Another stupid newbee question.......

[Yarmur]

Well, after all the only stupid question is the the question not asked, right class? (everyone remembers that one from grade school). On to my questions

I have a gallon of JAO going right now in a crude home setup (no professional homebrew stuff) and it is getting happy and doing its own thing. In the near future I am going to start 4-3 gallon batches in the traditional sense. No melomel or pyments; just plain ol' simple varietal mead along the lines of: dry, medium, sack, and dessert. I originally thought sack and dessert were the same but recent discussions have me thinking different now.

The question I have is on yeast selection. How do you choose your yeast? Do you you choose on basis of alcohol tolerance or character that yeast adds to finished product? I know, I know it's both young Padawan.

Maybe I'm making this way to difficult for myself to understand. Here is my basic understanding of yeast and if I have it wrong then that is why I'm confused. Lets say you have a must that has the potential ABV of 14%. Now if I were to select, lets say ICV D-47 which according to the chart has a tolerance of 14%, I should have a dry mead. Right?? Wrong?? Get a new hobby??

If I were to pitch the same yeast in a must with a potential ABV of 18%, then I would roughly have 4% residual sugar making it not dry. Correct?

Now, the chart says ICV d-47 is good for sweet meads and a choice for a dry mead would be EC-1118. Would one choose the latter just to ensure that the mead would be dry as it has a higher tolerance or is it chosen because of the qualities that it delivers to the final product?

I tend to analyze subjects too much and I research items fully before getting involved. More times than not confusing the most simplistic of ideas.

I know everyone has their own opinions and brewing is like cooking, no one way is the absolute. Maybe I should stop all of this squawkin' and ge to brewing and just find out for myself.

Your time and knowledge is greatly appreciated. With that said........

Sláinte
Yarmur (chris)

 

[Pewter_of_Deodar]

You are correct about your comments on ABV.

My suggestion is to decide exactly what you want, say semi-sweet straight mead with orange blossom honey. Decide how much honey you are willing to put in, say 1 gallon. And then ask Oskaar for a yeast recommendation. He, nor anyone else here will be able to provide much help until you decide these things since yeast recommendations will be based on the recipe and desired result.

Ancient Orange is nice because you throw everything together, shake it up, watch it bubble, and drink in two months. Very little technique involved. Your decision to make a straight mead also sticks with a simple process. You don't have to worry about when to add fruits or clarifying and so things remain relatively uncomplex and straightforward. Your yeast selection can help things to remain simple or add complexity depending upon your decision.

I suppose as a newcomer, I sought out yeast, not because they would impact my meads positively, but because of the fact they minimized the chances of ruining a batch. After two or three years I have begun to expand into using other yeasts since I feel like my techniques are good enough now to actually benefit from the subtle differences associated with specific yeasts. But I would suggest getting a batch or two under your belt using a "safe" yeast, and then experiment unless you are wanting to invest some more effort into refining your brewing techniques this early in the game. D-47 is a safe yeast since you can age on it forever and the only negative impact seems to be that you may get a yeasty taste to the mead that supposedly ages out.

Good luck and ask Oskaar,
Pewter

 

[Dan McFeeley]

Hello Yarmur --

I gotta duck out pretty quick, apologies for not giving your post a longer browse.

Anyway, there's no such thing as a "stupid newbie" question. Everyone is welcome here, since all of us, beginners and experienced folk alike, are all learning new things, I'd dare say that just about any question asked on this forum could be called a "newbie" question in one way or another. ;D

Keep asking, give us more details on your questions and ask some more.

Slan agut.

 

[Yarmur]

Thanks for the replies. My original idea was 4 batches of Tupelo as it is so plentiful where I live.

Batch #1 - 2.0lbs. per/gal
Batch #2 - 2.5lbs. per/gal
Batch #3 - 3.0lbs. per/gal
Batch #4 - 3.5lbs. per/gal

I'm planning on going with D-47 on all and see what my results are. I'm gonna probably pitch a starter on batches #3 and #4 (depending on my OG). I see a lot of posts where a lot of contributers know just on the amount of honey used what the OG/SG should be and the ABV. I didn't know if there was a magical formula or if it is just experience. I have looked at the calculator on the website and am still in the process of figuring it out. That's whole different question.

Anyway, that is what I'm looking at. I want to end up with 4 different levels of sweetness. I just hope that they all don't turn out so close together that they are hard to distinguish. More or less honey? As always, your time and knowledge is much appreciated.

Sláinte
Yarmur(chris)

 

[Sander]

One pound per gallon gives approx. 36 SG points. Of course the exact number depends on the honey used.
So the SG's should be around 1.072, 1.090, 1.108 and 1.126