A while back I posted about a yeast experiment that used 6 different ale yeast strains to make mead. Preliminary tasting results from five Northern Brewer employees are in, I've summarized them below.
Some things I've taken away from this experiment: phenolic yeast strains really don't do well at all in mead, just changing yeast strains can create unbelievably different mead, and lager strains may be a better match for meads than ale strains. Three of the five people enjoyed the Wyeast 1272 the best, and two of the five liked the Wyeast 2112.
(The Nottingham batch tasted likely infected with a acetic acid bacteria and was disqualified.)
Wyeast 1272 - Dusty, sweet caramel with slight fruit and apple notes. Tart and dry with low phenolics and some alcohol presence.
Wyeast 3944 - Dry, plastic and rubber phenols with some honey character. Lots of boozy alcohol flavors.
Wyeast 2112 - Moderate floral aroma with a hint of mustiness. Some cereal grain notes, dark candi sugar like flavors, balancing acidity, and full body.
Wyeast 1026 British Cask Ale - Light floral aroma with mustiness. Moderate peppery phenols. Flabby body with virtually no acidity and some rubbery flavors.
Wyeast 3711 - Low floral aroma with moderate phenolics. Some alcohol warmth, low acid. A whiskey-like, leather component to the taste.
Hmm, sounds like the saison could be rather interesting in a year or so. I'm assuming you'll be giving all of these another tasting in a year?
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