First brew ever. I can use advice. I may have messed up.

[CanadianJesus]

So I decided to take up home brewing. I chose a traditional style mead as my first project simply because mead is so appealing to me. I did not choose to follow a specific recipe and instead opted to follow basic techniques and methods to brew my mead. The main issue I ran into following this path is that there are so many different methods out there and so many good posts that clash with other equally informative posts that I may have done things out of order.

First off I sanitized everything that came into contact with my must. Buckets, pots, utensils... First with bleach and then with potassium metabisulphite.

I brought 18L of spring water to a boil and allowed it to start cooling. My package of nutrient (which is Dibasic Ammonium Phosphate) says to "dissolve 5mL/4.5L while making up the must" so I added 20mL before adding the honey. While I deemed the water still sufficiently warm I added my honey. I added honey while the water was still warm because the honey in one of my 3Kg buckets was crystallized. So for honey, I added a total of 7Kg of local wildflower honey. I allowed the honey to completely dissolve and poured the must into my primary fermentation pail for cooling. I added just under 1tsp of Potassium Metabisulphite to sterilize my must. Instructions on the box state "FOR STERILIZING MUSTS: Dissolve 1 teaspoon into 23 litres of must prior to fermentation". So I did just that.

It took a few hours for the temperature of the must to come down to 25*C (room temp is 20*C) which is when I pitched my yeast. I think this is where I may have messed up. I used a Lalvin Wine Yeast, I forgot to note the exact strain. The instructions on the packet were extremely vague and only consisted of a little diagram which was a little hard to comprehend. I interpreted it as to heat water for 15 minutes at 40*C-43*C and add yeast when the water comes to temperature. What I ended up doing was to hold the yeast at 40*C for the whole 15 minutes. I'm not sure if I killed most of it or not. So after the 15 minutes was up I pitched the yeast into my must and gave it a gentle stir. I added the lid with the airlock and waited...

It has been 68 hours exactly since I pitched the yeast and not a single bubble or gurgle in the airlock. Holding a light to the side of my bucked I can see that the must is bubbling like a glass of soda pop. Not very vigorously but is it certainly fermenting to some degree. There is a lot of empty space in my pail. My must is at the 18L mark (I took 1L for sampling before pitching yeast) and there is about 6-8 inches of empty space. Does the CO2 need to fill this space before escaping through the airlock? Did I harm the yeast with heat and it's not fermenting properly? Do I need to add more yeast and possibly some yeast energizer?

I took a hydrometer sample before pitching yeast and SG is 1.125. The must tasted quite sweet and the taste was difficult to tell apart from straight honey (the honey I used is delicious BTW. Local stuff, very high quality).

Sorry for the long winded post but I'm pretty worried about my mead here and I tried to exclude nothing as to how I made it.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi CanadianJesus,
My experience with the wine yeasts I use is that they do not need to be rehydrated before you add (pitch) the yeast to the must.
Unless you have unsanitary water there is no need in the 21st century to heat or boil water for mead making. The one exception may be when you are adding spices or herbs or grains that require boiling to make a tea that you will then use to dilute the honey. To make honey more viscous you simply place the unopened container in a pan of hot water (off the heat) and allow the honey to warm.
The only valid way to determine whether fermentation is taking place is to measure the gravity. A drop in gravity between the time you pitched the yeast and the time you take another gravity reading means that fermentation is active. No change in gravity means that there is no fermentation. Mead ain't beer and it is possible that fermentation can take place with no bubbles visible. And yes, the CO2 will need to fill all the space between the surface of the liquid and the liquid in your airlock before it will develop enough pressure to force its way through either the airlock or through any spaces between the bung and the carboy mouth or the airlock and the bung... An airlock that is not burping means zip unless you are absolutely certain that the only place for CO2 to escape is through the airlock... Your hydrometer is the instrument you need to determine fermentation activity.
I would recommend that you read published books on mead making rather than self published posts about mead making. In my opinion, most posts about wine or mead making - certainly the vast majority self published on Youtube, show the ignorance of the poster rather than their knowledge of winemaking.
Last point. I would avoid the use of chlorine bleach. Indeed, if you are thinking about using corks then bleach and corks is a disaster waiting to happen as you can create a chemical known as TCA that will contaminate your mead room and which you will not easily be able to remove. The preferred sanitizer for mead and wine making is K-meta . It sanitizes tools and containers by killing mold, yeast and bacteria with SO2 (sulfur dioxide). At lesser concentrations you can add K-meta to inhibit oxidation and kill wild yeast in the fermentables - but you then need to allow the K-meta to evaporate from the must for 24 hours before you pitch the yeast.
Good luck

 

[CanadianJesus]

Thanks for all the clarifications. I do have plans of picking up The Compleat Meadmaker during my next trip to the book store.

I added my Kmeta only about 4 hours before pitching yeast. About how much would one expect gravity to drop after four days fermentation? I'm thinking that I killed most of my yeast with my Kmeta and am seriously considering pitching more. I will be at my local wine shop tomorrow to pick up a few small carboys anyways.

As of right now I'm not sure as of what to do. I'm going to take a hydrometer reading first off. I don't know if I should wait it out and take multiple readings over the next few weeks or should I take action? If I take action, would adding another half packet to a packet of yeast help or hurt things?

 

[CanadianJesus]

I just took a hydrometer reading. My gravity reads at 1.099 approximately right now. It's fermenting, how well, IDK. The smell is pretty boozy right now, mild chemical-esque undertones but I'm sure that's normal for so early in.

 

[CanadianJesus]

I added my K-meta only 4 hours prior to pitching yeast. I'm afraid I killed off most of my yeast population and my mead will not ferment as well as it should.

I'm considering taking action by pitching an additional half packet to full packet of yeast and re-hydrating it properly this time. I'm going to see if my local wine supply shop sells Fermaid K, from what I read it seems that that is what I need. If I can't buy local I'll have to order online.

There is not the slightest movement in my airlock. I sealed the bung with hot glue after I cut the hole in the lid. I don't have the steadiest hand. If gasses are escaping it's through where the lid clips onto the bucket. I'm seriously thinking of racking to a carboy for the rest of the primary fermentation. In a carboy there is only one place for air to escape.

 

[seabrew8]

I second that, i just sprinkle in wine yeast. I like the KISS principle. Maybe when i get used to brewing again i might try re-hrydrating or using a starter but its an unnecessary step early in the game IMO.

 

[seabrew8]

I just took a hydrometer reading. My gravity reads at 1.099 approximately right now. It's fermenting, how well, IDK. The smell is pretty boozy right now, mild chemical-esque undertones but I'm sure that's normal for so early in.

Just check the gravity again in 24-48 hours or so, you should have a better idea then if you need to add yeast. If you do have to add yeast it should all workout fine. I know its easy to think you messed everything up, i'm basically in the same boat - i just started brewing again after 3-4 years. After a few successful brews you will grow in confidence so to speak.

Make sure you have the lid on tight also, many newbies don't have a good seal.

 

[SerifSansSerif]

I know everyone says sanitize, sanitize, sanitize.....


BUUUUUUT....

I believe there's such a thing as oversanitizing as well.

Plain Boiling water works to sanitize as well as simply making sure everything is cleaned very well.

It's also important to remember you're playing with microbes, so what may kill the things you want to kill, it may also kill your yeast as well. (and for some, they want wild yeasts brew the yeast for them).

Rather than using too much sanitizer, just clean things really well, and let them dry completely before use.

 

[seabrew8]

I know everyone says sanitize, sanitize, sanitize.....


BUUUUUUT....

I believe there's such a thing as oversanitizing as well.

Plain Boiling water works to sanitize as well as simply making sure everything is cleaned very well.

It's also important to remember you're playing with microbes, so what may kill the things you want to kill, it may also kill your yeast as well. (and for some, they want wild yeasts brew the yeast for them).

Rather than using too much sanitizer, just clean things really well, and let them dry completely before use.

I agree. All this sanitize thing is like someone with OCD. I do of course santize/clean i use a little bit of bleach water.

 

[Redlantern]

"There is not the slightest movement in my airlock. I sealed the bung with hot glue after I cut the hole in the lid. I don't have the steadiest hand. If gasses are escaping it's through where the lid clips onto the bucket. I'm seriously thinking of racking to a carboy for the rest of the primary fermentation. In a carboy there is only one place for air to escape".[/QUOTE]

My first attempt at beer making involved a used plastic fermentation bucket. No airlock activity at first. Pressed on the lid and it did show activity in the airlock. Found out the lid was leaking, not a lot, but enough to where the CO2 got out there instead of the airlock. Used weather stripping tape around the lid and there they were - bubbles.

 

[bernardsmith]

Bubbles are irrelevant (look at the Mr Beer fermenting "barrels"). A drop in gravity is the only thing that counts... and CanadianJesus you DO know how well your mead is progressing if you know either the starting gravity or the amount of honey you mixed per gallon of liquid and you know that n days later the gravity was 1.099 then you can see the rate at which the yeast is converting sugar to alcohol.

 

[Redlantern]

Bubbles are irrelevant (look at the Mr Beer fermenting "barrels"). A drop in gravity is the only thing that counts... and CanadianJesus you DO know how well your mead is progressing if you know either the starting gravity or the amount of honey you mixed per gallon of liquid and you know that n days later the gravity was 1.099 then you can see the rate at which the yeast is converting sugar to alcohol.

But the bubbles are part of the fun! :fro:

 

[bernardsmith]

But the bubbles are part of the fun! :fro:

Absolutely.... and who doesn't like to listen to the music those bubbles make ... but their presence or their absence tells you nothing about what is really going on in the liquid. Bubbles may indicate outgassing and not that fermentation is continuing and a lack of bubbles may simply point to the fact that there are poor seals between glass and bung or between rubber gasket and airlock

 

[CanadianJesus]

Update: I took a gravity reading of 1.082 on Tuesday night. Fermentation appears to be progressing at a fairly steady rate. I pitched my LBS version of FermaidK. In doing so I identified two potential leaks, one of them confirmed, so I addressed those.

My hydrometer and my nose tell me things are good at this point. I'm waiting and seeing if my fixes work; I want to hear those darn bubbles!

 

[HB_in_Subic]

If you do a daily degassing/oxygenating it will help the yeast go thru the sugars quickly. Sometimes it will be at 1.0 as fast as 7 days. Read thru this https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=429241 I use this method for my meads and have had great success with it.

Try using a mallet to seal the lid tighter and put something heavy on the lid. I put a couple bags of DME on the lid to keep it from bowing.

 

[CanadianJesus]

Ok, thanks for the great posts everyone. My mead had seemed to stabilize at 1.022 SG after only 15 days so I went ahead and racked it. I don't think I'll be using the same yeast for my next batch. The color went from a fairly dark golden brown to quite the pale yellow and I fear my Lalvin 1118 nearly obliterated all the delicious floral taste and aroma that I appreciate my local honey for. It's already a very strong drink, the alcohol is by far the dominant taste as of right now.

That being said my mead is infected. I had tried twice before to scoop out the white substance and ditch it and twice it returned after only about three or so days. I don't use one of those fancy phones that can take high res photos so I don't have a picture to post right this second. I'll try and get one posted soon though. It's not a huge infection, it's just a little corner of the carboy and there is no 'infected taste' to my mead whatsoever.

My question is do I dump it or is there a way I can possibly fix it maybe? I'm going to try to start a new batch next week. I plan on going to the farm and trying to get hopefully 10-15Kg of honey whilst I'm out doing my Christmas shopping. I've already decided I love this hobby and a first attempt failure cannot deter me.

 

[HB_in_Subic]

Lalvin 1118 will definitely obliterate a lot of florals. You can easily end up at a gravity of 0.990. Maybe D47 for the next batch which seems to be a favorite among mazers? I have been mainly using Belgian Ale Yeast for mine (Lallemand Dry Abbaye Belgian Yeast and Mangrove Jack's M27 Belgian Ale Yeast). Both of these yeasts have finished at around 1.00-1.004) and tasted great without back sweetening.

I am not sure if there is anything that you can do to fight the infection. Maybe hope that it turns into a drinkable sour? Hopefully someone can pipe up with a viable solution for that.

 

[Vex3521]

I'd check different yeasts as well. I just used lalvin 1122 with a cyser that's holding pretty well and not really altering the notes it started with and I know this one is totally not going to need back sweetening! I have had luck also with ale/Belgian yeasts like HB_in_Subic has in using wyeast 1388 on a metheglin that has OB honey.

If it's a small area and there's no infected notes (i.e. metallic, sulfur) I'd keep skimming it off.

 

[CanadianJesus]

So after 6 months I sampled my mead again tonight. I added 1/4 tsp potassium metabisulphite and will add 2 tsp potassium sorbate on sunday or monday when I'm ready to bottle it up. I'm not sure if the sorbate is even really needed.

The gravity is .998, the same as it was when I last racked in February for aging. Obviously it tastes dry, but it's definitely mead as in you can tell that it's made of honey and water. It smells a little like white wine. It's not infected, but there is a very slight sour taste to it, maybe it needs acids added. I have no real way of knowing the abv because I added must halfway through fermentation, not just more honey so that I would have enough to completely fill a carboy. Man I could have planned it better.

Considering this is my first 'brew' ever, I think it is a success. Perfectly drinkable even after 'only' 6 months. I may not have messed up after all. My next batches will be BOMMs, one I will drink after a month, and the other one or two will be aged for a few months.

 

[SkeletorMob]

I'd like to say congrats!! I'm behind you by 4 or so months with my first batches, @ 50 days. I am having a lot of fun doing it! I too have made quite a few mistakes and love learning from them! I wish you best of brew!!

 

[nitack]

If your Gravity is at 0.998 and you don't plan to backsweeten then there is no need for the sulfate and sorbate. That is only to prevent restarting fermentation if there are consumable sugars in the mead. Although there is nothing harmed by adding them, why add them if it doesn't serve a purpose?

 

[CanadianJesus]

I really should have back sweetened, but I'm not even sure if I can get honey from the local farms yet at this time of year. I only saw my first honey bee of the year Saturday when I was BBQing in the back yard.

I bottled it all up tonight. 28 full bottles in the basement. I got to drink one tonight, and at the end of the bottle, I think my mead is pretty bland and ever so slightly yeasty tasting. Next time will be a BOMM for sure, that recipe looks very well thought through and tried and tested. I look forward to having a batch aged for 6 months and ready by Christmas.

Thanks for the help guys, this forum is awesome. I have learned so, so much in the time I have been reading. Super stoked for my next batch of mead.

BTW, the rice wine thread is great. I've had some stellar results with that. My last batch I think was infected with lacto, but when it turns out good, I enjoy it more than the mead I just bottled.

 

[nitack]

Flavors change over time and the honey flavor shines through the longer it ages. I had some meads that I was really unhappy with because they were bland. Threw them in the back of a closet and forgot about them for two years. Opened a bottle a month ago and it was great.

Mead making is not a good hobby for the impatient.

 

[fuelish]

Mead making is not a good hobby for the impatient.

^^^ This ^^^

 

[CanadianJesus]

Update. My first batch was definitely not a failure like I had thought. 1 year after bottling and 1 and a half years after starting it, it's more than drinkable, it's enjoyable.

My buddy tried some and actually offered me money for a bottle. Flattered, I had to decline because I don't sell alcohol. I will however, gift him a bottle.