Schramm's starters

[WIMARIPA]

In the compleat meadmaker Schramm has directions for how to make starters from liquid yeast. Later on in his books he has some recipes that call for starters made from Lalvin dry yeasts such as D47. Are the starters meant to be made in the same way as for liquid yeast? Is it ok to just use rehydrated yeast? I think I might do that for the meads that only call for one yeast, but
the nutmeg methelgin calls for two different yeasts so maybe for that one it makes more sense to use starters so at least the different yeasts can start out on somewhat the same foot. What do you think?

 

[pkeeler]

I'd look at the size of batch you are doing. Up to 2.5 gal., you probably don't have to make a starter for a liquid yeast or a packet of dry yeast. At 3-5 gal., you probably do want to make a 2 qt starter for liquid and dry yeasts. An alternative for dry yeasts is to pitch 2 packets. Rehydrate your dry yeast per instructions whether pitching them into the must or a starter.

 

[fatbloke]

I'd look at the size of batch you are doing. Up to 2.5 gal., you probably don't have to make a starter for a liquid yeast or a packet of dry yeast. At 3-5 gal., you probably do want to make a 2 qt starter for liquid and dry yeasts. An alternative for dry yeasts is to pitch 2 packets. Rehydrate your dry yeast per instructions whether pitching them into the must or a starter.

Some liquid yeasts, that claim to have enough yeast cells for X amount, are a complete PITA to use - Wyeast "Sweet Mead" in point of fact.

It's very finicky to use, but because it says "Sweet Mead" in the name, a lot of newb's go for it and have problems.

I stay well away from it, as IMO it's complete rubbish. There's obviously a trick to make it work properly, probably something like keeping the gravity down to a level where it's only gonna have something like 1% residual sugar, or keeping the pH within a certain range or something daft like that. I've never had any problems with dry yeasts, making starters or just rehydrating and pitching direct etc, so why that particular yeast should be a pain, is baffling.

If I used it again, I'd definitely make a starter......

 

[malkore]

You definitely want to rehydrate dry yeasts used in meads, since the OG is so high the yeast may not be able to hydrate properly from the sugary must.

I personally don't do starters for dry yeasts, beer, mead or wine.

 

[MedsenFey]

Starters are a handy way to proof the yeast before pitching. I have had some yeast in my fridge for years, and I always feel better in that circumstance to know that they are alive and well before I toss them in.

 

[KeithStone]

I feel FatBloke's pain with the Wyeast sweet mead. It was recommended to me by an employee in the LHBS, so I gave it a try. I had zero success with it. I'm sure there is a trick to get it to work, but I couldn't figure it out. Now I just use dry yeasts and rehydrate them according to their instructions on the package. That seems to work best for me as I haven't encountered any of the problems that I did with the "sweet mead" liquid yeast.