4 replies to this topic

[zymot]

It will be a still medium to sweet mead. I have a source for orange blossom honey that I like.Honey, water, hightest's yeast SNA plan, yeast, no boil method and time is what I am doing.Any recommendations for a dry yeast? I have morebeer as a LHBS, so just about any yeast is available to me fresh.Which is easy to get reliable results? The fermentation & secondary-aging will be in the 60-65° range.Thanks,zymot

[zymot]

I just found an answer to my question.hightest's basic mead recipe suggests Lalvin ICV D-47. Ken Schramm endorsed it as well. I guess that is all I need to know.zymot

[ScottS]

Maybe too late, but I use 71B-1122 for just about everything. In my opinion, it preserves the honey aromatics better than D47. D47 makes a bit more of a "winey" mead, which some people prefer. Both are good fermenters.

[zymot]

Maybe too late, but I use 71B-1122 for just about everything. In my opinion, it preserves the honey aromatics better than D47. D47 makes a bit more of a "winey" mead, which some people prefer. Both are good fermenters.

Your description of 71B is what I am looking for. I want the orange blossom & honey to shine through.I already ordered the D47 from Williams Brewing. Good news, Williams only charges $6.50 for shipping. I can't drive to the LHBS for less than that even if they had it. I can use the D47 for my Sorell mead that is up next. That one I will be looking for a winey profile.So all is good. The first batch is the toughest.Thanks,zymot

[zymot]

Update:Brewed my first mead one week ago.One of my LHBS sells 71B yeast by the gram. You tell them how much you want, and and they take it off a 2 Kg brick. I made the call on the fly and went with 12 grams.I went by the hightest basic mead recipe and followed it to the letter, except I adjusted all my go-ferm, nutrient and DAP quantities for the increase in yeast.I bought five 1 gallon bottles of spring water. I had a brain fart and did not put one or two of the bottles in the fridge. Instead all the bottles started at garage temps, ~70°. After heating the 2 gallons of water to the hightest recommended 115° adding the honey and then mixing, with 2 gallons of garage temp water, the temp was stuck at 80°. A tad higher than recommended.There was no good way to chill it at that point and the go-ferm and yeast mixture were sitting at 30 minutes.Note to self, chill some of your water to help bring down the starting temp.Something was not going to be perfect, so I pitched the yeast at 80° and put it a bath of chilled water. I assume the yeast can take a few hours around 80°.I hit my two staggered nutrient additions pretty much spot in.Last time I tasted was when I did the third staggered nutrient yeast addition. If this is any indication how it might come out, I should be very pleased. Considering it was only a few days old, it was smooth and drinkable. It was sweeter than I would want in the finished product, I expect it to dry out significantly.I am going to let it sit for a while, like another week and take a gravity reading.zymot