Recent content by mphymel

Sorry, missed your post earlier, I wouldn't leave out the vanilla. Your still have a lot of mellowing to go through yet. Have you stabilized? I would expect that no more appreciable alchohol will be produced, and that the harshness will fade.

Curious if you came up with anything. We are on the north shore and we were thinking of making wine with some of these cooking pears. I have bees and was hoping to find a mead recipe, if not, then wine.

I heated my honey a bit, to aid in dissolving it. Some say heat it to kill microbes that may be present. Some say not to because it changes the flavor of the honey. Let us know what you end up doing. Mine won't be bottled for a few months, so I must learn patience, as all wine makers must.

I had a similar concern, I compare the alcohol tolerance spec for both and went with a wyeast product, because they seemed close enough to satisfy me. I have a local supplier who happened to have Wyeast products on hand, that was my only reason to deviate.

Question regarding stabilizing: I am a bit late in getting around to stabilizing and sweetening with the buckwheat honey. Mainly because I am not quite sure what I am supposed to be doing in this step. The recipe states :"Rack again onto 1 lb of buckwheat honey and 1/4t potassium...

OK, checked my gravity, I am at 1.07, so I added my 1st nutrient shot, I am using WLN1000 from White labs. Also, my yeast was Wyeast 4021. I forgot to dissolve this in liquid, so I did get foaming.

OK, just a few notes for anyone as green as I am: 1. Get about an extra half gallon of apple juice. The grains will absorb about that much. 2. Don't think, "hmm, why don't I add the DME to the 150°F juice to make it dissolve quicker?" It will turn into silly putty the instant it hits the hot...

I am doing it for the first time tonight. This will be the first thing I ever ferment, except certain leftovers in the fridge. Great advice gained here. Thanks SS for posting this.