So I tried the mead thing today and I'm curious as to any feedback. I slightly modified one of the raspberry melamel recipes from this board.
I heated one gallon of spring water to 115*F; added 7.5 lbs of clover honey and stirred to dissolve. Added 5g pack of D-47 to 100mL 105*F water to bloom. Added 24 oz. fresh raspberries to a 3 gallon carboy, along with 0.5 cup earl grey tea, and the strained juice from 4 lemons and 4 limes. I added 1 tsp. yeast nutriet to the honey mix, and added the honey mix to the carboy. I topped off the carboy to ~3 gallons with spring water (almost 1 more gallon); mixed well and took a temp. Right at 80*F so I grabbed a sample for OG and pitched the yeast.
The OG (temp corrected) is 1.105. I'm excited for my first mead...errrr....melamel!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Bundy
Oh mighty one in heaven, who created mountains, the sea, and beer...
one more question - I've read to rack off the fruit after a week. Is that a good thing to do?
And also, I'm assuming this ain't like beer with a 1-2-3 method What's the consensus for how long before bottling (and yes, I know that waiting until fermentation is done is the obvious thing); and how long to condition?
My initial plan was to rack off the fruit at 1-2 weeks - keep in the carboy for at least 6-8 weeks, and age in the bottles for at least 3 months...
thx.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Bundy
Oh mighty one in heaven, who created mountains, the sea, and beer...
My initial plan was to rack off the fruit at 1-2 weeks - keep in the carboy for at least 6-8 weeks, and age in the bottles for at least 3 months...
Sounds like a good plan! Rack off the fruit when the gravity gets below 1.010 and then rack again a couple of weeks later when the gravity is around .096. It'll be dry by then so you can decide whether you want to stabilize and backsweeten. Bulk age in the carboy for at least 3 months. I leave mine in for 8-12 months.
Detassled???? Holy crappers...mother of.....I haven't heard that word in a long long time...man that WAS my summer job growing up in Rural Iowa. I worked on both large "bus" size detassling crews, as well as contracted a number of acres myself.
Talk about THE TOUGHEST Job you'll ever HATE!! Good money, but man..lots of hard work...Nothing like FULL PULL!!
Dan
__________________ 5 gal secondary: Strawberry Mead
1 gallon secondary: Blood orange Mead
1 gallon secondary: Grape Mead
On Tap: Blackberry Blonde Ale
On Tap: Apple/Cherry Hard Cider
Detassled???? Holy crappers...mother of.....I haven't heard that word in a long long time...man that WAS my summer job growing up in Rural Iowa. I worked on both large "bus" size detassling crews, as well as contracted a number of acres myself.
Talk about THE TOUGHEST Job you'll ever HATE!! Good money, but man..lots of hard work...Nothing like FULL PULL!!
Dan
great money when I was 14! But man, those 1/2 mile rows were killers...
Were you on an Oetting's crew?
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by Al Bundy
Oh mighty one in heaven, who created mountains, the sea, and beer...
My first mead - well, melomel...whaddya think?
What's the consensus for how long before bottling (and yes, I know that waiting until fermentation is done is the obvious thing); and how long to condition?
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