Old school

[BigErn]

So I have never made a mead before and am currently 5 batches of beer in experience. I have a bunch of questions but I will save most of them for later.

First off though my girlfriends parents keep their own bees and I can grab all the honey I want. But the problem is I have never made a mead before. I know I would like to make a semi - sweet mead. Not a huge fan of a very dry mead. But for my first one I dont want to venture into melomel (not sure what that stands for) or any flavored meads.

What would be a basic (origional) Mead recipie and what would the entire process of making it be.

Ive read the FAQ at the top so im somewhat informed. My question is more towards timing, OG/FG, Nutrients, and Stabalizer/Clarifiers. I have never used nutrients or stbalizers. So what are some common ones and when are they added.

 

[TipsyDragon]

a melomel is a mead mixed with fruit, doesn't stand for anything its just what its called.

for your first mead i would go with a straight traditional mead.

15lb. honey
3tsp. gypsum
2.5 tsp. yeast nutrient

mix with 1 gallon water and bring to 160F, cover, and remove from heat. let sit for 30 minutes. cool in tub of ice water. pour into fermenter and top off to 5 gallons. add yeast. at approximately 1/3 sugar depletion add more nutrient. check PH during first week or so and try to keep it above 3.8PH. if it dips below that value add teaspoons of calcium carbonate till the PH is above 3.8. let sit in primary for a month. then rack to a secondary and let sit for 3 months. bottle as soon as you can read through it. add 1 campden tablet, potasium sorbate and 4 tsp Acid Blend. let sit for a year before drinking.

 

[BigErn]

Thats alot of chemicals. What is the Gypsum for? Also what is a good yeast nutrient and do you just dump it in.

How would I calculate when 1/3rd sugar depletion has occured. I do not have anyway to check Ph without buying more equipment.

When would you add the campden tablet (what is it what is it for)
potasium sorbate (what is it what is it for)
and Acid Blend (what is it what is it for)

Sorry for my newb-ness but If I dont ask the question I will never learn it.

Also Im reading alot about not heating the honey. You lose aroma and flavor this way.
Is there a problem with just adding it all in a carboy at room temperature and just shaking/mixing the S#!T out of it?

 

[gratus fermentatio]

All you really need other than the honey, water & yeast are yeast nutrient/energizer & campden tabs (potassium metabisufite). You really should pick up a copy of The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm (who frequents this site) and read it before you start, it will really help to save you some time, effort & money. You can also find useful info at http://www.gotmead.com

For a basic recipe, I'd go with 3lbs of honey/gal, good sping/well water (no chlorine/chloromines) and follow the directions on the pkg of yeast nutrient & campden tabs. Regards, GF

 

[PiecefulToker]

Is there a problem with just adding it all in a carboy at room temperature and just shaking/mixing the S#!T out of it?

Nope, nothing wrong with that. Honey has antibiotic properties, and if you add the yeast right after you mix the batch, the yeast should quickly overwhelm anything else that might be in there. This method also helps to make sure you have adequately the oxygenated must.

I agree with gratus fermentatio... check out the "Newbee Guide" and forums over at GotMead.com, and try to get your hands on a copy of Ken Schramm's book. Reading up to date information from reliable sources will save you time, money, and hassle in the long run. I am not saying anything bad or bashing HBT, but most (or all) of the info you are looking for is already located in a consolidated source.

Good luck with your mead-making ventures.

 

[LightningInABottle]

Also look at Hightest's stickies and use the Honey spread sheet. It will help you calculate your gravity, when to add nutrients and you can use it to take brewing notes.

 

[TipsyDragon]

Thats alot of chemicals. What is the Gypsum for? Also what is a good yeast nutrient and do you just dump it in.

How would I calculate when 1/3rd sugar depletion has occured. I do not have anyway to check Ph without buying more equipment.

When would you add the campden tablet (what is it what is it for)
potasium sorbate (what is it what is it for)
and Acid Blend (what is it what is it for)

Sorry for my newb-ness but If I dont ask the question I will never learn it.

Also Im reading alot about not heating the honey. You lose aroma and flavor this way.
Is there a problem with just adding it all in a carboy at room temperature and just shaking/mixing the S#!T out of it?

mead requiers more attention and upkeep to make it right. like others have said get The Complete Mead Maker.

Gypsum will increase the water hardness which the yeast like and it will improve the flavor.

i like yeastX yeast nutrient but any will do. i added it to the must with the Gypsum just before heat sanitizing. once fermentation gets going you can just dump it in.

to calculate your 1/3 sugar depletion take a hydrometer reading before you add the yeast then multiply by 2/3. then take periodic hydrometer readings when your close enough its good enough don't worry if you are over or under.

you do have a way of checking the PH of the must. your LHBS will sell acid test strips. you get 100 of them for a few bucks.

add a campden tablet at each racking. it helps prevent infection and oxidation.

potasium sorbate is a preservative. it is added at bottling time to prevent the yeast from starting fermentation again and possibly pushing your corks back out of the bottle or causing bottle bombs.

acid blend is a mix of citric acid, malic acid, and tanic acid. it is added at bottling time as a way of balancing out the residual sweetness of the mead.

 

[BigErn]

Hey look at that... ask and you shall recieve. This site has been invaluable so far. Im in no rush to get this started... since its going to take a year to make anyways. So like most things I do ill do some research and educate myself. I know everything mentioned above is at my LHBS as well as the book which I will be picking up. Thanks again for helping out the less knowledgeable.

 

[Yooper]

15lb. honey
3tsp. gypsum
2.5 tsp. yeast nutrient

check PH during first week or so and try to keep it above 3.8PH. if it dips elow that value add teaspoons of calcium carbonate till the PH is above 3.8. let sit in primary for a month. then rack to a secondary and let sit for 3 months. bottle as soon as you can read through it. add 1 campden tablet, potasium sorbate and 4 tsp Acid Blend. let sit for a year before drinking.

Gypsum will increase the water hardness which the yeast like and it will improve the flavor.

I don't make a ton of mead (don't really love it)- I mostly make beer and wine so excuse my ignorance here. I understand that gypsum lowers pH, and I use it in my beer recipes to lower mash pH. Why would you lower the pH with gypsum (calcium sulfate) and then turn around and add calcium carbonate (chalk) to raise the pH? That seems counterintuitive to me.

 

[Fletch78]

Beyond all the specifics and debates about stabilizers and ph additives:

Ferment 2 gallons in a 5-6 gallon bucket and shake the crap out of it 40 times daily. Ok, if not 40, then as many times as you can. You can't shake it too much. If you've got 5 gallons in a 6 gallon bucket, not gonna work. You've got to release CO2 that is dissolved. This must be done for the first week.

Use spring water. It has minerals that yeast need. When the water is cold, shake the crap out of it until your arms are tired. Take a break. Then repeat two more times. The water will hold 3x more oxygen when it's cold. Don't pitch yeast into cold water, just aerate it initially when it's cold. Stirring in honey to cold water is a hell of a process, and will also oxygenate the mead very well. Take breaks.

When it starts to stink, add nutrient immediately.

The FAQ from hightest actually answers alot of your questions about nutrients.

 

[MedsenFey]

Why would you lower the pH with gypsum (calcium sulfate) and then turn around and add calcium carbonate (chalk) to raise the pH? That seems counterintuitive to me.

It is.

I wouldn't recommend using gypsum because with most meads (especially traditional meads) you need to worry more about keeping the pH up during fermentation. Rather than gypsum, you'd be better served to add some cream of tartar, or some potassium bicarbonate to provide some buffering capacity in order to keep the pH from dropping too low.

And as for the nutrients, it is better to use them before the yeast get stressed and start to produce sulfur odors.

So for a simple semi-sweet mead, I'd go with:

16 pounds (approximately) of light, fresh, raw honey - target gravity 1.115
Spring water to 5 gallons
ICV-D47 yeast (or Red Star's Cote des Blancs) 5 gram packet
Yeast nutrient (DAP) 10 grams (about 2.5 tsp)
Yeast Energizer (Fermaid K preferred) 20 grams (about 5 tsp)
Potassium bicarbonate 7.5 grams (or cream of tartar 20 grams) - you can often skip adding this and ferment just fine.

Mix the honey and water (a bucket is easier and you can use warm water if you like). You might need a little more honey (or water) to get the gravity to 1.115. The must does not need to be pasteurized or treated with sulfite. Then mix in the nutrients and the bicarbonate.

Rehydrate the yeast in 105 degree water (no nutrients added) for 20 minutes then pitch it in. Keeping the fermentation temperature below 70F will give you much better results. Aerate the must each day until the gravity hits 1.080, then keep it under airlock but swirl it to re-suspend the yeast a couple of time a day until it finished. The final gravity should be around 1.010.

Then rack in into a carboy and top it up fully. You can add 1 Campden tablet per gallon at the time of racking. This will need to sit until it clears. The best clarifier is time. When it is clear, rack it again, taste it, and top it up. It will probably need some acid blend added - 4 teaspoons may be a good amount, but you can add less or more depending on your tastes. The acid will brighten the flavor so it doesn't taste flat (with some honey I don't need to add any acid).

When you can read news paper through it, you can bottle it. It will continue to improve for at least a couple of years as it smooths out and the aroma of the honey increases.

The single biggest factor in your outcome will be the honey. I'm not sure what kind of honey you will be getting from your girlfriend's family, but hopefully it will be a light floral honey as they tend to produce better results sooner.

I hope that helps.

Medsen

 

[BigErn]

Thank you all for your responses.

Heres the game plan. The honey is very sweet wildflower honey strait off the comb. So its going to be very good in anything it goes in.

Im scaling this down to a 3 gallon batch so im going to use 10 lbs of honey. Adding water up to 3 gallons. Doing this is a 6 gallon carboy so I can shake and aerate the carp out of it untill its ready for a 3 gal secondary.

Ill be aiming for an OG of 1.115 so well see where it goes from there.

mix and wait... and wait... and wait... and wait.

 

[BierSnob]

Thank you all for your responses.

mix and wait... and wait... and wait... and wait.

Welcome to mead making