Bray's One Month Mead

[Seamonkey84]

Yes it’s fine, once it’s dry you can cold crash it to clear faster if you want to.

 

[resif]

That's very interesting Seamonkey!
Thank you so much!

 

[cmac62]

I live in TX, have the hottest room in the house for fermentation and aside from a swamp cooler for temp control, I eccentially have no temp control. I have used 3 kveik yeasts and found Hothead from Omega to be the best and closest to the WyEAST 1388 used in the BOMM protocol. The yeasts are nothing alike, but do tolerate the same final ABV around 15% give or take. I find the kviek is much more forgiving in terms of temp upper limit, as well as swings. It requires more nutrient than a normal brew, and seems to stall if the temp drops below 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

I know Denard says 1388 is the lynchpin of his recipe and it is true, if you can keep temps down, but his methods as far as nutrients and PH buffering, combined with kveik, in my humble opinion can make any mead drinkable in a month or so, even without 1388.

Redeemer, I read on his page Denard Brewing that Lallamand Abbyale dry is also pretty close and can also be used for the BOMM.

 

[cmac62]

^ and thanks for the info on the Keviek. When I get some I'll give it a try with a heat belt set to 95* I wonder if the 3 and 5 day schedule will still hold for the nutrients. I'm guessing day 2 and 4 may be better since it ussually goes fast. Or, I guess I can use the hydrometer at 1/3 and 2/3. I like the idea of just sanitizing the hydro and dropping it in the fermenter for the gravity checks.

 

[resif]

Yes it’s fine, once it’s dry you can cold crash it to clear faster if you want to.

I cold crashed for 4 days but it hasn't completed the clarify process yet but I'm planning to take it out from the fridge let it stay for a night and then rack it again to get rid of the lees it has gather for now.
Is that good for the mead or could it bring me some off flavours?

Thanks

 

[Seamonkey84]

You’re fine, but I’d rack when it’s still cold. If it’s not degassed yet it might take longer to clear. some stuff might start floating a bit when it warms up as gases start to come out more readily.

 

[Redeemer]

Redeemer, I read on his page Denard Brewing that Lallamand Abbyale dry is also pretty close and can also be used for the BOMM.

I tested all of the yeasts he used in his dry yeast experiments myself. I assume you are referring to this: Denard Brewing

And they are all really fun yeasts. I wish he would do some more experiments like that cause they gave me so many crazy ideas. I didn't use temp control in any of mine, not even a swamp cooler; this was last summer I believe. I did 3 batches with the Abbaye following a loose BOMM methodology. If I recall correctly, 1 was a peach melomel that gave me crazy phenols that aged out in about 4 months and the other 2 were cysers that became everything I hoped for an more.

I also really liked using the CBC 1 and plan on bringing it up in a subsequent post regarding kveik and bottle conditioning.

 

[resif]

What's your experience about the BOMM mead aging?
Today's been passed a month since I start my batch and the taste tells me that's not ready and the mead needs to age again.
What about yours?

 

[Redeemer]

What's your experience about the BOMM mead aging?
Today's been passed a month since I start my batch and the taste tells me that's not ready and the mead needs to age again.
What about yours?

Well to paraphrase @loveofrose The goal of the BOMM was to create a mead that was "drinkable" in one month. 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year all show exceptional improvements.

My personal experience is, due to lack of temperature controls, I got some flavors that needed to age out. 3 to 6 months usually did the trick for me.

 

[Seamonkey84]

Degas it! If it wasn’t fermented at too high of a temp, what your smelling is the yeast farts. At one or two months, unless you manually degassed it, it will still have lots of dissolved gases and compounds that give off aromas and flavors.

 

[Redeemer]

^^^^^ This. What @Seamonkey84 said.

 

[resif]

Reading @Seamonkey84 talking about degassing makes me think about it.
I've read that CO2 contributes to lower the PH and it doesn't help the aging speed and maturation so should I degas every time I can do it since the yeast starts working to the end of the first primary fermentation?

 

[Seamonkey84]

If your in a sealed carboy, go ahead, just not necessary based on the protocol. After you rack it off the lees (after it’s done and clears on its own), degassing it will help it clear further before bottling. Many people let stuff bulk age under airlock for a while, and that usually degases it naturally. Aging isn’t all about getting the gases out, but the volition compounds that gas out are a big part of the issues of tasting “young”.

 

[resif]

Has anyone tried SpringFerm BR-2 nutrients instead of Fermaid K for the BOMM?
I can't buy Fermaid-K or Fermaid-O here in Europe so I'm using these french nutrients used in beer brewing.

I've downloaded the technical data sheet so I can tell you the ingredients:
- inactivated yeast;
-Zinc sulphate;
- Manganese sulphate;

I would like to compare SpringFerm BR-2 ingredients and Fermaid-K (or O) to understand if this is a good choice for the BOMM.

Thanks!

 

[SimPilot]

So after 7 years after this thread started and experiment's final recipe is this ? Or has it take off somewhere else? On another forum or by another user?

 

[loveofrose]

So after 7 years after this thread started and experiment's final recipe is this ? Or has it take off somewhere else? On another forum or by another user?

The link is my website and it is the most current traditional mead recipe. If you peruse a bit longer, my website also has a slew of mead variations, braggots, historical meads and some truly insane brews I’ve done over the years and provided for free. What else did you want?

 

[SimPilot]

my website also has a slew of mead variations, braggots, historical meads and some truly insane brews I’ve done over the years and provided for free.

I've scanned this thread and your website, and appreciate the time and effort to write those down while making them available. My previous question is the curiosity of improvement on your knowledge base to even make it better by general public.
Feedback to your website/recipe is to including weight in grams/oz vs "cups/Tbs/tspns". Thank you.

 

[Alexcc1]

I am a beekeeper looking to make mead with my honey. I took the time to read all 1,727 posts, many of which I read several times. I have no experience fermenting or brewing other than the two batches of Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead bubbling away on the counter.

I plan to make mead in two-gallon batches by scaling the original BOMM by starting with one Wyeast 1388 smack pack in one gallon then scaling to two gallons a day or two later, basically using the first gallon as a starter.

My plan and nine questions are below.

I know this is a long post, I promise to try to avoid anything like this in the future. Had a little trouble with formatting within the post.



BOMM Recipe - 1 gallon modified for a 2 gallon batch

I bought my ingredients before I finished reading the entire thread, so I don’t have Fermaid-O and I will be using the original recipe.

1. Start with a full 1 gallon Ozarka spring water. (or likely zephyr hills spring water since Ozarka is not sold in my area)

2. Remove 1/2 cup water to compensate for smack pack volume.

3. Draw line on jugs at this water level.

4. Remove an additional 3.2 cups of water from jug (757 ml).

5. Add Orange Blossom honey (or your favorite varietal honey) back to line.

-About 2.5 lbs. SG 1.099ish.

6a. OLD STAGGERED NUTRIENT PROTOCOL

Add 1/4 tsp DAP and 1/2 tsp of Fermaid K.

7. Add 1/4 tsp K2CO3. One time addition in first gallon

8. Shake with the top on until honey is fully dissolved. It will require some effort! You're earning your mead!

9. Add activated Wyeast 1388 yeast smacked for 1-2 hours. Will not exceed 2 hours. Will ake sure the yeast and the must are the same temperature.

10. At or just before the 1.066 break I will pour the first gallon into second gallon of prepared must scaled for a two-gallon batch in a 2 ¼ gallon bucket.

Add an additional 1/4 tsp K2CO3 when scaling up to the second gallon.

Add 1/2 tsp DAP and 1 tsp of Fermaid K

11. At 1.066 & 1.033 gravity Add 1/2 tsp DAP and 1 tsp of Fermaid K. (plan to draw some must and add nutrients to the must then add the must to the 2 gallon bucket.)

-No water in airlock for 7 days after scaling to the second batch or the gravity falls below 1.033. Whichever comes first, add water or vodka to airlock. Ferments dry in 7-14 days.


Questions

• Q1. Are my nutrient proportions correct when adding the first gallon (starter) to the second gallon? I doubled the nutrients, and added an additional 1/4 tsp K2CO3, for a total of ½ tsp K2CO3 -- (1/4 tsp K2CO3 per gallon).

• Q2. Plan to keep the mini fridge at 68F then “bump it up to 72 F for the last 20 points.” After the SG drops to 1.000 or stabilizes to something close to 1.000, do I take it out of the fridge? Or do I leave it in until around the 30-day mark?

• Q3. When I do secondary fermentation does it need to be in the fridge or can I let it come up to room temperature (78F)? I plan ½ gallon with ½ cup of rose petals, ½ gallon with a vanilla bean, ½ gallon with Oak cubes and Vanilla, the remainder will be tradiional. Going to use new ½ gallon mason jars to reduce headspace and allow me to monitor for pressure build up by monitoring to see if the top pops up. Will check daily for ????? weeks.

• Q4. I thought that I remember a post stating the 1 gallon BOMM now uses 3 lbs for the starting honey and a SG of 1.12 and finishing at 1.01 ish. Any advantage to 3 vs 2.5?

• Q5. If I start at a SG of 1.12 then my breaks are now 1.08 and 1.04, is this correct?

• Q6. How long should I use the air pump and stone (stainless steel) in the bottled water to fully oxygenate?

• Q7. Do I need to stabilize and match temperatures when adding the first gallon (starter) to the second gallon? Is it Okay to allow first gallon to come up to room temperature?

• Q8. Is it critical/necessary to keep the fermenting must out of the light?

• Q9. Upon racking off the first batch, I plan to I plan to start another two-gallon batch immediately by pouring must onto the yeast cake. Is this acceptable or should I wash the yeast first using another technique that I found elsewhere on the internet?

If you made it this far, thanks for hanging in there! I appreciate any constructive feedback on my plan, and any feedback on the length of the post.



Cheers!

 

[Redpappy]

I have only done 3 batches of BOMM. very little experience. I brew in my basement with no temp control. Ambient Temp stayed around 66 F. Here are a few answers for you that I can give.

Q5 - if my think is right, that would be correct

Q8 - Have no basis, other than I followed the suggestions for brewing On keeping my must out of the light.

Q9 - my last 2 batches were back to back. After I racked of the yeast cake, I mixed my water and honey in one container, then poured into the fermentor of my last batch, swirled the fermentor to get the yeast back into suspension. And proceeded as instructions for day1.

I hope this helps

 

[Alexcc1]

I have only done 3 batches of BOMM. very little experience. I brew in my basement with no temp control. Ambient Temp stayed around 66 F. Here are a few answers for you that I can give.

Q5 - if my think is right, that would be correct

Q8 - Have no basis, other than I followed the suggestions for brewing On keeping my must out of the light.

Q9 - my last 2 batches were back to back. After I racked of the yeast cake, I mixed my water and honey in one container, then poured into the fermentor of my last batch, swirled the fermentor to get the yeast back into suspension. And proceeded as instructions for day1.

I hope this helps

That does help. Thank You, especially for reading all the way through the post.

Alex

 

[loveofrose]

Q1.
I would highly suggest you take the time to get Fermaid O before starting. The difference in the final product is staggering. However, simply doubling is fine. Fermaid O can be purchased online from www.morewinemaking.com

1 smack pack will do up to 2.5 gallons just fine. You don’t need a gallon starter until you are making more.

Q2.
Leave it in


Q3.
Keeping the temperature controlled is preferable, but 78 F won’t hurt much after you rack off the yeast cake. I would put air locks on those mason jars. Venting introduces oxygen.

Q4.
Standard BOMM is 1.100 at 2.4 lbs/gallon. If you add 3 lbs/gallon, SG is 1.120 which will still go dry. It will be much stronger (15.7% ABV) and will require something to balance the high ABV such as oak. Wyeast 1388 usually doesn’t exceed 1.120 point, so any additional honey after that makes a sweet mead. I routinely make 1.140 meads that end sweet at 1.020

Q5.
Yes, unless you heed my advice to wait for Fermaid O.

Q6.
Never do this and have never needed to.

Q7.
You want them within 5 degrees of each other. Same is better.

Q8.
I don’t know if it’s critical, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Q9.
Yep. That works great for about 5-6 batches depending on your sterile technique.





Cheers!
[/QUOTE]

 

[Alexcc1]

Bray,

Thank you for your responses to all of my questions.

I will hold off until I get the Fermaid O, I need to get a temperature controller for the fridge / Kegerator anyway.

I appreciate the info on 2.5 vs 3 lbs of honey, I am still trying to get my head wrapped around ABV and the drop in points of SG during fermentation.

You stated "I would put air locks on those mason jars. Venting introduces oxygen." I thought that oxygen was bad. Is using the airlock similar to the breathing that a wine does through the cork?

Keeping everything at a steady temperature and out of the light just got easier as I just picked up large kegerator (holds 3 x 15 gallon kegs and a couple 7 gallon kegs) for free on craigslist, in addition to 2 x 15.5 gallon kegs and 2 x 7 gallon kegs.

Thanks again Brey, I really appreciate all of the time and effort that went in to all of the information that is in this forum and on your web page.

Alex

 

[Branman1986]

Just a data point, I fermented a BOMM at between 85-88 degrees ambient temp and still got unnoticeable levels of fusels and heat on the palate. Very smooth, and had no offensive issues whatsoever. The only problem is I wasn't getting the complexity that I get with using wine yeasts, even when backsweetening.

My problem is that it's easiest for me to ferment in my non air conditioned warehouse, which is now around 80-85(to keep all my honey from crystallizing) and can be 85+ in mid summer, so I love how well the BOMM protocol handles the heat. Is there a way to get some more complexity?

My only other option is to make all the musts and then drive them home and carry them to my basement to ferment and then back when they're finished.

Or just brew like a madman fall to early spring and take a break in the summer? We have a huge industrial heater keeping the warehouse from being too cold in the winter.

TIA!

 

[BudNini]

If you are brewing a true BOMM then you are using wyeast 1388.
The temperature range for 1388 is 64-80 F or 18 - 27 C
Brey said the optimal temperature is 68 F
I personally start freeking when my temp hits 76 F
Best of luck

 

[Branman1986]

If you are brewing a true BOMM then you are using wyeast 1388.
The temperature range for 1388 is 64-80 F or 18 - 27 C
Brey said the optimal temperature is 68 F
I personally start freeking when my temp hits 76 F
Best of luck ✌

I am following the BOMM protocol to the letter, which would include 1388, just in warm ambient temps. And it is producing mead without any fusels or off flavors even at the high temps.

 

[BudNini]

I am following the BOMM protocol to the letter, which would include 1388, just in warm ambient temps. And it is producing mead without any fusels or off flavors even at the high temps.

That’s wonderful,good news indeed. I won’t stress about 76 F
anymore.

 

[John.R]

Hi All - I have no experience brewing before a month ago. I read through this entire thread twice before attempting my first BOMM. I am very grateful to Bray and all the contributors. I started it on August 17 and racked it yesterday. I followed the recipe exactly using the "new staggered nutrient protocol" and summer (mostly clover) honey from our hives. I used a smack pack of the Wyeast 1388. The starting S.G. was 1.099, and the final gravity (just above 1.000) was stable for about two weeks. It tastes great! After racking it yesterday, I pitched the remaining yeast slurry from the bottom of the carboy into a new batch. The only differences between batches that I can identify is that the specific gravity was slightly higher (about 1.100) and I mistakenly added 0.5tsp of the potassium bicarbonate instead of 0.25tsp. About 12+ hours later, there doesn't seem to be any activity (no obvious bubbling; same S.G.). This wasn't the case with the first batch. Any advice on what went wrong or what to do next? I do have another pack of Wyeast 1388 in the refrigerator.

Thanks in advance!

John

 

[DarkPorpoise]

This the progress since Sunday evening of my BOMM using Lallemand Abbaye dry yeast packs. Seems to be a steady performer!

I'm using an iSpindel to report gravity and I haven't got it calibrated quite right. OG was actually 1.113. The lines are pretty though.

 

[HogFather]

If I wanted to add inclusions for flavor, when would I do this? Since this mead is ready sooner, would I still add them after primary fermentation or would I do it in the beginning?

 

[Dan O]

Look at comment #49 on page 5 of this thread. Loveofrose already did it. If you want your mead tasting like beer go ahead. Otherwise Wyeast 1388 is the only yeast to use for this if you want it tasting like mead. But if you're fine with this not being a BOMM knock yourself out. Otherwise, for $6 for the Wyeast 1388, do it right. Did I say that?

Yep, you did