Bray's One Month Mead

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Just wanted to pick your brain a bit, but this is a very long thread, so I haven't read the whole thing. I was wondering why the potassium carbonate is used. Also what your ideology is for adding sugar. And how you feel the fermaid K helps out.
 
Few more questions.

I plan on doing a 3gallon version it BOMM and since so little difference between the additions for 1 and 5 gallons can I assume it's ok just to do the original 5 gallon step method in original post? I imagine ingredients are all scalable also? And I am gonna assume a standard smack pack may be sufficient and no starter needed?

I also planned on when racking to secondary I was going to rack to 3 one gallon fermenters and add strawberry to one, orange to another, and either a spiced mead or kiwi for third. Is this possible with the shortened ferment period for this mead? Should I treat the fruit ahead time and will this after time frame at all?
 
rjolin01 said:
Few more questions.

I plan on doing a 3gallon version it BOMM and since so little difference between the additions for 1 and 5 gallons can I assume it's ok just to do the original 5 gallon step method in original post? I imagine ingredients are all scalable also? And I am gonna assume a standard smack pack may be sufficient and no starter needed?

I also planned on when racking to secondary I was going to rack to 3 one gallon fermenters and add strawberry to one, orange to another, and either a spiced mead or kiwi for third. Is this possible with the shortened ferment period for this mead? Should I treat the fruit ahead time and will this alter time frame at all?
Click to expand...

1) I would just use the mid-point for all of the measurements between the 1 and 5 gallon weights. fairly simple to estimate that.
2) I'd do a starter (really, 15 minutes of time the day before is not much extra effort), but you'd probably be fine. I've personally re-pitched refrigerated yeast/dregs from this 3 times in a row on 2.5gal batches.
3) That should be fine. Maybe keep the OG around 1.095 instead of higher, to reduce the chance of too much alcohol.
4) 11% alcohol should keep potential contaminants from growing, if you don't want to pasteurize the fruit first (your call). You can freeze and blender the fruit to maximize extraction/fermentation rate.
5) I'd personally mix the yeast back into solution before racking onto the fruit, and beware to leave a little headspace in the 1gal secondaries. Maybe bottle a few of the clean mead first so you have plenty space.
 
Alright bray, following up now.

Made my first mead about 6 weeks ago. Used wlp 570 (belgian high gravity yeast aka 1388) and fermK+Dap. The mead is completely clear, yeast has flocculated. I can read a piece of paper through it.

1 question I have is in regards to a very fine "mist" or "cloud" for lack of a better word about 1" from the top of the mead. It's very difficult to see unless I give it a slight spin. It's most likely some yeast still in suspension, but was curious of the other mazers thoughts? Should I rack again now? Cold crash first, then rack and bottle if fg doesn't change?
 
The thin film is generally a mix of beeswax and yeast. Cold crashing won't help as it is oil on water so to speak. You will find it is a bit sweeter than the rest of the mead. I generally "sample" the top and bottle the rest.
 
Im about to cold crash the starter for 24 hours and then follow your recipe, loveofrose.

I reordered your recipe and instructions based on how I understand it:

• Smack Wyeast 1388 pack for overnight.
o Mix the following in 1800ml RO water and pour into a 2L flask:
 Starter
 6 oz honey
 1 tsp Go-Ferm
o Total volume into flask = 2L
o Put on stir plate for 2-3 days.
o Cold crash starter for 24 hours before decanting and pitching

DAY 0
Add 1 gallon OB honey to 3.5 gallons water.
Use a drill powered mixer to mix honey.

Dose the following at:

• must creation
o 2 tsp Fermaid-K (10g)
o 1 tsp DAP (5g)
o 3/4 tsp (4ml | 4g) potassium carbonate

Stir again to aerate and add starter
Add additional water to SG 1.096-1.1.
pH should be between 3.7-4.6.

Ferment @ 68 in Primary for 10 days

Dose the following at:

• 2/3 sugar break
o 2 tsp Fermaid-K (10g)
o 1 tsp DAP (5g)

• 1/3 sugar break
o 2 tsp Fermaid-K (10g)
o 1 tsp DAP (5g)

Rack to secondary for 14 days @ 68F

DAY 24
Rack to Keg
 
No need to crash the starter. Just be sure to include it in the total volume.

As soon as the gravity is stable, you can cold crash to speed up the time to keg.
 
loveofrose said:
No need to crash the starter. Just be sure to include it in the total volume.

As soon as the gravity is stable, you can cold crash to speed up the time to keg.
Click to expand...

Thank you, sir!

Id assume no decanting then if I need to account for the 2L in the total volume.
 
Just prepared the must and pitched the yeast.

SG = 1.099
Measured pH = 5.36
Total volume = 5.00 Gallons
 
BOMM Gravity and Nutrient Update

After much research (tasty research), I've established some guidelines for Wyeast 1388 to make mead making easier/faster (read "I got sick of step feeding).

It seems Wyeast 1388 alcohol tolerance in mead is 15.7-16% ABV. Using this knowledge, I've been adding more and more honey upfront to see if the yeast would remain clean. I'm very happy to say that it does. Below is a chart of starting gravities and where Wyeast 1388 will stop. Keep in mind it's alway plus or minus a few points.

Original Gravity -> Finish Gravity
1.120 or less -> 1.000
1.130 -> 1.010
1.140 -> 1.020
1.150. -> 1.030

If you add more honey upfront, you need to adjust your nutrient timing. Since 1388 eats through 120 points, it's always subtraction of 40 points per addition. See chart below:

Nutrient Addition Timing Adjustments
1.120 - Add upfront, 1.080 & 1.040.
1.130 - Add upfront, 1.090 & 1.050.
1.140 - Add upfront, 1.100 & 1.060.
1.150 - Add upfront, 1.110 & 1.070.

Same amount of nutrients per standard recipe, just different gravity addition times.

Hope that helps others. I know I've enjoyed this!
 
Alright so I bottled this small batch of mead.

Turned out pretty good @ 40 days! Thanks for the recipe Bray. 0.997 fg, 8.5% abv, wlp 570. Random raw honey from the grocery store.
 
Following up on some old posts, I have experimented some with Lallemand Abbaye in my BOMM as well as some beers.

I gave the mead made with it a full 4 months to age, but I still don't care for it personally. Others have enjoyed it. There's nothing wrong with it per se, but I don't care for this yeast's character in a mead. I'll be sticking with Duval/1388, or maybe trying CBC next.

I also used Lallemand Abbaye in a quite large yeasts comparison experiment (side-by-side with the 8 major trappist/abbey/belgian yeast strains), and found that it is closest to Chimay (WLP500) in character. I would have no hesitation substituting it for Chimay yeast in a beer where I wanted that character.
 
loveofrose said:
BOMM Gravity and Nutrient Update

After much research (tasty research), I've established some guidelines for Wyeast 1388 to make mead making easier/faster (read "I got sick of step feeding).

It seems Wyeast 1388 alcohol tolerance in mead is 15.7-16% ABV. Using this knowledge, I've been adding more and more honey upfront to see if the yeast would remain clean. I'm very happy to say that it does. Below is a chart of starting gravities and where Wyeast 1388 will stop. Keep in mind it's alway plus or minus a few points.

Original Gravity -> Finish Gravity
1.120 or less -> 1.000
1.130 -> 1.010
1.140 -> 1.020
1.150. -> 1.030

If you add more honey upfront, you need to adjust your nutrient timing. Since 1388 eats through 120 points, it's always subtraction of 40 points per addition. See chart below:

Nutrient Addition Timing Adjustments
1.120 - Add upfront, 1.080 & 1.040.
1.130 - Add upfront, 1.090 & 1.050.
1.140 - Add upfront, 1.100 & 1.060.
1.150 - Add upfront, 1.110 & 1.070.

Same amount of nutrients per standard recipe, just different gravity addition times.

Hope that helps others. I know I've enjoyed this!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bray. To confirm, if I have a SG of 1.099 then my Staggered Nutrient Additions will be:

1.099 - upfront
1.059 - second sugar break
1.019 - third sugar break
 
ntheknow said:
Thanks, Bray. To confirm, if I have a SG of 1.099 then my Staggered Nutrient Additions will be:



1.099 - upfront

1.059 - second sugar break

1.019 - third sugar break
Click to expand...


No. It would be the standard 1.099, 1.066, 1.033. The 40 point rule only applies the SG 1.120 or higher.
 
loveofrose said:
No. It would be the standard 1.099, 1.066, 1.033. The 40 point rule only applies the SG 1.120 or higher.
Click to expand...

Thanks! Is the pH ok? Im at the point now where Im waiting for fermentation to end so I can transfer to secondary.
 
I think I would add some potassium carbonate as long as you are above 1.033. If lower, let it ride. Start small like 1/8 tsp and pH. Just get it to 3.5.
 
Got Mead Live is interviewing me tomorrow night. You can call in with questions if you like. Here is the ad:

GotMead Live - Bray Denard - Bray's One Month Mead

Tonight we're tickled to have Bray, the creator of Bray's One Month Mead (BOMM) on GotMead Live.

I asked Bray to give me some 'backstory' on his creation, and his answer was classic: "Mead is crazy good, but takes too long. I'm going to have to science the **** out of this to speed it up!"

And so he did. He created a recipe that produces a really good good mead in just 24 days, and his recipe has gone viral, and looks to surpass even Joe's Ancient Orange as the most popular mead recipe on the internet.

The show is going to be casual, we're having Bray on and going to talk mead making, his background and experiences making mead, and what he learned and found that worked and didn't.

Info, call in and feed on the page: http://gotmead.com/blog/gotmead-live/3-29-16-bray-denard-brays-one-month-mead/
 
loveofrose said:
Got Mead Live is interviewing me tomorrow night. You can call in with questions if you like. Here is the ad:

GotMead Live - Bray Denard - Bray's One Month Mead

Tonight we're tickled to have Bray, the creator of Bray's One Month Mead (BOMM) on GotMead Live.

I asked Bray to give me some 'backstory' on his creation, and his answer was classic: "Mead is crazy good, but takes too long. I'm going to have to science the **** out of this to speed it up!"

And so he did. He created a recipe that produces a really good good mead in just 24 days, and his recipe has gone viral, and looks to surpass even Joe's Ancient Orange as the most popular mead recipe on the internet.

The show is going to be casual, we're having Bray on and going to talk mead making, his background and experiences making mead, and what he learned and found that worked and didn't.

Info, call in and feed on the page: http://gotmead.com/blog/gotmead-live/3-29-16-bray-denard-brays-one-month-mead/
Click to expand...

I actually found out about your interview from Vicky herself when I spoke to her yesterday regarding something else. Very cool. I will be listening in!
 
Day 6 since pitching the yeast.
SG = 1.002
Measure pH = 3.05
Liquid is cloudy

At this point, Im not sure what to do but keep an eye on the SG. If it is 1.002 two days from now then I will transfer to a 5 gallon carboy for 14 days.

Bray, your guidance is appreciated.
 
loveofrose said:
Leave it be. Wait until the gravity is stable and cold crash.
Click to expand...

do you mean:

wait for gravity to stabilize
transfer to secondary (5gal carboy) for 14 days
cold crash 24 hours before I keg.

OR

wait for gravity to stabilize
cold crash
transfer to secondary (5gal carboy) for 14 days
keg
 
8th day

racked into secondary carboy
put in keezer (38F) until 04/14

03/29 SG = 1.002
03/30 SG = 1.002
03/31 SG = 0.998

I hope it doesnt drop again.
 
Hi Loveofrose, I am interested in using your recipe for my first batch of mead and have a few questions:

1. You instruct to use potassium carbonate, is this the same as potassium bicarbonate as I am looking to purchase some and don't want to get the wrong thing.

2. I was reading thru the posts and saw alot about "cold crashing". Could you explain to me what this means?

3. What are pH levels and how do I check them.

Thank you for your time and help

V/r
 
Amphand said:
Hi Loveofrose, I am interested in using your recipe for my first batch of mead and have a few questions:



1. You instruct to use potassium carbonate, is this the same as potassium bicarbonate as I am looking to purchase some and don't want to get the wrong thing.



2. I was reading thru the posts and saw alot about "cold crashing". Could you explain to me what this means?



3. What are pH levels and how do I check them.



Thank you for your time and help



V/r
Click to expand...


1. Both are functionally the same, though not chemically the same. If ever in any doubt as to what is on my approved list, check here:
https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/supplies/

2. Cold crashing is putting the carboy in a refrigerator to speed up clearing. That's it! Stick it in the fridge. It can take 2 days or 2 months, but it will always be faster than room temp.

3. I don't really want to take up this thread with a chemistry lesson [emoji28]. Simply put, it is the measure of how acidic or basic a solution is. For mead, healthy ferments occur in the 3.2-4.5 pH range. Higher is nothing to worry about, but lower becomes too acidic and causes the ferment to stall out. You can measure the pH through wine pH strips or a pH meter.
 
.....

I'd also recommend that you use a fermenter almost twice as large as your mead batch, for your first time. google "Mead Explosion Accident ", or just be prepared for some cleanup ;)
 
Last edited:
Thank you for the quick response, I also had one last concern about tempature. Where I live it is still a bit brisk whizh keeps my home cool throughout the day. I would say average around mid to low 50s. Is this going to be an issue when brewing as I have read that yeast ferments in the warmer tempatures of 60-70 depending on type.

V/r
 
Update: Tasted mead after a few days in keg. (6 psi @ 38F)

Yuck! Tasted nothing but chemicals. Im not sure what I did wrong. I followed the correct sugar break additions and degassed for a week.
 
kept under a kitchen table. ambient temp was between 72-76.
At 3.5 weeks, I racked into tertiary (was in secondary since day 10) and cold crashed for a few days before kegging.

Id have put into my chest which is @ 68F but it was already full of fermenting beer.

12968022_10153940184576049_9043727403663834902_o.jpg
 
Wait. When did you rack the first time? I never rack until at least a month. The yeast need time to clean up. Is it crystal clear? The yeast can also add a chemical flavor sometimes.

Although, I imagine your temperature was higher than you thought and is likely the culprit. No worries. It will age out quickly.
 

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