Bray's One Month Mead

Williams 728
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gunit00 said:
Can someone please post a five 5 - gallon BOMM Fermaid O protocol?
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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.
 
Thanks Bray. But that is much smaller than the TBSP you mentioned here:

loveofrose said:
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.
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How much Fermaid O should I use?

Thanks!
 
loveofrose said:
Yes, but it won't be drinkable for 6-8 months.
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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!
 
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.
 
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?
 
pricelessbrewing said:
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?
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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.
 
andrewmaixner said:
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.
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Awesome thanks. I'll skip the tea, and follow the additions. Probably add some cherry concentrate to half to backsweeten.
 
Actually, TOSNA is way too difficult for a short mead (<1.070). Upfront Fermaid O at 10 grams a gallon always works for me.
 
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?
 
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.
 
loveofrose said:
Actually, TOSNA is way too difficult for a short mead (<1.070). Upfront Fermaid O at 10 grams a gallon always works for me.
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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 ;-)
 
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.
 
Pitched 570 into like 0.85 gallons, somewhere around 1.068 (didn't measure OG). Should end up around 9% if it ferments out to 1.000. Added DAP and Ferm O according to double TOSNA.

C02 started being produced like 2 hours after pitching.
 
loveofrose said:
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.
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So I went ahead and did 21g in my 5gal batch at 1.050 OG, this is meant to be a light mead to be kegged. This amount is double what the "rough" recommendation would be. I say rough because the TOSNA scale for nitrogen in mg/L doesn't start until you hit 13 brix at which point it increase 25mg N/L for every 1 increase in brix. Seems like at odd scale but doing 10mg N/L for every 1 increase in brix seemed to be the closest and easiest way to continue the scale down below 13brix. My main concern is really I don't want too much nitrogen in the batch and give the possibility of breading unwanteds.

We'll see how it turns out!
 
Loveofrose, what would be a good/correct amount of Fermaid O (in your opinion) using the TOSNA schedule for a 5 gallon BOMM?
 
The TOSNA schedule for a gallon batch would suggest 4 additions of 1.25 tsp (5 tsp or 950 mg total) of Fermaid O added at 24, 48, 72 hours and Day 7 or 1/3 sugar break, whichever comes first. For 5 gallons, it would be 6.25 tsp per addition (25 tsp or 4.75 grams total).

My very early experience is that Wyeast 1388 may need a bit more nutrition than prescribed, but YMMV. Personally, I would bump it up to 1.5 tsp per addition per gallon.

If any of you try it, please report your results to the rest of us. I always like options!
 
1st off, Thank you Loveofrose for this incredible thread, and all the info. I just got my first 2.5g batch fermented, and moved it to cold crash overnight. Now my question to those with experience, I believe Loveofrose doesn't do this (allergies I believe??) but I want to back sweeten a portion of this for my wife and dont want to step-feed(?) what would be the proper amount per gallon of Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Metabisulphite? I appologize for any terminology errors, thank you in advance!
 
DiabloMontana said:
1st off, Thank you Loveofrose for this incredible thread, and all the info. I just got my first 2.5g batch fermented, and moved it to cold crash overnight. Now my question to those with experience, I believe Loveofrose doesn't do this (allergies I believe??) but I want to back sweeten a portion of this for my wife and dont want to step-feed(?) what would be the proper amount per gallon of Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Metabisulphite? I appologize for any terminology errors, thank you in advance!
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Do you have the numbers you used for a 2.5 gallon? Did you just half all the 5 gallon numbers?
 
I followed the 2.5g instructions in post #880.

Hope that helps!

It ended up closer to 3g, so I racked into (3) 1g jugs, trying (1) sweet, (1) semi-sweet, and (1) dry, all with relativly small amount of medium oak cubes.

"Cooking" up a Fidnemed Short Metheglin as we speak...
 
DiabloMontana said:
....
"Cooking" up a Fidnemed Short Metheglin as we speak...
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Hope you enjoy that, mine first one turned out very good, crystal clear (reddish) though very slow to bottle-carb -- probably because I bumped up the alcohol to ~9.5%
Now I'm interested in trying some other metheglin variants
 
Had my first BOMM taste this past weekend, not yet a month old. Used raspberry honey and came out awesome. Have a blackberry one that's going to get some oak. Impressive how it comes out-- I only had done two leads prior but each were pretty hollow until aged a good year or two. The hopped short with 1388 is tasty but the nose is really musky... Good for me but thinking I'll try dry hopping next time.
 
I made my first batch on 2/22/16. I followed the recipe TO THE LETTER and everything seems good! OG was 1.100 and today (2/23/16) it was at 1.080 does this seem right? I degassed and added my Fermaid K and DAP as per instructions. Nothing weird happening just wanted some reassurance. By the way it was 73 degrees and i'm writing everything down!
 
Ok I'm at 1.00 and not showing any air lock activity is it time to rack to secondary? I'm thinking 2 1 gallon carboys and add frozen strawberries to one and back sweeten the other. when drinking my sample it tastes ok but not much honey flavor, could be the cheap honey i used. Will better honey bring back better flavor after back sweetening?
 
1.000 is perfect for racking, but I would step feed more honey in primary.

The lack of honey flavor can be due to low amounts of honey used, the honey itself, or aging. In any event, adding more will help.
 
Thank you! do you have any idea of how much honey to add? from doing a search info is kinda scarce. the best I came up with is 2oz of honey should the SG .005 points but it didn't say if this is per gallon. I have about 2.3 gallons now after pulling samples for the SG tests. I'm thinking I could add honey to taste and test gravity and add until it ferments down to my preferred gravity. Im thinking 1.010 to 1.015 or thereabouts.
 
2 oz per gallon adds .005 points. 13.8 oz will get you to 1.015, but it will continue to ferment. As a result, you will likely need to add more.
 
Is it potassium carbonate, bicarbonate, or sorbate? I can't find carbonate on a lot the online site I buy from, and I read that it's basically washing soap. When I search bicarbonate, or just carbonate it often comes up with sorbate. Are they interchangeable?

Also I have some Nutriferm Energy. Can this be used in place of any of the additives?
 
Thanks for the link. Just wondering, 2oz pack should be more than enough but 1lb is better deal. Does anyone know shelf life of potassium carbonate?

Same question for the fermaid k?
 
rjolin01 said:
Thanks for the link. Just wondering, 2oz pack should be more than enough but 1lb is better deal. Does anyone know shelf life of potassium carbonate?

Same question for the fermaid k?
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Long shelf life, years. minimize air (CO2) exposure on the carbonate.

I would presume to minimize o2 / moisture on the fermaid, but that's just a gut instinct. I use O not K.
 

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