Should i stir or shake?

[Mead-muncher]

So I got my mead started yesterday (along with some other brews) I used a less scientific approach (used a 6ltr plastic bottle, filled it about 1/3rd with honey, topped off with spring water to around 2inches from the top, got my yeast started (EC-1118 ) in a small glass of warm water with some 'beer' yeast nutrient, shook the heck out of the mix before adding the hydrated/woken yeast. Put an airlock on and popped it into my controlled temperature area (about 18-20degrees C) Didn't take any gravity readings in my excitement to get started tho.

The other two brews I made (fruit cider and a fruit wine) are bubbling away like crazy and the mead has a bubble every couple of minutes or so. I am not particularly worried about the rate of bubbles as we are only about 18-20hrs into the process and I read that mead can take a little longer together going, I am reassured by some small activity so I think we are all good!

I remember reading somewhere that people stir or shake their mead during the first few days, is this something I should consider? Which is the best method, stir or shake? I'm worried I will introduce unwanted oxygen or possible other unwanted stuff to the mix if I open it and stir, I have a spare 'cap' which I could use in place of the airlock cap and then shake it, would that be enough?

This is my first ever attempt at any kind of brewing, so any newbee help you can give me would be very much appreciated

 

[Mead-muncher]

After reading around a bit more, I found lots of posts claiming they stir or shake their mead during the first few days as the yeast needs the oxygen... So I opted to replace the airlock with a cap then shook it around, gently at first then a bit more aggressively after for a total of 2mins, there was a noticeable fizz as took the cap off after shaking and then I put the airlock back.

Really hope this doesn't damage/degrade my mead any :s

 

[fatbloke]

You should obtain an hydrometer and get into the habit of taking readings of the must before you start the ferment.

Because without one, you have no real way of establishing the progress of the brew.

Also, while some home brew shops just say that a champagne yeast is the way to go, this is often based on ignorance of mead making. They just presume it will be the same as a high alcohol wine. It's not.

Champagne yeasts often blow a lot of the aromatics and some of the flavour compounds straight out the airlock during the ferment. There are many better yeasts that don't do that but also enhance some of the varietal compounds or produce esters, etc etc.

You don't make any mention of any use of nutrients either. Which, if you're aiming for a show mead, would be fine except it often produces a very long, slow fermentation.

As for shaken or stirred ? Well, either will do the job, but it's often best to only fill a fermenter between half and 2/3rd's because when you aerate a must, whether by stirring or shaking, it can cause an eruption of gas that causes the ferment to bubble over like there's no tomorrow. So often people will stir it, with the fermenter in a sink so that you can control the aeration/agitation part to get a lot of the gas out gently then give it a good stir to get some air into it.

I cheat. I'll stir gently to de-gas the ferment partly, then take a litre out of the ferment, put it in a sanitised liquidiser and blitz it, then return it to the fermenter.

By keeping the content of the fermenter down during the earlier stage of fermentation, you can then use the remaining quantity of must to top it off later.

regards

fatbloke

p.s. Oh and people generally aerate batches daily until the ferment gets down to the 1/3rd sugar break - you have no way of establishing that without a hydrometer. It also might be better if you post the full recipe/method to allow other, more experienced mead makers, to offer appropriate/correct advice. Anything else would be generalised or a guesstimate.....

 

[Mead-muncher]

Thanks for the comments.

I just tried a reading and it's very high, in fact I couldn't get a reading it was off the chart so I just tried separating the brew into two bottles and adding more spring water until I got a reading of 1090-1100. I then put both bottles back into the cooler which is at 19c now. Sadly I only have one airlock and now two bottles, so I have air locked one and used cloth to cover the other, I will try to get an airlock or jury-rig something together for the other tomorrow.

After 5-10mins I'm seeing negative pressure on the airlock one, so have loosened off the airlock for now...

This should be fun!

 

[malkore]

After reading around a bit more, I found lots of posts claiming they stir or shake their mead during the first few days as the yeast needs the oxygen... So I opted to replace the airlock with a cap then shook it around, gently at first then a bit more aggressively after for a total of 2mins, there was a noticeable fizz as took the cap off after shaking and then I put the airlock back.

Really hope this doesn't damage/degrade my mead any :s

JEEZ, be careful. Day 1 this might work but on Day 4 if you shake it with a cap on there you'll likely be wearing 6 litres of mead.

With your 'ghetto setup' I wouldn't worry too much about following all the proper practices of mead making just yet.

 

[Mead-muncher]

Well looks like that has helped, 12 hours later and I'm now seeing activity in the airlock. Slow but steady bubbles (1 every minute or so)
the one that is air locked has a very thin layer of white foam on the top (millimeters) and the one with the cloth has formed a slightly thicker foam which has a golden/brownish color on the top (is that oxidization?) I plan to go get some clear tubing today and try to put together a home made airlock for the other one.

Don't worry about me wearing the mead, now I've got activity in the airlocks I plan to leave it alone until it's time to rack. I was just worried because they didnt seem to be doing anything.

Good lesson learnt *always* take a gravity reading, as in my case it seemed the mix was wrong (too much honey) I think I added too much water, based on my reading and calculations the yeast should take the gravity down to 990, leaving the brew around 10%ish and very dry... Does that sound about right? 1090 to 990 = 10%? Can I add more honey to bring that slightly up? When is the best time to do that and what's the best method? Or should I just leave it and accept a lower ABV for this first attempt?

 

[biochemedic]

You may not get down to 0.990, but if you did, it would be a little closer to 13%. Going from 1.090 to 1.000 gets you nearly 12%

 

[Mead-muncher]

I have them both under airlocks now, getting a bubble every few seconds. The foamy top has gone this morning on both of them. Happy with the progress and activity now

Racking: is there anything specific I should look for as a sign it's time to rack? Slow down/stop in the airlock activity? Certain gravity reading?
I've read a few posts that say rack after 30days, and others that say Rack when it's ready... When do I know it's ready?

 

[oldmate]

I say wait for at least 30 days. Mead can take an extremely long time in the fermenter. Don't be surprised if it is still slowly fermenting at this stage either.

 

[Mead-muncher]

I say wait for at least 30 days. Mead can take an extremely long time in the fermenter. Don't be surprised if it is still slowly fermenting at this stage either.

Thanks, I had planned for 30 days, I was just wondering if that's the preferred "standard" or if there are other things to look out for...

 

[Mead-muncher]

Well everything is bubbling away nicely, created a blow off tube for the second carboy whilst I await a proper airlock to be delivered. There is a visible difference between the two bottles, the airlock one has a slight 'head' on it and is bubbling about once per second whilst the blow off tube has no head and bubbles at a similar rate.

 

[Mead-muncher]

Ok Quick update for you all... the mead finally stopped bubbling away in primary, so i racked it off into a secondary container, topped off with spring water to bring it back upto the 6ltr mark and left it for another 30 days (or so) A little bubble activity at first but i am talking about a bubble every couple of minutes at best. This stopped after a couple of weeks. So on Saturday, after 10 days of inactivity, i decided it was time to bottle this stuff. So i prepared all the bottles, carefully racked/transferred (whatever this process is called) into the bottles and popped it back into my wine cooler fridge... i took one bottle and put it in my kitchen fridge over night... decided to give it a little try on Sunday (i had tasted it when i racked to secondary already)

What i have now is a very tasty, very dry wine with a lovely strong honey taste... the brew itself is still a little cloudy and still has a hint of yeast/home brew taste to it but its rather good, even in its immature/young state. Sadly i couldn't get a corker machine/device and had to use screw cap bottles. For a first attempt at this game i was quite pleased with myself and i am looking forward to further experimentation with other flavorings etc (like the idea of the Strawberry mead i read about!)

I will probably open a bottle every two weeks or so (i ended up with 12ltrs / 750ml - so i have quite a lot) what i am more worried about is any gas build up in the bottles... i dont wanna come home to a sticky mess one day! hehe

 

[Mead-muncher]

So I opened another bottle last night to try it, I was quite suppressed to hear an light but audible hiss as I popped the cap off and it was very lightly sparkling when it was poured. It was a little clearer than before, but still a little hazy/cloudy.
The taste of the mead has mellowed a bit already, it's lost some of the intense honey flavor, it's a bit more subtle now. Some of the harshness of the 'dry' wine has also mellowed a little. It feels a little lighter/watery even, bit more like a wine cooler than a wine, doesn't have the body of a normal wine. I'll give it another month then try another bottle and post an update.

 

[ExoticMeadMaker]

Honey notes/flavor/aromas will come back over time.... Since this was your first attempt, and a learning event, its not a big deal. But its recommended to let it clear, and let it "bulk age" in the secondary, because even a "clear" wine/mead will continue to drop lees( dead yeast)..

 

[Mead-muncher]

Thanks for your reply, i didnt notice any sediment in the bottles, they have been stored undisturbed for several weeks now and was careful when the bottle was taken from my conditioning fridge. I know its probably a little early as mead should be aged for 4-6mths before consumed, my opening/consuming is more of an educational process for me to understand/experience how the ageing process affects the brew. This is my first batch ever, so its all a learning process.

I'm more concerned/interested in what the ageing process will do to the 'body' of the mead, will that improve over time or is my first batch going to be victim of a watery feel?
For my next batch, is there anything i can do to improve this? This batch was a simple Honey+water+yeast approach, i did make a bit of a mistake when making this and ended up with a mixture that was way too high in the gravity reading, so i had to split it and add more water, i'm presuming i just added too much at that stage.