Question on mead ph

Hey, I was poking around the mead wiki and was reading that just adding honey, water and yeast will not produce optimal ph. It does not really clarify what is optimal. I have never made a mead but bought a bottle today from the liquor store and am now determined to make my own but don't know where to begin. I figure start simple, with 5 lbs of water, 12 lbs of honey, a bit of ginger and Cinnamon and what ever acids I need to drop the ph to the right levels. Any help would be appreciated.

moger777 said:

5 lbs of water, 12 lbs of honey,

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Try 5 Gallons.... LOL...

That should work good. You will end up with a nice little mead out of that. I would recommend adding some Yeast Nutrient and Energizer. Hold the acid until you can taste the final product and confirm the need for it.

I've never worried about the PH of a mead....but if you're interested, Ken Schram in The Complete Mead Maker has a great chart showing acid content and other valuable info on different variety's of honey.

You can calculate this yourself if you have some elementary knowledge of chemistry and the right data.

If you can find out what acid is the predominant cause of the low pH in honey (~3.5) you can calculate its concentration and as such the pH of the final solution when you add the honey to the water.

if you dilute the honey 4 times you will obtain a pH just above 4 I think. The optimal pH for yeast is ~4.7. Many recipes call for the addition of some calciumcarbonate (chalk) to raise the pH somewhat.

Personally I think that's not necessary, the pH may not be perfect for yeast but the difference in concentrations of acids isn't thát big. It's only an optimum, not a requirement. Always remember that yeast is a terribly succesful organism in an evolutionary sense. It won't crap out if things aren't perfect, it'll just struggle a little more. Perhaps it will even adapt in a few generations (that take approx. 3 hours I believe).

All in all, 12lbs of honey in 5 gallons would make for a reasonable mead. Maybe 12.5-13lbs would be better though. Fermentation should proceed just fine. Adding chalk might be worse for the flavour than it's worth.