pghfett
Member
Greetings and salutations from a Newbie Meade maker.
I present to you, my fellow mead aficionados (old and new alike) a honest chronicle of my first one gallon batch of mead.
Fair warning is given - TLDR J
Now that you have been given a fair chance to flee this ponderous thread but chose to stay let me begin with a quick introduction.
My name is Mike, known here on the boards as Pghfett. I love mead, thanks to a single bottle of what my friend called “Orange Blossom Mead”. He produced a bottle of this semi-opaque golden fluid and said, “drink it, I made it myself” handing it over with a smile from ear to ear. I’ve been hooked into the craft since. And finished the bottle off that night….lol
I’ve broken down this thread into several sections with facts, questions and suggestions for newbie’s based on my own mistakes and perceived failures. I say perceived as the mistakes or failures when making mead seem to show themselves later rather than sooner.
So here we go…
The Recipe.
Orange Clover Mead
1 gal glass carboy
¾ large orange
½ teaspoon Ground nut meg
½ teaspoon Allspice
1 Gal Spring water
3 1/2 lbs Clover Honey - (½ lbs too much - more on this miscalculation below)
Lalvin D47
1 teaspoon of Superfermenter (nutrient/energizer in one)
Nov 10th
Prepared must as standard (unheated) aerated properly.
Starting Gravity tested as 1.120, Approx % by vol = 15.6 (High due to ½ lbs honey added, see above)
Pitched yeast.
Ordered The Complete Meadmaker book by Ken Schramm and began researching all topics Mead on the net (I was actually doing this while drinking Tim’s mead before I purchased any equipment)
Nov 11th - 24 hours later -
NO FERMENTATION ACTION
Possible causes
1. Bad yeast - out dated - ruled out -
2. Did not hydrate or hydrated wrong - overheated yeast - possible but not likely
3. High must SG (due to honey miscalculation) yeast not up to the challenge
4. Stratification of must - ruled out -
After trouble shooting I aerated the must and pitched Lalvin 71b-1122 (see below)
FOR NEWBIES - LESSONS LEARNED -
1. Stick to the recipe - I added ½ lbs more honey than called for by most standard recipes including this one that called for 3 lbs of Honey NOT 3 ½ - A lot of recipes called for 3lbs per gal.
2. Discovered that a must with such a high starting gravity needs a yeast to match.
I have read that some strains of yeast have trouble starting with a gravity of 1.140 or higher and when pitched they revert back to a dormant state. I suspected this plus aeration the culprit.
3. In hindsight would have waited one more day to see if the yeast was still in it’s “Lag period” still building up. A Mead makers best friend is PATIENCE -
4. The yeast I used was suggested to me by someone who stated it was a good re-starter yeast with a high alcohol resistance.
RESULTS:
Pitched = Heavy fermentation one hour later J
11/25/13
First racking.
Used a mini siphon BIG mistake. Aeration IMO was way to great with a siphon will use another method next batch or become a pro with the siphon with practice. It seems to have it’s uses but racking with it is beyond my skill level at the moment.
Tested gravity was 1.036 (4.6) = 11% vol Alcohol (15.6 - 4.6 = 11%) . This was way under my targeted Gravity of 1.020.
My targeted gravity was based on what I read, the targeted gravity of your must should be roughly 0.100 gravity points lower than where they started. Thus short.
After adding spring water to carboy to reduce headspace retested gravity and wow - 1.020
More importantly - The mead tasted outstanding J
RACKING LESSONS LEARNED - MANY
1. Get carboy or container with a spigot at the bottom above the lees to help rack and reducing the risk of aeration or oxidization of the must.
2. Use different method of racking the must - did NOT like the Siphon, too much aeration.
In Conclusion:
My tips to Newbie’s
1. Follow the recipe for your first few batches to the T - There is plenty of time to “explore” later after you get the system down and find out what the limitations are on your equipment.
2. READ then READ some more IMPORTANT note: you can read about how to build a house but actually doing it is another story - don’t be afraid - jump right into it.
3. Don’t be embarrassed - ask questions. We all got to start somewhere
4. PATIENCE X2
5. The hardest part for me was racking - I know I got too much H2O in there due to the siphons operation. This explains the statement above where I said “my own mistakes and perceived failures. I say perceived as the mistakes or failures when making mead seem to show themselves later rather than sooner.” This mistake would most likely show itself months from now in the form of bad tasting Mead. I call it a “perceived” failure as most likely I’ll just have to drink it up before it has the chance to Fault out on me J
6. Start with small batches - to minimize losses due to mistakes and to perfect your process.
7. Keep cleanliness a top priority I did and had no troubles.
My first batch of mead turned out very tasty - I would love to “age” it more but I fear too much H2O in the must during racking may not allow it.
Any help or suggestions are welcome.
I present to you, my fellow mead aficionados (old and new alike) a honest chronicle of my first one gallon batch of mead.
Fair warning is given - TLDR J
Now that you have been given a fair chance to flee this ponderous thread but chose to stay let me begin with a quick introduction.
My name is Mike, known here on the boards as Pghfett. I love mead, thanks to a single bottle of what my friend called “Orange Blossom Mead”. He produced a bottle of this semi-opaque golden fluid and said, “drink it, I made it myself” handing it over with a smile from ear to ear. I’ve been hooked into the craft since. And finished the bottle off that night….lol
I’ve broken down this thread into several sections with facts, questions and suggestions for newbie’s based on my own mistakes and perceived failures. I say perceived as the mistakes or failures when making mead seem to show themselves later rather than sooner.
So here we go…
The Recipe.
Orange Clover Mead
1 gal glass carboy
¾ large orange
½ teaspoon Ground nut meg
½ teaspoon Allspice
1 Gal Spring water
3 1/2 lbs Clover Honey - (½ lbs too much - more on this miscalculation below)
Lalvin D47
1 teaspoon of Superfermenter (nutrient/energizer in one)
Nov 10th
Prepared must as standard (unheated) aerated properly.
Starting Gravity tested as 1.120, Approx % by vol = 15.6 (High due to ½ lbs honey added, see above)
Pitched yeast.
Ordered The Complete Meadmaker book by Ken Schramm and began researching all topics Mead on the net (I was actually doing this while drinking Tim’s mead before I purchased any equipment)
Nov 11th - 24 hours later -
NO FERMENTATION ACTION
Possible causes
1. Bad yeast - out dated - ruled out -
2. Did not hydrate or hydrated wrong - overheated yeast - possible but not likely
3. High must SG (due to honey miscalculation) yeast not up to the challenge
4. Stratification of must - ruled out -
After trouble shooting I aerated the must and pitched Lalvin 71b-1122 (see below)
FOR NEWBIES - LESSONS LEARNED -
1. Stick to the recipe - I added ½ lbs more honey than called for by most standard recipes including this one that called for 3 lbs of Honey NOT 3 ½ - A lot of recipes called for 3lbs per gal.
2. Discovered that a must with such a high starting gravity needs a yeast to match.
I have read that some strains of yeast have trouble starting with a gravity of 1.140 or higher and when pitched they revert back to a dormant state. I suspected this plus aeration the culprit.
3. In hindsight would have waited one more day to see if the yeast was still in it’s “Lag period” still building up. A Mead makers best friend is PATIENCE -
4. The yeast I used was suggested to me by someone who stated it was a good re-starter yeast with a high alcohol resistance.
RESULTS:
Pitched = Heavy fermentation one hour later J
11/25/13
First racking.
Used a mini siphon BIG mistake. Aeration IMO was way to great with a siphon will use another method next batch or become a pro with the siphon with practice. It seems to have it’s uses but racking with it is beyond my skill level at the moment.
Tested gravity was 1.036 (4.6) = 11% vol Alcohol (15.6 - 4.6 = 11%) . This was way under my targeted Gravity of 1.020.
My targeted gravity was based on what I read, the targeted gravity of your must should be roughly 0.100 gravity points lower than where they started. Thus short.
After adding spring water to carboy to reduce headspace retested gravity and wow - 1.020
More importantly - The mead tasted outstanding J
RACKING LESSONS LEARNED - MANY
1. Get carboy or container with a spigot at the bottom above the lees to help rack and reducing the risk of aeration or oxidization of the must.
2. Use different method of racking the must - did NOT like the Siphon, too much aeration.
In Conclusion:
My tips to Newbie’s
1. Follow the recipe for your first few batches to the T - There is plenty of time to “explore” later after you get the system down and find out what the limitations are on your equipment.
2. READ then READ some more IMPORTANT note: you can read about how to build a house but actually doing it is another story - don’t be afraid - jump right into it.
3. Don’t be embarrassed - ask questions. We all got to start somewhere
4. PATIENCE X2
5. The hardest part for me was racking - I know I got too much H2O in there due to the siphons operation. This explains the statement above where I said “my own mistakes and perceived failures. I say perceived as the mistakes or failures when making mead seem to show themselves later rather than sooner.” This mistake would most likely show itself months from now in the form of bad tasting Mead. I call it a “perceived” failure as most likely I’ll just have to drink it up before it has the chance to Fault out on me J
6. Start with small batches - to minimize losses due to mistakes and to perfect your process.
7. Keep cleanliness a top priority I did and had no troubles.
My first batch of mead turned out very tasty - I would love to “age” it more but I fear too much H2O in the must during racking may not allow it.
Any help or suggestions are welcome.
