I'm brewing a big batch of Mead for my wedding, but in the coming months I've got two options, ferment at around 75° in my apartment, or throw it in a temp controlled fridge current being used to dry meat which is sitting at around 58° is fermenting at that temperature going to impart any really bad off flavors or is it close enough to be okay?
1 Answer
58°F is kinda a hard temp to work around.
Little too warm for a clean Lager yeast fermentation, little too cold for Ale yeast to be happy.
Your best bet is to use a massive pitch of ale yeast at 75°. Doing a multistep starter or using a yeast cake will do well. The goal is to skip the growth stage and have enough yeast for it to do the job without much growth and the esters it brings. A fast warm fermentaion may bring I some fusel alcohols, which isn't always bad for a mead.
answered Feb 24, 2018 at 16:19
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Any guesses on how much is enough? Two packets of liquid? More?– bendlCommented Feb 24, 2018 at 16:32
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1@bendl you want a lot, usually about 1/2 gallon per 5 gallons wort. Basically all the trub from a 5 gallon batch of a brew fermented normally. It sounds like a lot, but isn't that hard to do. Especially if you have a friend that just finished up a batch or do a multi step starter. Buying yeast in this quantity isn't practical. Commented Feb 24, 2018 at 16:57
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Okay so no growth phase at all. Not going to be able to get my hands on that amount of yeast so I'll probably do a multi step starter– bendlCommented Feb 24, 2018 at 22:55