First Mead In the Fermenter

[jmitchell3]

Well my first mead is in the fermenter.

The plan (at the moment) is to do a straight semi-sweet mead. 3 gallons of RO water, 11 lb of clover honey, 2 packets of D-47. OG on 4 gallons was 1.097, target FG is 1.015.

Rehydrated both packs of yeast in a GoFerm solution, and after it had a chance to settle, added about 2/3 cup of must to get it fed a bit.
Plan to added 1 minute of O2 via diffusion stone last night and pitched yeast mixture into 63F must. Ramped fermenter temp up to 65F for fermentation.

Have my nutrient schedule worked out with DAP and Fermaid K at 24, 48, 72 hours, and 1/3 sugar break (1.070 or so). Degassing once every 12 hours or so for the first week.

Might turn into a melomel depending on how I feel in a few weeks...we shall see....

Pitched last night around 10pm, degassed this morning at 8 after a 4pt drop in gravity, added another 1 minute of pure O2 at 10am today.

I'm excited!

 

[GeorgeHenry]

Seems like you have it planned well
Best of luck with your mead!

 

[SkeletorMob]

mow much did it cost you to startup the pure o2 lines to the air stones?
ive been wanting to make this setup available to me as I'm tired of shaking or stirring to make a mess. is this as simple as buying a tank and line and bleeding a small amount through the line or are you using regulators/timers? I'm a tad unfamiliar with tank setup as I have no welding exp. thanks for any help!

 

[jmitchell3]

I homebrew beer also; I use a disposable red o2 bottle from home depot with one of these: http://www.northernbrewer.com/oxygenation-kit

 

[SkeletorMob]

Awesome thanks for the tip!

 

[jmitchell3]

Well it is now day 5 approaching the 114 hour mark since pitching. Still chugging along at 64F, SG is down to 1.020. Pitched my final nutrient addition yesterday morning. Took a sample this afternoon and it is tasting nice, if a bit prickly from the co2 in solution. Ive been monitoring fermentation digitally using a Brewometer unit, so ive posted the graph of progress here also. Plan to add up to 12 lbs of mixed frozen berries in a paint strainer once primary fermentation completes. Probably let it sit on that for a week or two. Does anyone think it will hurt to leave it on the yeast that long? Probably be 3-4 weeks total (since pitching) i imagine...

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1466637858.389319.jpg

 

[SkeletorMob]

I don't think a week or two will hurt at all, I would suspect most of the yeast would still be alive rather than dead and imparting. Unless further fermentation during that time counts as harm, I believe you're in the clear!

 

[jmitchell3]

Well, pushing about 3 weeks on the mead. the D47 fermented out completely in about 8 days. Amazing! finished right at 1.000, 13.9% ABV. Added 4 lb of mixed frozen berries last week, and just added 8 more lbs of berries. Tasting really nice and beginning to clear. See attached pic!

 

[jmitchell3]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468031980.450261.jpg