Questions on my first batch

So I got bored the other day and, not having a homebrew kit yet, decided I don't need no stinkin brew kit and set out to get a batch of mead going. I had about half a pound of honey left sitting around and some bread yeast. So my solution was to use an old smirnoff bottle (cleaned it out as best I could before hand) to brew the mead in. Put a hole in the cap of the bottle, ran a small plastic hose from my wife's vacuum sealer from the bottle into a jar filled with water to form the airlock (sealed the area around the cap and hose with candle wax). It's now bubbling nicely.

My question: As I just used straight up bread yeast without any type of activator or nutrient, about how long will it take for this batch to finish?

Lots of variables to consider: looks like you didn't take an OG so that's one factor we don't have. Temperature of the room is another factor. Nuetrience in the yeast will affect the time of brewing. And then there is the unpredictable behaviour of the yeast... especially since you used bread yeast!

Then there is the question of what is "Finnished" for you? Done fermenting? Finished clarifying? Ready to drink?

From reading these forums, my guess is that predicting your wait time is next to impossible, but one of the more experienced members might be able to give you a ball park approximate wait time... but I'm still pretty new at this, so if anyone out there wants to correct me then please do.

Gotcha, yeah it's being stored in a cabinet at room temperature. I'd consider finished as "ready to drink". I'm not worried about it being done quickly or anything, just curious

Here's a pic of my setup

That's a very small batch I ever seen haha...
Hope it turn out good. You have to make a bigger size in the future if you like it.

Oh yeah, definitely plan on making bigger batches

Are you planning on racking to a secondary?

BrewOFin said:

Are you planning on racking to a secondary?

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Not sure, that hose on there is pretty tiny, not sure what I'd do for a filter on it... You think it'd be a good idea since I used the bread yeast though?

Did you add a couple raisins for yeast food?

Maybe for a batch that small, a careful pour would be a better way to transfer into a secondary. My true curiosity is what would you use for a secondary?

To respond to your question, my (limited) understanding is that unlike beer, mead can ferment on its lees without causing problems with the flavor. But in general it is standard practice to transfer mead to a secondary.

BrewOFin said:

Maybe for a batch that small, a careful pour would be a better way to transfer into a secondary. My true curiosity is what would you use for a secondary?

To respond to your question, my (limited) understanding is that unlike beer, mead can ferment on its lees without causing problems with the flavor. But in general it is standard practice to transfer mead to a secondary.

Click to expand...

heheh, well I do have a small collection of alcohol bottles that I've emptied over the years, so I'm sure I could find something