Hello, I started brewing a couple months ago. So far I've done a cider which turned out pretty well. Right now I'm working on 2 one gallon batches of mead. One is a kiwi melomel and the other is currently a plain mead. They are both relatively small with starting gravities of 1.075. Both are in the primary and almost ready for the secondary. I had a couple of questions I was hoping you could clear up for me.
For the plain mead, I would like to turn it into a peppermint metheglin. I was thinking I would steep pepperment in boiling water and use this to top up the secondary (along with a little extra honey) and then place the now sanitized peppermint into the secondary as well. Then in 3 months I'll bottle it if it looks ready.
For the melomel, I've heard that the kiwi flavor will mostly be blown out the airlock so I should add kiwi to the secondary. Do you think it would be more effective to mash up the kiwi or leave it whole? And what would be the proper way to maintain sanitation with the fruit? I used metabisulphite in the beginning to sanitize, but in the future I want to switch to the natural method with no heat or chemicals as I have heard that is better.
And last question: could someone clarify something about oxygen exposure? I know it is best to test your mead for the gravity in order to track fermentation, but won't this expose it to oxygen every time you do this? What makes it okay to take the stopper out?
Thank you so much!
For the plain mead, I would like to turn it into a peppermint metheglin. I was thinking I would steep pepperment in boiling water and use this to top up the secondary (along with a little extra honey) and then place the now sanitized peppermint into the secondary as well. Then in 3 months I'll bottle it if it looks ready.
For the melomel, I've heard that the kiwi flavor will mostly be blown out the airlock so I should add kiwi to the secondary. Do you think it would be more effective to mash up the kiwi or leave it whole? And what would be the proper way to maintain sanitation with the fruit? I used metabisulphite in the beginning to sanitize, but in the future I want to switch to the natural method with no heat or chemicals as I have heard that is better.
And last question: could someone clarify something about oxygen exposure? I know it is best to test your mead for the gravity in order to track fermentation, but won't this expose it to oxygen every time you do this? What makes it okay to take the stopper out?
Thank you so much!