Another first timer needs your advice....

[bolepa]

Hi everyone,
Yes, this is my first time I am making mead and I am asking for you advice: it's better to ask now then be sorry later... Yes, I watched lot of YouTube videos, read lot of articles, went through bunch of posts on this forum which helped me a lot. I wasn't familiar with mead making terminology nor with abbreviations Now I know a bit but just a bit...
So, here is my plan:
HOENY: I will be using Orange Blossom honey to make mead in two 3-gallons carboys by adding 3 pounds of honey to each of them. I would like to produce semi-sweet mead. Please let me know if three pounds of mead will be enough to make semi-sweet product.
YEAST: I have Lalvin ICV-D47 Wine Yeast and Red Star Premier Classique Yeast. I will be using one packet (5 Gram) of each of them per 3 gallon carboy and see the difference between them. My goal is to achieve 12% ABV but I don't mind if it goes up to 15%...
YEAST NUTRIENT: North Mountain. Will be adding 3 tsp to each carboy on day one, day four and day seven. Please correct me if I am missing anything in this schedule. I am not sure I understood how to use the calculator so do rely on your help.
YEAST ENERGIZER: LD Carlson. Will be adding 1.5 tsp to each carboy on day one but I am not sure about schedule... at all.
Now - the procedure:
1. To sanitize both carboys and all the parts which will be touching honey and water.
2. Pour one gallon of spring water in each carboy and then add 9 pounds of honey to each of them. The honey was given to me by my mother-in-low and it is about 7years old but still tastes great. On the other hand it's very thick - that's why I am going to melt it slightly in warm water right before adding it to carboys.
3. Pour three cups of steep black tea to each carboy.
4. Shake carboys vigorously until honey is dissolved completely.
5. Take OG readings.
5. The yeas was hydrated for 15 minutes prior so I am going to add them and yeast nutrients to carboys.
6.Shake carboy vigorously for 5 minutes each.
7. Let carboys seat in dark place at 67F - 69F for two-four weeks or until I don't see any bubbling's at all... and take SG readings.
8. Racking: I will be racking everything in one gallons jars and let them seat in dark place for one or two or three month but I don't want my mead dry...
I am done at this point but I am sure that will be asking more question during the process... Please let me know if I am missing anything or will have to change something. Any advices are welcome!
Thank you for reading and huge Thank you for your help in advance!!

 

[MrClint]

Any advices are welcome!

I can't speak to the specifics of your plan/recipe.

My best advice is to make Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (JAOM) your first foray into mead making. It is drop dead easy and almost foolproof. I've done a number of batches and it comes out the same every time, and it is very good (as meads go). That said, it is a little bit too sweet and heavy for me as are most meads. It's about discovery right? I've tried other mead recipes and found out that I don't really care for it all that much.

The only mead I make now is a "Jasmine Tea Honey Sparkler" from Emma Christensen's Brew Better Beer book. It's lightly sweet because it uses less honey than standard mead recipes, has an interesting tea flavor to it, nice mouthfeel, and is refreshingly fizzy.

As in all things your mileage may vary. Good luck!

 

[bolepa]

Thank you, MrClint!

 

[T Murph]

3 lbs per gallon will result in a sweet finish. D47 is my go to yeast for melomes. JAOM is a great starting reference. If you leave it alone and let it ferment out it should be done in 8 weeks. I would transfer it to a secondary after 4 weeks. Drink it starting after the 8 weeks mark. With the amount of honey to water you described extra ageing time will heighten the sweetness as the flavors meld together. For a semi dry mead next time reduce the honey to 2.5 lbs to gal.

BTW in my opinion Orange Blossom Honey makes the best meads you can make. I'm enjoying a 3 month old Mandarin Orange Melomel at the moment that was made with pure Florida Orange Grove honey and fresh squeezed mandarin oranges.

Cheers and enjoy your journey into the hobby.

 

[bolepa]

Thank you, TMurph! After reading/watching a lot about mead making I was under impression that less then 3 pounds of meat per gallon of water will give a dry mead.... which I don't really want. I don't sweet mead either but prefer semi-dry-sweet product...

 

[T Murph]

Thank you, TMurph! After reading/watching a lot about mead making I was under impression that less then 3 pounds of meat per gallon of water will give a dry mead.... which I don't really want. I don't sweet mead either but prefer semi-dry-sweet product...

Depends on the honey and how much alcohol you want. More honey will ferment longer and produce more alcohol. And will benefit with a few months of aging.

 

[bolepa]

I don't mind to wait till it aged - but not for extremely long... Maybe for 4-6 month... Also, my goal in ABV is 14 but 12 would suffice. Do you think this is doable with my plan?

 

[Rish]

Depending on your honey, yeast, temp, 3#/gallon will get you around 14%. You should also look at using nutrient additions (TOSNA 3.0) and degassing a couple of times a day until 1/3 sugar break. Good luck!

 

[bolepa]

Depending on your honey, yeast, temp, 3#/gallon will get you around 14%. You should also look at using nutrient additions (TOSNA 3.0) and degassing a couple of times a day until 1/3 sugar break. Good luck!

Orange Blossom Honey.
Yeast - 3 gallons with 6g of D47 & 3 gallons with 6g of Red Star Premier Classique (both previously activated in water with Go-Ferm)
Temp - between 67 & 69 but possible spike up to 70
Nutrient - Fermaid O
Nutrient addition per Staggered Nutrient Addition Calculator (Mead Staggered Nutrient Addition Calculator - Waldmet Cellars) :

• Day 0: After re-hdyrating the yeast with Go-Ferm and pitching, add 4.5g of Fermaid-O
• Day 1, 3, 5, 7, 8: Degas mead by gently stirring, twirling the carboy carefully
• Day 2, 4, 6: Gently stir and add 4.5g Fermaid-O

Will add 1 small handful of raisins to each 3 gallons fermenter
Degassing a couple of times a day until 1/3 sugar break.
At the end of secondary fermentation will stabilize the mead and add some corn syrup for carbonation.
Bottle using 12 oz beer bottles.

Please feel free to correct me if I am planning to do something wrong.....

Thank you.

 

[T Murph]

Everything looks good here man. You are doing two things that I totally do not do. 1st I never bottle anything except an occasional offering to a worthy client. And 2nd I never prime with anything for carbonation. This is just my practice, but I always ferment under pressure for natural carbonation and adjust when necessary with Co2. Also patients is your best friend with meads. I always give them at least 2 months to finish and sometimes many more. I have 3 at the moment that are over 2 yrs old and they keep getting better. I also don't add the raisins. I know they are a good source of nutrient but your SNA already took care of that. Neither do I degass once I transfer to secondary. There is where you add fruit etc and begin capturing Co2 for natural carbonation. All of my meads are Semi Dry Sparkling Melomels.

It is your mead, make it your way. Cheers and don't forget to respect the mead.

 

[bolepa]

I appreciate your respond, T Murph and I definitely will take your advice in consideration, but I have a couple of questions:
1.

I never bottle anything except an occasional offering to a worthy client.

Am I missing anything here? If you don't bottle your mead then how do you keep it after second fermentation is complete?
2.

Neither do I degass once I transfer to secondary. There is where you add fruit etc and begin capturing Co2 for natural carbonation

Technically, this is not a question... I didn't mean I will be degassing the mead indefinitely... What I meant is "Degassing a couple of times a day until 1/3 sugar break". This id my understanding that 1/3 sugar break occurs somewhere closer at the end of first week or when original gravity reading have been reduced by 1/3. Am I wrong?
Actually, I was thinking (still do it) about buying the whole set of equipment (keg, CO2 controller and tank) for forced carbonation but the price bites a bit - around $300. It's tempting to go ahead and get it but I didn't decide just yet... Close future will show...
I am sorry for so many questions but this is my "FIRST" and I just really on help and expertise of this forum members...
Once again - thank you a lot for y our help!

 

[T Murph]

I appreciate your respond, T Murph and I definitely will take your advice in consideration, but I have a couple of questions:
1.

Am I missing anything here? If you don't bottle your mead then how do you keep it after second fermentation is complete?
2.

Technically, this is not a question... I didn't mean I will be degassing the mead indefinitely... What I meant is "Degassing a couple of times a day until 1/3 sugar break". This id my understanding that 1/3 sugar break occurs somewhere closer at the end of first week or when original gravity reading have been reduced by 1/3. Am I wrong?
Actually, I was thinking (still do it) about buying the whole set of equipment (keg, CO2 controller and tank) for forced carbonation but the price bites a bit - around $300. It's tempting to go ahead and get it but I didn't decide just yet... Close future will show...
I am sorry for so many questions but this is my "FIRST" and I just really on help and expertise of this forum members...
Once again - thank you a lot for y our help!

Sorry for the delayed response. I keg all of my meads and beers. I'm just too darn old to waste the energy and time with bottling.

 

[malchizedec]

Orange Blossom Honey.
Yeast - 3 gallons with 6g of D47 & 3 gallons with 6g of Red Star Premier Classique (both previously activated in water with Go-Ferm)
Temp - between 67 & 69 but possible spike up to 70
Nutrient - Fermaid O
Nutrient addition per Staggered Nutrient Addition Calculator (Mead Staggered Nutrient Addition Calculator - Waldmet Cellars) :

• Day 0: After re-hdyrating the yeast with Go-Ferm and pitching, add 4.5g of Fermaid-O
• Day 1, 3, 5, 7, 8: Degas mead by gently stirring, twirling the carboy carefully
• Day 2, 4, 6: Gently stir and add 4.5g Fermaid-O

Will add 1 small handful of raisins to each 3 gallons fermenter
Degassing a couple of times a day until 1/3 sugar break.
At the end of secondary fermentation will stabilize the mead and add some corn syrup for carbonation.
Bottle using 12 oz beer bottles.

Please feel free to correct me if I am planning to do something wrong.....

Thank you.

Looking solid.
With my meads I want to oxygenate for the first 72 hours along with my first staggered nutrient additions. So... gentle is only where I start until it is mostly degassed... then I stir the crap out of it

I use a paddle on a drill. Yeast need oxygen early on along with nutrients.
One additional point, I ferment cold (16c/60f) as I have found that it allows a clean ferment which ensures the honey characters are there at the end.
I avoid EC-1118 as its a very aggressive yeast, D-47 is ok... but its lazy, has high nutrient demands and likes to quit sometimes, I've enjoyed 71-B and a few other white wine yeasts but am still experimenting.

Also, if you ask 10 mead makers for their thoughts, you'll get 15 strong opinions back..... so take everything we say with a grain of salt

 

[bolepa]

Thank you for healthy information, malchizedec!

I use a paddle on a drill.

Yeap, I ma planning on buying this sophisticated devices in the nearest future.

I ferment cold (16c/60f) as I have found that it allows a clean ferment which ensures the honey characters are there at the end.

Unfortunately, I don't have such a conditions in my house - just 5 days ago I had to transfer both vessels from my garage to leaving room because it's getting a bit warm in garage....

I avoid EC-1118 as its a very aggressive yeast, D-47 is ok... but its lazy, has high nutrient demands and likes to quit sometimes, I've enjoyed 71-B and a few other white wine yeasts but am still experimenting.

I was recommended d-47 for mead making and hope it's a good yeast.... I had Red Star Premier Classique on hand and decided to use them as well. Will see how it's all work out for me. This is a beginning of third week and activity is going down - a bubble every 5/5.5 seconds.... I measured SG yesterday and it was 1.050 (D47) & 1.040 (Red Star). Planning to wait for another two weeks and will rack it for secondary fermentation.....
Thank you again!

 

[T Murph]

D 47 is a champagne yeast. It performs very well for sparkling melomes. I have never used it for a straight mead so don't go by my usage. I left a couple things unaddressed. When I mentioned using less than 3 lbs of honey, I use less in melomels because when I transfer to secondary, right there at the sugar break, I add a ton of fruit. The yeast go nuts for all that new flavorful sugar and they keep reproducing and producing alcohol and Co2. That's generally 2 to 3 weeks in. After a couple of weeks I put in a fridge at 45 degrees for at least another week and then start sampling. Sometimes I will bring it back up to 68 for aging.

I am not a fan of adding oxygen past initial oxygenation when it goes into the primary fermenter. Bottled oxygen is relatively inexpensive at the big box hardware stores. They are a great source of cleaner oxygen and no wild yeast to worry about.

Like @malchizedec mentioned, ask 10 brewers get 15 answers. Bottom line there are many ways to make alcoholic beverages. As a hobby it is both fun and rewarding. Trying different things keeps the hobby interesting.

 

[malchizedec]

Hi Gents, D47 is a good yeast and a common one, after a few stuck fermentations I asked some local wine makers about it. They all mentioned that it was a good yeast but potentially temperamental. While I am experimenting with other yeast I would still use it, I'd just be more careful about my starter, ph and other fermentation factors. I've really taken to reading the yeast tech sheets as they provide a lot of good information.

D47 is a white wine yeast commonly used for Chardonnay. Lalvin ICV-D47™ | Lallemand Brewing

EC 1118 is a sparkling wine (champagne yeast) due to its resistance to pressurised environments: Lalvin EC-1118™ | Lallemand Brewing

Also as mentioned adding bottled o2 is perfect if you have the gear, while I'll eventually get there I haven't had an issue with wild yeast or other organisms yet. I aim for large starters to provide the huge culture needed to out compete anything that may end up in the must.

But it's certainly an area of my process I could improve

 

[Saunassa]

Looking solid.
With my meads I want to oxygenate for the first 72 hours along with my first staggered nutrient additions. So... gentle is only where I start until it is mostly degassed... then I stir the crap out of it

I use a paddle on a drill. Yeast need oxygen early on along with nutrients.
One additional point, I ferment cold (16c/60f) as I have found that it allows a clean ferment which ensures the honey characters are there at the end.
I avoid EC-1118 as its a very aggressive yeast, D-47 is ok... but its lazy, has high nutrient demands and likes to quit sometimes, I've enjoyed 71-B and a few other white wine yeasts but am still experimenting.

Also, if you ask 10 mead makers for their thoughts, you'll get 15 strong opinions back..... so take everything we say with a grain of salt

71-B is the one I like best. Ferments well and leaves a nice clean mead.