First mead from my backyard honey!

[Arpolis]

Hello everyone!

Today I started my first crushed honey mead from my bees I started raising this year. A bit of detail on the honey is shown in this thread:

first honey harvest thread

I had drained all the coarse filtered honey as good as it would let me out of my crushing bucket. Then all I had left was a bit of honey on all the sides and this sticky nylon bag filled with wax. Now to make mead!

I added 2 cups of warm water and started rubbing all the sides of the bucket. Once mostly clean I added 1 gallon of filtered water and started to rub around and kneed the wax in the nylon bag. Once I was confident all the honey was dissolved I put a lid on the bucket and walked away to get my other stuff ready. A bit later I added 1lb 14.6oz of my strained honey into the bucket and mixed well till dissolved.

After cleaning up I added 3/4 tsp of potassium bicarbonate and a little more than a 1/2 tsp of nutrient and energizer blend (1 part energizer 2 part nutrient) to my gallon carboy. I then removed the wax bag and set that aside to melt later for candle making. I siphoned the honey must into my gallon carboy but left plenty head room. I then added the rest of the must to two 17fl oz bottles and a 20 fl oz for topping up once fermentation dies down and when racking.

Shook everything up well and added a package of lalvin k1v-1116 to the carboy and added an airlock. I took a gravity of the must and it was at 1.078. Just fine for me.

I have done plenty cheap clover, local store bought honey, LHBS wild flower and Orange blossom meads in the past. So I am super excited to see what my in-city backyard bee honey mead tastes like. I'll keep the thread updated as it goes!

Oh and going forward I am doing staggered nutrient additions so for those thinking I was a little light on the nutrients should feel ok. Also I will be degassing with my hand vacuum daily as often as I can to keep CO2 levels down.

 

[Arpolis]

Only a couple hours after yeast pitch and the mead was bubbling something fierce. I do not want the fermentation going too quick and violently so I turned the cold down to the warmest point on my fridge and put the carboy in there last night. This morning the mead is cloudy and thick with yeast and still looks to be actively fermenting still. I'll check gravity late tonight. I'll probably take it out of the fridge for an hour plus so I don't have to worry about temp corrections and see if it needs the next nutrient addition.

 

[rlmiller10]

Only a couple hours after yeast pitch and the mead was bubbling something fierce. I do not want the fermentation going too quick and violently so I turned the cold down to the warmest point on my fridge and put the carboy in there last night. This morning the mead is cloudy and thick with yeast and still looks to be actively fermenting still. I'll check gravity late tonight. I'll probably take it out of the fridge for an hour plus so I don't have to worry about temp corrections and see if it needs the next nutrient addition.

Rather than the temp swings from fridge to room temp do you have a tub or cooler with water you could put it in and just add a little ice. You should easily be able to maintain about 66 to 68 degrees that way which should give a nice steady ferment.

 

[Arpolis]

I am happy with using the fridge with lalvin k1v-1116. With other yeasts I would probably do the cooler trick. I do this same thing with sake using this yeast and with a really cool ferment the yeast throws some nice floral notes that I think will work well with my honey.

But thank you for the suggestion.

 

[fatbloke]

Well done in getting one going from the back yard honey..........:rockin:

 

[Arpolis]

Thank you FB. Last night I checked the gravity and it was down to 1.062. So I think tonight I will add the next dose of nutrients

 

[Arpolis]

Day 3: only down to 1.056. I added my second addition of nutrients. 1/8 tsp energizer and 1/4 tsp nutrient. I'll check it again in a few days and probably add the last of the nutrients.

 

[WVMJ]

I didnt realize you were an urban beekeeper. Some of the city guys camouflage their hives to look like ductwork! Good luck on your first batch from your urban hive. WVMj

 

[Arpolis]

Yea my hive is hidden with 6ft privacy fence all around the hive with a latched gate. No one knows about the bees until they see me walking around in a bee suit and ask. I did not check gravity tonight but she is bubbling away strong. No sediment at the bottom even though we are at fridge temps. So we know the yeast are plenty active.

 

[Arpolis]

Day 4 (yesterday): from day 3-4 I actually left the mead out on the countertop. House stayed at 70*F. When I checked the gravity it was down to 1.026. So last addition of nutrients added and back into the fridge for the yeast to finish up and clear out. Let's see how long it takes. As of day 5 the mead is bubbling along nicely. I reduced the headspace with saved must. With it in the fridge and a large amount if the fermentation over we should have no volcanoes.

 

[WVMJ]

1.026 is a little late for nutrient additions, OG of 1.078 and K1V you probably didnt need a whole lot to start with as this isnt a very challenging ferment for K1V? WVMJ

 

[Arpolis]

I understand that is a little later than normal for my third addition but with keeping temps as low as I am I just want to make sure I don't short change the yeast at all so it ferments completely and cleanly. I honestly did not think it would have that much of a drop in less than 24 hours. I expected it in the 1.03 mid range.

 

[Arpolis]

Ok a day shy of a month has passed so well due for an update. A few days ago I removed the mead from the fridge since it was starting to look really clear. I degassed it with a vacuum and by the next day fermentation picked back up. Going slow now. I checked the gravity tonight and it is at 0.996 if not a little lower. Right at 11% ABV. Gave a small taste test of the hydrometer sample.


The yeast taste is there since it is all cloudy again but not bad. Small hints of apple like flavors, tingling alcohol all over the mouth but still smooth for a young mead. And an aftertaste that is hard to put a finger on it. Some kind of pleasant floral taste. Not something I have tasted with wild flower honey from the home brew store. Just... Different... Very hard to pinpoint exactly.

After taking some of the leftover honey to work for people to try out I had a bunch of people asking to buy the honey off me. With such a small harvest I decided to part with 4 small half pound bottles of honey. Lots of people are raging at how great the honey is. I can't wait to back sweeten this mead and really let its character shine.

 

[Arpolis]

Ok so I bottled this about a week ago. I got 4 crystal clear 750ml bottles and one partial bottle that did pull a little sediment. I tried a glass of the 5th bottle that has been sitting in the fridge this last week. First a pic:



First on the nose there is an odd smell. I have sniffed it a hundred times now and can not really describe the smell well but it is not actually my favorite smell. I think it detracts a little from the drink.

The initial taste is sweet and oh so smooth. Both in alcohol which is non-existent and the texture is just velvety smooth. The flavor is unique compared to a mead made from cheap honey like Costco/Sam's club bulk honey. The taste is complex and hard to figure out. My bees forage from a verity of random planted and wild flowers with no specific verietal so this is not surprising. But I have to say the taste almost reminds me of all the smells of an active hive. I do get a whole hive feel from this mead.

Overall I think it is very pleasant. My only complaint is on the nose but everything else is amazing in its own right. Now to harvest some honey this year and see if that mead will have the same characteristics.

 

[WVMJ]

Now you have vintage honey years with wildflower meads WVMJ

 

[Arpolis]

Ok new development. The mead when shared with family had bad reviews. I think in my prior post I was giving the mead too much credit. It really was kinda awful.

But just a few days ago I noticed the mead cleared even further than it had. A milky white substance at the bottom of each bottle. I decanted a bit out of one bottle and have a sniff..... Smelled like a nice sweet mead! No bad smell at all!

Gave it a taste... This reminds me of a good raw clover honey mead or a very generic wild flower mead. Sweet to taste. Smooth alcohol. Good body and mouthfeel. A slight bitterness and all the goodness of a traditional meads taste. So this batch is saved by the all mighty God of time. This is a testimate to the fact that time can fix almost any mead.

 

[WVMJ]

Its not even a year old yet, leave those bottles alone for a while, time hasnt even begun to give you a great mead yet You will find this funny, one of our top bar hives filled up a double comb on one bar during our apple bloom so I took it so they wouldnt keep building comb like that and set it on the back of my truck, did a bunch of other stuff and forgot about it, hours later thosands of bees in the back of my truck took ALL of their apple honey back, what a newbie mistake!

WVMJ

 

[Arpolis]

I know I know. I have 3 bottles I am not touching and one I am sampling. The other 3 will be opened at yearly marks. I was just so disappointed in the mead at first because I have made plenty meads and wines that were great by that point. But now I know this mead will be just fine and I don't have nasty city honey.

LoL funny story with the bees. I just had to do some good comb correction myself. They were building the comb up above the bars and attaching to the screened inner cover. After scraping the top of the bars I had a lot of yummy nectar and wax to chew on. Delicious!