Bray's One Month Mead

[loveofrose]

I've developed a recipe for mead that is clear and delicious with no off flavours in less than one month. It was found during the Belgian Yeast Ale Experiment I posted over at gotmead.com. I'll post the 1 & 5 gallon recipes.

Bray's One Month Mead aka "the BOMM" - 1 gallon
No heat method.
Added Orange Blossom honey to SG of 1.096 in 1 gallon jugs.
Added 3/4 tsp of 1:2 DAP:Fermaid K; also, add this at 2/3 and 1/3 sugar break.
Add 3/4 tsp potassium carbonate.
Shake like hell to aerate.
Pitched Wyeast 1388 - Belgian Strong Ale activated overnight.
Aerate daily by shaking.
Pitching temperature 68 F, but the temperature in my house fluctuates from 70-80 F with no off flavors.

The BOMM - 5 gallons
Smack Wyeast 1388 pack for overnight.
Pitch into 1.5 liter starter with 6 oz honey and pinch of Go Ferm.
Put on stir plate for 2-3 days before pitching.

Add 1 gallon OB honey to 3.5 gallons water.
Use a drill powered mixer to mix honey.
Dose the following at must creation, 2/3, & 1/3 sugar break.
1 tsp DAP + 2 tsp Fermaid K
Add 3/4 tsp potassium carbonate.
Stir again to aerate and add starter.
Add additional water to SG 1.096-1.1.

Degas daily for at least a week.

This mead is great at 24 days! Enjoy!

 

[loveofrose]

I am willing to answer any questions to help you make this wonderful mead!

 

[fatbloke]

Ok, so that looks pretty straight forward.......

Did you take pH readings to monitor the effect of the carbonate addition up front ?

What did it finish up at ?

I've read some of the ale yeast threads at GM..... any possible downside ?

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Ok, so that looks pretty straight forward.......

Did you take pH readings to monitor the effect of the carbonate addition up front ?

What did it finish up at ?

I've read some of the ale yeast threads at GM..... any possible downside ?

My 2 cents on it is that you're stressing the yeast out quite a bit, and you may need to use more nutrient when working with beer yeasts (because they are spoiled little buggers). But if you keep it around 12 and under, my experience has been nothing but positive.

 

[loveofrose]

Unfortunately, I do not have pH readings. Through extensive use, I've found that this small addition of potassium carbonate prevents the yeast from stalling out. Presumably by acting more as a buffering agent and potassium source rather than raising the pH.

Finished up at 1.004.

Downside? It hasn't been tested, but perhaps age is detrimental? I designed this as a quick mead, so nothing has made it past a few months. I'll post tastings over at gotmead as soon as something lasts that long.

In two experiment, I tested a total of 10 ale yeasts - 5 of which were Belgian ales. Some crap out early (Ardennes), others taste like ass (Saison). Out of all of them 1388 was the shining gem for dry mead with Wyeast 3787 as a runner up. For sweet mead, Wyeast 3463 - Forbidden Fruit was the best.

 

[loveofrose]

This mead has only been tested with orange blossom honey. I am thinking it is time to try other varietal honeys. Next up, tupelo!

 

[loveofrose]

Final pH was 3.54 for those that asked!

 

[Edbert]

Seriously thinking about doing this as my 1st recipe, particularly attracted to the short time span having been used to a 5 week wait from boil to drink.

Sorry for noobie questions but when you say it finished at 12, are you referring to ABV? That seems a bit low since I've made ale at around 9% before. Does this finish dry without much honey flavor? Can (should) I add more honey after the fermentation starts slowing to increase sweetness? Last stupid question (for now)... do I understand that you mix/ferment/pour out of the primary?

 

[WVMJ]

You are seeming to favor light honeys, how would this work with a dark honey, you guys in TX have some nice dark honeys to try this on. Is this bubbly or flat? Does it taste like beer? One of my mentors makes his meads beer style, petulent in beer bottles. He shared a 14 year old bottle with us, starting to turn a little sherry like but so good and smooth, if you bought a sherry that tasted like this you would be happy. Who is Bray in case we need to write a drinking song about him for sharing his mead with us. WVMJ

 

[loveofrose]

Seriously thinking about doing this as my 1st recipe, particularly attracted to the short time span having been used to a 5 week wait from boil to drink.

Sorry for noobie questions but when you say it finished at 12, are you referring to ABV? That seems a bit low since I've made ale at around 9% before. Does this finish dry without much honey flavor? Can (should) I add more honey after the fermentation starts slowing to increase sweetness? Last stupid question (for now)... do I understand that you mix/ferment/pour out of the primary?

It does indeed finish at 12% ABV which is considered the limit for Wyeast 1388. It is semi-sweet with an FG of around 1.004. At the very end, you could backsweeten if you wish. Others over at gotmead have said you could filter it at 2 weeks if you like it sweeter.

 

[loveofrose]

You are seeming to favor light honeys, how would this work with a dark honey, you guys in TX have some nice dark honeys to try this on. Is this bubbly or flat? Does it taste like beer? One of my mentors makes his meads beer style, petulent in beer bottles. He shared a 14 year old bottle with us, starting to turn a little sherry like but so good and smooth, if you bought a sherry that tasted like this you would be happy. Who is Bray in case we need to write a drinking song about him for sharing his mead with us. WVMJ

Now that the protocol is worked out, the next test is multiple varietal honeys. Soon, I will start tupelo, palmetto, and another OB varietal version of this. All will be posted at gotmead. I know only palmetto is a little dark, but it ain't buckwheat! My thought process is that lighter honey has less nutrient. If this protocol works for light honey, then dark honey should work as well...In theory.

It is flat, but could easily be bubbly if you primed at bottling.
It does not in any way taste like beer. Tasting notes are posted at gotmead under Belgian Ale Yeast Experiment.

Bray is my name. I have a doctorate in microbiology, hence the interest in screening all these yeast. Love of Rose is my rock band's name!
If you want music for the song, just let me know!

 

[WVMJ]

Beakers swirling, test tubes bubbling, freezers full of yeast, playing with petri dishes full of wine yeast when you are supposed to be working Do you have the purple Dexters lab gloves! Professionally, do you think about that staggered yeast nutrient addition is the most important step in creating a young mead that is drinkable? Do the yeast really know when the 1/3 break is depending on what the starting gravity is or do you think its really fixed for each strain of yeast so that what we call the break is really just an arbitrary number, but one that is close enough for govt work? WVMJ

 

[loveofrose]

Ha ha. Unfortunately, there is no mead making in cancer research although we do have the purple gloves!

The most important part of making a good, young mead is keeping the yeast happy. While that includes SNAs, pH (buffering swings and degassing since CO2 is acidic) and temperature also play a huge role. These things have different levels of importance depending on your strain of yeast (genetic component). I screened to find a yeast that cared less about these variables, then gave it a cushy environment so that there is no bitching from the yeast.

Sugar breaks are just something we use to guesstimate an addition time. In reality, yeast just sense for a nutrient and figure out a yes no answer. If they answer is no, they go into damage control and make off flavors. Since we are adding nutrients a little at a time, it creates a nice slow burn such that the yeast never run out of what they need. Not the case in up front addition. The caveat is that SNAs is not enough. If the temperture swings too hIgh, yeast angry. If the pH is too low through fermentation or dissolved CO2, yeast angry. We try to balance all these variables. A forgiving yeast helps make this balance easier and reproducable. Think of Wyeast 1388 as the happy go lucking guy at a party that never complains unless you try to piss him off!

 

[Deadrasputin]

Seems to me that this would work

1 Gallon of OB honey
4 Gallons of water
4 Oranges
1 cup Grape nuts wort or 100 Raisins
1 package of Bread yeast

No heat method

Pour honey and water into one plastic buck then stir. Next pour into a second bucket, then back into the first. Repeat this process five times to aerate the must.

Peel the oranges and slice each into fourths. Put in must. Add Raisins or grape nuts wort to must. Pitch yeast and ferment for a week. Siphon the must to a secondary each week. That is equal to four transfers in the month. Trying to get clearity by keeping the must off of the yeast cake as much as possible

I think the trick here is to make a dry mead. Too much honey means too sweet and a longer cure time.

 

[loveofrose]

I've started testing for different types of varietal honeys using this protocol.
If anyone is interested, it is/will be all posted at the gotmead forums.

 

[Edbert]

I searched for "bray's" over there with no luck. Would you mind posting a more detailed recipe that a noob could follow, or a link to one?

I assume the 1:2DAP part is a starter, but do not understand the breaks. I'd like to try this but need detailed instructions.

 

[loveofrose]

Hi Edbert! No problem. I assume you want to try a one gallon batch.
Sanitation is also assumed.

The BOMM - 1 gallon
Get a one gallon jug of spring water - I use Ozarka - make sure it is not distilled!
Remove 1/2 cup water to compensate for Wyeast 1388 smack pack volume.*
Draw line on jug at current water level.
Remove 3.2 cups of water from 1 gallon jug. (757 ml)
Add Orange blossom honey back to the line. About 2.4 lbs.*SG will be 1.092-1.1.
Add 1/6 tsp potassium carbonate (Not calcium carbonate!)
Add 1/4 tsp Diammonium Phospate (DAP) and 1/2 tsp of Fermaid K.*
-the DAP and Fermaid K will also be added again at 2/3 and 1/3 sugar break.
Example: If SG is 1.099, You would add again at 1.066 and 1.033.
Cap and shake until all honey is dissolved - it will take a bit of effort!
Add activated Wyeast 1388 yeast.*Activated for about 2 hours to overnight.
Be sure to squeeze every drop out!
Shake once a day to aerate for the first week. No water in airlock for 7 days.
Don't forget to monitor the gravity with a hydrometer so that you know when to add the nutrients!

Let me know if you have any other questions!
Also, you have to register for an account at gotmead. Doesn't cost anything and is a wealth of info!

 

[Edbert]

Awesome...hitting AHS on my way home.

No water in airlock and multiple hydromter readings...is contamination not as much of a problem here as it is with beer?

 

[loveofrose]

Honey is pretty difficult to contaminate. You would have to do something really stupid to contaminate a batch of mead which differs greatly from beer. For gravity readings, I just sterilize the hydrometer and put it in the 1 gallon jugs! Simple and no waste!

Based on very reproducable yeast kinetics, you could probably add nutrients at 2 and 5 days after pitching and be really close to the correct sugar breaks.

 

[Edbert]

All done, I admit I am excited. 1/6th of a tsp was tough to guess at, my smallest measure was 1/4, I am close for sure but not exact, hope there's wiggle room.

Just out of curiosity, why no water in the airlock?

Also, my Fermaid K contains DAP, any chance of having too much DAP?

Not much headpsace, I used a 1Gal carboy not the Ozarka bottle, any chance of eruption?

Last question for tonight...use a dark place to ferment like beer, and does temperature matter?

 

[natureboy68]

I wonder how this would work with Trader Joes mesquite honey? Gotta try it!

 

[loveofrose]

So far, I've tested the BOMM with orange blossom, palmetto, and tupelo honey. All were successfully delicious at 10 days! Especially the tupelo. Mmmmmm tupelo mead...

Let me know how the mesquite works out!

 

[Edbert]

Hey Bray, you missed a few noobish questions on page 2, if ya don't mind. I just added a round of nutrients and wanted to make a word of caution to any other noobs who may be lurking and trying this...

When you aerate your wort...DO NOT shake the bottle...I had a freaking geyser that blew the stopper out...did not realize this stuff was carbonated lol....finished mopping the kitchen just now...even had to wipe down the ceiling...no kidding!

 

[loveofrose]

Sorry. My fault. Although, no one ever told me either...
Rite of passage? In any event, start shaking slow and wait for it to calm. Repeat until it is significantly less bubbles. You will never get them all!

Also, be sure to do this before, I repeat, before you add nutrients. Even then, add the nutrients slowly!

Anyhow, welcome to your first MEA (Mead Explosion Accident).
You are officially a mazer!

 

[loveofrose]

Currently testing a cyser BOMM. Recipe below:

Cyser BOMM
Start with 1 gallon of sprouts apple cider.
Remove 2.33 cups of juice to compensate for volume of other ingredients.
Added 2.4 oz dark brown sugar, 1.6 oz dates, and 1.33 cups orange blossom honey.
Added 1/2 tsp pectinase.
Add 1/4 tsp DAP and 1/2 tsp of Fermaid K; will add this again at 2/3 and 1/3 sugar break.
Add 1/6 tsp K2CO3
Shake like hell to mix honey and aerate.
SG - 1.094

Pitched a slurry of Wyeast 1388 from a recent ferment.

Plan for secondary:
Add 1 vanilla bean and 3 Hungarian oak cubes 1 week before bottling or to taste.

I'll let you know in a few weeks if it is tasty!

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

If you dissolve the nutrients in a bit of water first, there will be far less MEA action, but you should still degas prior to adding any dry substances.

 

[Edbert]

Okay, so I am over 24 hours since the 2nd nutrient round, put the airlock on. No more aeration? Stick it in a cool dark place for 3 weeks or more? Does temp matter, I have some ale in primary stage in a 60-65 degree fermentation chamber?

Or just leave it the hell alone for 3 weeks like the Joe's recipe?

When the time is up do I siphon the top off the sediment layer or mix it all together and drink? Bottle it up now and rack it for 20-25 days?

Sorry for stupid questions, I really don't know.

 

[loveofrose]

1. No more aeration?
Still shake it everyday with the airlock on until you see signs of clearing, then leave it alone. This shaking is not for aeration. It is to help the yeast flocculate so that clearing occurs faster. You don't have to do this part if you don't care about clearing. Cloudiness does not affect the taste.

2. Stick it in a cool dark place for 3 weeks or more?
This depends on your will power. As soon as it hits 1.02 or below, it is ready to drink!

3. Does temp matter, I have some ale in primary stage in a 60-65 degree fermentation chamber?
In this one case, hotter is better. One guy over at gotmead kept his temperature at 78-80 F the whole ferment with no off flavors. Heat also helps it ferment faster.

3. When the time is up do I siphon the top off the sediment layer...
Generally, it will clear on its own... eventually. Mine seems to clear before 30 days, but other people say it has taken longer. I drink it clear or cloudy, but do avoid the gunk at the very bottom. When it is clear, you can bottle the clear part or you can put the whole jug in the fridge and drink as you wish. No judgement from me! It is safest to get it off the gross lees (translation: gunk on the bottom) so I would suggest it for you first batch.

4. Sorry for stupid questions, I really don't know.
Stupid question is the one you didn't ask, screwed it up, and then blamed me.

By the way, what is your gravity and (more importantly) how does it taste?
I generally don't taste it until 1.02 or below because I dislike sweet, but for your first batch, tasting it at every step will let you see how it developed.
It also helps you determine what gravity is your favorite to drink!

 

[JRapp]

Only semi related question!

I have a beer right now in primary with 1388, a 5.6% belgian pale ale. I was looking for something to do to reuse the yeast with it once I bottle the beer and never thought of Mead.

In a few weeks my brew club has someone from a cider mill coming around with his truck and I can get some good local cider for fairly cheap, so I was debating making a Cyser, Would the 1388 work well for a Cyser? I was thinking of keeping it simple for my 1st mead recipe, thinking 5gal Cider and 7-10lb honey, depending on gravity of cider. Any thoughts? I was initially going for a white wine crispness but I really cant get enough of the Belgian yeasts.

 

[loveofrose]

Only semi related question!

I have a beer right now in primary with 1388, a 5.6% belgian pale ale. I was looking for something to do to reuse the yeast with it once I bottle the beer and never thought of Mead.

In a few weeks my brew club has someone from a cider mill coming around with his truck and I can get some good local cider for fairly cheap, so I was debating making a Cyser, Would the 1388 work well for a Cyser? I was thinking of keeping it simple for my 1st mead recipe, thinking 5gal Cider and 7-10lb honey, depending on gravity of cider. Any thoughts? I was initially going for a white wine crispness but I really cant get enough of the Belgian yeasts.

If you look at post #25 in this thread, I've already given a full recipe. I am only 3 days in, so I cannot vouch for how good it is. I will say this: I don't waste honey unless I'm pretty damn sure it will turn out good. Too effin old for that sh|t!

On thing to keep in mind. Wyeast 1388 is rated for a max of 12% ABV. I would keep the gravity at or below 1.1 to avoid stressing the yeast. You can always backsweeten later!