The Best Yeast For Mead?

Like any form of homebrew, whether it is beer, wine or in this case mead choosing the right yeast is the best way to ensure your finished product is as tasty as possible.

Choosing the right mead yeast can make a lot of difference. Yeast is one of the very few ingredients that make up a mead after honey and water so choosing the right yeast for your mead can be the difference between an ok mead and a fantastic one. Mead takes a fairly long time to make so choosing the right ingredients is more important when you think of the time you are investing.

In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the mead yeasts available to us homebrewers and see what characteristics each one has as well as what types of mead these yeasts work well in.

Choosing The Right Yeast For Your Mead

There are multiple different types of drink that fall under the term, mead. They can range from lower ABV hydromels to big, full-bodied sack meads with lots in between. Each different type will need some thought to ensure you are picking the correct yeast.

A mead yeast needs to be tolerant to alcohol with some meads coming in, in excess of 14% ABV. You will also want to ensure the attenuation you are getting is going to be right for the finish. If you want a dry mead then a low attenuating yeast is not going to be the right choice. The basic things we need to consider for a mead yeast are:

Alcohol tolerance: The tolerance of the yeast needs to be capable of reaching the alcohol content of the finished mead, if not then the yeast will drop out before finishing fermentation and leave you with an overly sweet mead.

Ideal temperature range: All yeast strains will have a preferred temperature range. This range will result in the preferred flavour and optimum fermentation so ensuring you are able to ferment in this range will greatly improve the finished mead.

What Are The Best Mead Yeasts?

Any brewers or winemakers yeast is capable of turning honey into mead to a certain extent. There are a few strains of yeast that are ideal choices and will result in great meads. These are what I would consider being the best mead yeasts:

Lalvin D-47: This mead is a very popular choice among mead makers. It is many mead makers first choice for medium and sweet meads. Lalvin D-47 accentuates varietal character in wines so will enhance these qualities in honey. It also leaves a full mouthfeel which is great for boosting the body of a mead you might be concerned is going to be to thin. Flocculation is good and D-47 settles into a firm sediment in a moderate amount of time.

• Temperature range: 15°C – 20°C (59°F – 68°F)
• Alcohol tolerance: 14% ABV

Lalvin K1-V1116: This yeast strain enhances floral and fruity qualities in wines and is used a lot in fruit or country wines so is a great choice for fruit meads or melomels. Works particularly well at lower temperatures of around 16°C (61°F) where floral esters are accentuated. This strain is a good fermenter with a high alcohol tolerance.

• Temperature range: 15°C – 30°C (59°F-86°F)
• Alcohol tolerance: up to 18% ABV

Lalvin EC-1118: A real workhorse yeast that will tear through fermentation even in less than ideal conditions. This yeast has one of the widest temperature ranges and will be happy in cool or hot conditions. Particularly good for dry meads and will ferment nearly all the sugars available to it. This yeast strain is popular because it is is a real universal performer.

• Temperature range: 7°C – 35°C (45°F-95°F)
• Alcohol tolerance: up to 18% ABV

Liquid Yeast For Mead

Wyeast 4184 Sweet Mead: A liquid strain from wyeast that will leave a 2 – 3% residual sweetness in the finished mead. The ester profile is fruity and works well in melomels and fruit mead variations. Works well in lower ABV meads or hydromels due to lower alcohol tolerance

• Temperature range: 18°C – 23°C (65°F-75°F)
• Alcohol tolerance: up to 11% ABV

Wyeast 4632 Dry Mead: A liquid strain from wyeast that suits a dry mead. Has a higher alcohol tolerance than 4184 and has reportedly won awards at shows. Will ferment down to a dry mead.

• Temperature range: 12.5°C – 23°C (55°F-75°F)
• Alcohol tolerance: up to 18% ABV

WLP720 Sweet Mead/Wine Yeast: A liquid yeast strain from White Labs that leaves a small amount of residual sweetness. Ferments up to 15% ABV and produces a finished mead with a subtle fruitiness.

• Temperature range: 21°C – 23°C (70°F-75°F)
• Alcohol tolerance: up to 15% ABV

Other Yeast Strains For Mead

It is well worth experimenting with yeast strains. Although those listed above are more dedicated mead yeasts any wine yeast will be capable of producing a decent mead and there are quite a few wine yeasts available in both dry and liquid form.

I have had some success making lower ABV meads up to 7% ABV with ale yeasts which have the advantage of finishing a lot quicker than stronger ABV meads. The simple sugars that are being fermented means fermentation doesn’t take long at all.