Yeast Varieties & Suggestions

[ponderosa_pints]

What yeast does everyone use? In the past, I have been using champagne yeast, and it provides a crisp, dry mead, but I was wondering what everyone else uses, and the advantages that those yeasts offer. Thanks!

 

[bernardsmith]

Why not experiment? Every yeast brings something to the mead and takes something from it. Yeast highlights some flavors and masks others. Some yeast enhance mouthfeel others don't. I ferment with small amounts of yeast /gallon (about 1.25 lbs) and so I look for yeasts that highlight flavors and mouthfeel. Champagne yeast tends to be the last yeast I would consider using since it is so aggressive and blows off any of the subtle flavors found in the honey... But then I also tend to ferment at higher temperatures than many mead makers consider reasonable given the published preferences for their yeasts.

 

[de4dcore]

Hello, every strain has different characteristics (alcohol tolerance, temperature tolerance, nutrients requirement, volatile acidity production, suitability for aging on lees, flocculation etc.) and the kind and quantity of byproducts they release will impart the mead different flavours.

Here's some experiments done by a brewer with beer yeasts.

Ale Yeast and Belgian Ale Yeast Experiment - The birth of the BOMM/

 

[gratus fermentatio]

What yeast does everyone use? In the past, I have been using champagne yeast, and it provides a crisp, dry mead, but I was wondering what everyone else uses, and the advantages that those yeasts offer. Thanks!

In the words of Jack Keller: "Choose your yeast as you would choose a tool."
Different strains do different things, so it really depends on what you want to make. Here's a useful list of yeast strains & some of the qualities of each:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp
Regards, GF.

 

[madscientist451]

I've heard D-47 being used by commercial mead makers, pitch 2 packs for 5 gallons and use yeast nutrient.
I've Used Wyeast sweet mead yeast with good results.
Here's a podcast where they talk about D-47 and pitch rates:

http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/2/8/2/282...95450175&hwt=37b9ec5ab345519add67856be03bfd8b

 

[Drewed]

Right now I'm dabbling with honey from different sources. As such I want to only change one thing at a time so I am sticking with the wheats 1388, but on occasion when I get more of my favorite honey, I'm trying different ales. Right now I have a Monistary ale from White Labs that is looking really promising. I also have planned a batch with a little rolled oats in them to see if I can up the mouth feel.

 

[Baabaadoo]

In the words of Jack Keller: "Choose your yeast as you would choose a tool."
Different strains do different things, so it really depends on what you want to make. Here's a useful list of yeast strains & some of the qualities of each:
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/strains.asp
Regards, GF.

Awesome link! Saving this one for the future!

 

[bernardsmith]

I also have planned a batch with a little rolled oats in them to see if I can up the mouth feel.

Vintner's Harvest BV7 yeast is described as a producer of glycerols and glycerols increase the mouthfeel.. https://vintnersharvest.com/collections/wine-yeasts/products/45583 - I cannot confirm its effectiveness but I am using this strain on a batch of acacia mead I am making that includes dates, pomegranates, and carob (I have yet to combine and blend the separate carboys)..

 

[Baabaadoo]

interesting. In what circumstances do you want to increase mouth feel more than others? I wasn't aware of the reference. So this is a lacto fermentation? in other words-bacteria, right? Just making sure I understand properly.

*googles carob and what it tastes like*

 

[Drewed]

Vintner's Harvest BV7 yeast is described as a producer of glycerols and glycerols increase the mouthfeel.. https://vintnersharvest.com/collections/wine-yeasts/products/45583 - I cannot confirm its effectiveness but I am using this strain on a batch of acacia mead I am making that includes dates, pomegranates, and carob (I have yet to combine and blend the separate carboys)..

Thanks, I will totally look in that yeast. I must have been drinking too much mead when I posted that as it is actually a cider that I'm doing the rolled oats with, but I may try that yeast with booth.

 

[bernardsmith]

interesting. In what circumstances do you want to increase mouth feel more than others? I wasn't aware of the reference. So this is a lacto fermentation? in other words-bacteria, right? Just making sure I understand properly.

*googles carob and what it tastes like*

With mead the source of flavor and the source of the fermentables come from the honey (assuming that you are making a traditional mead with no other additives to flavor the mead). That suggests that the drier the mead the less viscosity it will have. And THAT suggests that with little viscosity there won't be a great deal of mouthfeel - and with that our ability to "extract" and enjoy the aroma and the flavors present will be inhibited.
I say that because for me mouthfeel is the way a wine or mead coats your tongue and mouth as it slips down your throat. Meads or wines with poor mouthfeel don't "coat" the surfaces inside your mouth. They simply wash over those surfaces. When there is good mouthfeel the flavors and aromas linger and the longer they linger after each mouthful the richer the mouthfeel, and the more flavor and aroma you perceive. You can increase mouthfeel "artificially" by adding glycerin and the like, or by increasing the amount of residual sugars there are in the mead or wine (and so increase the viscosity), but some yeasts are cultured for their ability to increase viscosity... BV7 is one of those.