I just wanted to add in a bit more, now that I'm not on my mobile device, which can be a PITA if you're trying to be detailed...advance apologies for being lengthy!
I haven't made mead yet but plan to soon. I've watched a bunch of how to videos and it looks like everyone just pitches the yeast in without a starter when using dry. With liquid, you can make a starter with apple juice.
To clarify, again it's not necessary to use a starter to step up your yeast when using dry yeast, but I do believe that rehydration is important, and pitching dry yeast directly into must will probably drop your starting cell counts by a half.
DME or LME is a much better media for making a starter, as it definitely has all the nutrients needed. Additionally, while it might be OK for a mead, which is mostly simple sugars, using apple juice or honey to make a starter will turn off some of the yeast enzymes needed to break down more complex di- and polysaccharides like maltose, maltotriose, etc.
I know that you can just toss the packet into the must and, in most cases, everything will be fine. But sometimes things don't go right - like a stuck fermentation. I've also heard that the longer the fermentation lasts, the greater the possibility of off flavors developing (something about "esters"). So maybe throwing the packet in makes a tasty mead, but then again, if I put in the extra effort I can make a mead that tastes even better.
So this is what I'm going to do about 12 hours before I brew: I'm going ahead with the GoFerm rehydration per directions on their website....you know - 1.25 grams per gram of yeast; heat water to 100; add yeast, wait 15 minutes and pitch to a starter. The starter will be a low gravity must, about 1.05, volume about 1qt with a pinch of nutrient. I'll wait until the GoFerm concocton temp and must temp equalize - i'll shoot for about 80.
Hmmm....that actually sounds like a pretty good plan. Helps to talk these things out.
I'm glad you're willing to recognize that while you *can* make mead the lazy way, it's worth the effort to do more. I firmly believe that the reason mead has the reputation for having to ferment and age for very long periods before being drinkable or good is because of poor fermentation management. Do it right, and you can drastically reduce your time until ready to drink.
The process you have decided on, as similarly described by others, is sort of a hybrid. You are rehydrating, but then allowing it to sit with some sugar exposure, which I suppose does allow for some yeast growth. Still, I would suspect that your process is not giving you adequate yeast counts, and you could get much more than what you are ending up with in 15 min by simply adding a 2nd packet of yeast into the equation.
I would challenge you to check out some of the pitch rate calculators out there, such as Mr. Malty, and especially
YeastCalc, which is what I used to do these calculations:
A single 5 gm packet of yeast has about 100 billion cells. If you make a 1.050 starter (which is a bit high; you would probably be better off with a lower OG for a starter) with 1 LITER (slightly bigger than your quart starter) and add 1 packet of yeast, you will only end up with 148 billion cells. This assumes you actually allow the fermentation to go to completion, and it seems that many of the users of this method, including your own plan, are pitching somewhere during the active fermentation process, and have considerably less cells.
Further consider that what is recommended for a 5 gal batch of a 1.100 OG (a relatively low OG when it comes to mead) fermentation is
337 billion cells! That's more than 15 grams of dry yeast! Indeed, I generally do use three 5 gm packets for my dry yeast fermentations, and this is still under pitching!
I think stuck ferments have way more to do with overly high Starting gravities and/or lack of nutrients.
That said starters and or rehydrating won't hurt.
All true. In some cases, doing some amount of step feeding to minimize the osmotic effect of the OG could be warranted. In addition to proper pitch rates and staggered nutrient additions, getting good aeration (and more preferably, frank oxygenation - the equipment isn't that expensive), degassing during the initial stages of fermentation, and temperature management are very important in producing a great mead more quickly and more reliably.
