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Some people had me thinking that in order to be period all of our meads and wines were going to have to be something along the lines of a dessert wine or those Amana wines, which I just don't like. I'd rather not drink at all than choke down sugar. I don't drink soda and I don't add sugar to tea or coffee.
I was quite glad to read different medieval texts mentioning red, white and swete wines. The best thing I think I found was in the English Text's Societies printing of Harleian MS 4011 The Boke of Nurture (1465) in which John Russell writes that when making ypocras you should use a "red wyne" that is "whote [hot] and drye to taste, fele, & see." This brought me great joy. I've had a lot of Hippocras made with really sweet wine and I don't love it.
While it is true that medieval brewers and vintners would not have had the luxury of going out and purchasing different types of yeast, they they would have known the qualities of the yeast they worked with and how to produce dry wines with them. I don't see the harm in speaking to my experience with the different yeasts.
A Note for Researchers
Some of you might be interested in a conversation I had with colleague of mine who is a also brewmaster. According to him brewers and winemakers have been breeding some of these strains of yeast since the Middle Ages and selectively choosing yeasts for saving based on their attenuation. He claims these he has seen some of the upper limits have raised in his lifetime.Attenuation refers to the amount of sugar a particular strain of yeast is able to consume and also takes into consideration how much alcohol it can tolerate. Yeast consume the sugar in a solution and through the process of digestion turn that it into the CO2 that bubbles away, ethanol and flavor compounds. It is self-limiting in an enclosed system because it dies off when the concentration of alcohol reaches a certain percentage - not because it runs out of sugar to eat as some people seem to believe.
My friend the brewmaster believes that during the Middle Ages it was unlikely that most brewing yeasts were able to consume as much sugar before die-off as they can today. This might mean that in order to recreate a truly medieval taste, we have to add more sugar to all of our brews. I don't know how I feel about that, but I am definitely going to do some more research.
Yeasts to Produce Dry Mead & Wine
A note on meadmaking...Honey plus champagne yeast can be too much of a good combination as honey is fully fermentable and champagne yeast can tolerate high alcohol levels. It will result in a very dry final product and strips flavors. You can add a less fermentable sugar to the mix to keep it from becoming too dry. But the best way to handle it just go for broke in the primary ferment and add some honey, juice, spices, etc to the secondary ferment, so you don’t lose your flavours or aromatics. Lalvin EC 1118 is the best yeast for that.Lalvin Yeasts
EC-1118 - I read somewhere that it has the finesse of a battering ram and it's true. It is a highly attenuative yeast and it can strip away all of your flavors, if you aren't careful . It is rated at 18% tolerance but will readily go to 20% or higher if you are working the staggered nutrient (SNA) action. EC-1118 is drier than champagne yeast. Think driest of dry, here.
It tolerates a temperature range anywhere from 50-95 so it’s nice if you don’t’ have AC or good climate control in your brewing area. This yeast can help restart stuck fermentations or going for broke on your first ferment. If you don’t run a secondary ferment, you are going to want to stabilize and backsweeten. Alcohol Tolerance 18-20%
71B-1122 - This yeast can is can metabolize malic acid turning it into ethanol. This is nice because it mellows the acidic bite of wines or melomels made with acidic fruits. This is what I use for fruit wines. Alcohol Tolerance 14%
D47 - I don’t love this yeast for mead. While it is nice for dry white wines, it is nitrogen needy and you stay on top of adding nutrient and energizer especially to meads. Alcohol Tolerance 14%
KIV-1116 - This is good for ciders and light fruits, because it is a competitive yeast which means it will fight off any wild yeasts. It holds the fruit flavor longer than most, too. It’s good for stuck fermentation, too. Alcohol Tolerance 18%
Red Star Yeasts
Premier Blanc (Champagne Yeast) - This a strain of Saccharomyces bayanus that has high alcohol tolerance and handles free sulfur dioxide. It can be used for whites, reds and fruit juices that don’t have a high acidity. If you are making a melomel from a highly acidic fruit, I would use the Lalvin 71B-1122.
Cuvee Yeast This is Red Star’s answer to EC-1118, so I don’t bother with it, but it works with reds, whites and champagnes.
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