2nd mead - wanting to try ginger

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DaleGC

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Hi everyone,

I made my 1st mead (following the JAOM recipe) a few months ago with moderate success but I would really have liked a more varied flavour.

After thinking about this for a few months I have decided I would really like to try a mead with a fiery ginger kick to it. From the posts I have read, the below recipe seems like a safe idea for a gallon but there are a few factors stopping me from starting:

3lb honey (originally thinking clover honey but very open to suggestions and advice on where to find this for reasonable prices in the UK)
2lb raw ginger
One sachet of yeast (I have Lalvin D47 and have heard good reviews but once again would change this if advised)
1 Orange/Orange Juice
1 Lemon
Raisins as a nutrient. They seemed to work well in the JAOM.
1 stick of Cinnamon.
1 clove.

I realise as part of this I haven't added an energiser or Campden tablets but if they are not necessary, I would not be worries about missing these out.

I was looking to originally make a 'tea' using the ginger and adding this as part of the primary. I was also planning on adding the spices and fruit at this stage and leaving it there for the full length it's in the primary.

If the notes are anything to go by, I will generally be racking anywhere between 1 and 4 weeks (once gravity drops to about 1.010) and possibly adding additional ginger/orange/lemon at this stage.

I'm not in a massive rush to finish this so a 6-9 month mead would suit me nicely. I also would prefer a final alcohol level of about 14% and would rather keep this sweeter than dryer.

Any help/advice/opinions would be massively appreciated and I'll make sure I keep you all posted throughout.
 
Simmer your sliced ginger in a half gallon of water for 20 min, dump in the raisans after you take it off the heat. 2 lbs is going to give you a good kick, the other spices you wont even taste.WVMJ
 
Welcome to the forums.....

There's a few of us this side of the pond, but as you know places can be poles apart even if not actually that distant, hence it depends where you are.

The US contingent here are a good bunch but they also have access to a much larger market, so stuff like finding good varietal honey is easier for them. We have to make do a fair amount.

It's not impossible though. There's a few equivalents for some materials etc.

As for the ginger thing ? I'm also intending to try WVMJ's extraction method next time too as using just grated/sliced or whatever ginger can make for a lot of sediment thats hard to work with.

Don't worry about mega accuracy either, honey and yeast have a habit of unpredictability. There's plenty of info kicking around so you can work out whats going on and you can use real time measurements to know where you're at.

Apparently the hottest part of the ginger roots are just below the skin so I'd suggest just scrubbing any dirt off and the using the rest sliced or grated for the "ginger tea" extract.

For "energiser" tronozymol is an easy equivalent and for nutrient, youngs yeast nutrient is only 2 components, both are, as I understand, inorganic nitrogen sources hence it can be used vice pure DAP/di-ammonium phosphate.

Keep this updated though, it'd be interesting to read of what you settle on finally.

Oh and I prefer K1v1116 or D21 for meads (harder to find/get D21).

:rockin:
 
Thank you both very much, especially in such a short time.

I did notice our honey/yeast market was a bit behind the US market but with the info you've given me I can at least narrow my search down a bit.

The ginger is the only definite I have so far so keeping as wide of a view as possible. If I can get my hand on one of those yeasts that will be my next 'confirmed' ingredient. I've got a day of trawling round the local European shops (Lidl, aldi etc) and will keep you posted on any honey decisions.

Also, thanks for the input about the spices, in your opinion, would increasing the volumes be the answer or just accepting the ginger as the source of flavour. Would this be the same got the orange and lemon?

Once again, thank you very much for the responses.
 
The citrus is an old timers way of adding acid, very little flavor will come from them, you could just as well substitute acid blend. Absolutely DO NOT peel the ginger use skin and all. WVMJ
 
Ah right. I see what you mean. I've ordered D1v116 and tronozymol now and won't be adding the acid but using the orange and/or lemon in its place. I'm still searching for a good, reasonably priced honey but I'm hoping to solve that problem today. I was hoping to keep it quite sweet so 3-3.5lb is my target for that.

I was still unsure about increasing the cinnamon to complement the ginger but as they aren't complete contrasts I don't know whether to leave this out.

I am really looking forward to setting this up. The researching and reading these forums is one of my favourite parts of the process and the help I've received already has made me feel much more confident.
 
Ah right. I see what you mean. I've ordered D1v116 and tronozymol now and won't be adding the acid but using the orange and/or lemon in its place. I'm still searching for a good, reasonably priced honey but I'm hoping to solve that problem today. I was hoping to keep it quite sweet so 3-3.5lb is my target for that.

Just remember that if you are hoping for residual sugar (RS) you need to consider the alcohol tolerance of the yeast you choose. For example, K1V-1116 is listed at 18%, and you can almost always exceed that ACV-by how much is hit/miss, and K1 will typically ferment 3-3.5#/gallon dry. (ex:OG of 1.140 fermented at 68F should easily yield ACV of 18.5%). You could feed a bit more honey, perhaps enough to raise the SG by another 0.010-0.015 once the SG has dropped by 0.030 or so...this way the yeast is not so stressed and you hope the yeast reach alcohol toxicity and die off. Less risky way is to ferment dry and backsweeten after clear/stabilized.

Fatbloke...morewinemaking almost always has D21 in stock. $1.95 for 8 grams...I have not tried that in mead, will have to try that.
 
Thanks for the tip! A high percentage mead would definitely be a boost which is one if the reasons why I went for the K1v.

I have purchased 3.5lb forest honey and look to use the following

2lb ginger
1 orange
1 lemon
Tronozymol
D1v1116
Possibly cinnamon and/or cloves.

In regards to adding the extra honey, I really like this idea and enjoy the honey flavour to be clear in the mead. Would you recommend this as soon as the SG drops or wait until the transfer to secondary?

Thanks again fir the advice, it's greatly appreciated.
 
What is forest honey, is that the european honey made from honeydew the bees collect from aphids and leafhoppers? WVMJ
 
It's made by the New Zealand honey company. Quite a strong smell and looks really good. After visiting 4 supermarkets I finally found a raw honey.

I'm very jealous of the selection I see on the American sites but hopefully I can make do with this.
 
It's made by the New Zealand honey company. Quite a strong smell and looks really good. After visiting 4 supermarkets I finally found a raw honey.

I'm very jealous of the selection I see on the American sites but hopefully I can make do with this.
Perhaps you could post a link to where you found the honey so I could see if I can find some along here ?

The problem with the honey market in the UK is that the "jar honey" market is controlled by a few big names and also that EU agriculture is less likely to be huge areas of monoculture like in the US and hence not having to use trains and trucks shipping big numbers of hives around for pollination. Resulting in much lower quantity of varietal honey.

That's not to suggest it isn't available just that its more likely to be sold locally in smaller amounts.

With a fewer number of varietals being sold by a tiny number of specialist dealers who are often apiary suppliers too (search for Paynes Southdowns Bee Farms. They're up the road from me and carry a few European varietals plus some slightly different ones from New Zealand etc).
 
So, I've got all of the ingredients and I'm looking to set this off on Friday:

For 1 gallon

3.5lb wild forest honey
4oz ginger
Zest of 1 orange
25 raisins
Tronozymol
Lalvin k1v1116

I intend to make a must from the honey and take it to about 180f for half an hour of skimming. I'm them going to set it off (with the zest, raisins and ginger) in the demijohn adding the activated yeast.

Hopefully after a few weeks the fermentation will have slowed and I can rack this to my secondary less the chunky stuff. At this point I was going to ascertain the sweetness and the strength if the ginger to see if I need to back sweeten or add more ginger.

As I have said, I'm still very much a newbie here so if anybody has anything they can suggest to enhance thus before I start I would really appreciate it.
 
At all?


Do you combine them cold or add it to warm water off the heat?

Thanks.
 
"The heating of the honey and actually boiling had to do more with a way to remove impurities from raw honey. It is still a preferred method by many, plus some say this method reduces aging time. At least that is what I hace picked up along the way. Personally, I heat my water and dissolve my honey in the hot water, but I do not continue to heat the water." Saramc

I found the above in a different topic. This seems to be a preferred method. I will be making sure I sterilise everything thoroughly. Should this be sufficient to allow me not to heat?
 
4 ounces, are you making this for little old ladies to sip on the porch? Chunk some ginger in there for a zinger! WVMJ

So, I've got all of the ingredients and I'm looking to set this off on Friday:

For 1 gallon

3.5lb wild forest honey
4oz ginger
Zest of 1 orange
25 raisins
Tronozymol
Lalvin k1v1116

I intend to make a must from the honey and take it to about 180f for half an hour of skimming. I'm them going to set it off (with the zest, raisins and ginger) in the demijohn adding the activated yeast.

Hopefully after a few weeks the fermentation will have slowed and I can rack this to my secondary less the chunky stuff. At this point I was going to ascertain the sweetness and the strength if the ginger to see if I need to back sweeten or add more ginger.

As I have said, I'm still very much a newbie here so if anybody has anything they can suggest to enhance thus before I start I would really appreciate it.
 
Bloke, the problem you guys have over there is you can only fit one small hive into your little cars at a time so you have to make a lot of trips back and forth just to move your apiary, you would spend more on gas then the honey is worth :) WVMJ

Perhaps you could post a link to where you found the honey so I could see if I can find some along here ?

The problem with the honey market in the UK is that the "jar honey" market is controlled by a few big names and also that EU agriculture is less likely to be huge areas of monoculture like in the US and hence not having to use trains and trucks shipping big numbers of hives around for pollination. Resulting in much lower quantity of varietal honey.

That's not to suggest it isn't available just that its more likely to be sold locally in smaller amounts.

With a fewer number of varietals being sold by a tiny number of specialist dealers who are often apiary suppliers too (search for Paynes Southdowns Bee Farms. They're up the road from me and carry a few European varietals plus some slightly different ones from New Zealand etc).
 
I dunno a little ginger goes a long way. I just finished a couple one gallon xperments and it was extremely gingery. Great in a year or two but whooooaaaaa. I like wvmj idea on simmering them tho.
 
So how much ginger would you both use for a gallon? I've bought more but was using guidance from other recipes when considering 4oz. I want a strong ginger flavour without it being overpowered. I know this comes a lot down to taste but any personal preferences would be great.
 
So, on one note, I do the entire batch cold. I might warm the honey by putting the jar in warm water but that's it.

On the other note, one persons taste buds are different. Damn my notes just say ginger. I made that right after the foreclosure so the scale must have been packed. I bought a pound for two bucks or something and I think I used 4 oz. I did two batches, one was ginger/cider the other ginger/white grape. I usually do the one gallons to see what I think of it.

Anyway, good luck!
 
Thank you very much. I took the plunge last night and its off.

3.5lb wild forest honey.
Orange Zest
6oz ginger, boiled for 30 mins in 1 litre if water
25 raisins
Tronozymol 3 teaspoons
Lalvin k1v1116 (rehydrated)

SG 1.100

It smells amazing, the ginger tea alone smelled brilliant. I've tasted the honey and its sweet and flavoursome and it's been topped to 4.5 litres.

This was only done last night and there was very little kreusen this morning but when I get home I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks again everyone for their help. I'll keep posting any updates.
 
Nice and bubbly now. Airlock going every 30-40 seconds and a clearly visible foam. I'm very pleased with how it's gone so far so now to look ahead.

I am looking to move to a secondary eventually but I was wondering what the consensus is on that. The most common theory I seem to have found is to wait until it clears (then maybe a bit longer) then to the secondary. Primary for brewing secondary for ageing type of idea.

I was also wondering what the view is regarding tracking the SG and how to make sure fermentation has finished. I was considering taking the reading fortnightly but didn't want to be disturbing it too much.

Finally, I only have this filled up to 4.5 litres, when do I 'top it up'?

Any advice, as always, will be a massive help and massively appreciated.
 
Good deal Dale. You could prolly wait for top off if you are going to secondary. You'll have plenty of co2 in the primary to displace any o2. For the other question on secondary, I don't really mind the SG although I like it a little higher than my final target. I find that the transfer to secondary stirs things up and reintroduces small amounts of O2 so I like to let the yeasts have their way.

I know this isn't much help but I watch to see when the ginger ( enter preference here) starts to sink. 6 oz huh, interesting.......
 
Yes, it has me intrigued as well ha ha.


Thanks for the advice, that sounds good to me.

The next question is probably quite a simple on (I justify this with inexperience again :)) but by doing some research, it turns out with the OG I had (1.100) , it's unlikely my mead will be much stronger than 13.5-14%. Can I increase the honey levels at the minute to increase the final ABV or is it better to leave it as it is and accept the values for what they are.

I was also hoping for a FG of higher than 1.000 to keep it sweet. Is this better achieved by backsweetening?
 
You can step feed it more honey, wait until it drops to about 1.01 and add enough honey to raise it to 1.02, when that get eaten raise it again, little steps are better than big steps, when it finally cant eat anymore you can adjust it to where you want and let it clear. WVMJ


Yes, it has me intrigued as well ha ha.


Thanks for the advice, that sounds good to me.

The next question is probably quite a simple on (I justify this with inexperience again :)) but by doing some research, it turns out with the OG I had (1.100) , it's unlikely my mead will be much stronger than 13.5-14%. Can I increase the honey levels at the minute to increase the final ABV or is it better to leave it as it is and accept the values for what they are.

I was also hoping for a FG of higher than 1.000 to keep it sweet. Is this better achieved by backsweetening?
 
Thanks very much. So that could be used for sweetness and alcohol levels? If so, how would I then measure this? I only know of the basic calculation to work out ABV.
 
I have been reading around and it seems one of the best options when trying to calculate the 'new OG' to use trying to work out the final gravity would be to add the additional gravity to the 'OG' at the time of the final calculation.

For example, in my case, I have a starting gravity of 1.100. When I add the additional honey when it drops (1.001 up to 1.002 etc) I will add the same amount to the initial gravity when doing the calculation. In this case, should I increase the gravity from 1.001 to 1.002 ten times, this will require an increase to the OG of 10 meaning mine would increase to 1.110 when doing the calculation. This is due to the gravity representing a change from sugar to alcohol.

Apologies for making what is probably a simple idea into something far more complicated ha ha. If I've made any mistakes with this, please let me know, as I say I'm using the information from elsewhere and may have filled in a few gaps myself.
 
I love this site:

http://www.paynesbeefarm.co.uk/honey-in-bulk/

As I'm in N.Ireland the postage rates would work out a little too expensive for me, so my meads have been made with cheapy honey (Lidl blossom honey), but once they've fermented I use a nice honey to backsweeten. I hope the flavour of the better honey will come through! Most supermarkets have a small varietal honey selection, or farm shops etc should have good ones :)
 
Thanks for the post gayleygoo. I think I know where I'll be going next time I'm staring a batch off. The prices seem much more reasonable than the supermarket ones and it looks like a better variety as well :)
 
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