The recipe is in the recipe database and what follows are our notes and impressions of this mead. The recipe was a generous gift to us from our friend and tutor here on the brew board Nurse Nan.
The gravities are a bit skewed because I messed up on water additions at the beginning but with the help of Nurse Nan we were able to nurse this baby into something wonderful that will tantilize your nose and drive your taste buds into XTC.
The recipe called for adding water to the 5 gallon mark and I had bought 5 gallons of water so after the short boil of the first gallon we just added the remaining four gallons the same way we did with the traditional mead we made the same day. We ended up adding an additional 3 Lbs. of honey when we racked to the secondary but with Nurse Nans help it turned out great. Here is how it went. We had to sub Raspberry honey for the Fireweed.
15 LBS. of Raspberry Honey
Made a starter with Go Ferm according to recipe 12.5 grams
Followed the SNA (staggered nutrient additions)
Added 4.5 Grams of Fermaid K and 4.5 Grams of DAP at inoculation
At active fermentation add 2.8 Grams each Fermaid K & DAP
At mid-point add 1.8 grams each of Femaid K & DAP
NOTE: Had to get a friend with XCL to calculate mid-point for us, we added it as close as we could get.
4 gallons of spring water plus the original gallon we dissolved the honey in.
OG:1.102
Temperature @ pitch 73F
Date: 4-21-07
Gravities were taken each day and nutrient feedings were added along the way, first before pitching, then at first sign of active fementation and finally at the mid-point. This fermented very fast as you will see by the daily reading that follow. All gravities were taken at the same time each day to maintain a 24 hour time line to track the fermentation.
4-23-07 SG:1.073, Temp: 73F, Time:10:00AM
4-24-07 SG:1.052, Temp: 73F added 3rd stage nutrients 1.8G each DAP & Femaid-K. Slight foaming, good CO2 release
4-25-07 SG:1.033, Temp:73F
4-26-07 SG:1.022 Temp: 70F
4-27-07 SG: 1.012, Temp: 70F
Taste a bit watery today, first time for that, cant wait to add honey.
4-28-07 SG:1.002, Temp: 70F
4-29-07 SG:1.001, Temp: 71F
4-30-07 SG: To low to read. Added 3 LBS of honey and racked to Secondary. Now has a nice vanilla flavor with a bit of bite to it, still very round on the tongue, now to wait.............
5-1-07 It has resumed fermentation, a bubble about every 4-5 seconds.
5-5-07 SG:1.013, Temp:72F
5-9-07 SG:1.001, Temp:70F
5-10-07 Decided to add 1 oz each of Hungarian light toast and dark roast cubes to give it just a nudge in the direction our taste buds were wanting.
5-14-07 SG:1.000, Temp: 70F
6-9-07 Racked off Oak cubes to tertiary still cloudy but tasting great.
Its sitting quitely in our brew room resting and clearing now, very still not even a hint of a bubble in the carboy or airlock.
We plan to let it clear and bulk age a bit may bottle in Sept if clear.
Once again we have to thank Nurse Nan for getting us through the mess up and saving this fantastic mead, we never would of made it without her help. She has given us permission to post the recipe on the board for others to try and we think you should its really good and we plan to make it again but hopefully without the Uh-Oh.......................
OK the floor is open for discussion and we hope the Nurse is in to help with answers. We did the best we could to document the entire fermentation so everyone could see how it progressed and hopefully learn from our mistakes.
The gravities are a bit skewed because I messed up on water additions at the beginning but with the help of Nurse Nan we were able to nurse this baby into something wonderful that will tantilize your nose and drive your taste buds into XTC.
The recipe called for adding water to the 5 gallon mark and I had bought 5 gallons of water so after the short boil of the first gallon we just added the remaining four gallons the same way we did with the traditional mead we made the same day. We ended up adding an additional 3 Lbs. of honey when we racked to the secondary but with Nurse Nans help it turned out great. Here is how it went. We had to sub Raspberry honey for the Fireweed.
15 LBS. of Raspberry Honey
Made a starter with Go Ferm according to recipe 12.5 grams
Followed the SNA (staggered nutrient additions)
Added 4.5 Grams of Fermaid K and 4.5 Grams of DAP at inoculation
At active fermentation add 2.8 Grams each Fermaid K & DAP
At mid-point add 1.8 grams each of Femaid K & DAP
NOTE: Had to get a friend with XCL to calculate mid-point for us, we added it as close as we could get.
4 gallons of spring water plus the original gallon we dissolved the honey in.
OG:1.102
Temperature @ pitch 73F
Date: 4-21-07
Gravities were taken each day and nutrient feedings were added along the way, first before pitching, then at first sign of active fementation and finally at the mid-point. This fermented very fast as you will see by the daily reading that follow. All gravities were taken at the same time each day to maintain a 24 hour time line to track the fermentation.
4-23-07 SG:1.073, Temp: 73F, Time:10:00AM
4-24-07 SG:1.052, Temp: 73F added 3rd stage nutrients 1.8G each DAP & Femaid-K. Slight foaming, good CO2 release
4-25-07 SG:1.033, Temp:73F
4-26-07 SG:1.022 Temp: 70F
4-27-07 SG: 1.012, Temp: 70F
Taste a bit watery today, first time for that, cant wait to add honey.
4-28-07 SG:1.002, Temp: 70F
4-29-07 SG:1.001, Temp: 71F
4-30-07 SG: To low to read. Added 3 LBS of honey and racked to Secondary. Now has a nice vanilla flavor with a bit of bite to it, still very round on the tongue, now to wait.............
5-1-07 It has resumed fermentation, a bubble about every 4-5 seconds.
5-5-07 SG:1.013, Temp:72F
5-9-07 SG:1.001, Temp:70F
5-10-07 Decided to add 1 oz each of Hungarian light toast and dark roast cubes to give it just a nudge in the direction our taste buds were wanting.
5-14-07 SG:1.000, Temp: 70F
6-9-07 Racked off Oak cubes to tertiary still cloudy but tasting great.
Its sitting quitely in our brew room resting and clearing now, very still not even a hint of a bubble in the carboy or airlock.
We plan to let it clear and bulk age a bit may bottle in Sept if clear.
Once again we have to thank Nurse Nan for getting us through the mess up and saving this fantastic mead, we never would of made it without her help. She has given us permission to post the recipe on the board for others to try and we think you should its really good and we plan to make it again but hopefully without the Uh-Oh.......................
OK the floor is open for discussion and we hope the Nurse is in to help with answers. We did the best we could to document the entire fermentation so everyone could see how it progressed and hopefully learn from our mistakes.
At this particular time ours is sitting in the brew room clearing and aging. We plan to bottle in late summer or early fall.
