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Great thread, and great information. I skipped around 10 pages, so forgive me if I missed the biggest increase. Make your plan, get you output, then run a third batch, not exceeding lower that 10 percent sugar content. and process it in a second pot. Otherwise your pulling some nasty tastes...

Just to follow up on some of the these old mixes. Brought a few bottles of this to a BBQ, and tasting another tonight. The flavor is strong, almost heavy. It taste really great, but I don't think it was the "light refreshing" mead I was shooting for to introduce newbies to mead. In general I...

After almost 20 some years of homebrewing I'm pretty sure I have made ALL of them. Nasty ones where a stuck up blow off tube that blew, still have stains on the ceiling from that one. Then there was the time I tested all the seals on my keg, forgot to unplug the beer out open line when I...

Longer you bulk age, the clearer it will be in the bottle and less sedimate will build up. Maybe it's just picky, but gunk in the bottom is not what I want in a great bottle of mead. For that reason I tend to rack every couple of months until the bottom of the carboy stays clear.

After attempting to forget about these bottles I finally opened a small bottle today and got inspired to update this thread. On 2011-03-27 I gave a bottle to someone I worked with who brewed, his comments was. - Very nice, complex and very pleasant. Today, I have to say a nice complex flavor...

The only cure for lack of patience is more carboys and a full pipeline.

Coleman - 5 Gallon is pretty small for all grain it can be done but it gets really tight for higher gravity mashes, most people use 10 gallons.

You could check for starch conversion using a white plate and iodine, I would shoot for 160F to mashin, stir very well to ensure everything is wet and at even temp then let it sit for 30 minutes even if it drops below 150 just let it and give the different enzymes time to do their thing. Stir...

I'm thinking that just be clumps of yeast that have formed and dried out on top. If not, you have a nice lambic going on.

You could always wrap the fermenter in a blanket, fermentation will produce a little heat and insulating it will up the temp a few degrees, but even then low 60's is where I usually do my fermentation at using a fridge and temperature control unit unless it's a yeast that needs higher temps.

Put a lava lamp behind them and tell her your getting in touch with your inner hippy. (Not that it is a bad thing or anything like that).

Time will allow it to clear, once fermentation is done the temperature is no longer critical to keep from producing off flavors. Until it is fully degassed I would keep an air lock on it. If you don't mind the taste of lactose that would work fine, splenda (not a blend) would also work. As long...

Great story and best of luck on a great cider coming out from this. It sounded like a blast.

I don't top off, but I usually make 5 gallon batches + some honey,sugar,concentrate, etc. The secondary only has a little space that gets filled with Co2 from degassing as it clears. If longer term ageing is needed, I rack to a keg and seal with Co2. But you do not want a lot of head space to...

Cinnamon and cloves, a little goes a long way, but I usually add them after primary fermentation slows, then let the sit for a week or two before racking to secondary for clearing. I think a lot is driven off in the Co2 production during active fermentation. Just my two cents.

There are a few points you may want to consider. By adding sugar to up the ABV% you will actually be making a thinner flavor cider, one option would be to add frozen concentrate to offset. Carbonated and yet still sweet is an invitation to bottle bombs unless you stabilize the yeast somehow...

I have had no luck in cold crashing yeast at higher gravity, enough are always still around to come back to life and start fermentation again. The only answer that worked for me is to stabilize with chemicals, or to bottle, carb then pasteurize. Both of which have enough downsides to make me...

Start practising patience.... A hefty mead like that with high gravity yeast will produce a rather dry mead that will take a long time to be ready to drink, but when it is I'm sure your like it.

I ferment my meads at low temperature for the yeast, don't treat them, and I still get headaches if I over indulge. For me I think it is the sugar rush, with the higher ABV, and I don't drink enough water to hydrate. = Typical dehydration hangover. Maybe it's just me.

Basic answer seems to be that some people go weeks, some go months, and some go for years. I personally go for a few months until it has cleared well, and the yeast have had a chance to clean up after themselves. Then I rack to secondary for as long as I can until I need the carboy because I'm...