RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Too much hydrogen sulfide?
Which yeast is your favorite dry yeast for making mead?
- Thread starter NeverDie
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OP
OP
NeverDie
Well-Known Member
No, some other strange smell that I can't really describe. A bit like vomit perhaps? I dumped both of them.
Northern_Brewer
British - apparently some US company stole my name
Hothead was the first kveik to become widely available commercially, so kveik hadn't become the "brand" it is now. Hence they tried to hide the Norwegianness of it and rebrand Stranda kveik as "Hothead", they were pushing the clean at high temperatures thing rather than its Norwegian farmhouse credentials.
andrewmaixner
Well-Known Member
Sounds about right. Effective marketing!
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Any update on your favorites since April?
I'd like to have a reliable strain to make 1 gal batches in my basement ambient (65-70°F) with or without a water bath..
I'm fine using liquid yeast too.
I have a bunch of honey and 1 gal carboys just itching to be filled.
I'd like to have a reliable strain to make 1 gal batches in my basement ambient (65-70°F) with or without a water bath..
I'm fine using liquid yeast too.
I have a bunch of honey and 1 gal carboys just itching to be filled.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
OP
OP
NeverDie
Well-Known Member
Nope. At the moment I'm primarily focused on M5.
I recently did a batch with Mangrove Jack Mead yeast (M-05). I can't use D47 because I have no temperature control and temps in my office yange from 75-83 degrees on a daily basis 10 months out of the year. I have had great luck with EC-1118, recently done some experiments with K1-V1116 and CBC-1 but must say the M-05 is looking promising. I did a 3 gallon batch of mesquite honey, and it went dry in about 2 weeks. Then poured it onto 20 pounds of strawberries, giving me a 5 gallon batch. Yeasties woke right up and are happily doing their business. Smells nice, looks nice. I'm optomistic. Going to try this with a peach melomel in a few days, except the fruit will be in the primary.
@NeverDie I believe this is the yeast you are referring to when you say M5? If so I would love to compare notes. This stuff looks highly tolerant of heat and ABV, and with enough nutrients doesn't seem to produce and foul aromas.
@NeverDie I believe this is the yeast you are referring to when you say M5? If so I would love to compare notes. This stuff looks highly tolerant of heat and ABV, and with enough nutrients doesn't seem to produce and foul aromas.
Blacksmith1
Captain Cheap
71-B is also in your temp range
Blacksmith1
Captain Cheap
The RHST is right in his range, the other maxs out under his high point.
Blacksmith1
Captain Cheap
D'oh!
OP
OP
NeverDie
Well-Known Member
Yup. I presently have experiments running regarding the nitrogen requirements. Out of all the yeasts I've tried at room temperature, I like its taste the best. In the end, that's what matters most.[USER=262165 said:
Hothead is also a good choice I think. I was running an experiment with it, but I accidentally oxidized it because of some carelessness. Well, from that experience I learned yet another thing not to do, and now I also know what oxidized mead looks like.
I did have an experimental success in completely drying out the Hothead yeast and then later re-animating it, even though probably 80-90% of it died in the process. Fortunately, it seems to tolerate being underpitched. I used fresh yeast, which avoided contamination. If I were to take it further, I'd try harvesting it by top cropping.
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You are correct sir; I plan on trying the 71B at some point in the near future. I have heard great things about it. Meanwhile, I'm really impressed with the M05, and the CBC-1.
A swamp cooler is in my long term plans, along with moving my refrigerator to the garage when I get a replacement for the kitchen. I've definitely got some ideas, but in the short term, I need to work with the temps I have.
A swamp cooler is in my long term plans, along with moving my refrigerator to the garage when I get a replacement for the kitchen. I've definitely got some ideas, but in the short term, I need to work with the temps I have.
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
Long term plans? You just need some kind of tray or tub to hold water at the bottom and a t-shirt or light towel to wick the water.
The water evaporates from the shirt/towel, which cools the carboy.
P.S. I don't know why there's foam in the water in this photo. That's weird. Maybe they used Star San.
Long term plans? You just need some kind of tray or tub to hold water at the bottom and a t-shirt or light towel to wick the water.
View attachment 633816
The water evaporates from the shirt/towel, which cools the carboy.
P.S. I don't know why there's foam in the water in this photo. That's weird. Maybe they used Star San.
Well I'll be gosh darned! I did a little research on "swamp coolers" and most of the returned results were expensive stand alone AC systems. When you say swamp cooler, you are talking, simple evaporative cooling eh? This concept just moved to my short term plans list and I say thankee. Sadly it means admitting a shortage of conventional wisdom on my part.
RPh_Guy
Bringing Sour Back
No worries, Google isn't always helpful unfortunately.
It should drop temp maybe 5-10 degrees or so, and it cools better during the daytime when the relative humidity is lower, which helps maintain it a little more steady.
Cheers
Edit: there are also more sophisticated systems without spending a bundle or tying up space with a fridge/freezer :
A thermostat measuring the beer temperature controls a fan.
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I have a large industrial fan and a kiddie pool. What are your thoughts on that filled with water and some bleach (to keep the funk down) and a wer towel wrapped around the carboy with bungee cords?
I will keep you guys posted and thanks @RPh_Guy for the tips.
Honestly off flavors have not been an issue following the relative BOMM protocol, except for my last batch which is due to an entirely unrelated situation. I make hot sauce using the same equipment and well, an airlock (the stopper in particular) used for a previous batch of sauce was sanitized with Star-San (instead of sterilized using an oxidant) and the hot pepper aroma had absorbed into the bung. This flavor then transferred into my last cyser to a small degree, I just noticed. It is faint, and slight; honestly I may be the only one that notices it but I do notice it and it will be a thorn in my side until the last bottle.
Honestly off flavors have not been an issue following the relative BOMM protocol, except for my last batch which is due to an entirely unrelated situation. I make hot sauce using the same equipment and well, an airlock (the stopper in particular) used for a previous batch of sauce was sanitized with Star-San (instead of sterilized using an oxidant) and the hot pepper aroma had absorbed into the bung. This flavor then transferred into my last cyser to a small degree, I just noticed. It is faint, and slight; honestly I may be the only one that notices it but I do notice it and it will be a thorn in my side until the last bottle.
Blacksmith1
Captain Cheap
Call it a "lightly spiced mead" anf serve it up!
OP
OP
NeverDie
Well-Known Member
If it truly bothers you, I've found that adding enough tanins will disguise the taste of almost anything. This will completely shift the taste away from your target, but in your case it may nonetheless be an improvement. The resulting flavor is more wine-like than mead-like per se, but the final result can still be quite enjoyable.
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Good advice. I think better sanitation or complete separation of my airlocks for hot sauce and wine / brewing is a better choice. This one, I have o take on the chin. That said I will order some tanins too, just in case things don't go to plan/
Just as a follow up on the 2 batches that I've written about here. It's bottling time now.
1) A cyser with local orchard cider and California orange blossom honey, fermented at 60-ish with Renaissance Fresco yeast. It's been oaking for 2.5 months on a combination of American and French oak cubes. This is absolutely the best cyser I've ever made. It has an obvious apple aroma and a floral/citrus honey taste. Exactly the flavor profile that is claimed by the manufacturer. 12.5% ABV.
I have more of this yeast in my fridge that I'll try on this year's cider.
2) A mesquite traditional with Lalvin D21, also at 60-ish. Very clean but totally lacking any honey aroma or flavor. No body, no noticeable tannin. Just a meh white wine. No fault of the yeast, I think the choice of honey was just too mild to be noticeable. I'm gonna do an acid adjustment and see if I can bring out some complexity. It needs something, for sure.
This is odd, because mesquite is often used in mead making demos, and supposedly it makes an outstanding traditional. I also used the optiwhite and booster-blanc additives that are supposed to add body and retain aroma (at least in wine).
Anyway, with 500+ replies and 12000+ views, I'd say this was a rather informative thread. Thanks, @NeverDie
1) A cyser with local orchard cider and California orange blossom honey, fermented at 60-ish with Renaissance Fresco yeast. It's been oaking for 2.5 months on a combination of American and French oak cubes. This is absolutely the best cyser I've ever made. It has an obvious apple aroma and a floral/citrus honey taste. Exactly the flavor profile that is claimed by the manufacturer. 12.5% ABV.
I have more of this yeast in my fridge that I'll try on this year's cider.
2) A mesquite traditional with Lalvin D21, also at 60-ish. Very clean but totally lacking any honey aroma or flavor. No body, no noticeable tannin. Just a meh white wine. No fault of the yeast, I think the choice of honey was just too mild to be noticeable. I'm gonna do an acid adjustment and see if I can bring out some complexity. It needs something, for sure.
This is odd, because mesquite is often used in mead making demos, and supposedly it makes an outstanding traditional. I also used the optiwhite and booster-blanc additives that are supposed to add body and retain aroma (at least in wine).
Anyway, with 500+ replies and 12000+ views, I'd say this was a rather informative thread. Thanks, @NeverDie
OP
OP
NeverDie
Well-Known Member
You're welcome! My pleasure. And a big thank-you for all your contributions too.
Closing the loop on the Mangrove Jack's M05 yeast nutrient experiment: it turned out that TOSNA 3.0 low nutrients produced the best taste.
Out of all the yeast strains that I tried at room temperature, I ended up liking M05, Hothead, and Voss the best. All 3 seem to perform quite well at room temperature. JAOM at room temperature also worked out quite well. The Fresco yeast is pretty good too.
By the way, given enough time M05 does seem to clear quite well all on its own without the need for any finings like Bentonite. It doesn't clear as quickly as some yeasts, but it does get there eventually.
Closing the loop on the Mangrove Jack's M05 yeast nutrient experiment: it turned out that TOSNA 3.0 low nutrients produced the best taste.
Out of all the yeast strains that I tried at room temperature, I ended up liking M05, Hothead, and Voss the best. All 3 seem to perform quite well at room temperature. JAOM at room temperature also worked out quite well. The Fresco yeast is pretty good too.
By the way, given enough time M05 does seem to clear quite well all on its own without the need for any finings like Bentonite. It doesn't clear as quickly as some yeasts, but it does get there eventually.
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Good evening!
Any more updates on your excessive testing? Any long-term results?
Cheers!
He hasn't been here for a couple years.
How unfortunate.
I'm glad to see this thread float to the top again; I'd forgotten about it, so thank you to whomever gave it a bump. I'm getting ready to start a 1 gallon batch of mead, and I never did get around to trying AW4 yeast like I mentioned 2 years ago so I might do that now. I need to see what I can glean from the BOMM thread and Dr Denard's web site to give it the best chance I can. (KHC03, adding the nutrients at 1/3 and 2/3 sugar breaks, frequent degassing, etc.)
