Thanks for any help/advice you can offer... I might just be freaking out because $70+ and 6+ gallons of mead are on the line...
I just racked my first big batch of mead. I have a slight issue I wanted to check on. I decided not to boil my big batch as that seems to be the consensus among people who seem to go into lots of detail about procedure... I decided to get the wort up to 178Fish in hopes that would sterilize the honey without destroying the character (I know the hightest directions say 115, but I was scared I might get an infection).
Anyway, now that it's racked I see lots of stuff (whitish matter) floating around in there (I shake the hell out of the 6.5gallon carboy when I rack brews)... Is this the stuff that would have been skimmed if it was simmered/boiled??? Should I be concerned??? The matter is settling out of it, but I wanted to know if it was something the yeast might react with and ruin my batch/give killer hangovers, like waxes... I skimmed my 1 gallon test batch (not much came out, but it was not brewed with the same ingredients); I also simmered it because I had not yet read sources that said otherwise.
The honey I used was 12lb raw orange blossom from William's... it had gone to sugar a little (had it since april) and when I got it you could see a lot of matter (bee parts and other stuff I assume), but dissolved nicely and looked clear in the brew kettle... I also used 5.5lb local clover honey (clear typical filtered?)...
here are some pics: 2hrs after racking, yeast not yet added.
w/ flash... you can see the junk floating down after I slid it across the counter to take pics... the below "cloud" was already present... more started to fall when I moved the carboy
these two are with the flash off... the initial stuff that settled out left a big "cloud" in the middle bottom of the carboy, with a layer across the entire bottom... when I moved it it caused more to start falling... as you can see in pic 1
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more complete recipe:
2 brew pots:
brew pot 1:
1.5gallon h20 brought to a boil with 2oz heather tips, turn off heat
12lbs william's orange blossom honey (described above)
brought back to 178F (read that was temp of inoculation somewhere...) then let cool some
racked into 6.5gallon carboy with 2 gallons h20, heather tips filtered out (also noticed some white scum on funnel filter...)
brew pot 2
1gallon h20 brought to a boil and added 3tsp fermax (DAP) & 3tsp yeast energizer (w/DAP,yeast hulls,MgSO4,vit.B complex)
5.5lb local clover honey added after heat turned down
brought back to 178F and then let cool some
racked into carboy
yeild ~6 gallons... comes up maybe half an inch shy of where the carboy tapers, hoping that is enough head space for adding stepped nutrients and mixing..
Haven't take OG yet... guessing b/t 1.113 and 1.120
planning to use Lavlin 71B and expect a semi-dry result... (I wish I would have bought 2 packs, but only have 5g... says it is good for 6 gallons, but... I plan on re-hydrating only in water)
------------------------
side issue (posted as a new thread):
I like supporting my local home brew store, so my "DAP" is Fermax... and I don't have superfood or fermaid, but rather "yeast energizer" (ingredients above) ... both are from "Crosby and Baker"... I hope I didn't use too much... I know hightest says at innoc. you should use a little less than 1 tsp DAP, and ~2tsp superfood or 1 tsp fermaid...
Does anyone know how what I have compares, or how much I should use??? I still plan on adding more at the recommended intervals down to 2/3 OG
I am not sure how those compare to my stuff, so I erred on the side of adding a little extra... I put 3tsp Fermax (label calls for 1tsp/gallon, so I cut that in half) and 3tsp yeast energizer (label calls for 1/2tsp gallon, so I used the recommended amount)...
I just racked my first big batch of mead. I have a slight issue I wanted to check on. I decided not to boil my big batch as that seems to be the consensus among people who seem to go into lots of detail about procedure... I decided to get the wort up to 178Fish in hopes that would sterilize the honey without destroying the character (I know the hightest directions say 115, but I was scared I might get an infection).
Anyway, now that it's racked I see lots of stuff (whitish matter) floating around in there (I shake the hell out of the 6.5gallon carboy when I rack brews)... Is this the stuff that would have been skimmed if it was simmered/boiled??? Should I be concerned??? The matter is settling out of it, but I wanted to know if it was something the yeast might react with and ruin my batch/give killer hangovers, like waxes... I skimmed my 1 gallon test batch (not much came out, but it was not brewed with the same ingredients); I also simmered it because I had not yet read sources that said otherwise.
The honey I used was 12lb raw orange blossom from William's... it had gone to sugar a little (had it since april) and when I got it you could see a lot of matter (bee parts and other stuff I assume), but dissolved nicely and looked clear in the brew kettle... I also used 5.5lb local clover honey (clear typical filtered?)...
here are some pics: 2hrs after racking, yeast not yet added.
w/ flash... you can see the junk floating down after I slid it across the counter to take pics... the below "cloud" was already present... more started to fall when I moved the carboy
these two are with the flash off... the initial stuff that settled out left a big "cloud" in the middle bottom of the carboy, with a layer across the entire bottom... when I moved it it caused more to start falling... as you can see in pic 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
more complete recipe:
2 brew pots:
brew pot 1:
1.5gallon h20 brought to a boil with 2oz heather tips, turn off heat
12lbs william's orange blossom honey (described above)
brought back to 178F (read that was temp of inoculation somewhere...) then let cool some
racked into 6.5gallon carboy with 2 gallons h20, heather tips filtered out (also noticed some white scum on funnel filter...)
brew pot 2
1gallon h20 brought to a boil and added 3tsp fermax (DAP) & 3tsp yeast energizer (w/DAP,yeast hulls,MgSO4,vit.B complex)
5.5lb local clover honey added after heat turned down
brought back to 178F and then let cool some
racked into carboy
yeild ~6 gallons... comes up maybe half an inch shy of where the carboy tapers, hoping that is enough head space for adding stepped nutrients and mixing..
Haven't take OG yet... guessing b/t 1.113 and 1.120
planning to use Lavlin 71B and expect a semi-dry result... (I wish I would have bought 2 packs, but only have 5g... says it is good for 6 gallons, but... I plan on re-hydrating only in water)
------------------------
side issue (posted as a new thread):
I like supporting my local home brew store, so my "DAP" is Fermax... and I don't have superfood or fermaid, but rather "yeast energizer" (ingredients above) ... both are from "Crosby and Baker"... I hope I didn't use too much... I know hightest says at innoc. you should use a little less than 1 tsp DAP, and ~2tsp superfood or 1 tsp fermaid...
Does anyone know how what I have compares, or how much I should use??? I still plan on adding more at the recommended intervals down to 2/3 OG
I am not sure how those compare to my stuff, so I erred on the side of adding a little extra... I put 3tsp Fermax (label calls for 1tsp/gallon, so I cut that in half) and 3tsp yeast energizer (label calls for 1/2tsp gallon, so I used the recommended amount)...