# Ale yeast?



## Fuzzy (Aug 4, 2005)

should work fine but will not be able to get to any high alcohol levels. You can probably get 8% with the right syrup/water raito. You need a hydrometer to start.


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

As Fuzzy said, it depends on what you want. Ale yeasts have the lowest alcohol tolerance so definitely take that into consideration. If you use ale yeast in a must that had enough sugar for wine yeast to ferment, you'll have a treacle-sweet mead with low alcohol. If you adjust your starting gravity, you can have a delightful, fruity/estery table mead anywhere from sweet to dry. See the Recipe Formulation section of the Intro to Meadmaking for more information.

Ale yeasts are great and they'll make a fine mead, as long as you know what their limits are. You wouldn't use a circular saw to cut cheese, and you wouldn't use a scalpel to rip lumber.


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## Barry Tolson (May 26, 2004)

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'v got plenty of hydrometers, so testing and adjusting is no trouble. I just wasn't sure how an Ale yeast might affect the taste. I figured it would have a low alcohol tolerance, from my beer makin' endeavors.
Again...thanks.


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## Jack Grimshaw (Feb 10, 2001)

Two years ago I made 2 similar batches of cyser,one with Lalvin D-47 and the other with Safeale yeast.My plan with the ale yeast was to surpass the alcohol tolerence (8% I thought) and end up with a semi sweet cyser.Didn't work.

Starting gravities from my notes
ale 1.064
D-47 1.066

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=214301&highlight=cyser

Everyone liked the D-47 best. the ale yeast had a bit of a musty taste but the D-47 was clean and crisp.


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## plaztikjezuz (Apr 22, 2010)

I have had much better luck with ale yeast with cider than with mead or wine. my cider results have been mixed, but i feel it was a must lacking complexity, then the yeast.

ale yeast should ferment up to around 12%, a few strains would stop around 8%-10%, but the alcohol tolerance can be made higher by adding more yeast (over pitching).

i have never ben over joyed with the results of ale yeast in mead. lager yeast on the other hand is very good, the mead retains some more honey aroma and flavor, maybe from the cold fermentation?


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## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

safale-05 is a rapid fermenter that tolerates high alcohol and low nutrients (for a beer yeast) under a variety of temperatures. It has a very clean to slightly rose ester profile in meads and reveals floral honey esters well. Wyeast Sweet mead, Lavlin D-47, Narbonne and champagne are also good choices.


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