New to making mead

Hey everyone I put on my first batch of mead last night just to see if I could get anything drinkable out of it I'm putting up my recipe and methods and just wanted to get some feedback to see what I could improve on for my next batch.

1.2ltr iron bark honey
1 cup of mandarin juice
250grms of mixed berries
2tspns of sn9 wine yeast

I pasteurized the mandarin juice and the berries for 30mins and heated up the honey in a pot of hot water just to get it abit runnier (I was told if I put on the stove top I could cook some of the flavor out of it)

I then put the honey and juices into a 5ltr demijohn and then filled it to about the 3/4 full mark, shaken it well for a few minutes and taken SG reading 10 minutes later and I come up with 1.120 then I've pitched my yeast in and shaken it again then fitted my airlock.

12 hours later and the airlock is bubbling away and there is quite a lot of foam on top of all the liquid Im assuming that fermentation will take roughly 2 weeks and then am planing on shifting the mead to a separate demijohn and putting in a clearing agent and letting it age for a few months

Any feedback or general info would be great

Mead/melomel will clear by itself if you give it enough time.
Regards, GF.

felix1987 said:

Hey everyone I put on my first batch of mead last night just to see if I could get anything drinkable out of it I'm putting up my recipe and methods and just wanted to get some feedback to see what I could improve on for my next batch.

1.2ltr iron bark honey
1 cup of mandarin juice
250grms of mixed berries
2tspns of sn9 wine yeast

Click to expand...

While you have the fruit, as well as the honey, I'd have thought it might need a little nutrient, something like FermaidK, Fermax or Tronozymol type.

I pasteurized the mandarin juice and the berries for 30mins and heated up the honey in a pot of hot water just to get it abit runnier (I was told if I put on the stove top I could cook some of the flavor out of it)

Click to expand...

Was the mandarin juice in a carton or did you squeeze it ?

I try not to heat anything if possible - Ok that depends on the fruit, because some dark red/black type fruit actually benefit from heat processing, like black currants and elderberries, but it's easy to end up with a "cooked" flavour, because some of the elements in the fruit break down under heating. Plus even if honey is crystalised, I don't heat it - you can easily just put a pound/500gm in a liquidiser with the same amount of water and blitz it. It saves having to try and shake the hell out of a DJ full......

I then put the honey and juices into a 5ltr demijohn and then filled it to about the 3/4 full mark, shaken it well for a few minutes and taken SG reading 10 minutes later and I come up with 1.120 then I've pitched my yeast in and shaken it again then fitted my airlock.

12 hours later and the airlock is bubbling away and there is quite a lot of foam on top of all the liquid Im assuming that fermentation will take roughly 2 weeks and then am planing on shifting the mead to a separate demijohn and putting in a clearing agent and letting it age for a few months

Any feedback or general info would be great

Click to expand...

Once the fermentation has settled down a bit, then top the DJ up to just below the neck. If the DJ wasn't full, then you will have a slightly high reading on the gravity.

Your time estimate for primary fermentation could easily be correct, but there's no real way of knowing how long it's gonna take, all you can do is to take a reading every couple of days. To confirm that the ferment is complete, you should get 3 identical readings taken across a period of about a week. Don't rack it before it's finished as that's asking for a stuck ferment.

It will clear naturally if you just leave it, but it is quicker if you use finings. I'd also suggest some pectic enzyme/pectolase, so you don't get any problems with hazes from the fruit/juice.

As for ageing ? Well yes, melomels/fruit meads are often ready to drink quicker, but it's worth pointing out that normally 6 months ageing is considered a minimum for most.

Cheers guys
Yeah the mandarin juice was freshly squeezed I have a few trees growing out the front of my house wasn't sure if they would need pasteurizing but decided to play it safe and the mixed berries where just frozen ones from the store.

I'll make sure I put some of the nutrient in next time, will the clearing agent make any difference to the flavor I had planed to just let it sit in a cupboard for 9 months or so if it will go clear by itself I might just leave it be

Rather than pasteurize the fresh juice and berries pre fermentation I qould just add a few crushed campden tabs, let sit 24 hours than pitch your yeast.

roadymi said:

Rather than pasteurize the fresh juice and berries pre fermentation I qould just add a few crushed campden tabs, let sit 24 hours than pitch your yeast.

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Ditto! though I've found that I now use sulphites to kill off wild yeast, but I leave it at least 48 hours - had a few extended lag phases when pitching yeast after only 24 hours for the sulphites to dissipate.....