Mead Brewing?

[Damaris of Greenhill]

Darryl wrote:
 
> Damaris,
>    Do you have any hints on getting mead to ferment any faster?  I've
> been told to use "yeast vitamins" or some kind of enhancer that makes
> yeast go wild in the wort, but I haven't found any such thing in any
> brewing catalog that I've ever read.
> 
> Thorgrim, a great beer brewer but still having problems with mead...

What kind of yeast are you using?  I've never had any trouble with using
two packets of champagne yeast.  You can use what they call a "yeast
nutrient".  It comes in a little packet.  If there are no directions on
the packet, use about two tablespoons in a 5 gallon batch.

Another thing you can do, is to culture the yeast prior to pitching.
First, make yourself a culture bottle.   You can do this with a sterile
beer bottle and fermentation lock fitted to a bored (please, no puns)
stopper that fits the bottle, although I use a 1 liter Erlynmeyer
flask.  Bring about 1 pint of water to a boil and add about two cups of
sugar or honey.  Boil about 10 minutes then remove from heat.  Cool down
to 85 F and add yeast.  Pour into culture bottle and add fermentation
lock. Put in spot that stays about room temperature for about 24-36
hours.  Then pitch.  Longer than that and the yeast will start dying
off.  A good practice is to culture yeast the day before brewing.  When
you do pitch this into your batch (hence the term pitching which means
inoculating the must with yeast) the yeast takes off PDQ.

Let me know if any of this works for you.  I've .cc'd a copy of this to
the Ansteorra mail list.  Any of you other brewers out there have any
suggestions?

Damaris of Greenhill
"mead brewer extrodinaire"