Beer Yeast in Mead

[EagleScout]

What are people's opinions on using beer yeast in mead. Been watching a couple of homebrew YouTube channels and their answer to good mead that doesn't have to be aged for months is beer yeast. If their results are as good as they make them sound the only negative would be reduced ABV and I'm not sure that's really that big of a deal. From what I've seen it looks like they use a lot of US 04 and 05.

 

[bernardsmith]

loveofrose, who posts regularly here would argue that Wyeast 1388 is the preferred ale yeast for a very quick mead (BOMM - or Bray's one month mead). I occasionally like to use Saison Belle yeast and I view such a mead as being ready from yeast to bottle in 6 weeks. Not sure what is so negative about a mead that can compete with cider or beer. Not every mead needs to be sipped by the glass over dinner. A lower ABV mead that is clean and bright can be quaffed in the yard on a hot summer's day. But IMO, the problem may be less about the choice of yeast and more about the care of the yeast and the demands you put on that fungus. A starting gravity of 1.120 or more may take a year or two to be drinkable whereas a starting gravity of closer to 1.050 may take a few weeks..

 

[Drewed]

Surprisingly or not, what I have found when making mead with beer yeast, using SAN, is that they regularly blow right past the stated alcohol tolerances. I think it may also have something to do with the fact that mead is 100% fermentable ( usually ) and beer has some unfermentables. And you can pretty much ignore the attenuation rates.

 

[EagleScout]

I've noticed that with the meads they've talked about on the Basic Brewing YouTube channel, they never get quite as high as meads that use mead or wine yeast but they get much higher than beers made with the same yeast. The first one they did was around 10% and was made with us-05.

 

[loveofrose]

In mead, US05 will hit 13%!

 

[Drewed]

Anybody ever make a mead with Nottingham? I have a few packets that are past their prime ( found in the bottom of the yeast drawer in the fridge,) and although I could baby them come cider season, I would rather buy new.
I'm thinking of making a starter ( with honey or DME) and letting them spin for a couple of days and then chucking them in with some honey. Or will they just make crap mead?

 

[shanecb]

Earlier this year I made a sessionable (5% or so) mead using, I think, US-05. It turned out great, and was ready to drink quite quickly.

 

[eyebrau]

Anybody ever make a mead with Nottingham? I have a few packets that are past their prime ( found in the bottom of the yeast drawer in the fridge,) and although I could baby them come cider season, I would rather buy new.
I'm thinking of making a starter ( with honey or DME) and letting them spin for a couple of days and then chucking them in with some honey. Or will they just make crap mead?

I made a lower gravity mead with Nottingham recently, going to move it to secondary this weekend. Can't speak for how it tastes yet though. Chewed through it really fast - yeast was harvested from a low ABV beer I made (no dry hops or anything), let it refrigerate for a day, decanted the liquid and pitched the trub. Fermented at 60F ambient. Added the 2/3 and 1/3 nutrient additions at 22 and about 48 hours from pitching, due to the speed of fermentation. Like I said though, I haven't tasted it yet so can't speak to that.

 

[EagleScout]

Thinking about trying a Sorghum Orange Mead I saw posted on Basic Brewing's YouTube channel next. It's made with S-04 and I think they only started it a month before they tried it for the video. Not sure I'd only give it a month, I think a month each for primary, secondary and in the bottle at a minimum, but I like the fast turn around. I've made beers that have taken longer than that so if I can make a good mead that fast my dad will be really happy.

 

[madscientist451]

If your goal is to make a mead that is ready relatively quickly, I would suggest you listen to the Basic Brewing Radio podcasts. The mead maker on the show has specific recommendations including: high pitching rate, (1 pack of d-47/gallon) use Wyeast yeast nutrient and make a low alcohol "craft" mead. I think he also suggests a fairly warm fermentation temp, but I'd have to listen to it again to be sure. Using beer yeast would work fine, as above posts indicate. I think brewing a beer first and then using the yeast cake for the mead would work great. I've had a "craft mead" on my brewing schedule for a while now, please post the results of your efforts.

 

[EagleScout]

If your goal is to make a mead that is ready relatively quickly, I would suggest you listen to the Basic Brewing Radio podcasts. The mead maker on the show has specific recommendations including: high pitching rate, (1 pack of d-47/gallon) use Wyeast yeast nutrient and make a low alcohol "craft" mead. I think he also suggests a fairly warm fermentation temp, but I'd have to listen to it again to be sure. Using beer yeast would work fine, as above posts indicate. I think brewing a beer first and then using the yeast cake for the mead would work great. I've had a "craft mead" on my brewing schedule for a while now, please post the results of your efforts.

Basic Brewing's YouTube is where I got the idea to ask this question. I have a gallon going with S-04 right now.

 

[loveofrose]

If you guys want fast mead, my recipes are the way to go:

https://denardbrewing.com/blog/category/mead/

 

[EagleScout]

If you guys want fast mead, my recipes are the way to go:

https://denardbrewing.com/blog/category/mead/

Mead recipes look good but the beer recipes are what caught my attention. I've been thinking about upgrading from all extract to BIAB and the Braggot and Belgian Quintupel look really good.