Beginner Questions

[4dollars4days]

Im new to mead making and i have a couple quick questions. First, even after vigorous shaking all the honey sinks to the bottom. Will this be a problem? Also is one .17 ounce packet of red star champagne yeast going to be enough for a gallon batch?

 

[fuelish]

I generally stir the honey and water (or fruit juice) together well in a large cooking pot before adding to the fermentor......impossible to get an accurate starting gravity reading when it's not thoroughly blended.....I've read people say that it'll still be "OK" if some honey sinks to the bottom, that the yeast will find it to ferment, but I cannot comment on that as I have no experience with that. If you haven't added yeast yet, I'd pour it out into a big pot and stir like crazy - O2 is beneficial at this stage. And hopefully you've added yeast nutrient??

And, yes, a pack of Red Star champagne yeast is more than plenty for 1 gallon.

 

[bernardsmith]

I generally use my blender to mix the honey and water and this also aerates the must.
As to the use of champagne yeast, most champagne yeasts are very violent and they can blow off aromatics and flavor molecules. I would suggest using a yeast like 71B ... but EC 1118 is OK.

 

[Chris_The_Rogue]

I have a batch of cyser in secondary that was prone to separating for the first two weeks it was in primary. I made it a point to lift up the carboy and swirl it once or twice a day to blend it back up. When the alcohol content starts to go up it will stop separating so badly.
As for prep work i prefer heating some water up and mixing the honey in using a whisk.