Yeast Experiment 2006

Way back in 2004 we had a great idea. "Let's make a bunch of mead with, like, a dozen different types of yeast," someone said.  Then someone said, "Hey, we can use my apartment."  This was the beginning of the Great Sunnyvale Mead Experiment of 2004.  Well, here it is a little over two years and three (or is it four) tasting parties later.  I documented the first one as well as possible, but I kinda dropped the ball on the others.  Oh sure, we sat around drinking mead and taking careful notes, but nothing much came of it and for that I apologize.

Anyway, for our traditional 2006 Tax Day Mead Tasting we gathered at Brian's house as Ken was off traipsing around the world this time.  I would like to take this early opportunity to thank Brian and Patty for donating the use of their kitchen this year.  This year, after all the cancellations, we had a group of ten brave tasters.  In addition to the twelve 'experimental' meads, we had our 2005 Artesian Arms Loqual Melomel (home made), a few bottles of really nice Rabbit's Foot mead and one bottle of Welch's grape juice.

Around 8:00pm, everyone started to trickle in.  Soon we were nine strong, so we decided to get started.  

[The Starting Lineup]


In case some of you have lost your program, here's a list of the yeasts and their alcohol by volume for each.  As you can see they are all a little dry.  Some of them painfully so.

Yeast Results (O.G. = 1.090)
No. Type F.G. A.B.V. (%)
1. Lalvin 71B-1122 1.002 12.6%
2. Lalvin EC-1118 0.996 13.4%
3. Lalvin K1-V1116 1.001 12.7%
4. White Labs #WLP099 1.042 7.4%
5. Red Star Pasteur Champagne 1.000 12.9%
6. Red Star Pasteur Red 1.002 12.6%
7. Nottingham Brewing Yeast 1.042 7.4%
8. Lalvin D47 0.998 13.4%
9. Red Star Cote des Blancs 1.022 10.0%
10. Lalvin 43 1.002 12.6%
11. Red Star Premier Cuvee 1.000 12.9%
12. Lalvin RC212 1.000 12.9%

Before we begin, I should point out that we have traditionally started at #12 and worked our way down to #1 and thus our record of the lower numbered meads was somewhat, er, tainted.  This time we decided to start with the lower numbers and work up.  The first six sure had some... personality.  However, many of the latter meads were quite nice.  They could have all done with a little more honey in the first place.

[How Bad Can It Be] [That Bad]

No. Comments
1. Lalvin 71B-1122 (12.6%) a.k.a. "Dark Alley".  
  • "Tastes unexpected".
  • Strong afterpunch.
  • A little burn
  • Smells like wet dog.
  • Pollutes one's glass!
Talk about a strong start.  Funny, I use this yeast all the time and never get anything quite like this.  Next!
2. Lalvin EC-1118 (13.4%).
  • Strong small.
  • Flat, dry.
  • Light, Bland.
  • "Not that bad!"
Not great, but much better than the first.  As you would expect from this yeast it is very dry.  The high tolerance yeast like this would defiantly have worked better with a higher starting gravity.
3. Lalvin K1-V1116 (12.7%).
  • Strong crisp smell.
  • "Actually has an ok flavor" [ed: gee, thanks.]
  • Smooth, kind of sweet.
  • Like a still champagne
  • Fruity
  • Buttery aftertaste.
This one actually went over quite well.  Dry like the EC-1118, but with more subtle flavours.
4. White Labs #WLP099 (7.4%).
  • "Not pleased"
  • "My mouth went numb"
  • "Oh my goodness"
  • "Hydrogen peroxide quality"
  • "Relentless tiny bubbles stabbing at my tongue"
  • "Pungent smell"
  • "Bad carbonated water"
Yeow! I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I forced this one on all of you.  I'm also sorry that I poured Brian an extra tall glass off #3 and that he retaliated by pouring me a tall glass of this one.  Really, I'm sorry.  Not that this one went to waste though.  The remains of this one were blended with the remains of #1 and used to christen a trebuchet last weekend.
5. Red Star Pasteur Champagne (12.9%)
  • Smoother than the last one.
  • "Tongue feels like cardboard"
  • Woody flavour.
  • "Oh, for God's sake!"
  • "An aftertaste that sneaks up on you.  Run away!" 
Much better than #4 in the same way that being run over by a speeding car is better than being run over by a speeding steam roller.  
6. Red Star Pasteur Red (12.6%)
  • "Tastes pretty good, mild flavour."
  • "A little dry.  I live it, don't love it, but I like it." 
  • "This is something I could see my self taking our of the fridge and drinking."
I think we've rounded the hour here.  This is more like what I remember: A nice smooth and dry mead with a good flavour.  Additionally, this is the first mead where people went back for seconds.  I'd never used any Red Star yeasts before this experiment, but I'll have to put this one on my list to try.  At this point Hung arrived to bring our number of tasters up to ten.
7. Nottingham Brewing Yeast (7.4%)
  • Too carbonated but the taste isn't bad.
  • Aggressively bubbly but doesn't taste bad.
  • Fizzy and bitter.
  • Not nearly as bad as #4.
I'm sure that some people have had luck brewing mead with ale yeast.  This one wasn't *bad* the first time around (aside from being too carbonated to siphon) but has gone downhill.  Too bad, it tasted nice at bottling.  
8. Lalvin D47 (13.4%)
  • A little sweet.
  • "Super sweet; good."
  • "There's a little something at the end [blurry] ?can? handle it"
I've had some luck with this yeast before and it's good to see it hold up after a few years.  I don't think any of my meads with this yeast have made it two years. :)
9. Red Star Cote des Blancs (10.0%)
  • "I like this one.  It's even got a nice finish"
  • "It builds its complexity.  Nice balance"
  • "More like a wine than a mead"
Yet another Red Star yeast I'll have to think about trying.  This mead tied with #10 (below) for second place.  Very nice.
10. Lalvin 43 (12.6%)
  • "Smells awesome.  Doesn't feel like home made material" [ed: hey!]
  • "This one I can handle.  Smells and tastes good"
  • "Worth the other ones to get to this one."
  • "Nice honey flavor.  Not too sweet.  Light."
This one really aged well.  It started off as a someone bland, dry and very strong mead but now tastes excellent!
11. Red Star Premier Cuvee (12.9%)
  • Pleasant
  • Very smooth
  • "I can drink this and not even know it's 'azcahol'" 
Nice and smooth, but without much flavour.
12. Lalvin RC212 (12.9%)
  • "Smells sweet.  Dry but smooth"
  • Smooth
  • Pretty good
  • "Champagney, not so sweet"
This one was the hands down winner.  The comments may no show it, but most everyone seemed to prefer this one.  It sure lives up to its reputation for slow fermenting, but the pay off is a really nice mead.

[All Done!]

Good food, good people and (mostly) good mead.  What more could you ask for?  I've posted more pictures from the mead tasting over on flickr.  If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email at rts.cts AT gmail DOT com.  The next tasting is probably going to be in mid October 2006.

Nothing to see here.