Total Mead Noob questions.....

So I think I am ready to get underway with my first mead with the 14 1/2 pounds of honey that my mother showed up with a few months back.

Anyway, I know you guys get tired of the noobs asking the same old questions, buuuuuuuut...........

I told the guy at the LHBS that i was making my first mead and to hook me up with everything I needed. at the time, my thought was to make one 5 gallon batch and end with a simple dry mead for new years.

I may want to rack into smaller batches on top of fruit when ready for secondary though, I havn't completely decided, but I guess I have time.

Anyway, this is what he gave me for my 14.5 pounds of honey, to make a 5 gallon batch: 2 oz tartaric acid, 2 oz malic acid, 2 oz wine tannin, 2 oz diammonium phosphate (energizer), a bunch of camden crush tablets, and one pkg of red star premier cuvee dry wine yeast.

I just finished reading the mead sticky, and the basic mead article and I see I am missing the yeast nutrients.

the directions that I recieved from him were:

1. to dissolve the honey with the warm watter and the acid and tannin
2. add top up water and all other ingredients except the yeast
3. cover and set for 24 hrs
4. add yeast
5. stir daily and check SG
6. Siphon into a carboy when SG reads 1.040
7. sihon again into secondary when SG reads 1.000
8. age accordingly

Will this get me there, or do I need the yeast nutrients? Is there a good source that I can order these from online (the LHBS is 90 miles away)??

I wanted to get this done tonight, but don't want to start if its not gonna work.

What do you think?

Oh, and I am making this yeast for next new years, so it will have 11 months to go.

Oh, and one more question,

the article said to add the acid post ferment, so I add both of them after the fact?

So I think I am ready to get underway with my first mead with the 14 1/2 pounds of yeast that my mother showed up with a few months back.

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Can I suggest you get some honey too. With that much yeast you will need over 3000 lbs of honey.

lapaglia said:

Can I suggest you get some honey too. With that much yeast you will need over 3000 lbs of honey.

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and that brings me to my next point children.... DON'T DO DRUGS!

Man, I have been having a real problem with the 'ol keyboard today. and I ain't even drinking. Maybe its time to start, eh?

There, I fixed it.

Great! You read the Mead FAQs. Just focus on the Making a Basic Mead process, and as you already noted, get some nutrient (Fermaid-K preferably) & Go-Ferm.

Take all the acids, tannin, and Campden tablets and set them aside. You most likely will not need them (ever...). Why?

First, acid is added after a completed fermentation to balance sweetness to one's own personal taste - you're making a dry mead and will typically not need to balance sweetness.

Next, be very careful with tannin. Use too much and you'll be waiting a decade for it to smooth-out. Some say tannin adds complexity to mead, but I've never found a reason to use it. It's your choice...

Lastly, the Campden tabs. They are not needed to "kill-off" wild yeast or any other "nasties" as honey's composition is antimicrobial by its very nature. However, they may be needed to improved long-term storage (adding SO2) after fermentation is completed, and prior to racking to a secondary for fining and bulk ageing - about 5 crushed tablets would suffice for a 5 gallon batch.

14½ lbs of honey & water to make 5 gals should make your OG ~1.103. Fermenting that must to (or below) a SG of 1.000 would place you ABV in the 13.4-13.9% range depending uopn the actual FG - try to keep the area temp inthe 66-70°F range...

Also get some Star-San to sanitise your equipment. Good luck...

Just in case I was not clear above...

Ceedubya said:

the directions that I recieved...:
1. to dissolve the honey with the warm water and the acid and tannin
2. add top up water and all other ingredients except the yeast
3. cover and set for 24 hrs
4. add properly rehydrated yeast
5. stir daily and check SG
6. Siphon into a carboy when SG reads 1.040
7. sihon again into secondary when SG reads 1.000
8. age accordingly

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No to everything shown in Red, and do not add all the DAP (energizer) and yeast nutrient at one time - use a staggered nutrient addition method (see the FAQ and ask questions here...). If you have Excel, d/l the honey speadsheet and I'll help you set it up so you'll know how much of waht to add when - but it certainly won't amount to using 2 oz of DAP...

Yes, to rehydrating the dry yeast (1 packet should be fine with your expected OG)

Thanks hightest, that was very helpful. I have downloaded the calculator and would definitely appreciate some help with it. I will order the Go-Ferm and Fermaid-K today so I can get this done next wek.

I plan to follow the basic mead sticky to the letter. I will save the acid blend for later, if I think it is needed.

If I split this batch when I rack and put some on fruit, I would assume that might be a good candidate for the acid blend?

Is this an acceptable way to do this, or am I better to split it to begin with and add the fruit or fruit juice in the beginning?

For now, I'm off to take my daughter skiing :rockin:

Ceedubya said:

Thanks hightest, that was very helpful. I have downloaded the calculator and would definitely appreciate some help with it. I will order the Go-Ferm and Fermaid-K today so I can get this done next week.

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Wise choice. Do it right the first time and eliminate the "Damn-it!" momements. Also notice that when I revised the spreadsheet (today), I set the default recipe to your ingredient measures...

I plan to follow the basic mead sticky to the letter. I will save the acid blend for later, if I think it is needed.

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Your taste will tell you if it is needed. If you decide it is then we can talk about how to add it without over doing it.

If I split this batch when I rack and put some on fruit, I would assume that might be a good candidate for the acid blend?

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Not necessarily. I have about 4oz of acid blend I bought years ago, when I thought I might need it. I have yet to use any, but that may just be my taste preference.

Is this an acceptable way to do this, or am I better to split it to begin with and add the fruit or fruit juice in the beginning?

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Yes, ferment it as a single 5 gallon batch, and after racking off the primary lees you can revisit whether you want to use some with fruit.

I finally got around to making this. The honey was very sugary, and took awhile to dissolve in the water. It must have been a little lighter than I thought, or low on sugar cuz I came in at 1.094, a little lower than expected but still happy with it.

I did everything exactly like we discussed here.

I mixed the go-ferm in 110 degree water, then waited till it cooled a little to add the yeast. Left it sit on the counter while I made the mead.

Put the Honey in 115 degree water, and stirred until completely dissolved (this took a little while). poured into the bucke with the rest of the cool water, then added the first nutreints of FermaidK and DAP.

When the must had cooled to 80 degrees, I shook it a bit, pitched the yeast (which did not look like it was doing much), and closed it up.

It has been 17 hours, and not so much as a fart from the airlock, I know its still early but it always gets me nervous until I see active fermentation.

I hope its doing something by tonight.

almost 24 hours and nothing.........



..... now I'm nervous.......

If you still have no evidence of fermentation tonight (check for small bubbles at the surface of the must, not just airlock activity), then the next question to ask is, how long after the rehydration with go-ferm did you pitch the yeast? Go-ferm is great at getting the yeast properly rehydrated, but it does not provide yeast cells with fermentables that they can use as an energy source, so if your rehydrated yeast sat around for longer than about 30 minutes or so, they may have died of starvation. You can rehydrate and pitch another dose of yeast into this batch of must if that is the case.

In the future you might want to consider mixing up the main must and letting it cool to room temp before rehydrating your yeast. Then you'll be able to add it (usually) within the 15 to 30 minute window recommended by the yeast manufacturers.

wayneb said:

If you still have no evidence of fermentation tonight (check for small bubbles at the surface of the must, not just airlock activity), then the next question to ask is, how long after the rehydration with go-ferm did you pitch the yeast? Go-ferm is great at getting the yeast properly rehydrated, but it does not provide yeast cells with fermentables that they can use as an energy source, so if your rehydrated yeast sat around for longer than about 30 minutes or so, they may have died of starvation. You can rehydrate and pitch another dose of yeast into this batch of must if that is the case.

In the future you might want to consider mixing up the main must and letting it cool to room temp before rehydrating your yeast. Then you'll be able to add it (usually) within the 15 to 30 minute window recommended by the yeast manufacturers.

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OOOPS

I will lift the lid tonight, and hopefully see something happening. Otherwise, I'm SOL as I have no extra yeast of this kind or anmore Go-Ferm lying around. The LHBS in Great Falls might have all I need, but its 90 miles away

I have yet to have a batch of anything not take off, so I'm hoping this is just me being antsy, but 24 hours is a long damned time.

Ceedubya said:

almost 24 hours and nothing...

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Did you check the expiration date on the yeast package? What type of yeast was used? What type of vessel are you using for a primary?

Wayne is also correct in pointing out that excessive delays between rehydration & pitching can cause a problem - re: this note in the rehydration FAQ:

Rehydration should not exceed 30 min (20 min is ideal). Any longer and the yeast will exhaust their available food source.

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I know, I totally missed that.

On the bright side, I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of a bubbline airlock last night

But, awoke to dead silence

WTF!!!!!!!?????


I quickly pulled a gravity reading and saw I had gone from 1.094 to 1.084, which according to the calculator meant it was time for stage 2 addition. I added the nutrients and gave it a good swirl.

Now, heres where I notice the bubbles and air shooting up from around the sides of the airlock stem, instead of pushing through it. The thing doesn't seem to fit tight in the lid (I am using a new 5 gallon brew bucket & Lid I bought at the LHBS specifically for this). I used some foil to shore it up a little for now, until I find a better solution.

So, hopefully it was just a matter of the airlock not seating tightly. I don't think it would have caused and issue the way the bulb at the bottom of the airlock was set into the O-ring on the lid. I guess I'll wait and see........

The good news is that during the majority of primary fermentation, you don't really need to tightly airlock the fermenter. There is enough of a release of CO2 gas from your must, displacing the air in the immediate vicinity, that it provides a protective barrier to oxygen in the air that could otherwise cause oxidation problems. In fact, during the first 1/3 of fermentation you will actually improve the performance of your yeast by providing additional O2 in the must. That is heresy to a beer brewer, so many experienced beer brewers often cause their early attempts at mead to stick by starving the yeast of enough oxygen.

Later on (post-primary, or at least once the rate of fermenation has slowed down significantly), you'll want to get the must under a proper airlock, and into a gas-impermeable container like a carboy or a cornelius keg.

Ceedubya said:

...I quickly pulled a gravity reading and saw I had gone from 1.094 to 1.084... The thing doesn't seem to fit tight in the lid...

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It is not uncommon for lids & seals to not seal properly, which is why I asked the questions in my earlier reply. Based on your answers, I was going to suggest possible causes for what seemed to be a fermentation problem.

However...

OK OK, this was my first "Do I have a stuck fermentation" thread, AND I didn't even start a new thread to discuss it... So I think I deserve a break here

I'm hopeful everything is workin as it should, and I plan to just leave it alone for awhile and let it do its thing.

Not sure how long it usually takes to get close to that stage 3 add, but I will check where its at over the weekend and go from there.

Thanks all!

Ceedubya said:

OK OK, this was my first "Do I have a stuck fermentation" thread, AND I didn't even start a new thread to discuss it... So I think I deserve a break here

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Perhaps, but as a learning lesson for next time when one asks for help and those helping need more information (questions), then it would be best to answer them so the proper help might be provided.

hightest said:

Perhaps, but as a learning lesson for next time when one asks for help and those helping need more information (questions), then it would be best to answer them so the proper help might be provided.

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You are correct, I did not answer your questions. So here goes, the yeast was a Red Star Premier Cuvee that expired in 2011, so I'm sure it was fine. I did let it set out too long though.

I am fermenting in a new 5 gallon bucket that I bought specifically for this mead.

I pulled a gravity reading tonight, and we are still moving right along, down to 1.060

On the advice of the LHBS owner, I did add some more DAP and gave it a good stir. I know, I know I should't be messing with a good thing, but I just couldn't help myself.

I replaced the airlock with a new 3 piece that I bought, and moved the whole works to a slightly warmer area so its sitting comfortably at 68 degrees. It was a little chilly where it was before.

It has been a few hours, and the new airlock is bubbling along nicely :rockin:

I picked up a new packet of yeast while at the LHBS, just in case, but obviously don't need it. So, now I can experiment with a small batch with fruit juice. I'm heading to the health food store to pick up some honey this week.

Thanks all for the help, and I will let you know the final outcome.

Still moving, hit my 1/2 way point, and added the third nutirient addition and gave it a good stir with a well sanitized racking cane.