Can you guys critique my process?

Hey, I haven't made a mead yet, but will next weekend. I've tried to read as much as possible, but the literature doesn't seem as extensive or as consistent for mead as it is for beer. So I figured I'd write out my plan, and see if any of you could find mistakes. Also, I'm comfortable with being anal about sanitizing, so I won't mention that in the process here. It will all be sanitized.

I plan on doing a plum melomel. Here is my recipe:

5 lbs Clover Honey
6 lbs Orange Blossom Honey
20-25 plums, pitted and halved
10g ICV-D47 dry yeast
Yeast Nutrients according to HighTest's instructions

Day 1: Do a yeast starter. I plan on boiling about 2 cups of water, and I'll mix some corn sugar into this, and let it dissolve. Then I'll let the water cool to about 70 degrees or so, and I'll add the yeast to rehydrate it. At the same time, I will also boil some more water, then let it cool to about 115 degrees. Then I'm going to mix in some honey, some plum juice, some raw sugar and some GO-Ferm. After this cools to 70 degrees as well, I'll combine the two mixtures, and leave this for 2 days, covered in foil and in the dark.

Day 2: This is brew day. I will have spring water, and don't plan on boiling. I will heat 2 gallons of the water to 115 degrees. Then I'll remove the pot from heat, and stir in all the honey. Once mixed, I'll add this to the fermenter bucket. I will add the Stage 1 nutrients. I will add the fruit. Then I'll top it off with water so it is 5g in total. I will cover the mixture, and let it drop to about room temperature. I will also add 1/2 campden tablet per gallon (so 2.5 tablets) to the mixture.

Day 3: The following day, I will pitch the yeast. I will stir this in, and the bucket will only be lightly covered because I want to stir the fruit down twice a day. Stirring will be gently to minimize oxidizing the mixture.

Day 5: Approximately 24-48 hours later, when Brix has dropped 2-3%, I will add Stage 2 Nutrients. I'll stir the fruit down too.

Day 8: Approximately 72 hours after Stage 2, at mid fermentation, I'll add Stage 3 nutrients.

Day 14: When SG gets to about 1.020, I will re-rack to a glass carboy, leaving most of the fruit behind. I will add 2.5 campden tablets again.

Day XX?: When fermentation is finished (ideally about 1.000) I'll rack it again to a new carboy.

2 months later: I will re-rack to a carboy.

2 months later: I will re-rack yet again to another carboy.

Assuming my mead's clarity is satisfactory here, I will bottle, and leave for about 6-12 months. Then I'll enjoy! (hopefully)

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Sorry for the long post, but I think this is the right path. Thoughts? Thanks in advance

I've never let a yeast starter go for more than a few hours, 2 days for a yeast starter seems like a lot of overkill to me. Depending on how much fruit character you're going for, you might consider using more fruit and/or using fruit in secondary. Also, there's a lot more acid in plums that most people realize, so more fruit is going to mean more tart. When I make plum melomel, I use 25lbs of fruit; 1/2 in primary & 1/2 in secondary. Pectic enzyme helps to break down the fruit and to clear.

After washing & pitting your fruit, freeze it solid for a few days, then let it thaw & refreeze it, this helps with juice extraction & makes the pectic enzyme's job easier. One thing to remember when prepping fruit: half a plum doesn't fit easily through the neck of a carbouy, if you use fruit in secondary, quarter them. I'd forget about bottling in 2 months, this is going to take a while, I didn't even think about bottling until my plum melomel had aged nearly 2 years from yeast pitch. Hope you find some of this info useful. Regards, GF.

That's very useful, yah, thanks.

As for the starter, well, I've only brewed beer to date. To me, this is a question of a starter vs. simple activation. Activating the yeast is done in just a short period of time, which it sounds like is what you're doing. It's tantamount to bringing the yeast out of dormancy. A starter is more about multiplying the colony of yeast, to really ensure full fermentation. The thing is, while I'm very pro-starter for beers, I don't know if it'd be helpful for mead or if, as you, it'd be overkill.

Thanks for the tips about the fruit. I'll definitely do that. Can you give an approximate amount of pectic acid for what I should be adding? Also, should I just add it at the same time as the fruit? Thanks very much

Also, what was it that made you decide it was good to bottle? I had thought it was just a question of clarity. Are there other factors I should be looking into?

You don't need a starter. Just rehydrate in warm water with GoFerm 20-30 minutes before pitching. Also, use 1 campden tablet per gallon and pitch 24 hours later. You also don't need to worry about oxidation until after the 1/3 sugar break. Go ahead and aerate at inoculation as well as the next day or two. Good luck!

Poobah58 said:

You don't need a starter. Just rehydrate in warm water with GoFerm 20-30 minutes before pitching. Also, use 1 campden tablet per gallon and pitch 24 hours later. You also don't need to worry about oxidation until after the 1/3 sugar break. Go ahead and aerate at inoculation as well as the next day or two. Good luck!

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+1 on what Poobah said on both the yeast rehydration and the introduction of oxygen into the must early on. Some of us actually use an oxygen stone and bottled oxygen to get plenty of oxygen into the must early on. Failing that, stir the snot out of it prior to pitching and for the first day or two.

I never use campden tablets or k-meta until fermentation is finished and I've never had an issue in the 6-7 years I've been making mead and wine, though it doesn't hurt anything.