Brother Adams Mead..... a bit of an update.....

[fatbloke]

In a different thread, I was asking about "Maury" yeast.

I've also been trying to track it down via some of the bods at Gotmead.

Now, it would seem that we came to a bit of a dead end, though Maury was an AOC region (didn't check to see if it still is), situated in the South West of France (not far from Perpignon).

After doing a fair amount of digging, it seems that the nearest modern equivalent I could find is Lalvins D21 yeast, which seems to be only available in small packs in the US (and probably here but only in 500gm packs).

I tried my final attempt and emailed the Apiaries Manager at Buckfast Abbey. His reply was that to his knowledge, "Maury" yeast is no longer available, but on checking Brother Adams paperwork, there was mention of using Gervin Varietal E yeast (presumably after Maury was phased out ?????).

Anyway, a bit more looking, and I've located this link

http://www.brsquared.org/wine/CalcInfo/yeasts.htm

that, and some other info I found that alluded to Gervin E being "K1" and also "1116" seems to show that Gervin E is the same strain as K1V-1116 from Lalvin.

So, apart from not following Brother Adams recipe for "traditional" mead, he seems to have put the stamp of approval on the Lalvin variety as a good yeast for meads, from beyond the grave (he passed away in the late 90's).

What does that all mean ? Well not a lot really as you might have found that out by accident anyway, but for me it now means that my preferred yeast list has changed a bit.......

Now it's K1V and D47 in equal first, then 71B, then EC-1118 (not a big fan as it seems to strip away too much of the more subtle aromas/flavours during ferment).

If I do manage to get hold of some D21 I'll let you know how I get on.....

regards

JtFB

p.s. Oh and there does still seem to be a tiny amount of info available that suggests that "vierka mead yeast" might still be available, but I'm not sure how to find out yet - I've found that Vierka yeasts are/were produced in Germany though I haven't found out any more about that yet....

[Rich]

Good work John, Sounds like that's kept you busy!!

[lockwood1956]

Well done John

welcome to the ranks of Geeks!

K1V-1116 is my favourite yeast now also, its a low foamer, helps fruit expression, and is a consistent performer

[fatbloke]

Well done John

welcome to the ranks of Geeks!

K1V-1116 is my favourite yeast now also, its a low foamer, helps fruit expression, and is a consistent performer

Well actually, from what the Apiaries manager said in his email, was that it was gervin E that seems to have been the most recent yeast that Bro Adam used i.e. it's the last one listed (apparently).

Though it seems that the Maury yeast might still exist, but in the disguise of Lalvins' D21.......... it seems that it's only available from some of the repackagers, like "morewine". Lalvin don't supply it in "retail" quantities in the UK, and it was that fact that led me to emailing "hewhoshallnotbenamed" about whether I could have a few packs sent to him and if he could forward it in an envelope.

The daft git has gone and ordered a 500gm pack, which he's gonna split/vacuum pack/post.....

Anyway, the Apiaries manager also said that the Abbey had stopped making mead when Bro Adam died in the late 90's so his records aren't what you'd call "up to date".

Plus his method was to barrel ferment/age/etc etc and I'm not gonna go chucking loads of reddies at a barrel just to try his method.......

I just thought it might be worthy of mention (and if/when I get round to writing an updated tutorial for "traditional mead", then it's gonna be the K1V that I'll use as it's reasonably available).

He ho! it's amazing what rubbish you can dig up on the net when bored eh?

regards

JtFB