Good deal.. I was getting nervous... brewing my first batch of mead (1 gallon) and the air lock is going nuts, but no foam like all my beers... I had some unfiltered honey in this, but mostly filtered..., saving 12 nice pounds of unfiltered for a full size batch after I get the hang of mead... Don't guess that should take too long after 20 batches of brew!
Here's what I used... I kept it simple... correct me if wrong, I'm still learning..
3.5qts well water
2lb sourwood/wildflower/random local honey mix
1/8 palisade hops (left over from brew... I have some heather tips for a full size batch... any advice on herbal additives? I bought Stephen Buhner's book on sacred and healing beers, with the psychotropic ones too of course... looking forward to experimenting with beer, mead, and wine)
1pack (5g) Cote des Blancs (dry wine yeast)
1tbs yeast nutrient (accidentally added tbs, directions say tsp... oops. guess the extra will settle out.)
simmered but not fully boiled for maybe 30 minutes... only had to skim a little, skimmed most hops out between 5-15 minutes into the boil... then added yeast nutrient. racked, aerated, left overnight, gave it another good shake, pitched yeast @ 80 degrees F, swirled it in a little and left it. Got active pretty quick (just pitched yeast this morning and now the airlock is bubbling along like it would with any good brew).
OG 1.080 (11%)
hoping to age it to a slightly dry, but with a touch of sweetness... I went easy on the honey because I wanted a little quicker reward with my first batch... I have stockpiled quite a bit of homebrew to hold me over!
