Which yeast is your favorite dry yeast for making mead?

[Maylar]

Suppose a water jacket, fish tank heater /cooler setup would be cheaper.

Is there such thing as a water jacket that you can wrap around a bucket/carboy? I've seen insulated bags for ice but there's no way to control them.

I just isolate the room from the house and control the temp of the whole room. Window unit and electric oil radiator.

My basement brew room has a window and I could theoretically use one of those "portable" AC units, but I need to get down to the low 60's and that'd be a huge waste of electricity. I did pick up an oil radiator this winter and it helped, but again, I'd prefer to heat the bucket not the room. More efficient and better control.

 

[Maylar]

Try some Kveik over the summer. They seem able to handle room temperature up to pretty hot, so if you have a niche in your living space, or maybe even your garage, they'll be happy.

Not going down that path. I might however make a JAOM, and our friend Fleischmann’s is perfectly happy in summer temps

 

[Miraculix]

Not going down that path. I might however make a JAOM, and our friend Fleischmann’s is perfectly happy in summer temps

I think, based on the preliminary results of this thread and based on the fact that it can be dried on baking paper and pretty much used as often as one wants, Voss kveik should be an accelent candidate for mead, summer temperatures or not.

 

[Boden]

Is there such thing as a water jacket that you can wrap around a bucket/carboy? I've seen insulated bags for ice but there's no way to control them.

A bigger bucket to set the carboy/bucket into.

Pump the chilled water into the water bucket, have a hole drilled into it at the drain height with a hose attached to return the water to the chiller reservoir.

Hydroponic shops have all kinds of gear to do this kind of thing.

 

[NeverDie]

I think, based on the preliminary results of this thread and based on the fact that it can be dried on baking paper and pretty much used as often as one wants, Voss kveik should be an accelent candidate for mead, summer temperatures or not.

What is the procedure for drying it exactly? Do I just smear it on baking paper and put in a food dehydrator or something? I have a jar of the Hornindal yeast cake leftover from the original fermentation. Not sure if that's necessarily a good candidate for drying or not, but, if so, I could give it a try.

 

[Boden]

I fixed my comment #514. I’m blaming allergies.

 

[Blacksmith1]

Would.that be an allergy to alcohol?

 

[Boden]

Would.that be an allergy to alcohol?

Nope, grass.

 

[Miraculix]

What is the procedure for drying it exactly? Do I just smear it on baking paper and put in a food dehydrator or something? I have a jar of the Hornindal yeast cake leftover from the original fermentation. Not sure if that's necessarily a good candidate for drying or not, but, if so, I could give it a try.

Yes, just smear it thinly on the paper and let it air dry. No dehydrator necessary, raised temperature might even damage the yeast.

But I guess that horni is a bit of a not so good mead yeast, given its extensive hunger for nutes. Voss seems to be much easier to handle.

 

[NeverDie]

But I guess that horni is a bit of a not so good mead yeast, given its extensive hunger for nutes. Voss seems to be much easier to handle.

It's just a matter of feeding Hornindal the nutes it needs, which, granted, do appear to be a lot more than demanded by most other yeast strains.

But, yes, both Voss and Hothead seem easier.

 

[Blacksmith1]

Nope, grass.

Yer no fun

 

[Maylar]

A bigger bucket to set the carboy/bucket into.

Pump the chilled water into the water bucket, have a hole drilled into it at the drain height with a hose attached to return the water to the chiller reservoir.

Hydroponic shops have all kinds of gear to do this kind of thing.

Check this one out. Dunno how "scaleable" it is for smaller batches though.

http://www.gotta-brew.com/products/cool-zone-cooling-jacket.html

 

[Boden]

Check this one out. Dunno how "scaleable" it is for smaller batches though.

http://www.gotta-brew.com/products/cool-zone-cooling-jacket.html

70$ to accomplish what a 10$ keg bucket and 5$ in fittings will do?

For wrapping around a conical, sure. But if I wanted to cool buckets or a carboy I’d go simple.

 

[Maylar]

70$ to accomplish what a 10$ keg bucket and 5$ in fittings will do?

For wrapping around a conical, sure. But if I wanted to cool buckets or a carboy I’d go simple.

Yeah, but what I like about it is that nothing has to get wet, and it's closed loop so there's no chance of an overflow.

 

[Lefou]

Yes, just smear it thinly on the paper and let it air dry. No dehydrator necessary, raised temperature might even damage the yeast.
But I guess that horni is a bit of a not so good mead yeast, given its extensive hunger for nutes. Voss seems to be much easier to handle.

Now if you REALLY want to do it there are wooden Nord yeast rings you can buy and put together. Simply sanitize, dry, and slop your leftover yeast lees on it and hang it in a dry, safe place.
...or make your own.
http://poppylandbrewer.blogspot.com/2016/01/making-yeast-ring.html

 

[growlrr]

or worse, a man bun and carrying a murse....

 

[RedHeadMead]

For me it would be S-04. I like both the taste and how it flocculates. About the only thig I don't like about it is that it prefers cooler than room temperature, which limits me to the winter or using a chiller of some kind. I'm trying to figure out whether I absolutely need a chiller, or whether some other dry yeast will suffice.

I'm finding that liquid yeasts are rather time intensive to use, so I'd like to take a break from that and use dry yeast for a while. Liquid yeasts are also more expensive, unless I preserve cultures and make stepped-starters, all of which also takes a fair amount of time that dry yeasts don't require.

What's your favorite dry yeast for making mead, and why? What I'd like to find is one that ferments well at room temperature without generating off flavors and/or losing the honey flavors/aromas.

I have been using both lalvin BM 4X4 and Premier blanc. They each have different flavors and the premier dries thing's out much more.

 

[tsholl]

D47 worked well for me. Got up to 12.6%.

 

[NeverDie]

It turns out that Hornindal Kveik yeast cake dries out wonderfully well on parchment paper. I did a test, and found that it shrinks as it dries, automatically releasing itself from the paper. I'm presently drying out an entire Hornindal Kveik yeast cake, after which I'll try to see whether or not I can re-animate it with a Go-Ferm rehydration.

I wonder whether the same 20 billion viable yeast cells per dry gram assumption that some yeast calculators make for regular dry yeast will apply to it as well?

 

[bmd2k1]

Maybe some of these ancient yeasts would rock modern meads! [emoji111]

Israeli scientists brew groundbreaking ‘ancient beer’ from 5,000-year-old yeast. https://tiny.iavian.net/t12o

 

[Blacksmith1]

That's so cool.

 

[NeverDie]

Maybe some of these ancient yeasts would rock modern meads! [emoji111]

Israeli scientists brew groundbreaking ‘ancient beer’ from 5,000-year-old yeast. https://tiny.iavian.net/t12o

Well, how about reviving 45 million year old yeast? https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39142146.html
He did it the Jurassic park way by extracting the ancient yeast from amber.

 

[RPh_Guy]

The yeast I use is made from atoms that were formed by nuclear fusion in the middle of a star billions of years ago.

How cool is that?

 

[NeverDie]

White Labs is now shipping some Kveik's, and among them is WLP4045, which is Voss.

 

[Maylar]

I don't see that you tested Omega Hothead. By the specs, it looks to be an ideal candidate for your trials. Highly flocculent, wide temp range, no fusels. Dr. Denard did a test of it against his favorite 1388 and says it quit at 12.8% and left strong honey notes. If I wanted to make mead at 72° that's what I'd pick.

https://omegayeast.com/yeast/norwegian-ales/hothead-ale

 

[NeverDie]

I don't see that you tested Omega Hothead. By the specs, it looks to be an ideal candidate for your trials. Highly flocculent, wide temp range, no fusels. Dr. Denard did a test of it against his favorite 1388 and says it quit at 12.8% and left strong honey notes. If I wanted to make mead at 72° that's what I'd pick.

https://omegayeast.com/yeast/norwegian-ales/hothead-ale

Where did Dr. Denard post his results regarding Hothead?

My second attempt at Hornindal dry yeast didn't work any better than the first. I'm ready to punt on it.

 

[Maylar]

Where did Dr. Denard post his results regarding Hothead?

http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/28021-Yet-Another-Ale-Yeast-Experiment

My second attempt at Hornindal dry yeast didn't work any better than the first. I'm ready to punt on it.

Hothead is just an ale yeast, not a kveik. But I think it's liquid. Need to order them with ice packs.

 

[andrewmaixner]

Hothead is just an ale yeast, not a kveik. But I think it's liquid. Need to order them with ice packs.

It was obtained and isolated from a dried yeast culture from Stranda, Norway. That's pretty much the very definition of a 'kveik'

https://scottjanish.com/omega-hothead-ale-oyl-057-yeast/ --> http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/296.html

 

[Maylar]

It was obtained and isolated from a dried yeast culture from Stranda, Norway. That's pretty much the very definition of a 'kveik'

https://scottjanish.com/omega-hothead-ale-oyl-057-yeast/ --> http://www.garshol.priv.no/blog/296.html

Interesting. I wonder why Omega doesn't call it one?

 

[NeverDie]

http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/28021-Yet-Another-Ale-Yeast-Experiment

Thanks! I wasn't aware Bray had posted his Hothead results. It seems I've come full circle now: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/brays-one-month-mead.429241/page-37#post-8516556