Bray's One Month Mead

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Sanitize your hydrometer and drop it in. When it is clear and reaches 1.000, then it is safe to bottle.

We all screw up in the beginning. Just keep Mazing!
 
So... I also know the other problem. Didn't use wyeast used the equivalent. Brew store woman said she was ordering me wyeast. When I went to pick it up, it was WL equivalent. When I asked about it, they said it was the same yeast as wyeast 1388. They just used a different distributor. I will have to attempt this again when I have the free time, and I'll just get the yeast online. Thanks for the help and info
 
Yeah, there is no equivalent. The white labs yeast may have come from duvel brewery, but it is not the same yeast at all.
 
Lying bastards... All because I said I was going to buy it online, and they wanted to keep me going through them. (at least, that specific employee did) Should've known better... ::sigh:: Something else I wanted to ask you, since, I work in the medical laboratory field. SG of 1.000, is the specific gravity of water... How is it that the alcohol can have that SG also? Figured there would be a slight variation. I understand that SG deals with how "concentrated" a liquid is, so I figured in ETOH the fluid would still have a higher SG... Sorry, I'm getting curious on the nerdy end of things. Ha ha ha!
 
The SG of pure ethanol is 0.785. If you reach sufficiently high alcohol, your gravity can hit 0.95 as a result of mixed water and ethanol. I've never seen it, but others have reported it.
 
For anyone who is interested, I've started a new yeast experiment over at gotmead.com under yeasties and beasties section called Dry yeast BOMM/Aromatic Experiment. Hope to find some new tools (yeast) to add to the arsenal. Enjoy!
 
so i having honey bees know that for the most part the honey is capped in the cell at about 18% moister and i read that on average that gives the honey x amount of sp (sorry cant remember exact figure). anyway i harvested about 40 pounds of honey late this year that was a mixture of capped and partially capped honey. I didnt care about selling it as a high moister honey can ferment naturally in storage (a bad ferment). I had this idea that the honey was the perfect candidate for mead as it would be used soon and be mixed with water anyway but now I am wondering with all the specifics of gravity testing is this honey going to have a different sg? does it matter?or is sg just what it is when its measured? meaning add or subtract untill reading correctly? sorry Ive actually never brewed anything before and Iam gearing up for this reciepe soon. thanks charlie
 
Pinchecharlie said:
or is sg just what it is when its measured? meaning add or subtract untill reading correctly? sorry Ive actually never brewed anything before and Iam gearing up for this reciepe soon. thanks charlie
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You have it right Charlie, SG is starting gravity (sometimes called OG for original), you need to follow a recipe to get the correct SG/OG before pitching (adding) yeast. If your honey has lees moisture than normal then simply adjust the water you add to get within the correct SG range.

When it finishes (the Final Gravity stops moving) you are done. This recipe always finished pretty dry for me with a FG below (sometimes way below) 1.00 which is water. I usually add honey back in for taste, just make sure the yeast is dead or fermentation could start up again and possibly cause bottle-bombs which can be dangerous but are always messy.
 
Has anyone else done this with the forbidden fruit yeast?
I added 1 gallon wild flower and 52 oz of clover honey and filtered water to make 6 gallons with a SG of 1.085
I started a starter three days before with 1.5 liters of water and 6 oz of honey and the smacked pack.
Added 3/4 tsp potassium bicarbonate and 6 TBSP Fermaid 0.
Within a few hours had very obvious signs of fermentation, including krausen.
The next morning the krausen had fallen somewhat and it smell really, really bad. Now, 24 hours later the SG is approx 1.06 and I added another 6 TBSP of the Fermaid O.
This is only my third brew, and I have heard that this yeast can be really funky smelling, but that was in the beer side, so I was wondering if anyone else had tried it in a BOMM.

Edit: SG at 1.055 when I degassed tonight. Might have splashed some on myself while degassing. Taste amazing right now, so I'm guessing the horrible smell WAS just sulpher from the yeast.
 
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so I've found the same recipe on a few sites all posted by bray. few say tsp for nutrients other say tbsp. i started my batch with tbsp and half way through decided to look at other sites thats when i sow tsp. can anyone tell me what one it is supposed to be?
 
usmcbalzano said:
so I've found the same recipe on a few sites all posted by bray. few say tsp for nutrients other say tbsp. i started my batch with tbsp and half way through decided to look at other sites thats when i sow tsp. can anyone tell me what one it is supposed to be?
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For 1 gallon batches, it's tsp. For 5 gallon batches, it's TBSP.
 
Im sure its been asked before and im just not seeing it. Can other yeast nutrients be interchangeable? Like fermaid o, fermax, etc. Because for some reason im only finding 80g of fermaid k and most of that is used up in a 5 gal batch. Thanks for the info.

Day 3 on BOMM and its fermenting hard. My buddy thought i said put acid blend in so it has 2 TBSP in it. Hope it does not hurt anything.
 
Acid blend is an awful idea. It drops the pH and contributes to stalling. It's an old practice that we now know to be detrimental. In the future, add after fermentation is over IF you think it needs.

I only suggest the Fermaid K + DAP or Fermaid O. The former is in the original recipe, but later l found Fermaid O to be great at 1 TBSP per gallon for each of 3 additions. Yes, it uses a lot!
 
I will remember no acid for later meads. At k east it didnt hurt this one to much. Day 5 and its at 1.00. Ok just to clear things up do you mean that you dont nead dap if fermaid o is used or that the fermaid k and o are interchangeable with the only difference being O only needs 1 TBSP for each addition to 5 gal. If so then cut 1 gal addition in half as well? Thank you for all your help, this mead is a god send
 
usmcbalzano said:
I will remember no acid for later meads. At k east it didnt hurt this one to much. Day 5 and its at 1.00. Ok just to clear things up do you mean that you dont nead dap if fermaid o is used or that the fermaid k and o are interchangeable with the only difference being O only needs 1 TBSP for each addition to 5 gal. If so then cut 1 gal addition in half as well? Thank you for all your help, this mead is a god send
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Yes, it is either Fermaid K + DAP OR just Fermaid O. I stated 1 TBSP per addition per gallon. For 5 gallons, that is 5 TBSP for 3 additions for a total of 15 TBSP.
 
Question on the Potassium Carbonate / Potassium Bicarbonate: Don't these supply a very different amount of potassium, and a different amount of buffering? The formulas are:
Potassium carbonate: K-CO3-K
Potassium Bicarbonate K-HCO3

One could easily decompose the Potassium Bicarbonate into Potassium carbonate in my oven if desired... has there been no difference in performance when adding equal masses of each? Or are we getting away with it because of different molecular amounts at equal volumes?
 
andrewmaixner said:
Question on the Potassium Carbonate / Potassium Bicarbonate: Don't these supply a very different amount of potassium, and a different amount of buffering? The formulas are:

Potassium carbonate: K-CO3-K

Potassium Bicarbonate K-HCO3



One could easily decompose the Potassium Bicarbonate into Potassium carbonate in my oven if desired... has there been no difference in performance when adding equal masses of each? Or are we getting away with it because of different molecular amounts at equal volumes?
Click to expand...


As far as buffering is concerned, the pKa is about the same for either compound. As a result, you have to add the same amount to get the same buffering. That is why we add the same amount. To keep the pH buffered.

Concerning K+, K2CO3 adds slightly less than double the K+ of KHCO3. KHCO3 adds enough trace K+ for the yeast to transport ethanol across the membrane. Adding slightly double of this trace amount doesn't really effect anything.
 
loveofrose said:
As far as buffering is concerned, the pKa is about the same for either compound. As a result, you have to add the same amount to get the same buffering. That is why we add the same amount. To keep the pH buffered.

Concerning K+, K2CO3 adds slightly less than double the K+ of KHCO3. KHCO3 adds enough trace K+ for the yeast to transport ethanol across the membrane. Adding slightly double of this trace amount doesn't really effect anything.
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OK, sounds good. My memory of acid/base/buffering chemistry has gotten pretty rusty.
 
Trying a BOMM that's just about (is exactly) a month (31 days) made from local (within 50 miles) locust blossom. Admittedly, I had some blowout (sprayed all over the kitchen while shaking around day 3), but overall about normal for my meads. Trying some tonight, and it smells and tastes just slightly rubbery. Based on other comments, I'm not sure if this is the honey or if my previous attempts were just slightly more sanitary (I follow the same One Step/StarSan process for all fermentations). Thoughts? It still tastes good (to quote a former President), just a bit of rubber in it.
 
Danmor1 said:
Trying some tonight, and it smells and tastes just slightly rubbery. ... just a bit of rubber in it.
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Whenever I hear "rubbery" I immediately think about chloramine: I'm still bitter about losing a 6 gallon batch to "bottled" water that was from a municipal source. Did you use a proven water source?
 
Danmor1 said:
Trying a BOMM that's just about (is exactly) a month (31 days) made from local (within 50 miles) locust blossom. Admittedly, I had some blowout (sprayed all over the kitchen while shaking around day 3), but overall about normal for my meads. Trying some tonight, and it smells and tastes just slightly rubbery. Based on other comments, I'm not sure if this is the honey or if my previous attempts were just slightly more sanitary (I follow the same One Step/StarSan process for all fermentations). Thoughts? It still tastes good (to quote a former President), just a bit of rubber in it.
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Questions to help troubleshoot:
What yeast did you use?
What water did you use?
What was the fermentation temperature and was it steady?
Was it exposed to light?

Rubber flavors are a sign of yeast autolysis from stressed, unhappy yeast. Something you are doing is seriously stressing the yeast. Any ideas?
 
loveofrose said:
Questions to help troubleshoot:
What yeast did you use?
What water did you use?
What was the fermentation temperature and was it steady?
Was it exposed to light?

Rubber flavors are a sign of yeast autolysis from stressed, unhappy yeast. Something you are doing is seriously stressing the yeast. Any ideas?
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1388; Kroger Spring gallon jugs; 74+- 2; and kept in brew closet. A possible stressor, though, is this is the first batch I've started in a carboy rather than a bucket, due to a broken fridge and too much yeast that otherwise would be wasted. There might be a different dynamic in shaking vs stirring, and in how much nutrient actually got to it during the additions (as per previously referenced kitchen spraydown). Thinking about it, that seems like a likely explanation.
 
So its day 11 and for 2 or 3 days my BOMM has a darker film on top of carboy, kinda looks like mead after it starts to clear. It separated then has not done anything else. Also tasted it just to see and it taste not very good. Still early i know. Anyone have an idea what happened?
 
usmcbalzano said:
So its day 11 and for 2 or 3 days my BOMM has a darker film on top of carboy, kinda looks like mead after it starts to clear. It separated then has not done anything else. Also tasted it just to see and it taste not very good. Still early i know. Anyone have an idea what happened?
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Usually, it's beeswax. Any reason to think otherwise?
 
Well, after my first attempt failed in contamination, and not very tasty using clover-wildflower honey, I splurged on some orange blossom honey, and used a partial package of Nottingham for a 1 gallon batch. Just passed the 2/3 sugar break and last SNA, and sneaked a taste. While still a bit too sweet at 1.036, it's still promising to be a much much tastier product! Need to find out if the local honey folks have any basswood honey left....Thanks to loveofrose for such a great set of info!
 
I wish you luck with Nottingham. I'm currently in the middle of a yeast experiment with 6 yeast. So far, Nottingham ranks last.
 
loveofrose said:
I wish you luck with Nottingham. I'm currently in the middle of a yeast experiment with 6 yeast. So far, Nottingham ranks last.
Click to expand...

Well, I had read your discussion on GotMead a week or so ago, and Notty wasn't doing so bad, so I went ahead with it. But now I see you had issues with sulfur. Was that later in the ferment? So far I'm clean but we've got a ways to go...
 
Well I'll keep my eyes, or nose, on it and hope. Wonder if it runs low on food, or if that's how Notty complains about alcohol? Never pushed it past 9% and only in cider.
 
Wish I had known about the milkweed honey issue earlier.

The batch I made, and drank :) was far better than the stuff that I wrote of earlier that pretty much tasted like sucking too hard on a gas siphon, but was not good enough to justify the description of good.

Not terrible, just not much more than drinkable.

Gonna try again, eventually.

TeeJo
 
I'm having a lot of trouble finding Fermaid K in Australia. There were suppliers apparently but now they are all out of stock. I've been told that because it contains DAP that Lallemand are not allowed to bring it into the country. All I can get my hands on is Fermaid A and O - I've ordered the A before reading the posts on O so now what do I do? I have not read anything about the A but was only told that it is the replacement for K in Australia. Can someone please shed some light. Cheers.
 
That sounds good. I will have to try that out. Do you have a fermaid o to fermaid k conversation for those of us that still have a bunch of K
 

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