New and confused.

Indian_villager · 05-13-2010, 09:58 AM

Hello there! I'm Alex and I've recently taken an interest in making mead. (I planned on crossing over to beer after a while). I currently have a 6 gallon carboy with airlock and drilled stopper, a bottle of star san, and a packet of refrigerated d47 yeast as recommended by the local brew shop guy. I just wanted to try a basic mead that is just water and honey, but what is getting me right now is the whole nutrient thing.

I bought a small bottle of nutrient that clearly states "CONTAINS UREA" and I read that pdf in the sticky that says it is evil. They did have a Yeast Engergizer (which I think is what the guy actually told me to pick up). So what do I do as far as nutrient goes? I know most recipes say I don't need it but from the pdfs I read on this site the nutrients make the primary fermentation go quicker, and I was hoping to get my mead drinkable within a month or two.

I am lost and the shop that I am talking about it Corrado's in Clifton NJ.

Thanks again for any and all help.

Sincerely
-Alex

**jezter6** · 05-13-2010, 01:08 PM

Realistic -- a month or two is out of the question.

Maybe if you do something like JOAM - but normal meads just take longer. It takes a little extra time to age all that alcohol out. At 1-2 months, for most meads, will be rather boozy and rocket fuel tasting and will mellow out. Extra sweetness (either from yeast pooping out early or backsweetening) will certainly reduce your perception of that taste, but it will still be there.

Another option is to make something like a hydromel which is a weaker mead. You can do that with less honey, and then (based on preferences) add some other things to make it slightly more complex or sweeter. Homebrewer_99 has a great Lemonade Mead in the recipe area that might work, although I aged mine at least 6 months just due to cloudyness.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

PS -- Any chance you're the same indian_villager from HookahForum?

Letthegirlsing · 05-13-2010, 02:18 PM

what is a JOAM?

**jezter6** · 05-13-2010, 02:33 PM

Joe's Ancient Orange Mead.

Should be in the Recipe Database area.

KCWortHog · 05-13-2010, 05:44 PM

Urea isn't evil. Don't believe everything you read.

It's not urine, it's a source of nitrogen that's synthesized in a lab and used to feed your yeast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea

I posted these a while back, but IMO these are the best resources on yeast health & nutrient additions I've seen. Given the homebrewed-mead success Curt Stock & Kris England have seen, I am inclined to go with their advice & process. And Ken Schramm's advice is, of course, solid as a rock.

Optimizing Honey Fermentation by Ken Schramm
and
Making Great Mead by Kristen England & Curt Stock (NHC 2008)

The presentation addresses "nutrient" and "energizer". I always forget which one is supposed to be which, plus I think the naming convention is rather silly. Instead I just use DAP and FermaidK and forget the whole nutrient/energizer concept.

DAP = Diammonium Phosphate = essentially a source of nitrogen for the yeast
FermaidK = DAp + inorganic nitrogen + organic nitrogen + spent yeast + minerals for yeast health

While a month or 2 is optimistic, it's not impossible (and x2 for the hydromel suggestion). I think most meads can be ready to drink in 3-4 months IF you do them properly. And by that I mean proper yeast nutrition, degassing, good fermentation temp control, and sanitation. And, select a yeast that won't turn your mead into "rocket fuel" (aka, don't use 1118 unless you're trying to salvage a batch).

Just remember that the key to a good mead lies in a solid fermentation. And that means good yeast nutrition.

Indian_villager · 05-13-2010, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jezter6

Realistic -- a month or two is out of the question.

Maybe if you do something like JOAM - but normal meads just take longer. It takes a little extra time to age all that alcohol out. At 1-2 months, for most meads, will be rather boozy and rocket fuel tasting and will mellow out. Extra sweetness (either from yeast pooping out early or backsweetening) will certainly reduce your perception of that taste, but it will still be there.

Another option is to make something like a hydromel which is a weaker mead. You can do that with less honey, and then (based on preferences) add some other things to make it slightly more complex or sweeter. Homebrewer_99 has a great Lemonade Mead in the recipe area that might work, although I aged mine at least 6 months just due to cloudyness.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

PS -- Any chance you're the same indian_villager from HookahForum?

Yes I am one and the same Cotsi told me about this forum!

That lemonade mead recipe is what got me thinking about it. I saw it on instructables.com

**jezter6** · 05-13-2010, 06:41 PM

Sweet. Another HF'er on HBT! Don't know if I mentioned this place to cotsi or not.

I tried to get Mush over here - he makes mead too.

I have the lemonade mead on tap right now, and it's good on a nice hot day. Probably will be gone before it hits 90 though.

Really though, make a bit of JOAM - get yourself something to drink while the better stuff is aging. Great meads take time. You can shorten that time by doing the things KCWorthog said above, but in the end - you'll notice lots of changes as things age.

Indian_villager · 05-13-2010, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KCWortHog

Urea isn't evil. Don't believe everything you read.

It's not urine, it's a source of nitrogen that's synthesized in a lab and used to feed your yeast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urea

I posted these a while back, but IMO these are the best resources on yeast health & nutrient additions I've seen. Given the homebrewed-mead success Curt Stock & Kris England have seen, I am inclined to go with their advice & process. And Ken Schramm's advice is, of course, solid as a rock.

Optimizing Honey Fermentation by Ken Schramm
and
Making Great Mead by Kristen England & Curt Stock (NHC 2008)

The presentation addresses "nutrient" and "energizer". I always forget which one is supposed to be which, plus I think the naming convention is rather silly. Instead I just use DAP and FermaidK and forget the whole nutrient/energizer concept.

DAP = Diammonium Phosphate = essentially a source of nitrogen for the yeast
FermaidK = DAp + inorganic nitrogen + organic nitrogen + spent yeast + minerals for yeast health

While a month or 2 is optimistic, it's not impossible (and x2 for the hydromel suggestion). I think most meads can be ready to drink in 3-4 months IF you do them properly. And by that I mean proper yeast nutrition, degassing, good fermentation temp control, and sanitation. And, select a yeast that won't turn your mead into "rocket fuel" (aka, don't use 1118 unless you're trying to salvage a batch).

Just remember that the key to a good mead lies in a solid fermentation. And that means good yeast nutrition.

Thank you for those documents. They were truly helpful in clarifying what I needed to do.

KCWortHog · 05-13-2010, 08:00 PM

Aren't they great? Glad you found them useful.

Indian_villager · 05-14-2010, 01:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jezter6

Sweet. Another HF'er on HBT! Don't know if I mentioned this place to cotsi or not.

I tried to get Mush over here - he makes mead too.

I have the lemonade mead on tap right now, and it's good on a nice hot day. Probably will be gone before it hits 90 though.

Really though, make a bit of JOAM - get yourself something to drink while the better stuff is aging. Great meads take time. You can shorten that time by doing the things KCWorthog said above, but in the end - you'll notice lots of changes as things age.

I do plan on making some properly aged mead down the line. It is just that currently, I wanted something drinkable in somewhere between 2-3 months for some private reasons.