Fermenting my first mead/wine

[wjhunter3]

My fig tree/bush went wild that past year and I was looking to do something with the frozen figs in my freezer when I came across a fig mead/wine recipe on YouTube. They used dried figs, but I followed their recipe except I used ~3 lbs of thawed frozen figs instead of dried. So I'm sure I'm going to have questions and will be seekng advice going forward. Incidentally, the fermentation seemed to start within 5 minutes. By twenty minutes the fluid in the air had been pushed to one side and there was about an inch of foam at the top of the must. So I'm guessing I did something right.

 

[T Murph]

Welcome to the forum. That's looking good? Did you take a reading of your specific gravity?

 

[wjhunter3]

Welcome to the forum. That's looking good? Did you take a reading of your specific gravity?

The initial gravity reading was 1.062, but I'm not sure how much sugar is still locked in the fruit.

 

[wjhunter3]

The initial gravity reading was 1.062, but I'm not sure how much sugar is still locked in the fruit.

After I started this I found this calculator:

The Mead Calculator – Got Mead? The Largest Mead Resource on the Web

which I wish I had found beforehand. By its calculations my initial gravity should have been 1.065, which means I will have a ABV of ~9%. I'm thinking I would have added more honey to the recipe.

 

[T Murph]

It should take about a week for the yeast to consume the sugar. If you haven't done so already you should feed it some citric acid and nutrients. Fresh Lemmon juice and a good hand full of raisins should do the trick.

 

[wjhunter3]

It should take about a week for the yeast to consume the sugar. If you haven't done so already you should feed it some citric acid and nutrients. Fresh Lemmon juice and a good hand full of raisins should do the trick.

The recipe already has 1/2 pound of raisins as well as the peel of a lemon and its juice.

 

[T Murph]

Cool, Relax and have a homebrew. Give it time to do its magic. I believe it will be fine.

 

[wjhunter3]

Cool, Relax and have a homebrew. Give it time to do its magic. I believe it will be fine.

Yea, hopefully. I do need to add a fermenting weight to the muslin bag the fruits are in. It's pushing up against the top and I don't want it cutting off the CO2 from escaping.

 

[T Murph]

I wouldn't be afraid to push it down using a sanitized utensil. You can still apply some weight as long as it is sanitary. Just be careful, don't stir it up more than necessary.

 

[wjhunter3]

Been pushing it down every chance I get (with a sterilized utensil). But the foam/cap and the bag keep blocking off the airlock. May have to appropriate a few my kids marbles until the weights arrive.

Isn't it good to keep oxygenating the.must for the few days?

 

[T Murph]

I wouldn't purposely oxygenate it at this point. As long as it is producing bubbles let it work. And I have used marbles before, lol. It works.