WildGingerBrewing

Recipes 

I am gearing up to attempt my first melomel. What should I expect from the fermentation? Does a big krausen form? I am planning on doing a 3 gal batch. Is a standard 6.5 gal carboy too big or should I use a 5 gal? I just don't want a massive explosion or anything and am not sure what to expect. Btw, I am using AZ_IPA award winning recipe, http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/my-first-mead-well-melomel-whaddya-think-88924/ as my base. I am thinking 8 lbs of honey and 4 lbs of raspberries along with the other items he used. Any advice would be appreciated.

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commonsenseman

Recipes 

In my experience (3 batches with d-47) it doesn't foam up too much, but it's always a good idea to leave some headspace JIC. 3 gallons in a 6.5gal carboy will be fine as long as you have something to transfer it to with as little headspace as possible, topping up as needed. I wouldn't leave it in there for too long, I'd let it get down to 1-ish, then transfer it to a smaller secondary. D-47 will take this to dry, I estimate your OG at 1.099, so you'll more than likely end up with a FG below 1, putting it at a little over 13%.

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"EC-1118 is a monster yeast. But it is also clean and quick. Like a humane serial killer."

1 Gal: Redneck Metheglin
1 Gal: Grape Concentrate Wine
1 Gal: Backyard Grape Wine
5 Gal: Oatmeal Stout
5 Gal: Citrus Pale Ale

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Bottled: St Paul Porter, DIIIPA, Strawberry Melomel, Rhubarb Melomel, Oktoberfest, Barley Bracket, Munich Helles, Black Bracket
Kegged: 12/12/12, Citrus IPA

WildGingerBrewing

Recipes 

Great thanks! I plan to buy a 3 gal carboy before I rack so I should be ok there. One question. You say "top up". Everytime I rack am I supposed to top off to 3 gal again?

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commonsenseman

Recipes 

Yes. Since you age mead for quite a while for it to be good, oxidation can become an issue if you don't manage headspace. I have been topping up with honey/water or just water succesfully. I have also heard of people topping up with a neutral spirit like vodka, or with white wine. Haven't tried that though, so I can't comment. In a perfect world, I'd shoot for more like 3.5 gallons to start off with, so then when you rack it to the 3 gallon carboy, you can fill it all the way without needing to top off.

__________________
"EC-1118 is a monster yeast. But it is also clean and quick. Like a humane serial killer."

1 Gal: Redneck Metheglin
1 Gal: Grape Concentrate Wine
1 Gal: Backyard Grape Wine
5 Gal: Oatmeal Stout
5 Gal: Citrus Pale Ale

__________________________________________
Bottled: St Paul Porter, DIIIPA, Strawberry Melomel, Rhubarb Melomel, Oktoberfest, Barley Bracket, Munich Helles, Black Bracket
Kegged: 12/12/12, Citrus IPA

WildGingerBrewing

Recipes 

Do you carbonate your meads? If so, is it done jut like with bottling beer and how much priming sugar do you add?

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commonsenseman

Recipes 

Well, I haven't tried carbonating any of mine yet. It's a tricky matter because a lot of meads end up right around the yeast's tolerance for ABV. If it hasn't reached it's max though, & you're ok with it being dry & sparkling, you can definitely prime it the same as with beer. Here's the calculator I use for beer.

If you want the end product sweet & sparkling, the only way to do it without compromising quality is to force carb it.

I personally like it still, it's more like a wine that way.

__________________
"EC-1118 is a monster yeast. But it is also clean and quick. Like a humane serial killer."

1 Gal: Redneck Metheglin
1 Gal: Grape Concentrate Wine
1 Gal: Backyard Grape Wine
5 Gal: Oatmeal Stout
5 Gal: Citrus Pale Ale

__________________________________________
Bottled: St Paul Porter, DIIIPA, Strawberry Melomel, Rhubarb Melomel, Oktoberfest, Barley Bracket, Munich Helles, Black Bracket
Kegged: 12/12/12, Citrus IPA