Yooper's mead question

Hey all,

i have been brewing beer for quite a few years now and i decided to try a mead recipe from yooper. it is a one gallon batch

i am sorry that i don't have an actual recipe but it was: (from memory)

3# clover honey
cinnimon sticks
clove
Orange cut up
Baker's yeast

I trust yooper and have never tried mead before.


here's the question.

It is extremely sweet and smells like liquor. i don't know if this is how it is suppose to be but i thought i would ask. if it is ok then i will drink it but if it needs to ferment more i will de-gas them and recap so i don't get bottle bombs. i did not take an OG but the FG is 1.050.

let me know if i am way off or crazy or just don't understand mead.

Sound's like the JAOM recipe, for Joe's Ancient Orange Mead that Yooper has posted in the recipe section. The recipe says that it will come out sweet, and when it is clear it is ready to drink but you can also wait a little longer for the oranges to fall.

How long has it been fermenting?? 1.050 should still ferment out a little more I think. I'm new to mead as well though so I could be wrong

I'm no expert on mead, but I think 1.050 seems way too high! And as you say, extremely sweet. The recipe for JAOM says FG ~1.030. Have you bottled it? If so, I'd say there's a high risk of bottle bombs. What was the OG? At 1.050 there's definitely still lots of sugar left for the yeast to eat.

When did you start this?

i started it on Nov. 3rd at Dec. 29th it was clear. moved it up stairs to the kitchen and it was stirred up a little. let it settle again with little or no air lock activity (i know that doesn't mean anything) the oranges started to fall. bottled last night and since i didn't take an OG i went ahead and bottled. had a bottle tip over and spill so i thought i would just check the SG and it was, IMHO, extremely high. put the bottles in a bucket with lid just in case and i am going to let them sit for a while but just wanted to get an idea as to the outcome.

like i said, i have brewed beer for years but just haven't done any mead.

What type of yeast did you use?

Fleichmans

I actually don't know much about Fleichmans.

I guess I'll pass this off to the real mead makers and leave you with a good luck and happy brewing

Cheers

1.050 is quite high for an FG, but it might well be done if it was clear. I'm not familiar with bread yeast either, but I wouldn't be surprised if you reached it's alcohol tolerance. With 3 lbs honey in a gallon batch, you're probably somewhere around 8% ABV.

GinKings said:

1.050 is quite high for an FG, but it might well be done if it was clear. I'm not familiar with bread yeast either, but I wouldn't be surprised if you reached it's alcohol tolerance. With 3 lbs honey in a gallon batch, you're probably somewhere around 8% ABV.

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These were my thoughts as well but because of my lack of knowledge about the yeast, I didn't say.

It won't be a good idea to pitch another strand, so I'd say, if you like the taste, and it cleared out, bottle it.

Or Maybe let it sit another month and give it a bit longer. Whatever

Oh shoot I was thinking of another post where guy liked his. I'm not sure what to tell ya brother.

Make sure solid mead makers check this out. They're your best bet

Here's my take. Let it age. Decaping and putting back in a carboy might be good unless you want carbonated. You may want to hit it up with a fining agent and some potasium sulfate to stablize it. By the sounds of it it is not completely clear. Like read a newspaper through it clear. In this case you still have yeast suspended in it and it will still try to ferment. It also sounds like you made a sweet batch. It is typical that a Mead will smell and taste astringent or "Hot" (very alcoholic) when it has first cleared. At that point you need to let it age. Even a JAOM you need to let it age for 6-8 months. It is best to let any mead age for a year. And complex oily meads like bannana or chocolate may take longer, I have heard up to 2 years, though 1 1/2 should be fine. I have a chocolate and chocolate mint going now so we shall see.

So, I think that you just bottled it a bit too early. Aging and a little care will be all that is needed.

Hope that this helps.

Matrix

*update*

Put it back in the jug and put it in a warmer location. think my temp was low when it was about 65. re-read it and it should have been warmer. see what happens in a few months

From what I've heard if your really push it you can get fleishmans 13%-16%, but in JAOM will get up to only 8%-11%.

Ok, I'm not a expert mead maker by any means, 6-7 5 gallon successful batches under my belt. With that being said...I think you may want to try and get your final gravity down a bit more,,,,
My estimate is that your original gravity was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.109, and I can't imagine drinking a beverage that ended up somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.05. Personally, I would pitch another large amount of "proofed" yeast in, better yet, go get some brewers yeast, something along the lines of "fermentis safale us-05" or nottingham ale yeast and proof it in sterile water then pitch it in to your fermenter. I've used both very successfully in meads and endorse them wholeheartedly. I've also used "cotes de blanc" successfully as well as champagne yeast. I love bakers yeast....dont get me wrong, long time baker professionally and home baker, but unless your oxygenating your wort, and supplementing with vitamins I am somewhat hesitant to use bakers yeast....but, again, I haven't tried it in alcoholic beverages....your mileage may vary....Good luck!

but unless your oxygenating your wort,

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lol, actually "must" not wort when it comes to mead. Not that is really matters much, but just thought I'd mention that.