I've never brewed (or even tasted) mead before, but last weekend when AHS had a 10% off sale I decided to purchase a mead kit. The kit was $61.28 (~$55 with the discount) and came with 15lbs of honey, an additive pack, and Red Star Champagne yeast. The O.G. is 1.100 and will finish with 11.5% ABV according to the instructions. I started the batch on Sunday at noon and this morning I noticed that occasional bubbles were coming out of the airlock, which is a good sign. As per the directions, I heated up the honey in ~2.5 gallons of water on the stove, stiring to avoid sticking. The directions said to heat to 185 degrees for 20 minutes, but I had some trouble maintaining this temperature. I was at 175 for a while, so I turned up the burner. When it hit 185 degrees, I turned it back down a bit, but the temp on the thermometer continued to rise to 200 degrees. I took the kettle off the stove until the temp came back down, but it was near 200 for several minutes. I've read that over-heating honey can negatively affect the flavor, but hopefully I didn't do too much damage in this short amount of time. Other recipes I've seen have said to heat to other temps, like 160 degrees. Whats the deal with this variation? Does it have to do with the amount of honey that is being dissolved?
I cooled the kettle down by placing it on the snow on my back porch (I should have bought a wort chiller last weekend too...) for about an hour. I then poured it into a 6 gallon carboy, added cold tap water to the 5 gallon mark, and pitched the Red Star yeast. The directions say to rack to a secondary for 6 months after fermentation is complete (this is from memory since I'm at work, might not be exact). I'm thinking I should rack to a 5 gallon carboy in about a month to get the mead off the sediment, and then rack again a few months later. Does this seem reasonable?
I considered making just a 1 gallon first batch since I've never even tried the stuff, but since it takes so long to make I'd like to have something to show for my efforts. Has anybody else ever used an AHS mead kit or used a similar recipe? I figured the kit would be a safe first batch. If I make another batch (maybe a cyser..), I think I'll get my honey from an apiary. I've seen places with 5 gallon buckets for $85-95. Thats around a $1.50/lb. Eh, I wish I could find a place that sells commercial mead so I could find out whether I even like the stuff before I go nuts (I'll probably have to order a bottle online...). My stuff will probably turn out better anyway. I love homebrewing.
I cooled the kettle down by placing it on the snow on my back porch (I should have bought a wort chiller last weekend too...) for about an hour. I then poured it into a 6 gallon carboy, added cold tap water to the 5 gallon mark, and pitched the Red Star yeast. The directions say to rack to a secondary for 6 months after fermentation is complete (this is from memory since I'm at work, might not be exact). I'm thinking I should rack to a 5 gallon carboy in about a month to get the mead off the sediment, and then rack again a few months later. Does this seem reasonable?
I considered making just a 1 gallon first batch since I've never even tried the stuff, but since it takes so long to make I'd like to have something to show for my efforts. Has anybody else ever used an AHS mead kit or used a similar recipe? I figured the kit would be a safe first batch. If I make another batch (maybe a cyser..), I think I'll get my honey from an apiary. I've seen places with 5 gallon buckets for $85-95. Thats around a $1.50/lb. Eh, I wish I could find a place that sells commercial mead so I could find out whether I even like the stuff before I go nuts (I'll probably have to order a bottle online...). My stuff will probably turn out better anyway. I love homebrewing.