenting wine or mead yeast. Any thoughts on the results? I might try a 1 gallon batch just for the hellovit.

You should check out the gotmead.com forum! There is enough information there to keep anyone busy for at least a few months. Yes ale and lager yeast have been tried on mead. The biggest issue with any beer yeast is the high gravity that is needed. My sugegstion is to stagger feed the must. This will get your ABV higher and won't over power the yeast. The side effect is that it tends to become hot flavored. Time however will age it out.

Good idea and keep pushing to find new ways or new spins on the old ideas!