Oskaar said:
1. I agree too that OG should be the determining factor since we're not going to be able to use the same honey.
2. I do however think we should use the same ingredients past that.
3. Speaking of ingredients do we want to use powdered nutrient and energizer, or raisins and dates, or something else?
4. Which yeasts should we use?
5. Should we all use the same yeasts?
6. Each of us would use a different varietal honey to see how the yeasts influence the different honey?
7. 2 tsp Nutrient?
8. 2 tsp Energizer?
9. Use .5 lb raisins and .5 lb dates in place of the energizer and nutrient (make sure we have the gravity right before we pitch in the chunky stuff)?
10. Add honey until gravity is at say 1.125 or 1.130?
11. Split into 1 gallon glass fermenters and pitch yeasts as appropriate?
12. Do we want to use grape tannin up front to help promote clearing?
13. Do we want to monitor pH to keep it in optimal range for yeast performance?
I don't believe we would find out as much if everyone ran the same batches (OG, honey, chemicals, temperatures, and so on) as we would if everyone made batches of their particular recipe as "optimized" for each type of yeast in the test. Do we all want to determine that yeast ABC is the best yeast for a show mead with recipe XYZ? What about melomels, pymeths, etc.?
My thoughts... not arguing, just discussing...
1. No, it is not important that every brewer do the same OG or FG as every other brewer. But the FG needs to be the same in order to eliminate FG as the differing factor instead of the yeast. I would say you set the OG to be at, 1% ABV, 2%ABV above the tolerance of the yeast and let them ferment to completion. I am assuming that a yeast like D-47 will not do as well in a high OG must as something like EC-1118 would. Therefore, part of the "optimizing process would be to give each type of yeast about the same amount of available sugar past their own specific tolerance.
2. Each batch for each yeast should have the same ingredients but the ingredients need not be the same between brewers. And there is no reason each brewer cannot do their own favorite recipe with each type of yeast where the recipe (particularly OG) is optimized as discussed above.
3. Each brewer should use his own method of starter and nutrient with amounts optimized for the yeast type. The only requirement is that the type of starter and nutrient be the same in all batches. I personally would run my tests without chemicals.
4. The yeasts would be the ones listed previously in the discussion. Or at least from a list we decided on beforehand. Everyone would make a batch using each of the yeasts in the list.
5. Yes, otherwise Oskaar makes a to-die-for melomel using D-47 and we have no idea how it would have tasted with 71B because he didn't make a batch using that yeast. The idea is to compare all of the yeasts in the list for the results they achieve given the same "optimized" recipe and the methods Oskaar uses to brew.
6. What honey each brewer uses is not important to me as long as he uses the same honey/fruit/etc. for every batch. The only things changing should be the yeast and the things that are "optimizers" for that yeast.
7. and 8. I have a concern that we will end up biasing the test results for the taste and chemical affects on the mead itself rather than the affects of the nutrients on the yeast. Hope that makes sense. Maybe to say it differently, I don't want to find out that the negative taste impacts of 2 tsp of nutrients for a heavy feeding yeast cause a bad taste that is not present in a batch where the yeast didn't require any/as much nutrients added. I would be tempted to use raisins and in amounts related to the nutrient requirements of the yeast. My own personal batches would have no chemical nutrients or starters.
9. See 7 and 8.
10. No, see #1. FG is the important thing in the comparison. Otherwise we will just be judging whether we prefer sweet or dry. If the sweetness of each batch is constant, then it will eliminate that as a variable. I suppose you could argue that the alcohol content of the final product could become a factor in the judging of a low alcohol or high alcohol yeast. But isn't it final taste we are really concerned with?
11. Yes, although batch size should be up to the brewer. I may make all 5 gallon or 3 gallon batches.
12. Up to the brewer. Only if he does it during his normal brewing process. The amount added should be identical for each batch.
13. No for the reasons stated in 7 and 8.
Now to add my own questions...
14. Length of ferment? To completion by yeast type?
15. Length of aging?
16. Racking and bottling criteria? Lees level? Time? "Optimized" to get fast fermenters off lees more quickly?
Great food for thought...
LOL
