Hi all- I'm conducting a mead yeast experiment for an article that will be published in the Jan/Feb 2016 issue of Zymurgy (if you read the recent mead yeast experiment with Ken Schramm a couple months ago using wine yeasts, it will be somewhat similar to that). However this experiment will focus only on ale yeasts, and will utilize proper nutrient additions to account for the higher YAN requirements that ale yeasts have.
I know many people have been experimenting with ale yeasts, including the experiments done with BOMM's and using Wyeast 1388. The goal of this experiment will be to use two ale yeasts commonly used with mead: Wyeast 1388 and WLP001, and compare those with 7 other ale yeasts that I've heard work well. Some of these I've already experimented with and had great results (like WLP007) and some are a shot in the dark. I've tried to leave out any strands already included in previous BOMM yeast experiments.
There will be a panel of certified BJCP mead judges helping to provide tasting notes for each one, and the results will be published in Zymurgy. I'll also share a summary of the results here after it's published.
My question to the group: what ale yeasts would you like to see included? Other thoughts on the experiment? The yeasts I currently plan to use are below:
-WLP001 (commonly used)
-Wyeast 1388 (commonly used)
-WLP004 Irish Ale
-WLP007 Dry English
-WLP0028 Scottish Ale
-WLP080 Cream Ale Blend
-WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale
-WLP575 Belgian Blend
-Wyeast 3711 French Saison
I'll use CA Orange Blossom honey and probably start with an OG around 1.090 so that most of these yeasts will finish dry and make it a more even competition. For nutrient additions I use a combination of Fermaid O/Fermaid K/DAP to get to a YAN of about 350, with at least 50% of the nitrogen coming from Fermaid O. The experiment will start the first week of July and the tasting will be sometime in September. Most of these yeasts are White Labs because they're generously donating the yeast to help with the experiment.
Cheers,
Billy
I know many people have been experimenting with ale yeasts, including the experiments done with BOMM's and using Wyeast 1388. The goal of this experiment will be to use two ale yeasts commonly used with mead: Wyeast 1388 and WLP001, and compare those with 7 other ale yeasts that I've heard work well. Some of these I've already experimented with and had great results (like WLP007) and some are a shot in the dark. I've tried to leave out any strands already included in previous BOMM yeast experiments.
There will be a panel of certified BJCP mead judges helping to provide tasting notes for each one, and the results will be published in Zymurgy. I'll also share a summary of the results here after it's published.
My question to the group: what ale yeasts would you like to see included? Other thoughts on the experiment? The yeasts I currently plan to use are below:
-WLP001 (commonly used)
-Wyeast 1388 (commonly used)
-WLP004 Irish Ale
-WLP007 Dry English
-WLP0028 Scottish Ale
-WLP080 Cream Ale Blend
-WLP545 Belgian Strong Ale
-WLP575 Belgian Blend
-Wyeast 3711 French Saison
I'll use CA Orange Blossom honey and probably start with an OG around 1.090 so that most of these yeasts will finish dry and make it a more even competition. For nutrient additions I use a combination of Fermaid O/Fermaid K/DAP to get to a YAN of about 350, with at least 50% of the nitrogen coming from Fermaid O. The experiment will start the first week of July and the tasting will be sometime in September. Most of these yeasts are White Labs because they're generously donating the yeast to help with the experiment.
Cheers,
Billy
