What kind of yeast is better in your opinion?

[Arpolis]

Hello all. I have one thrown together cheapo kit mead going but I am trying to research and plan for a better quality mead for the future. I want to do two different batches ether 1 or 3 gallon. First is Joam, and the second I want to do is a vanilla Metheglin. My local brewer shop likes to carry RedStar Yeast. I have the following available:

Montrachet
Pasteur Champagne
Côte des Blancs
Premier Curvée
Pasteur Red

On the Joam I swear I am sticking to the recipe as exact as I can, except the yeast. I just did not like the idea of using bread yeast. I hope that the joam will give me a starter on what decent mead tastes like and my new ideas can branch from there. The second batch will be an attempt to see if I can match my tastes. So here is my final question. Which of the yeast types would be best for the above ideas and why? Thanks for any thoughts on this.

 

[Arpolis]

I found some info on Winemakermag.com that looked usefull. Maybe this will help anyone in their thoughts:


Yeast Name // Type // Strain // Temp // ABV% tollerance/Flocculation
Montrachet // Dry // Davis#522 // 59-86° // 13% Low
Pasteur Champagne // Dry // Davis#595 // 59-86° // 13-15% Medium-Low
Côte des Blancs // Dry // Davis#750 // 64-86° // 12-14% Low
premier Curvée // Dry // Davis#796 // 45-95° // 18% Low
Pasteur Red // Dry // Davis#904 // 64-86° // 16% Low

I am thinking ether Pasture Champagne or Pasture Red. Any thoughts on these?

 

[fatbloke]

I've tried redstar a couple of times and have yet to find one that I like.

I go with Lalllemand/Lalvin products, as they publish more data than other makers. Their product chart is here. I prefer D21 and K1V-1116, both are excellent for traditionals.

And yes, I have to mail order them as there isn't anywhere who stocks them nearby.....

 

[turtlescales]

So far, I've really been pleased with Lalvin yeasts also. From what I understand though, you should stick with the bread yeast if you are doing the JAOM recipe. That recipe is designed to work within the limitations of the bread yeast and leaves a lot of residual sugar that works with some of the other tastes. All of the yeasts you have listed ferment dry, I have read this recipe is terrible dry. If you don't want to use bread yeast, I'd find a different recipe but that is just my opinion.

 

[Arpolis]

So far, I've really been pleased with Lalvin yeasts also. From what I understand though, you should stick with the bread yeast if you are doing the JAOM recipe. That recipe is designed to work within the limitations of the bread yeast and leaves a lot of residual sugar that works with some of the other tastes. All of the yeasts you have listed ferment dry, I have read this recipe is terrible dry. If you don't want to use bread yeast, I'd find a different recipe but that is just my opinion.

Ok then, I will go with the bread yeast on that recipe then. I just heard that bread yeast gives off some off flavors but I did not think about the fact that bread yeast has a low alchohol tolerance. Which would cause a sweeter mead/less dry.

 

[Bugeaud]

Ok then, I will go with the bread yeast on that recipe then. I just heard that bread yeast gives off some off flavors but I did not think about the fact that bread yeast has a low alcohol tolerance.

Well, bread yeast tends to kick the bucket around 8-11%. I don't think it really gives any off flavours as long as you VERY carfuly rack it off the lees bread yeast lees are extremely easy to stir up. A cloudy bread yeast batch will give you a gross grainy flavour, but even if you do stir it up you can still rack off later if you choose to be patient. P.S. I found bread yeast is somewhat unreliable (or should i say the stores I get them from?) so I would highly recommend activating the bread yeast first. When I did JAOM I activated the bread yeast. It expanded A LOT in the measuring cup so you probably want to look for that to see if it's alive.