Shot in the dark mead
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So I had an extra pack of WB-06 lying around but almost no malt to ferment it with. I decided to take a shot in the dark to craft a mead-ale of sorts. I did a bit of reading online and mead recipes typically call for yeast nutrients and the like as well. Since I don't have anything of the sort at hand, my recipe was as follows:
4kg Jasmine Honey
300g Amber Malt Extract
Boiled for around 20 minutes with a couple of cinnamon sticks in 5L of water. Topped off to 20L, cooled to 28C and pitched. Fermentation temperature of 19C was hit roughly 6 hours later (I know now that I should cool before topping off, specifically to fermenting temp, ah well).
Every now and again I get delightful wafts of honey emanating from my fermentation vessel. It's been roughly 5 days and I saw no krausen and there's no sediment at the bottom. I had a hard time telling if it was fermenting at all so I took a hydrometer reading. The liquid left a big head and was slightly carbonated. It clocked in at just over 1.060 (maybe misread it), but it was incredibly sweet when I tasted it, basically just like carbonated honey water.
How can I tell if this is properly fermenting? I'm sorta thinking of dumping it as I basically just did it to use up the last of my yeast as a shot in the dark. Worth keeping around? I've read that mead can take months to condition. Should I bottle it in a week or so and store it for 4-6 months?
Edit - Forgot to mention that I'm fermenting at around 18C
Last edited by dttk0009; 04-22-2011 at 08:40 AM.
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