Bray's One Month Mead

SSBrew - 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
You can also use Super-Kleer to drop out all of the yeast and other sediment, after you are sure the yeast is all done. It's like a month in a cold brite tank, but overnight.
 
loveofrose said:
Wait. When did you rack the first time? I never rack until at least a month. The yeast need time to clean up. Is it crystal clear? The yeast can also add a chemical flavor sometimes.

Although, I imagine your temperature was higher than you thought and is likely the culprit. No worries. It will age out quickly.
Click to expand...

I need to look back at my notes. I believe it was 10 days after pitching the starter. day 8, 9 and 10 all had the same SG and I assume fermentation was complete.

I will do the following different next time:

- keep mead in bucket for 28 days to allow for yeast to clean up after themselves. (I do this with beer in carboys. most of my ales stay in primary for 3 weeks. no secondary)
- ensure there is bucket space in my fermentation area (64F) vs keeping under the kitchen table with fluctuating temps.
 
Hey Love,

Noob question but on your site for the BOMM 5 gallon recipe are the measurements accurate? I was reading thru the posts here and there seemed to be some confusion.

V/r
 
loveofrose said:
The correct recipe is here:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/BOMM5gallons/
Click to expand...

Awesome thank you, I just completed the starter yeast and will be mixing that for the next 3 days.

I noticed tonight when I opened my Wyeast packet that there was a double pouch inside assuming yeast nutrient, but looks like only one was popped open. Is this common enough to find or did I mess up when trying to activate the pack?

Thanks for all the help!
 
It's fine, the smackpack is there to boost vitality and ensure the yeast are still viable for older packages. Don't worry too much about it this time, it's just icing on the cake.
 
So I am on my last night before I add my starter to my must. Is it fine to just add the starter with the sediment to my must or should I siphon from the starter to the must?
 
I just finished pitching my starter into my must, ended up using around 10lb of honey which was a bit shy of 1 gallon and my gravity reading with my starter added was roughly 1.075. Do you think this will be a problem with the gravity being lower then the range you had in your recipe and what sugar breaks should I be looking for?

Thanks again for helping a newbie out!
 
Amphand said:
I just
finished pitching my starter into my
must, ended up using around 10lb of honey which was a bit shy of 1 gallon and my gravity reading with my starter added was roughly 1.075.
Click to expand...

10# of honey in a 5 gallon batch? That gravity is right. Try this next time:
http://www.meadmakr.com/batch-buildr/

Also worth reading the newbie guide at gotmead.com. Will answer all your questions.
 
Amphand said:
I just finished pitching my starter into my must, ended up using around 10lb of honey which was a bit shy of 1 gallon and my gravity reading with my starter added was roughly 1.075. Do you think this will be a problem with the gravity being lower then the range you had in your recipe and what sugar breaks should I be looking for?



Thanks again for helping a newbie out!
Click to expand...


You can always add a few more lbs of honey (2 lbs) once it hits the 1.010-1.005 range.

For a gravity that low, I would add the rest of the nutrients at 1.050ish. You've voided the warranty, but it should be fine.
 
Does it necessarily have to be orange blossom honey? I have a local bee keeper supplier of fresh honey which I assume to be more along the lines of wildflower since I am in northern Wisconsin! I am not completely aware of the differences in honey other that the different flavors. Is one mor heavier than another so quantities vary?
 
As long as it is good, raw honey, it will be fine. Local is better if you like the honey! Buy in bulk for a better price!
 
Add all the nutrient as in both the first and second sugar break? Also what do you mean I voided the warranty?
 
Just add nutrients upfront and 1.040. Forget about the third addition. Your gravity isn't high enough to need it.

If you change anything about the recipe, I cannot say it will turn out well. It may or may not turn out well. That's what I mean about voiding the warranty.
 
Thanks for all the help, I just did a gravity reading today and it was right at 1.050 so I added the remaining ingredients and degassed. Hopefully with a little luck and some time it will come out tasty. I was wondering since I have no further steps why I wait 1 week until adding water to the airlock and also do I rack at any point in time or do I just ferment in the same bucket for the full month until I can bottle?
 
Generally, oxygen is a good thing until you approach low gravity. You can add around 1.03.

Don't rack until at least a month. The yeast need some time to clean up after primary ferment.
 
So now that my gravity has dropped to 1.03 and I have put water into my airlock is there anything else I should be doing for my 5g batch while I wait for the 30 day mark?
 
Nope, nothing you have to do. You can taste a bit weekly just to see how the flavor develops. At day 25, you can stick it in your fridge to speed up clearing. All optional of course.
 
So where I live has been hit with a bit of a cold spell and I was wondering if I should be concerned about the fermentation slowing down or stopping due to the temperature drop in my home. I have noticed that the airlock is bubbling less frequently as a result.
 
Looks like I was about to keep it around 60-65 degrees, the airlock doesn't seem to be bubbling anymore though not sure it if it should still be or not. Unfortunately my fridge isn't in a location where I can put my batch on top or behind.
 
It's done. Congrats! You can cold crash or wait for it to clear. Once clear, you can bottle it. I've been known to drink it cloudy...just sayin'.
 
How can you tell that it is done, are you going by gravity or by the airlock bubbling?

Also when clearing, should I siphon to a carboy to cold crash and clear or should I wait until after it has cleared itself up to transfer?
 
Gravity is the best indicator.

As for me, I siphoned my melomel into secondary and plan to keep it at room temperature to clarify. I don't have a temperature-controlled refrigerator or freezer right now. The mead stopped major fermentation in the primary, but the yeast was still a bit active in the secondary after transfer as evidenced from a whitish carbonation ring in the neck of my carboy. That's dissipated over the course of a couple weeks now and I've seen absolutely no evidence of airlock activity the whole time.

My gravity before transfer was 1.012, down from 1.12. I'm assuming when it's transferred a second time, the gravity might change but a semi-sweet 1.012 is fine with me.
 
Last edited:
1.000 is the gravity of water without any sugar. If your gravity reaches 1.000 or lower, then there is no more available sugar for the yeast to ferment. Bubbles mean next to nothing.
 
I was wondering more about is there a specific gravity reading you base off to tell when it is finished.
 
loveofrose said:
1.000 is the gravity of water without any sugar. If your gravity reaches 1.000 or lower, then there is no more available sugar for the yeast to ferment. Bubbles mean next to nothing.
Click to expand...

Well, technically, since ethanol is less dense than water, and there is a significant amount of ethanol after fermentation, the true absolute minimum possible density of a fermented beverage is closer to 0.98ish, if everything in it is fully fermentable.
Very dry wines, or fruit wines that are almost all sugar, can finish that low.

You probably know better than I what the limit is for honey, though, as I presume there is a little non-fermentable stuff in honey. Found one thread in here about it : https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=218544
 
Would it be better to use super-kleer or bentonite to clear the mead and does anyone know if they affect the taste?
 
Amphand said:
Would it be better to use super-kleer or bentonite to clear the mead and does anyone know if they affect the taste?
Click to expand...


Either will work. I've found cold crashing wastes less mead, but I understand if you don't have the setup.

Yes, they can strip some flavors, but I don't find it particularly noticeable. Don't leave the mead on superkleer too long though (1 month max). It starts to leave a funky flavor if you do.
 
I started a 3 gallon batch of traditional BOMM and followed the recipe to the letter. I followed the one gallon recipe and just added 3 times as much except for the yeast. My question is I didn't make a starter for the yeast. I just smacked the bag and waited 2 hours before adding to my must. It took almost a day for the OG of 1.11 to fall to 1.10. Should I have used a one gallon starter? Or will I be ok with just using the smack pack?
 
After reading this entire thread, plus your blog, I went for it. I used mostly honey from a local bee farm, where they have Tupelo available. That was 12 pounds, and I ended up having to add in another ~3 pounds of some grocery store clover to hit my desired gravity.

Based on the later post discussing WY1388's tendency to chew up precisely 120 points, I opted for a FG of roughly 1.015, and put together 5 gallons at 1.132.

One thing I learned: Wyeast's yeast nutrient (not the smack pack, the powder you can buy) is not the same as Go-Ferm. My starter was completely dead, despite being on a stir plate for 5 days. In an attempt to get it started, I added a pinch of DAP, and it took off within hours.

I used the Fermaid-O method, and have had great success thus far. In three days, gravity has dropped to the 1/3 sugar point; currently at 1.043. With that, a question - since the 72 hour point and 1/3 sugar point coincided, am I done with Fermaid additions? Or should I do another add later?
 
Mxh5891 said:
I started a 3 gallon batch of traditional BOMM and followed the recipe to the letter. I followed the one gallon recipe and just added 3 times as much except for the yeast. My question is I didn't make a starter for the yeast. I just smacked the bag and waited 2 hours before adding to my must. It took almost a day for the OG of 1.11 to fall to 1.10. Should I have used a one gallon starter? Or will I be ok with just using the smack pack?
Click to expand...


While a starter or 2 packs would have been better, it will be fine. It will lag a few days, then take off like a rocket.
 
Stephonovich said:
After reading this entire thread, plus your blog, I went for it. I used mostly honey from a local bee farm, where they have Tupelo available. That was 12 pounds, and I ended up having to add in another ~3 pounds of some grocery store clover to hit my desired gravity.

Based on the later post discussing WY1388's tendency to chew up precisely 120 points, I opted for a FG of roughly 1.015, and put together 5 gallons at 1.132.

One thing I learned: Wyeast's yeast nutrient (not the smack pack, the powder you can buy) is not the same as Go-Ferm. My starter was completely dead, despite being on a stir plate for 5 days. In an attempt to get it started, I added a pinch of DAP, and it took off within hours.

I used the Fermaid-O method, and have had great success thus far. In three days, gravity has dropped to the 1/3 sugar point; currently at 1.043. With that, a question - since the 72 hour point and 1/3 sugar point coincided, am I done with Fermaid additions? Or should I do another add later?
Click to expand...


I'm still in testing with Fermaid O. Three additions seems fine with a 1.100 BOMM. When the gravity is higher, it starts to get dicey on fusel production. You can add more. It won't hurt anything as long as it is clear before you drink it.
 

Similar threads

T
Mead has been fermenting for almost 2 months and is only at 6% ABV
Replies
8
Views
1K
AirsickErmine
A
superpig0
Mead Recipe Concern
Replies
2
Views
545
Dan O
Dan O
J
Beginner Mead Mistake?
Replies
8
Views
585
JamieDanger
J
MapleGroveAleworks
Newbie to mead - question on yeast nutrients
Replies
3
Views
588
Johnny2
J
J
Cinnamon Metheglin
Replies
19
Views
1K
Stevie G
S
Brewer's Friend 300

Latest posts

Back
Top