Starting my journey

[a_merryk_hunt]

After being interested in brewing for many years but being unable to try my hand at it (due to living arrangements), I finally purchased equipment for my first 1 gallon test batches.

Sweet Cherry:
3lbs Walker wildflower honey
~0.75 gallon Ozarka spring water
1lb sweet dark cherries (frozen)
Wyeast 4184 sweet mead yeast
OG:1.119 (Assuming this is probably inaccurate, due to the cherries being quartered and added)

Traditional:
3lbs Round Rock honey
~0.75 gallon Ozarka spring water
~30 raisins
Lalvin EC-1118 Yeast
OG: 1.114

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EDIT: For the sweet cherry, given the alcohol tolerance of the yeast being used, should finish around 1.031. Around 12% abv. Given ShineOn's input, this should HOPEFULLY negate the unwanted flavor some people have gotten from the use of sweet dark cherries, and make backsweetening unnecessary.

 

[Shine0n]

Just a word of advice from experience, sweet cherries gave me a cough medicine tasting mead.
I've now went to tart cherry juice and after I finish fermenting I stabilize and then add sweet cherries in Secondary for sweetness.
Let me clarify, I use tart cherry juice with no water added for fermentation.

 

[madscientist451]

After being interested in brewing for many years but being unable to try my hand at it (due to living arrangements), I finally purchased equipment for my first 1 gallon test batches.

Adding nutrients? De-gassing?
Also, when making mead, nothing is brewed. My apology in advance for nit-picking.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Just a word of advice from experience, sweet cherries gave me a cough medicine tasting mead.
I've now went to tart cherry juice and after I finish fermenting I stabilize and then add sweet cherries in Secondary for sweetness.
Let me clarify, I use tart cherry juice with no water added for fermentation.

Thank you for the input. I would have gone with tart cherries, based on everything I've watched and read, but that gallon was made for my fiancée. I was initially going to use blackberry, but she insisted on sweet cherries.

Adding nutrients? De-gassing?
Also, when making mead, nothing is brewed. My apology in advance for nit-picking.

Not using nutrients for these batches. Wanting to keep things simple and see how they turn out with the climate in my current apartment before i start getting into adding too many extras.

As for degassing, I am unsure which route I want to take. People seem to have reasonable success both degassing daily in primary, and degassing when racking to a new vessel. I am continuing to read/watch/listen to figure out what would work best for my climate.

 

[madscientist451]

Not using nutrients for these batches. Wanting to keep things simple and see how they turn out with the climate in my current apartment before i start getting into adding too many extras.

As for degassing, I am unsure which route I want to take.

Before you going any further, I would suggest you read this:

https://www.meadmaderight.com/nutrient-additions.html

The author has won lots of competitions and now runs his own commercial meadery.
My first batches of mead didn't have nutrient additions and basically, the flavor was not all that appealing. I just thought I didn't like mead. Years later, I went back to mead making and studied all the latest techniques and I can assure you adding nutrients and degassing is the way to go.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Before you going any further, I would suggest you read this:

https://www.meadmaderight.com/nutrient-additions.html

...

Thanks! I'll take a look.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Correction: Cherry mead was 2.875lbs of honey, not 3lbs.

Update:
Traditional at 1 week, gravity 1.070. 1tsp fermaid-o added. Initially wasn't going to, but off-gassing was slowing and didn't want to deal with a stuck fermentation.
At 2 weeks, gravity 1.032. Airlock still bubbling at about 1 bubble every 2 seconds.

Smell and taste: smells like honey with a hint of alcohol undertone; sweet, and mildly hot alcohol. No noticable off flavors or smells.

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Cherry at 1 week, gravity 1.070. Fermaid-o added, same amount and reason as traditional.
2 weeks, gravity 1.049.
Racked onto fresh lb of quartered cherries treated with pectic enzyme for over 1hr, hydrated bentonite added to cherry mix just before racking. Adjusted gravity 1.050.

Prior to racking onto fresh cherries and bentonite: smells like alcohol infused cherries, very hot; taste honey sweetness with an undertone of cherry, little to no noticable alcohol taste.

Bentonite added, due to fiancée being hasty. Want to speed clarification during end of fermentation. She can deal with any negative results from rushing this.

Pics of bentonite action over approximately 2 hours. Just after racking, 2 minutes, 12 minutes, and 2 hours. The color is very nice. Much darker than expected.

 

[Blacksmith1]

wow, never used the stuff myself. I didn't realize it worked that fast. how compact does it get?

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

wow, never used the stuff myself. I didn't realize it worked that fast. how compact does it get?

I'm a relatively new meadmaker, first time using bentonite. From what I've read, most of the clearing is in the first few hours, and it'll slowly finish over a week or two. Should line up perfectly with when the fermentation should finish up.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

I'll snap another pic of how compact it is when i get back home in a few minutes

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Here you go. Looks like it may have settled a bit more around the edges, and a little bit thinner in the middle, although the uneven-ness could be from shifting it from the middle of the shelf to the corner.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Update:
19 days. Traditional at 1.011 or 1.012. Racked off of the raisins to a new jug, and added bentonite. Will rack off of bentonite when gravity falls to or below 1.000. Should be around 15-16% abv at completion.

Cherry racked off of fruit, gravity at 1.028. Decided to cold crash combined with sulfite, sorbate, and sparkolloid and attempt to stop the fermentation, When tasting, this was where my fiancee wanted this to be. Will remove this from the fridge in a few days and check gravity daily for 1 week to verify fermentation being halted. Should currently be around 11/12% abv.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Traditional
Day 20: 1.008 SG
3 weeks: 1.007(ish) SG

Cherry
Day 20:
Extremely clear. some particles still in suspension, but can see a light on the other side of the carboy and illuminate/see details in/on the layer of sediment.
3 weeks: no change from day 20, still cold crashing.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Traditional
Day 22: 1.004 SG
Day 23: 1.003 SG

Cherry:
3 weeks: racked off of bentonite.
Day 23: racked off of additional sediment, removed from fridge. Allowing to sit at room temperature to see if fermentation resumes or is halted. Degassed thoroughly in new gallon jug, to give a co2 blanket and eliminate worries about extra headspace.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Pics of traditional and cherry at day 23. Clarity of traditional coming along nicely.

Cherry is amazingly clear, when shining a light on the other side, could read numbers on the bottom of the jug. Just need to test stability by bringing back to room temp. Contrasting pic with overhead lighting to demonstrate how dark the color is.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Traditional
Day 23: 1.002 SG racked off of bentonite and degassed vigorously with a degassing wand and a drill.
Day 24: 1.000 a lot of remaining particulates have fallen out of suspension, very clear without additional fining agents. Just need to wait for small missed bits of raisin to sink.

Cherry
Day 23: 1.028
Day 24: 1.026 gave this a smell/taste tonight. Kinda hidden by the residual sugars, but think I may have activated some acetobacter and made a mild vinegar. Smell and taste similar to apple cider vinegar present but barely noticeable.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Traditional has been steady at just over 1.000 SG since last update. Racked off of a thin layer of sediment, onto sulfite and sorbate, then bottled to free up the jug. Pleased with the outcome and shocked at how quickly it cleared up without addining any fining agents beyond the initial dose of bentonite in primary.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Cherry has been sitting steady at 1.026-1.028 SG (depending on temperature) since the cold crash. Added sulfite and racked off of a very thin layer of sediment. Backsweetened to 1.038 (fiancee likes things ridiculously sweet) and bottled. Bottled stuff hazy due to fresh honey, but should clear up after a while.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Lesson learned. Wait to bottle after stabilizing and backsweetening. The bottles of cherry mead already have a small amount of sediment despite being crystal clear before the addition of extra honey. The dry traditional is still crystal clear and zero sediment.

Shouldn't be much of an issue. Don't expect them to be around long.

 

[CKuhns]

Glad it is working out for you. They look amazing. The higher ABV meads IMO do require a little age. Sometimes they do drop sediment even after they look crystal clear from cold crash and clarifying agents. Just be slow and careful when pouring them up leave the sediment behind if you don't care for the look or taste.

 

[a_merryk_hunt]

Glad it is working out for you. They look amazing. The higher ABV meads IMO do require a little age. Sometimes they do drop sediment even after they look crystal clear from cold crash and clarifying agents. Just be slow and careful when pouring them up leave the sediment behind if you don't care for the look or taste.

The lower abv one is the only one with any sediment in the bottle surprisingly. Think it's just particulates from the added honey.

The traditional definitely needs a little age, but is already drinkable. Only a little rough around the edges despite being right at 1.000 SG.