Bray's One Month Mead

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loveofrose said:
If you carbonate, beer or champagne bottles. If you don't carbonate, any type bottle you have is fine.

A warning though. By carbonation, I mean let the mead hit 1.00 or below, then add priming sugar. For backsweetening, you have 2 options.

1. Treat with sulphites to stop the yeast, then add honey to your desired FG, clear, and bottle. I don't do this method for allergy reasons, so other folks will have to give you the details.

2. Step feeding. Add honey to your desired FG. Let it ferment. Add again and repeat until the yeast give up.



Better brewing through science!
Click to expand...

to be on the safe side with mead I've heard .096 is a good bet.
 
loveofrose said:
If you carbonate, beer or champagne bottles. If you don't carbonate, any type bottle you have is fine.

A warning though. By carbonation, I mean let the mead hit 1.00 or below, then add priming sugar. For backsweetening, you have 2 options.

1. Treat with sulphites to stop the yeast, then add honey to your desired FG, clear, and bottle. I don't do this method for allergy reasons, so other folks will have to give you the details.

2. Step feeding. Add honey to your desired FG. Let it ferment. Add again and repeat until the yeast give up.



Better brewing through science!
Click to expand...


Unfortunately this is very widely misunderstood. Sulfites alone will not stop a fermentation in most cases. Sorbates however will. Sulfites and sorbates are often used in conjunction for best results. The sulfites protect against oxidation and other possible spoilage where the sorbates effectively halt yeast replication and thus the fermentation. Through very stringent oxygen control methods you can use just sorbates and claim sulfite free on the label with minimal risk of spoilage, this is especially true with mead. Don't be completely fooled however as there are some, very minuscule, amounts of sulfites that are produced naturally during a healthy fermentation process.
 
loveofrose said:
If you carbonate, beer or champagne bottles. If you don't carbonate, any type bottle you have is fine.

A warning though. By carbonation, I mean let the mead hit 1.00 or below, then add priming sugar. For backsweetening, you have 2 options.

1. Treat with sulphites to stop the yeast, then add honey to your desired FG, clear, and bottle. I don't do this method for allergy reasons, so other folks will have to give you the details.

2. Step feeding. Add honey to your desired FG. Let it ferment. Add again and repeat until the yeast give up.



Better brewing through science!
Click to expand...


Unfortunately this is very widely misunderstood. Sulfites alone will not stop a fermentation in most cases. Sorbates however will. Sulfites and sorbates are often used in conjunction for best results. The sulfites protect against oxidation and other possible spoilage where the sorbates effectively halt yeast replication and thus the fermentation. Through very stringent oxygen control methods you can use just sorbates and claim sulfite free on the label with minimal risk of spoilage, this is especially true with mead. Don't be completely fooled however as there are some, very minuscule, amounts of sulfites that are produced naturally during a healthy fermentation process.
 
Is a daily degassing enough? It seems like during the first few days of fermentation the mead could use quite a few degassings. Any thoughts or suggestions? I started a 3 gallon batch yesterday and have been fermenting at 68-70 F. I gave it a swirl 3 times in the past 3 hours and there is a ton of CO2 each time. Is there any negative effect to to much degassing early on?
I know the all the BOMM recipes say daily, but I was just curious.
Thanks.
 
Doesn't hurt anything to degas a lot in the beginning. Depends on if you have the time.


Better brewing through science!
 
Thanks for the info. Degassed about every 1.5-2 hours yesterday and couldn't believe the amount of C02 being produced. I guess that happens when the OG is 1.1!
 
My 60# are coming in this friday. I plan to set up my stir plate again for constant degassing. This time the BOMM will be temperature controlled, so I'm hoping for better results. (ick butyric acid)
 
IJesusChrist said:
My 60# are coming in this friday. I plan to set up my stir plate again for constant degassing. This time the BOMM will be temperature controlled, so I'm hoping for better results. (ick butyric acid)
Click to expand...


My hypothesis is that the stir plate mead should be better, if better is possible.


Better brewing through science!
 
loveofrose said:
My hypothesis is that the stir plate mead should be better, if better is possible.


Better brewing through science!
Click to expand...
facepalm_227785.jpg
 
Has anyone tried dry-hopping their BOMM? If so, how did it taste, and what types would you recommend?
 
Good luck with pineapple. I've never tasted one of those that classified higher than awful. How are you going to deal with grease from the bacon?


Better brewing through science!
 
My plan is to do a kind of steep of bacon drippings in a bottle of vodka to make a kind of bacon extract to add to one of my gallons jugs, along with an undecided amount of maple syrup.
I have some cherrywood malt I might try and add too to have a smoked bacon effect.
 
Oh, don't worry, I'm definitely experimenting. Just out of curiosity, what amount of hops per gallon did you add? I'm thinking about going with 0.4 ounces/gallon.
 
cmhaynes said:
Oh, don't worry, I'm definitely experimenting. Just out of curiosity, what amount of hops per gallon did you add? I'm thinking about going with 0.4 ounces/gallon.
Click to expand...


Honestly, I just throw a handful in. I have big bags of whole hops though.


Better brewing through science!
 
Hello Bray and other mazers on this thread.

I have to first give a big 'thank you' to Bray for providing this wonderful mead recipe here and being so extraordinarily helpful to everyone. I started my brewing life with more traditional meads, but switched to cider because that fits my wife's "patience profile" a little better :). It's great to find a real mead that satisfies the same demands!

I'm currently nearing completion on my 4th batch of BOMM or BOMM-inspired mead. The first batch nearly vanished at bottling time, but I managed to save two 16-oz bottles to let them mellow. I have 2 more 1-gal near-BOMM batches (different ale yeasts because I couldn't get the 1388) stewing with some vanilla and oak, and I have a 3-gal batch of true BOMM almost done with fermentation.

I'm not a very experienced brewer, so I have some process questions I'd like to ask the community.

1) A couple of times, step-feeding has been discussed as a way to get a sweeter end product. When doing that, is the best way to calculate ABV to just sum the "delta" SG at each step, converting to ABV change as you go?

2) If step feeding until the yeast "give up" - is the yeast pretty much dead at that point? As in, it could not be re-used for another batch.

3) Regarding reusing yeast: how do you get just the top layer of sludge when you're working through a little hole several inches away from said sludge?

Next up is another batch of BOMM using a local wildflower honey (I'm just up the road from you, Bray - it's from Denison).

Thanks in advance!
--Roger
 
I can only answer 3). In beer you only want the top layer (lighter colored) of "trub" because the lower (darker) layer also contains particulate from the wort(bits of grain, etc). With traditional no worries about that, just take the whole yeast cake, but there's not much way to separate fruit pulp/spices from the yeast in melomels and the like...I usually make a "starter" with my pricey liquid yeast and "farm" it... I build it up to 2L from 1/2L remove 1/2 for my "seed", build it back to 2L and pitch it. Next time I take the 1/2L I saved in the fridge and repeat...I've done that for a year, no problems so far. I am planning on getting a new batch of 1388 this winter, though, so as not to push my luck ;-)
 
rega said:
Hello Bray and other mazers on this thread.

I have to first give a big 'thank you' to Bray for providing this wonderful mead recipe here and being so extraordinarily helpful to everyone. I started my brewing life with more traditional meads, but switched to cider because that fits my wife's "patience profile" a little better :). It's great to find a real mead that satisfies the same demands!

I'm currently nearing completion on my 4th batch of BOMM or BOMM-inspired mead. The first batch nearly vanished at bottling time, but I managed to save two 16-oz bottles to let them mellow. I have 2 more 1-gal near-BOMM batches (different ale yeasts because I couldn't get the 1388) stewing with some vanilla and oak, and I have a 3-gal batch of true BOMM almost done with fermentation.

I'm not a very experienced brewer, so I have some process questions I'd like to ask the community.

1) A couple of times, step-feeding has been discussed as a way to get a sweeter end product. When doing that, is the best way to calculate ABV to just sum the "delta" SG at each step, converting to ABV change as you go?

2) If step feeding until the yeast "give up" - is the yeast pretty much dead at that point? As in, it could not be re-used for another batch.

3) Regarding reusing yeast: how do you get just the top layer of sludge when you're working through a little hole several inches away from said sludge?

Next up is another batch of BOMM using a local wildflower honey (I'm just up the road from you, Bray - it's from Denison).

Thanks in advance!
--Roger
Click to expand...


1) The easiest way is to add up the points that have dropped. It is not very accurate, but gets you in the ballpark. For the more accurate way, you would need factor in final volume.

2) Not dead, just stunned. If you take these yeast and add to a new batch they will go nuts. It's like you trying to exercise in a smoke filled room versus fresh mountain air. Just too toxic with high ABV.

3) For traditionals, I don't seperate anything. Just dump the slurry in the next batch.

Good to hear there are mazers in the area. Found any decent local honey?



Better brewing through science!
 
loveofrose said:
1) The easiest way is to add up the points that have dropped. It is not very accurate, but gets you in the ballpark. For the more accurate way, you would need factor in final volume.

2) Not dead, just stunned. If you take these yeast and add to a new batch they will go nuts. It's like you trying to exercise in a smoke filled room versus fresh mountain air. Just too toxic with high ABV.

3) For traditionals, I don't seperate anything. Just dump the slurry in the next batch.

Good to hear there are mazers in the area. Found any decent local honey?
Click to expand...


Thanks again, Bray! I'll let you know how the Denison honey batch turns out. Three of my earlier batches were made with Roundrock Honey. A guy at the Richardson HBS told me it's actually produced in the DFW area, but their website only mentions Central Texas. Be that as it may, it is a very tasty, dark amber honey that made excellent mead. My daughter picked it up for me at the Dallas Farmers Market for $55/gal.

Cheers!
--Roger
 
Sorry if I've somehow blindingly missed this, but are you all doing primary in a bucket or straight to 1 gallon carboy?
 
So I have a batch of this sitting at about one month old and fermentation has not shown drop in gravity points in a week. I seem to be stuck at 1.040 and going back I realize missing the K2CO3 was pretty crucial. I also worry that I did not add enough nutrients. Last night I added a bit more nutrient and K2CO3 and stirred a little. If I do not see any activity in the next few days would it be a viable option to toss in 5g of 71B to dry it out a little more?
 
milsman2 said:
So I have a batch of this sitting at about one month old and fermentation has not shown drop in gravity points in a week. I seem to be stuck at 1.040 and going back I realize missing the K2CO3 was pretty crucial. I also worry that I did not add enough nutrients. Last night I added a bit more nutrient and K2CO3 and stirred a little. If I do not see any activity in the next few days would it be a viable option to toss in 5g of 71B to dry it out a little more?
Click to expand...

DAP is more important than nutrient with a stuck fermentation. You may also want to aerate again - add a little oxygen. Do these before adding any additional yeast.
 
bluedubbed said:
There was an interesting article in Science mag a few weeks back:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25278607

The bottom line is that increasing extracellular K+ and pH increases alcohol tolerance. They supplemented the media with 48mM KCl and 2mM KOH.
Click to expand...

ehhh, I don't know what the definition of this would be but this sentence makes me wary:
"under industrial-like conditions"

In chemistry, this sentence usually means there's no correlation to laboratory conditions.
 
With ABVs above 15%, does this mead still need Kmeta additions prior to bottling for long term aging?
 
brottman said:
With ABVs above 15%, does this mead still need Kmeta additions prior to bottling for long term aging?
Click to expand...

Be safe, yes. I've heard people who had FG's that didn't move for 3 weeks, bottled, and ended up with bottle bombs one year later
 
I guess I'm referring more to protection against oxidation and infection. I was planning on honey additions to raise ABV until the yeast die off. Is that not enough protection from bottle bombs?

Also - what about sorbate but no Kmeta? Got a friend with a sulphite allergy.
 
I can't use sulphites either. Never had a bottle explode or oxidation. I just make sure the gravity is stable before bottling.


Better brewing through science!
 
brottman said:
I guess I'm referring more to protection against oxidation and infection. I was planning on honey additions to raise ABV until the yeast die off. Is that not enough protection from bottle bombs?

Also - what about sorbate but no Kmeta? Got a friend with a sulphite allergy.
Click to expand...

I think if your fg is stable for at least 10 days at the same temperature you should be fine. I'm not clear on the scenario with the 1-year bottle bombs, but it can't be a common occurrence.

Sorbate should do it's job fine if the the fermentation is basically stopped. KMeta kills the yeast, or at least inhibits a very crucial enzyme in their biosynthesis pathways, while sorbate just halt's their reproduction. So the yeast could still come back alive with sorbate and ferment, but not for an extended period of time. In general I just like to believe sorbate basically kills the yeast after an FG is reached.

If you added sorbate first, followed by your honey additions, you will kill the yeast, and once that honey addition hit's its respective FG, it will be stabilized.

(Example:
You're at 1.000, and add sorbate and honey to an SG of 1.01. The yeast may come out of dormancy and ferment. Once they ferment enough to divide, they won't be able to due to sorbate. The SG will drop, for example, to 1.05. At this point fermentation is completely halted and you may bottle at your leisure. Just let everything settle out.)

For oxidation just minimized head space. For corks, turn the mead on its side so the cork stays wet on one portion. This is suppose to lower oxidation. I'm unsure if it actually makes a difference.
 
Noob here, I think I've worked out most of my questions just reading through this entire thread but I still have a question about back sweetening in steps. Do you add the honey during the fermentation like the nutrients or is this added after primary/racking? I'm not currently on gotmead so I can't look up your sweet BOMM recipe yet.
 
Faile85 if you read carefully Bray suggested the following:

Backsweetening:
Most people like to backsweeten a bit. Save a bottle of dry for the 3 month mark and you may think differently.

But I was wondering if it makes sense to add several ounces of honey to the gallon after it reaches the 1-month mark. It would make serving it much easier and more simple. Would that start up another fermetation cycle or all the critters dead by then?

I often backsweeten this way. At this point, it should be at max ABV tolerance. I add some honey and mix. Take a gravity reading. Wait a week and see if it is stable. If stable and above 12-13% ABV, then it's good to bottle.

A good rule of thumb is that 2 oz (by weight) of honey per gallon raises the gravity by .005 points. After a week, it dissolves into solution. Faster if you mix.

Cheers!
 
loveofrose said:
Final pH was 3.54 for those that asked!
Click to expand...

Have you taken a starting and final pH?

I'll have to remember to do this when I do another batch.
15 gallons bubbling away :p

Faile85 said:
Noob here, I think I've worked out most of my questions just reading through this entire thread but I still have a question about back sweetening in steps. Do you add the honey during the fermentation like the nutrients or is this added after primary/racking? I'm not currently on gotmead so I can't look up your sweet BOMM recipe yet.
Click to expand...

You will add after your SG hits 1.00.

If you add in additions you will likely start fermentation again. This is how Bray reached 19%abv - by continually adding 1oz additions until the yeast gave up.

In my experience I once added 6oz honey to "rush" the process - the yeast gave up and didn't ferment any of this, leaving my mead very sweet and exactly at my ABV of 15%.

So you have options:
1. Small additions to increase ABV until yeast give up
2. Large addition in which the osmotic stress will shock the yeast and fermentation will cease quickly
3. Stabilize with k-meta and sorbate after your SG is stable for 2-3 days.

Some clarifying agents will remove most yeast and thus stop fermentation if the SG is stable, and your backsweetening is large enough.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. Right now I'm waiting for my equipment to come in and doing my planning and learning lol I'll post pics as my mead progresses.
 
Loveofrose have you by any chance attempted anything with Wyeast 4184 or 4632? They're listed as sweet and dry respectively for mead on the Wyeast website. Just curious if there's anybody who's used them.
 
Wyeast dry mead was the first yeast I ever used. While it makes very good mead, it needs lots of nutrients and pH buffering. Follow the BOMM nutrient schedule and K2CO3 additions and it will work fine.


Better brewing through science!
 

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