Every day I bring you an item on Amazon that I personally use or has been purchased by many members of the audience and I have researched enough to recommend.

Today’s TSP Amazon Item of the day is the Fermax Yeast Nutrient.  This is my go to yeast nutrient for making meads.  Think of this stuff as food for your yeasts.  There are two ways to use this stuff when making mead.

First the lazy man’s way, which is what I do.  When brewing add 1tsp-2tsp per gallon as though it is just part of your ingredients.  The philosophy here is that the yeast will use it as they need it.  It will give them a boost and get your fermentation to finish faster.

The first method is used mostly by people making fruit meads, or meads with other ingredients that provide some nutrient anyway.  Meads that would likely finish just fine with out Fermax, the little boost just speeds things along and helps you get a full fermentation.

The second method is a timed multiple introduction.  There are many schools of thought on this but the most common is feed your mead at brewing then on days 2, 4 and 6 in staggered additions.  For a gallon you would use about 1/2-1tsp per feeding.

The rational here is yeast need nutrient at different times during there growth cycles and by feeding them at these time frames you give them what they need when they most need it.

Personally I only do staggered additions when making a classic mead, that is to say honey, water, yeast and no fruits, herbs, etc.  In that case since you are not providing nutrients from other ingredients the staggered additions give you a much faster finish with less chance of a “stuck mead”.

I want to point out two things, the schedule above is ONE of many.  Ask some and they feed at 12, 24 and 48 hours after brewing, some have more complex schedules.  The key is all of these “work” if they didn’t, no one would keep doing them.

Second is that many mead makers have moved on from Fermax to products called Fermaid K and Fermaid O.  Those are fine products as well, but they cost more and I found no real gain in how fast and how clean my meads finished with them, so I went back to Fermax, which I have been using for about 18 years with great results.  Basically in this world I have sided with “if it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it”.

You will note I recommend the 1 pound bag, this is the most cost effective size for the home mead maker.  A 4 ounce bag is only 2 dollars less so buying it is just stupid.  If you are getting started in the world of mead Fermax Yeast Nutrient deserves a spot in your kit.

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