First mead-Questions

[Rednekkid]

Hey guys,

I started a Mead about a week ago as kind of an experiment and to use up some old honey that was laying around.

I skipped secondary and racked it right into bottles today and it seemed very thick and syrupy almost had a slippery feel to it, As far as ingredients go i've used:

1 gallon of water

1 pound (roughly) of clover honey

1 tsp of Bakers yeast

and about 4 tbsp of white sugar

I was just wondering if this syrupiness/thickness is normal at this stage?

I plan to let it sit for a few months to see if things improve.

Opinons welcome

 

[TimothyChurch]

With a normal dry mead you have about 2.5 lbs of honey per gallon of water. With only 1 lb of honey the APV should be rather low. For it to be thick and syrupy normally means that the SG is still high. Did the batch show signs of fermentation? Sometimes with bakers yeast you can have a dead batch or it might have a slower ferment rate. If it still is fermenting you might want to be careful with those bottles. It would be best to invest in a hydrometer that way you can tell how far the fermentation is along and calculate your APV.

 

[Rednekkid]

With a normal dry mead you have about 2.5 lbs of honey per gallon of water. With only 1 lb of honey the APV should be rather low. For it to be thick and syrupy normally means that the SG is still high. Did the batch show signs of fermentation? Sometimes with bakers yeast you can have a dead batch or it might have a slower ferment rate. If it still is fermenting you might want to be careful with those bottles. It would be best to invest in a hydrometer that way you can tell how far the fermentation is along and calculate your APV.

I just tested a sample with a hydrometer and it showed 1.050 SG, I dont know if that reading is accurate due to the thickness of the mead?

 

[Insomniac]

Sounds like it hasn't fermented at all, at least the gotmead calculator only gives you an OG of 1.04 or so, but I guess your volume and honey weren't exact. I would get it back out of the bottles into the fermentor and pitch some new yeast and idealy some nutrients to help them along. If your original yeast starts up in the bottles at that gravity you'll either get popped corks or bottle bombs.

A gravity reading is effectivley a measure of "thinkness", it just happens that with brewing its the sugars that make it thick. I imagine the reading is accurate enough.

 

[Rednekkid]

Sounds like it hasn't fermented at all, at least the gotmead calculator only gives you an OG of 1.04 or so, but I guess your volume and honey weren't exact. I would get it back out of the bottles into the fermentor and pitch some new yeast and idealy some nutrients to help them along. If your original yeast starts up in the bottles at that gravity you'll either get popped corks or bottle bombs.

A gravity reading is effectivley a measure of "thinkness", it just happens that with brewing its the sugars that make it thick. I imagine the reading is accurate enough.

Alright thanks for the heads up, I think im just going to toss this batch and start fresh.

I found a recipe on here that I really would like to try

 

[Insomniac]

I wouldn't throw it out, it's all a learning experience and finding out whats gone wrong and fixing it will help make sure you dont make the same mistakes again. That said personally I would get another fermentor and do both at the same time...

 

[Rednekkid]

I might just do that! :rockin: