1st time mead-maker w/ sulfer smell - Page 3

mr_y82 · 10-20-2011, 03:37 PM

Getting ready to do another secondary racking on the mead. It's been 6 weeks since I did the bread yeast thing, and this stuff is already impressively clear (I can read the small print on beer labels through the gallon jug). Once we took care of the mouse problem I was able to keep the temp at 72 w/out a water bath. I haven't noticed any activity at all and I expect the SG is basically stable and I know it's below 1.

The lower temp is most important during the primary phase, correct? After activity has become super slow, a higher temp won't cause as much harm, right??? What about after it's bottled... would 76F degrees be a problem for bottled mead???

I have some big brown grolsh bottles... I has been wondering if it wouldn't be better for the mead to be out of the clear jug in a couple months, instead of continuing to bulk age it in clear glass. I have it sitting in a bucket in the darkest part of the house, but it still gets some light... I was also considering adding a cup of vodka when I bottle, thoughts???

Trying to get to a stout and two more 1 gallon batches of mead soon... then the big one.

mr_y82 · 10-27-2011, 08:09 PM

I didn't get my equipment set up quite right and I was far from a noiseless siphon... stirred up a little yeast too, but managed to leave most of it. I just hope I didn't introduce too much O2, don't know how bad that is compared to beer... I have read it's good to release CO2, so maybe I can put a positive spin on it.

I took a reading... was actually .004 higher than my first reading at the tail end of primary... must be due to temp difference.... I added a 1/2 cup 100 proof vodka and 1/2 cup h20 to fill up the carboy... I figure it's about 11%, and it actually tastes pretty good 2 months from start... so I am looking forward to tasting it after it ages. It was super clear, but dark due to my honey choice... a little cloudy after racking.

mr_y82 · 01-25-2012, 11:02 PM

as of january 2012 (4 months since production) this is at 11% and has a very pleasing taste... has been stable and clear for a long time and I think I can bottle it anytime... been busy making back to back to back batches of beer lately, and trying to forget about the mead for a while so I can reap the rewards of patience.

mr_y82 · 04-25-2012, 11:56 PM

Tasted good in march... tasted good this past weekend when I bottled it... dry, but not overly so... 12%ish .996... looking forward to it down the road.

I put it in Fischer (french) swing top bottles... hope that is okay for upwards of a year+... funny story... while I was washing bottles outside I dropped one from at least 3 feet... it bounced of a rock into the grass and I figured it was history... can't find a mark on the bottle, but the rock (granite) had a line of chalky dust from the impact... that's a good bottle.