Recent content by GAJay

I saw a sticky post in the Cider forum about pasteurizing cider on a stove which allows you to back-sweeten/carbonate with fermentable sugars and not get bottle bombs. I was wondering if anyone has tried or if this can be done this with mead. I'm not sure if it will produce some negative...

Perfect! I've seen that sticky thread a hundred times but never read it. Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestion. Is xylitol something I can buy in a supermarket such as Wal-Mart or do I have to order it online?

Thanks all for the advice. I tasted it and it was bit dry, but still pretty good. I'd like it a bit sweeter, but as I understand it I can't backsweeten and carbonate it in a bottle without risking explosions.

I started a batch on 5/14/11 with an OG of 1.090 and it's been at 1.0 for a week now (6/5/11) and I haven't noticed any activity in the airlock. I was wondering if I should wait or go ahead and prime & bottle? I used 5.5 grams (1/2 pack) Nottingham Ale Yeast which I thought would give me around...

I started a 3 gallon batch on 5/20/11 using: - 11 lbs wildflower - 3 lbs fresh strawberries in primary (capped) and will add 4 lbs more in secondary - 2 Gallons Spring Water - 1 pk Lalvin D47 - stag nutrients - pectic enzyme OG was 1.130 and now a little over 2 weeks into it (6/5/11) the SG...

I started my first batch of Apple Passion Mango cider on May 14th. OG was 1.090 and I used 5.5 grams (half pack) of Nottingham Ale Yeast. It's been 11 days and my SP is at 1.010 which by my calculations is 10.8% ABV though I may have calculated something wrong. I don't mind it being a bit...

Thanks. It's bubbling away now (about 36 hours after pitching). Just took a bit longer than I am used to...

I just made my first 3 gallon batch of cider and used 5.5 grams (1/2 pack) of Nottingham Ale Yeast. It's been 24 hours and I'm not seeing any bubbling and I have no air leaks. Should I have used the entire pack of yeast? Or is this type of yeast slower to get going (I'm used to Lalvin 1118 &...

I didn't make it, but I bought a Danish mead that was almost 22% ABV which is the highest I've ever seen for a mead...

So I finally got a hydrometer and my first batch of traditional mead is at 1.010 and it has been in the primary since 3/18/11. My batch of orange/clove mead is at 1.040 and has been in the primary since the same date. I don't know the what the OG but I'm pretty sure at least the traditional...

Malkore, good point on the loss of liquid. I'm doing this experiment so I don't have to make several larger batches and thought this would be the easiest way to try several different types of mead. "Co-fermenting" was meant to mean that I would not be fermenting two flavors together (i.e...

Hello All, I'm a noob and getting ready to start a new batch of mead and I'm wanting to try to mix a few flavors to try different combination. Instead of co-fermenting, I'm going to make a small batch of each flavor and then mix them once they are finished. I'll start with a traditional...

I haven't invested in much equipment yet and used a two simple recipes I found online. One was a traditional mead using 3 lbs of wildflower honey with nutrients added and the other used 3 lbs of clover honey with one sliced orange, 1 whole clove and about 25 raisins (no nutrients). I'm...

I've got two batches of my first mead fermenting and the bubbles seem to be slow but maybe this is normal. I have a 3 piece airlock and using I'm using Lalvin 1118 yeast in each gallon jug and they produce bubbles about every 20 seconds now which is down from last week when one was every 7...