Prickly Pear Mead Questions

I am about to make 10g of this mead 5g (20lbs of honey) of sweet and 5g dry-semi-sweet(14lb of honey, I'm not sure how sweet this will turn out, never did this one).

Charlies Papazian says that Sherry and Pris de Mousse yeast are good together... do I just add both yeast at the same time? I thought Sherry yeast was for the secondary.

I never used Sherry yeast does it come in dry form too? Which should I use? I figure a beer would be liquid but most wines/mead use dry.


It also says to use yeast nutrients and pectine enzymes. Both come in a powder form... You can't sanitize either I think.. won't this cause contaminations? THe enzymes will deactivate if you boil it.

What to do with yeast and powders?

bump...

I found out the Red Star discontinued Sherry Yeast... White Labs has them but usually for beer right?

No info on when or how to use nutrients and enzymes ?

You don't need to boil them - hold in water at ~165 for ten minutes, should pasteurize it.

Yeast nutrients (such as Fermaid K, DAP, etc) are typically mixed in with the must before you pitch the yeast. A commercial mazer told me not to mix DAP in directly with your rehydrated yeast before pitching as it is too strong and will 'burn' the yeast cells. Some recipes call for adding nutrients at the 1/3 and 2/3 sugar break as well. For example, if the O.G. on your must is 1.090, then 1/3 sugar break would be around 1.060 and 2/3 would be around 1.030. IF you use Go-Ferm, that is mixed in with the yeast during rehydration before pitching.

If you're wanting other yeast possibilities, try Lalvin's RC212 (really enhances berry flavors) or Lalvin's 71B (a good choice for dark fruits).

Good luck,

Jeff

frazier said:

You don't need to boil them - hold in water at ~165 for ten minutes, should pasteurize it.

Click to expand...

I read that I should boil somewhere else... why is this?

Charles papazian is a fan of boiling in his 2 books... The Joy of Homebrew and the Homebrew Companion....

"boil for 15 minutes. Skim the coagulated meringuelike foam off the surface (this is albumin-type protein)."

What do most people do or prefer these days? To boil or not to boil? That is the question...

Kershner_Ale said:

Yeast nutrients (such as Fermaid K, DAP, etc) are typically mixed in with the must before you pitch the yeast. A commercial mazer told me not to mix DAP in directly with your rehydrated yeast before pitching as it is too strong and will 'burn' the yeast cells. Some recipes call for adding nutrients at the 1/3 and 2/3 sugar break as well. For example, if the O.G. on your must is 1.090, then 1/3 sugar break would be around 1.060 and 2/3 would be around 1.030. IF you use Go-Ferm, that is mixed in with the yeast during rehydration before pitching.

If you're wanting other yeast possibilities, try Lalvin's RC212 (really enhances berry flavors) or Lalvin's 71B (a good choice for dark fruits).

Good luck,

Jeff

Click to expand...

Hey Jeff, thanks for the info... I will look into those yeast =)

I have Crosby and Baker's Fermax Yeast Nutrients... comes in 5 ounce plastic jars... But isn't there nasties inside... Should I boil it? Or is that bad? I was trying to understand how to prepare it...

after I chill it... pasterize it? boil it?

thanks

To boil or not to boil, that is something to consider. I have read Charlie's advice to on boiling. Personally, I do not boil the honey. I heat up the water in the 120-140 range, just enough to fully dissolve all the honey as it is mixed in. Why don't I boil? Cause someone told me not to That someone was Michael Kiker, owner / mazer of Celestial Meads. Michael won 9 medals at last year's Mazer Cup so I usually follow his advice without too much questioning. Michael's thoughts on why not to boil is honey naturally has a low pH. Typical pH of the must ranges between 3 - 4 which inhibits bacterial growth. Plus he said there are other natural properties of honey that fight bacterial growth. He uses lots of varietal honeys and feels boils drives off delicate floral characteristics of the honey. I figure he makes hundreds of gallons of mead a year and never has an infection, I can do the same at a smaller scale. Of course you still clean / sanitize your equipment like you normally would.

Regarding Fermax Yeast Nutrients, I'm not familiar with that stuff. Does it come with directions? The DAP / Fermaid K stuff I use comes in a powdered form, I just toss it into the must and stir it up to dissolve it with the honey. Basically I just mix honey, water, nutrients and make sure it is all dissolved. Chill it down to 70 F or so. At the same time my yeast is rehydrating. Once the must is chilled I pitch the yeast and let 'er go. Monitor pH and gravity as it ferments and buffer if pH is too low.

Jeff

Thanks for the info!

I made the prickly pear mead before and it taste good after a year... but it was "DAMN GOOD" after 2 years! I boiled like Charles Papazian... I wonder what the consensus is at gotmead.com ... I might have to do an experiment ... boil or not boil comparison .... just so I know for sure before I sink a few hundred on a lot of mead....

I found a site that had this
"Product Description
Fermax is a premium nutrient contains diammonium phosphate, dipotassium phosphate, magnesium sulfate and autolyzed yeast. Great for all beer and winemaking.
Use 1 tsp per gallon in last 10 minutes of boil."
at http://www.rebelbrewer.com/shoppingcart/products/FerMax-Yeast-Nutrient-%2d-4-oz..html

I guess that's the answer

Oh yeah.. heads up.. if u throw it in at boil.. this thing boils over FAST.... I told myself I will never had a boil over again before this... and I failed!!! so be very careful... just as fast as you throw it in... it boils over...