Bray's One Month Mead

[motherofgallons]

T

Don't add prunes, I repeat, DON'T ADD PRUNES!!!!

Prunes taste like oxidised iron when fermented, you don't want that in your mead, believe me!

I tried to make prune juice wine once...

Thanks for the warning!! Do you mean the dried prunes ( some fresh plums are also called prunes, confusingly)? I have procrastinated on adding them. I'll save them for eating instead. I did use a liter of prune juice for the must but it seemed to be a blend of plum, apple and lemon.

 

[Miraculix]

T

Thanks for the warning!! I have procrastinated on adding them. I'll save them for eating instead.

Good choice! Try chopping and mixing them into pancake dough! Delicious!

 

[z-bob]

How long before the bubbling stops and the yeast clears? Mine has been going for 2 weeks now. I degas it every day or two (screw the lid on tight, shake it up, loosen the lid, repeat) and the next day I see lots of tiny bubbles again. There is a good bit of sediment. I'll stop shaking it up when the visible bubbling stops or I see evidence of it starting to clear at the top of the jug.

The smell has changed. The first week it mostly smelled yeasty. Now it smells kinda floral and alcoholic.

 

[motherofgallons]

Good choice! Try chopping and mixing them into pancake dough! Delicious!

I had a taste of some of the plum melomel which I'd coldcrashed off the lees. Still pretty hot, but i can tell that with time it will be incredible. Reminded me of Japanese plum wine but less sweet.

 

[Miraculix]

I had a taste of some of the plum melomel which I'd coldcrashed off the lees. Still pretty hot, but i can tell that with time it will be incredible. Reminded me of Japanese plum wine but less sweet.

In love plums in about everything. I bet I would love the melomel as well!

 

[Seamonkey84]

How long before the bubbling stops and the yeast clears? Mine has been going for 2 weeks now. I degas it every day or two (screw the lid on tight, shake it up, loosen the lid, repeat) and the next day I see lots of tiny bubbles again. There is a good bit of sediment. I'll stop shaking it up when the visible bubbling stops or I see evidence of it starting to clear at the top of the jug.

The smell has changed. The first week it mostly smelled yeasty. Now it smells kinda floral and alcoholic.

Once it starts to have that defined clearing layer, you can stop degassing if you want, but I find it helps it clear a bit faster if you keep at it a few more days. Bray has mentioned he waits at least 30 days before cold crashing. That said, I still wait till it’s basically cleared on its own before racking or cold crashing.

 

[z-bob]

I think mine is ready to bottle. It's almost clear, but I think the slight cloudiness that's left might be yeast stuck to the sides of the glass jug. Is this better still or carbonated? It is too dry for me, and I like dry; it tasted better 2 weeks ago, so I'll have to sweeten it slightly. But I can still carbonate it and add a sugar cube or dab of honey syrup to my glass when I drink it.

It smells good, but I can't describe the smell. And it's just a little bitter from the dark invert I added (that's good, but probably also why it needs a little sweetness)

 

[begbie1976]

My BOMM has been going for 26 days now. I racked it after 20 days to take the fruit and spice off, however it's still bubbling away with the yeast rising and falling inside. I was hoping that this would be ready for Christmas day but at this rate, it might not be ready for New Year!

Any hints to get it finished quicker or am I at the mercy of the yeasties?

 

[Seamonkey84]

Did you check gravity? It could be done, but it takes a long time to degas naturally. If it’s stable, then degas and cold crash.

 

[loveofrose]

Taste it. If you want more, it’s done. It may not be clear, but I never let that stop me. More yeast = more vitamins and less hang overs!

 

[begbie1976]

Did you check gravity? It could be done, but it takes a long time to degas naturally. If it’s stable, then degas and cold crash.

Sorry, should have said that it's still fermenting. When I racked it, the gravity was 1.082. I checked again last night and it was 1.072. Still a way to go.

 

[begbie1976]

Taste it. If you want more, it’s done. It may not be clear, but I never let that stop me. More yeast = more vitamins and less hang overs!

Is it really OK to drink the mead with yeast still in suspension? No risk of tummy troubles?

 

[loveofrose]

Well, I don’t have any troubles. I can’t speak for everyone though. That is definitely going too slow. Sounds like it’s too cold. Wrap it and put it on top back of the refrigerator.

 

[Miraculix]

Sorry, should have said that it's still fermenting. When I racked it, the gravity was 1.082. I checked again last night and it was 1.072. Still a way to go.

Why are you racking something still fermenting off the yeast that does the fermentation?

 

[begbie1976]

Well, I don’t have any troubles. I can’t speak for everyone though. That is definitely going too slow. Sounds like it’s too cold. Wrap it and put it on top back of the refrigerator.

The temperature in my kitchen is generally 20-22 deg C. I'll see if I can increase that by a couple of degrees C.

 

[begbie1976]

Why are you racking something still fermenting off the yeast that does the fermentation?

Just following the BOMM instructions to stain off the spices after 19 days. It's my first BOMM, so I may need to taylor it to suit once it's done and I taste it.

 

[Miraculix]

Just following the BOMM instructions to stain off the spices after 19 days. It's my first BOMM, so I may need to taylor it to suit once it's done and I taste it.

AFAIK, you shouldn't remove the yeast while still fermenting, especially not if the fermentation goes already slow, for whatever reason. I mean, think about it, why would you remove the worker if the work is not finished?

 

[begbie1976]

AFAIK, you shouldn't remove the yeast while still fermenting, especially not if the fermentation goes already slow, for whatever reason. I mean, think about it, why would you remove the worker if the work is not finished?

I know what you mean but when I racked, the mead was still actively fermenting so most of the yeast was transferred into the secondary. It was really only the fruit and spices that were removed. If you could see the mead now, you'd see the yeasties doing their stuff.

It just seems to be a temperature issue that's slowing the fermentation. The carboy is now wrapped in a towel to maintain or even increase temperature, and I'll move it somewhere warmer tomorrow.

 

[Miraculix]

I know what you mean but when I racked, the mead was still actively fermenting so most of the yeast was transferred into the secondary. It was really only the fruit and spices that were removed. If you could see the mead now, you'd see the yeasties doing their stuff.

It just seems to be a temperature issue that's slowing the fermentation. The carboy is now wrapped in a towel to maintain or even increase temperature, and I'll move it somewhere warmer tomorrow.

OK, that doesn't sound too bad then! I just mentioned it, because there are multiple recipes out there which specify to rack the mead off the lees every few days, which does not make sense at all, if you ask me. But staying too long on spices would be obviously also a great way to ruin a mead

 

[Redeemer]

@loveofrose Do you think it makes sense to start a BOWM (Brays One Week Mead) thread?

I've been experimenting with the Voss and Hornindal strains of Kveik and am insanely impressed by their speed. Not needing temperature control in Central Texas is the main benefit I am seeing but I have made clean tasting mead, from wort to bottle in 9 days using your methods.

I will post the recipe in a separate thread but when I got my hands on some Voss, I decided to throw together a quick 3 gallon batch with cranberry and juniper berries, simply cause I wanted to grow the yeast instead of letting it sit in the fridge. That took off and did what I expected it to do but left me with an amazingly clean product, with no fusels, no off flavors to speak of in 9 days. I harvested 2.5 quarts of yeast slurry (The stuff doesn't floc that fast but who cares) and for an experiment, let the half quart jar sit un-refrigerated for 1 week and a half before pitching it into the batch I plan on posting about. It is a 15 pound honey 4 gallon water batch and the stuff took off in about 3 hours.

I couldn't be more excited and while I have read things that lead me to believe it isn't without its flaws, this stuff is the easiest and fastest, cleanest yeast I have ever used.

I'm not saying I am challenging you to make a BOWM, but.......maybe I am cause if it can be done, you are the guy.

 

[loveofrose]

Ha! I’ve already got a 3 day mead:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/Ginger-Genius/

I’ve got the HotHead strain in my yeast bank. I really like it for tropical style meads (Tepache).

Making mead fast is easy for me now. Now I am concentrating on making high quality, well balanced meads. Lots of historical meads (https://denardbrewing.com/blog/category/historical-brews/) and barrel aging. I’ve also been diving into truly epic meads (https://denardbrewing.com/blog/category/insane/).

All of my winners are over on my site. I typically have 10 different meads going at any one time. Half are either experimental or refining a previous experiment. Probably 20% of what I try makes it on the site. I live by experimenting!

 

[Redeemer]

Ha! I’ve already got a 3 day mead:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/Ginger-Genius/

I’ve got the HotHead strain in my yeast bank. I really like it for tropical style meads (Tepache).

Making mead fast is easy for me now. Now I am concentrating on making high quality, well balanced meads. Lots of historical meads (https://denardbrewing.com/blog/category/historical-brews/) and barrel aging. I’ve also been diving into truly epic meads (https://denardbrewing.com/blog/category/insane/).

All of my winners are over on my site. I typically have 10 different meads going at any one time. Half are either experimental or refining a previous experiment. Probably 20% of what I try makes it on the site. I live by experimenting!

Thats awesome. I clearly have more reading to do. I live in the Austin area. I wouldn't mind checking out an event where some of yours are represented.

 

[begbie1976]

Following up on my post from back in December...It's now been 48 days since pitching my smack pack of wyeast. At day 26 I think I was at a gravity of 1.072. I got the carboy up to a relatively constant 24 degrees C but gravity readings have not decreased drastically. I'm now down at 1.044. A week ago, it was 1.046. The week before that was 1.052. Very slow. I'll check again next week, but it seems to be leading to a stall.

The mead tastes very sweet, but good. I'd rather get it down to about 1.03 though. Assuming next week's reading is the same or similar, would it be safe to top up the carboy with water to dilute? If so, I would probably leave it another couple of weeks after that, checking the gravity to ensure fermentation hasn't kicked up again. I've probably got about 500ml of space in the carboy.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.

P. S. once bottled, these will probably be stored away to age until next Christmas!

 

[begbie1976]

Update - the mead has stalked at 1.042. Zero activity in the airlock, infact since testing the gravity and degassing a little, the water in the airlock has equalised, indicating no positive pressure. Its an S type airlock in a rubber bung, which is pushed tight into the carboy, so shouldn't be a leakage problem.

I now don't want to leave it sitting any longer. Will it be OK to dilute? The ABV is 12.2% at the moment. I believe that wyeast 1388 has a tolerance of 12 to 13%, so the yeast may have maxed out.

Thoughts please?

 

[loveofrose]

Wyeast 1388 will go to 16% ABV in mead. Do not bottle this without stabilizing or you will have bottle bombs. Swirl daily to get the yeast in suspension and keep it warm. It will slowly knock the points off.

In the meantime, figure out what happened so it doesn’t happen again. Was is just too cold? What nutrients did you use? Spring water?

 

[begbie1976]

I think it may temperature. The carboy is in my utility room which tends to be anywhere between 18 and 24deg C, depending on the time of day. If I make this again, I'd wrap it in a jacket or jumper to try to maintain a steady 24 deg C.

I used tap water, which is good stuff here in Scotland. It still has additives but hasn't been a problem so far.

I added a generic yeast Nutrient from Wilko once fermentation seemed to be slowing, and moved the carboy to a warmer part of the house, but it doesn't seem to have improved things.

I read on the wyeast website that this stain is known for stalling at about 1.035, and slight aeration and racking can help. Aeration sounds bad at this stage does it not?

 

[Seamonkey84]

What is the highest SG you’ve gotten to ferment without issues? I know the recipes you’ve posted go as high as 1.150, but how about higher without step feeding or back sweetening?

 

[loveofrose]

I’ve fermented 1.160. Never needed to go higher. If you add all honey upfront. Wyeast 1388 will eat 120-125 points. If you step feed, it will go higher. I’ve never had a stall, but I use nutrients, spring water and have temperature control.

 

[Seamonkey84]

My Black Deathberry post has made me aware of Schramms Heart of Darkness mead, which seems very interesting, and supposedly is bottled at close to 1.100 without back sweetening. All the clone attempts seem to have just fruit and honey, so think berry death without any water added. One of the concerns I have is ph. Even with the 1/4tsp per gallon of potassium bicarbonate, if I use only fruit and honey without water, would it be too acidic to ferment properly? I don’t have a ph meter yet, but might by the time I get around to trying to make this.

 

[loveofrose]

First, the pH would be fine. A pure berry slush isn’t below pH 3. Second, the potassium carbonate isn’t there to adjust pH. It is added to buffer pH swings. It’s not really low pH that causes stalling. It’s a fast changing pH that causes stalling.