Bray's One Month Mead

[wkrawul2]

I'm planning on cold crashing my mead after I wait a few more days to see if my FG drops below 1.020. I live in Ohio and it's about to get into the 20-30 degree F this week. I know my garage will be at least 10 degrees higher, than outside. Are these temperatures okay to do this. I'm assuming as long as things aren't freezing, it sounds be okay?

 

[loveofrose]

Sure. That will work. If it does freeze, you could always thaw the first 1/3 for some meadjack. I won't tell.

 

[wkrawul2]

So it would be concentrated enough, to have an alcohol content of Jack?!?!

 

[jc5066]

Don't cold crash too quickly. The colder Otis the harder to remove the co2. I don't cold crash until just before I'm ready to bottle.

 

[gunit00]

Here is the 2 liter starter protocol. It took me a while to find it!:

For mead, you need to use honey in your starter to prime the yeast for mead fermentation. Using DME primes yeast for maltose fermentation, which is useless for mead. In fact, pitching a DME based starter into mead will stress the yeast out leading to off flavors. Here is how I do it for BOMMs:

2 Liter Starter for Mead

1. Sanitize 2 liter flask with cross shaped stir bar.
>To sanitize, use StarSan, OneStep, or cook it on the stove burner (let it cool before Step 2). I avoid iodine based cleaner due to staining.
2. Add 1 tsp GoFerm.
3. Add 1/2 cup honey (6 oz by weight).
4. Add sterile spring water to 1.8 liters.
5. Pitch smacked pack of yeast or rehydrated yeast
>Final volume close to 2 liters with smack pack volume added.
>I generally do break the internal packet for the nutrients, but you don't have to wait to pitch.
6. Allow to stir on stir plate for 3 days.
>Stir plate is best, but if you don't have one, just swirl it when you can and go an extra day.
7. Pitch in your mead. Don't forget that the starter will add 2 liters of volume!

For larger batches (>5 gallons), I just make a starter that is 1/10th of final volume and pitch after the yeast are obviously boiling.

Do you need to heat the starter before adding Go-ferm?

 

[loveofrose]

Nope. No heat needed as long as you use bottled water (sterile).

 

[gunit00]

Nope. No heat needed as long as you use bottled water (sterile).

Thanks!

 

[plepper]

I've read thru the thread and I'm kinda lost. I want to make the BOMM for my first adventure in making mead but there is some conflicting info on amounts and ingredients. Is there a current recipe out there somewhere? Is the one on Denard Brewing current? I'm wanting to do a 2 gal, batch and rack into 2 one gal. batches and back sweeten one.

 

[loveofrose]

Go here and double the amounts:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/brays-one-month-mead/

My site is always the most up to date resource. Cheers!

 

[andrewmaixner]

I've read thru the thread and I'm kinda lost. I want to make the BOMM for my first adventure in making mead but there is some conflicting info on amounts and ingredients. Is there a current recipe out there somewhere? Is the one on Denard Brewing current? I'm wanting to do a 2 gal, batch and rack into 2 one gal. batches and back sweeten one.

2-gal batch I did first:

1.50 gal Distilled Water
5 lbs Honey (1.0 SRM)
1.50 tsp Potassium Bicarconate
1.00 tsp Fermaid-K
0.50 tsp Diammonium phosphate
1 pkgs Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast (I made a starter with the yeast and 1.5L 1.030 honey-water 2 days before)

at 2/3 gravity add:
1.00 tsp Fermaid-K
0.50 tsp Diammonium phosphate

at 1/3 gravity add:
1.00 tsp Fermaid-K
0.50 tsp Diammonium phosphate

Degassed by stirring daily for first week. Fermented at 72F. Used a 3Gal carboy, almost had one huge mess on first degassing, a 5gal carboy wouldn't hurt.

2.5gal batch I did next, with Fermaid-O instead of K. Also, I have a 0.1g scale now.

2.00 gal Distilled Water
6 lbs 3.2 oz Honey (1.0 SRM)
yeast cake from previous batch: Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast
6.00 g Fermaid-O
1.75 tsp Potassium Bicarconate

at 2/3 gravity:
3.00 g Fermaid-O

at 1/3 gravity:
3.00 g Fermaid-O

again, degassed daily for a week.
technically I should have done the nutrient additions at 1/4 intervals, but I messed up at first and so adjusted.

I've been using cold-crashing to 38F and using Super-Kleer to make this drop clear at lightening speed. I haven't tried gelatin yet, which is my go-to for beer.

 

[rjolin01]

Stupid question but what is 1/3 gravity, 2/3 gravity etc?

 

[Maylar]

It's the gravity readings at 1/3 and 2/3 of the way down. Like, if you start at 1.100 and finish at 1.000 then 1/3 down is 1.066 and 2/3 is 1.033.

 

[gunit00]

Can someone please post a five 5 - gallon BOMM Fermaid O protocol?

 

[loveofrose]

Can someone please post a five 5 - gallon BOMM Fermaid O protocol?

Follow the recipe like here:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/BOMM5gallons/

Except, instead of adding DAP/Fermaid K at sugar breaks, you will be following the TOSNA protocol as follows:

Add 1.25 tsp of Fermaid O at 24, 48, 72 hours and Day 7 or 1/3 sugar break, whichever comes first.

Be warned that sometimes Fermaid O usage puts off some fusels that need a few months to age out. Usually temperatures above 72 F trigger this.

 

[gunit00]

Thanks Bray. But that is much smaller than the TBSP you mentioned here:

These days, I'm moving to Fermaid O. You have to use a lot more of it (1 TBSP per addition per gallon), but the mead is more aromatic and you don't have to worry about overdoing DAP.

How much Fermaid O should I use?

Thanks!

 

[gunit00]

Also, would Wyeast 4632 do well with this protcol?

 

[loveofrose]

Also, would Wyeast 4632 do well with this protcol?

Yes, but it won't be drinkable for 6-8 months.

 

[gunit00]

Yes, but it won't be drinkable for 6-8 months.

Wow, that's quite a long time. I guess that's why its not so popular.

Did my question about Fermaid-O make sense? I am not sure how much to use for your protocol.

Thanks!

 

[loveofrose]

In my hands, adding 1 TBSP per addition (upfront, 2/3, and 1/3 sugar break) seems to work as long as your temperature is in the 68-72 F range.

In an effort to reduce the amount of Fermaid K used, I've been trying the TOSNA schedule (suggested above). I've only tried it a few times, but it seems to work. Let me know if your experience is different.

 

[loveofrose]

I recently interviewed with Allen and Tyson at meadmakr.com. The podcast is up now or you can go to the site here:
http://www.meadmakr.com/mm027-making-of-the-bomm-with-bray-denard/

There is lots of info there so be sure to check it out!

Cheers!

 

[pricelessbrewing]

Alright so finally getting around to making another session (somewhere in the 7-9%) batch of this.

What nutrient addition schedule should I do with it being a 1 gal batch, and lower gravity?

 

[andrewmaixner]

Alright so finally getting around to making another session (somewhere in the 7-9%) batch of this.

What nutrient addition schedule should I do with it being a 1 gal batch, and lower gravity?

His fidnemed metheglin recipe ( https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/Fidnemed/ ) would probably cover exactly what you are asking.
I made it -- actually bumped up the OG a little -- and it had no detectable issues at 8 days @68F, and was about .998.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

His fidnemed metheglin recipe ( https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/Fidnemed/ ) would probably cover exactly what you are asking.
I made it -- actually bumped up the OG a little -- and it had no detectable issues at 8 days @68F, and was about .998.

Awesome thanks. I'll skip the tea, and follow the additions. Probably add some cherry concentrate to half to backsweeten.

 

[Atek]

Alright so finally getting around to making another session (somewhere in the 7-9%) batch of this.

What nutrient addition schedule should I do with it being a 1 gal batch, and lower gravity?

http://lejnd.ddns.net/TOSNA/

 

[loveofrose]

Actually, TOSNA is way too difficult for a short mead (<1.070). Upfront Fermaid O at 10 grams a gallon always works for me.

 

[Atek]

Actually, TOSNA is way too difficult for a short mead (<1.070). Upfront Fermaid O at 10 grams a gallon always works for me.

ipe:

 

[Danmor1]

Useful note: the sweet version using the Forbidden Fruit has developed a citrus-y note at 4-5 months, though it's still a bit cloudy. Used clover honey, but don't know if some citrus crept in (from Gunter's), or if this is an effect of the yeast. Tastes a lot like a commercial moscato, but still undeniably mead. Highly recommended for sweet blends (fruits, chocolate, etc), but, like I said, still a bit cloudy, if you care about that sort of thing. I, personally, do not. Besides, I can still watch a movie through it, so it's all good.

Bray, have you done anything more with this yeast?

 

[loveofrose]

I've not really done much with Forbidden Fruit since the Belgian Ale Yeast Experiment. Nothing wrong with it, I just focused on 1388 since it was the best all purpose yeast.

 

[Atek]

Actually, TOSNA is way too difficult for a short mead (<1.070). Upfront Fermaid O at 10 grams a gallon always works for me.

So if making a batch with a brix of less than 13 you would simply do 10g/gal up front? Was about to start a batch now and realized my desired SG is too low to a proper TOSNA calc and gives me negative integers... Not sure why I didn't see that before...

*edit* 10g/gal seems like a lot... thats 50g fro a 5 gal batch. Based on the TOSNA math at MeadMadeRight.com it would be 26.9g in a 5 gal batch with an OG of 1.100

*edit2* Further research and general math assumptions... it seems to me that 10 mg N/L per brix up to 21 brix would make sense. So 100mg N/L @ 10 brix, so in effect I guess this would 1g fermaid-O per brix in a 5 gal batch.
10*brix/50*volume
I may just try this if I get too impatient here ;-)

 

[loveofrose]

It may be possible to use less and get a good result, but I don't know what the threshold is. I can tell you that Wyeast 1388 needs more nutrients than 71B (which is what TOSNA is based on). Maybe double the suggested TOSNA amount to be sure? Let me know how it turns out.