[Sca-cooks] Mead Yeast

[Martha Oser]

> In all my time of making mead I have always used Champaign yeast.  The resulting taste is excellent, but I have never had much luck stopping the fermentation process except with refrigeration.  I once tried simply allowing the fermentation process to continue until the alcohol level kills off the yeast, but the result tasted more like bitter lighter fluid than mead.  I have not worked with mead yeast because it is not available locally, but I have heard that allowing the fermentation to continue until the yeast dies works better with mead yeast.  Does anyone have any personal experience with this? 
> 
> Rocas

Rocas, 

My husband recommends that you visit this website: 

www.lalvinyeast.com/strains.asp 

This is the brand of yeast that he uses for his mead.  They have several 
different varieties with different properties and you can find specifics on 
each one on their website.  These include both fruit wine yeast options as 
well as champagne yeast. 

Also, here's another website with mead recipes and yeast options: 

www.brewsupplies.com/wine_yeast_profiles.htm 

This one even gives indications in their yeast profiles as to which are good 
for mead and which are good for other purposes.  The site also has a lot of 
good information on brewing chemicals and what they do. 

You don't have to use something specifically labeled "mead yeast". 

Best, 

 -Helena