Omega HotHead Ale Yeast

[CKuhns]

Has anyone tried HotHead Ale Yeast from Omega for low ABV 6% Meads? Would be interested in hearing how it worked for you?

I am building a fermentation chamber to run temps up to as high as mid 80's. Intent is to try to clone some of the Groenfell meadery recipes. (Most of their recipes use D47 at 78 to 88 Deg F. My experience with D47 at these temps and higher ABV meads has produced some really harsh fusels and scares me a bit to even try D47 at these temps.

https://omegayeast.com/yeast/norwegian-ales/hothead-ale
https://www.groennfell.com/

 

[NeverDie]

I haven't specifically tried it for low ABV meads, but I have tried hothead for regular meads at higher temps (I was doing 85F, but I'm sure it could go higher). Hothead adds a very nice aroma that seems to amplify the honey scent, and no fusels.

 

[CKuhns]

Here are my notes from the Groennfell Meadery Psychopomp clone using Omega Hothead yeast to-date.

2019 - 63rd Mead – Bakers Tart Cherry (Psychopomp) Clone Quick Session Mead (Groennfell recipe)
Using TOSNA 3.0 - OG 1.056 - FG 1.000= 0.056 X 131.25 = 7.4% abv.

Ingredients:
6 lbs (½ Gallon) Dark Honey: Baker's Special from Monarch = $15
3.0 Gallons Water = $5
1.5 Gallon Tart Cherry Juice = $15
1 packet Omega Hothead yeast = $10
2 tsp Potassium Carbonate = $1

3-9-19
10:30 am - Combined the Juice honey & Water at 100°F to the 6 Gal BMB
- Added 2tsp Potassium Carbonate
- Stirred very vigorously to aerate with a lees stirrer and drill.
- SG (OG) = 1.056
11:00 am - Mixed the 13.8gr Go Ferm and 275 ml Water at 100 Deg F on the stir plate
- Added the yeast. (Rinsed the yeast packet with must)
11:45 am - Added the yeast starter to the Must.
- Weighed out four 3.3 grams separate portions of Fermaid-O
Noon - Set the heat wrap and temp controller to maintain fermentation at 88°F (31°C). Used a heat blanket vs. a ferm chamber and temp controller affixed with blue painters tape and wrapped in a beach towel.

3-10-19 – LOTS of Krausen = 3” plus - Glad I used the large BMB!
8am (20 HRS after Yeast Pitch) - SG 1.042 Temp adjusted 1.044 added 3.3gr Fermaid-O Lightly degassed by hand.
8pm (32 Hrs after yeast pitch) - SG 1.030 Temp adjusted 1.032 added 3.3gr Fermaid-O Lightly degassed by hand. passed 1/3 Sugar Break – Discontinued TOSNA 3.0 early and did not add the Fermaid-O past 1/3 sugar break
3-12-19 - 5pm - SG1.020 Temp adjusted 1.022
3-13-19 - 5pm - SG1.016 Temp adjusted 1.018
3-14-19 - 5pm - SG1.013 Temp adjusted 1.015 - Tastes good slight tart cherry and a little sweet yet.
3-15-19 - 5pm - SG1.011 Temp adjusted 1.013
3-16-16 – 5pm - SG1.010 Temp adjusted 1.012 Bubble rate is slowing, Taste is still good a little yeasty.
3-17-16 – 2pm - SG1.008 Temp adjusted 1.010 Bubble rate is slowing, Taste is still good a little yeasty.
Racked off lees to a 5 Gal Carboy and removed heat blanket and towel.

Lee's are light and "Fluffy" and a bit hard to rack from. Amazingly at 88F it created no sulfur smell or off flavors (Fusels or other) and has more of an ale yeast like profile that IMO will age out. It created 4 - 5" of Krausen early and 1 - 2" throughout. (Glad I used the 6 Gallon BMB.) Tart Cherry flavor is not as pronounced as I would like. It will definitely need some oak or tannens (Med toast oak for 7 - 10 days) and maybe a little acid blend to balance. I plan to allow it to finish for a week or two after oak and add another 1/2 gallon tart cherry juice and 3 or 4 oz of priming sugar prior to bottling in 12oz beer bottles with crown caps. I do plan to carbonate this and start to drink it within a few months of bottling, will let a bunch of them age and check them each few months.

 

[NeverDie]

Here are my notes from the Groennfell Meadery Psychopomp clone using Omega Hothead yeast to-date.

2019 - 63rd Mead – Bakers Tart Cherry (Psychopomp) Clone Quick Session Mead (Groennfell recipe)
Using TOSNA 3.0 - OG 1.056 - FG 1.000= 0.056 X 131.25 = 7.4% abv.

Ingredients:
6 lbs (½ Gallon) Dark Honey: Baker's Special from Monarch = $15
3.0 Gallons Water = $5
1.5 Gallon Tart Cherry Juice = $15
1 packet Omega Hothead yeast = $10
2 tsp Potassium Carbonate = $1

3-9-19
10:30 am - Combined the Juice honey & Water at 100°F to the 6 Gal BMB
- Added 2tsp Potassium Carbonate
- Stirred very vigorously to aerate with a lees stirrer and drill.
- SG (OG) = 1.056
11:00 am - Mixed the 13.8gr Go Ferm and 275 ml Water at 100 Deg F on the stir plate
- Added the yeast. (Rinsed the yeast packet with must)
11:45 am - Added the yeast starter to the Must.
- Weighed out four 3.3 grams separate portions of Fermaid-O
Noon - Set the heat wrap and temp controller to maintain fermentation at 88°F (31°C). Used a heat blanket vs. a ferm chamber and temp controller affixed with blue painters tape and wrapped in a beach towel.

3-10-19 – LOTS of Krausen = 3” plus - Glad I used the large BMB!
8am (20 HRS after Yeast Pitch) - SG 1.042 Temp adjusted 1.044 added 3.3gr Fermaid-O Lightly degassed by hand.
8pm (32 Hrs after yeast pitch) - SG 1.030 Temp adjusted 1.032 added 3.3gr Fermaid-O Lightly degassed by hand. passed 1/3 Sugar Break – Discontinued TOSNA 3.0 early and did not add the Fermaid-O past 1/3 sugar break
3-12-19 - 5pm - SG1.020 Temp adjusted 1.022
3-13-19 - 5pm - SG1.016 Temp adjusted 1.018
3-14-19 - 5pm - SG1.013 Temp adjusted 1.015 - Tastes good slight tart cherry and a little sweet yet.
3-15-19 - 5pm - SG1.011 Temp adjusted 1.013
3-16-16 – 5pm - SG1.010 Temp adjusted 1.012 Bubble rate is slowing, Taste is still good a little yeasty.
3-17-16 – 2pm - SG1.008 Temp adjusted 1.010 Bubble rate is slowing, Taste is still good a little yeasty.
Racked off lees to a 5 Gal Carboy and removed heat blanket and towel.

Lee's are light and "Fluffy" and a bit hard to rack from. Amazingly at 88F it created no sulfur smell or off flavors (Fusels or other) and has more of an ale yeast like profile that IMO will age out. It created 4 - 5" of Krausen early and 1 - 2" throughout. (Glad I used the 6 Gallon BMB.) Tart Cherry flavor is not as pronounced as I would like. It will definitely need some oak or tannens (Med toast oak for 7 - 10 days) and maybe a little acid blend to balance. I plan to allow it to finish for a week or two after oak and add another 1/2 gallon tart cherry juice and 3 or 4 oz of priming sugar prior to bottling in 12oz beer bottles with crown caps. I do plan to carbonate this and start to drink it within a few months of bottling, will let a bunch of them age and check them each few months.

That's interesting: you're using GoFerm on liquid yeast. I had thought GoFerm was for rehydrating dry yeast. Does GoFerm provide value for liquid yeast? How is it helping?

 

[CKuhns]

Up to this point never used anything but a dry yeast, so just followed the relatively new for me TOSNA 3.0 protocol. Good catch, low OG and liquid yeast its probably not necessary and likely will discontinue the practice. With that said, I don`t think it hurt anything. This was my 3rd attempt at a hydromel and I just kind of jumped right in with conditions that for other yeasts would be less than desirable.

Did not even think about the fact that liquid yeast does not need Go-Ferm or of course to be hydrated, was thinking more along the lines of a starter. However, early indication is it is coming along just fine, so probably did not hurt.

 

[NeverDie]

Maybe the GoFerm is a good thing for this scenario. I honestly don't know. It's just not something I had seen used before for a liquid yeast, which is why I asked.

I wish now that I had kept better notes when I was experimenting with the Kveik's. However, going from memory, and having done a fair number of multi-step Kveik starters, I do believe the kveik yeast is much happier with a starter than just dumping it in from the Omega pack. The open question for me though is what's the best kveik starter for meads? That's where it gets a bit tricky. For sure kveik yeast like DME starters, but a large, heavily DME starter tends to affect the flavor of the mead.

Therefore, what I had been doing with the multi-step DME starters was, on the final step, to refrigerate the starter to flocculate the yeast, decant, then let warm the kveik yeast slurry to room temperature and then pitch the yeast slurry. That seemed to work, but it's very time consuming, and probably there's a better starter for mead than that.

One thing I have noticed though is that the kveik's, to a much higher degree than other yeasts, are much happier if the must is heavily aerated before pitching and even happier if the aeration continues for at least the first 3 hours after pitching.

There's also exists a oft repeated popular belief (or is it a myth?) that one should under-pitch a kveik in order to get the most flavor out of it. I'm not sure I believe it, but maybe.

I was about to do some experiments along these lines to get some solid answers, but doing multi-step starters became so time consuming that I started to look for a dry yeast to use instead, since dry yeasts tend to be simpler and less time consuming.

 

[Redeemer]

I feel the need to bump this thread. I just got my first couple pouches of Kveik (Voss and Hothead. The Hornidal was not available) and am gonna experiment. The experiment should produce a worthy starter that I can use to grow the culture, and also sample what it wants to do at ambient temps. I'm using local, raw wildflower honey and the chips will fall where they may. I've read through as much as I can, and realize Go-ferm kind of isn't an option for liquid yeasts. So I will have to dump it into the must, and will frontload my nutrients.

If there is a better thread to move this to, mods, please feel free. Just want to focus on this yeast for the exclusive purposes of mead for the time being.

 

[CKuhns]

Sence my last post in March I have done four 5 gallon batches (2 tart cherry, 1 pineapple, 1 mixed berry) using HotHead Yeast. I use a modified Groenfell Meadery recipe.

Bought a heat blanket and temp controller. Set it to 88 Deg F. Use the TOSNA 3.0 calculator but add the nutrients all up front and aerate the dickens out of it for 12 hours with an aquarium pump and diffuser stone, then add an airlock and dont touch it until primary is done.

Ferments clean with no off flavors from 1.065 to 1.000 in 8 to 10 days clarify keg and carbonate at 30 to 45 days. Have not been disappointed yet.

 

[RoadKing]

Do you guys think 2 packs (no starter) of hot head will suffice in 5 gallons @15%?
I'm also hoping it will peter out at around 1.015 /12% , and leave a semi sweet mead.

 

[CKuhns]

I think 2 packs wouldn't hurt. Many folks over pitch yeast. But IMO certainly not necessary in 5 gallons. That yeast has a published upper end alcohol tolerance of 11%. With good nutrients and aeration you might be able to push it to 12% or 13% or a bit more.

 

[Redeemer]

Do you guys think 2 packs (no starter) of hot head will suffice in 5 gallons @15%?
I'm also hoping it will peter out at around 1.015 /12% , and leave a semi sweet mead.

Read up a little on this yeast. I haven't tried it personally but many users are experiencing positive results from UNDER pitching the yeast. If you are looking for bold esters, this may be the way to go.

 

[RoadKing]

Thanks for the responses! I've been reading up on it, and still wasn't sure. I'm a long time beer brewer, and according to yeast calculators, 2 packs is still under pitching for a 15% beer. . I have stir plates, erlenmeyer flasks etc.. but didn't want the hassle of making a starter, and if
2 packs will get me there and throw off some good flavors, I'm all in.
Another thing that drew me to it was the 11-12% tolerance. If I can get away without back sweetening, it's another plus.

 

[Redeemer]

Thanks for the responses! I've been reading up on it, and still wasn't sure. I'm a long time beer brewer, and according to yeast calculators, 2 packs is still under pitching for a 15% beer. . I have stir plates, erlenmeyer flasks etc.. but didn't want the hassle of making a starter, and if
2 packs will get me there and throw off some good flavors, I'm all in.
Another thing that drew me to it was the 11-12% tolerance. If I can get away without back sweetening, it's another plus.

I suspect (but do not know definitively) that 15% is going to be tricky to achieve, especially if you want to bottle condition. Obviously nutrients and yeast health make a huge difference, and if you can push it that far, I want to be the first to know.

There is a thread in the Mead forum that you should have a look at. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/brays-one-month-mead.429241/
@loveofrose essentially used an ale yeast because of how fast and clean they finish to make a mead, which was traditionally brewed with wine yeast requiring massive aging times. While it is a mead thread, the knowledge there is applicable to all types of fermentation IMO and you could use it to make a better beer. Either way, do please let us know.