Hello, everyone,
I am going to be making my first batch of mead soon and have decided to go with a 1-gallon medium traditional mead using 3 lbs of a wonderful Clary sage honey I bought from a local beekeeper. I settled on Lalvin ICV D-47 for the yeast based on Ken Schramm's description of it in his book--he basically said it's good for a traditional mead and is a better choice for medium to dry meads--and because of its low ABV (12-14%). And it sounded like it might be more idiot proof than other strains.
Also ordered some Fermaid K for the yeast nutrients and yeast energizer. Trying to keep things as simple as possible with this first batch.
However, I am a bit uncertain about my yeast selection. The taste of the Clary sage honey is hard to describe and I'm not sure what kind of honey it is (floral, aromatic, fruity, spicy, or savory from the GotMead podcast called "Pairing Yeast to Mead"). I did look over the ScottLabs 2018 handbook, but am having trouble understanding some of the characteristics it describes for the different strains. I'm not so familiar with the different kinds of wine and I'm not sure how knowing a wine you like translates to knowing that yeast will help make the kind of mead you want.
Does ICV D-47 sound like a good choice for this? Are there other yeast strains you'd recommend for Clary sage honey in a traditional mead?
I am going to be making my first batch of mead soon and have decided to go with a 1-gallon medium traditional mead using 3 lbs of a wonderful Clary sage honey I bought from a local beekeeper. I settled on Lalvin ICV D-47 for the yeast based on Ken Schramm's description of it in his book--he basically said it's good for a traditional mead and is a better choice for medium to dry meads--and because of its low ABV (12-14%). And it sounded like it might be more idiot proof than other strains.
Also ordered some Fermaid K for the yeast nutrients and yeast energizer. Trying to keep things as simple as possible with this first batch.
However, I am a bit uncertain about my yeast selection. The taste of the Clary sage honey is hard to describe and I'm not sure what kind of honey it is (floral, aromatic, fruity, spicy, or savory from the GotMead podcast called "Pairing Yeast to Mead"). I did look over the ScottLabs 2018 handbook, but am having trouble understanding some of the characteristics it describes for the different strains. I'm not so familiar with the different kinds of wine and I'm not sure how knowing a wine you like translates to knowing that yeast will help make the kind of mead you want.
Does ICV D-47 sound like a good choice for this? Are there other yeast strains you'd recommend for Clary sage honey in a traditional mead?
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