First mead questions

[Deathrage]

So I took a chance at doing my first mead over the weekend in preparation for serving it at my wedding in October. It was a very simple recipie from my local HBS.

15 lbs of colorado wildflower honey
All the additives (was in a pack, looked like white powder and some sort of tablet)
Wyeast 4184 sweat mead slap pack

Since this was my first mead I followed everything the recipe kit said to do. I put the honey in warm water fro a few hours to loosen things up. Boiled 1.5 gal of water, added honey (which was still crystallized for some reason), added the additives and yeast nutrient to the boil and continued with a rolling boil for 15 min while also skimming off any scum that came to the top. Then added clean cool water to bring the batch up to 5 gal. Before racking it to the primary fermenter I took a reading (hydrometer) of about 1.025. This reading seems very low to me and I feel like either the recipe was wrong because according to the HBS, that should be about where my final gravity should be.

This is my first mead and to be brutally honest didn't do all that much research before doing it putting my faith in the recipe. I'm slightly concerned because based on the few threads I looked are getting much higher readings closer to 1.100 or higher.

Did I do something wrong? Was the recipe wrong? I NEED AN ADULT!!!

 

[botigol]

Based on the amount of honey, you must not have mixed the boiled liquid with the cool water well enough. It takes a pretty solid mixing to get the honey thoroughly dissolved.

 

[botigol]

I'm afraid that you are going to lose too much time and be disappointed with this recipe since it is for your wedding...this mead won't be ready for October. Too much alcohol and not enough time to age. You should pull up the BOMM recipe and try that since your time frame is so short.

 

[Deathrage]

Sorry I'm still learning some of the lingo.... BOMM?

 

[fsr_racer]

I can't really offer any fixes for your first batch, but it does sound like the honey didn't get mixed thoroughly. Have you noticed any separation, honey sinking to the bottom?

I do agree that most meads need to age a year or more to smooth out and become enjoyable, so I second the idea of trying a quick-mead like BOMM (Bray's One Month Mead) or JAOM (Joe's Ancient Orange Mead) in the meantime.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

If you keep your ferm temp down, your mead should be ok at 6 months with some back sweetening. But you may want to do a shorter mead as a back up plan as well.

BOMM - is Bray's One Month Mead (one month to make)
JAOM is Joe's Ancient Orange Mead (2 months to make)

Also, hydromels (Meads under 10% ABV) should be great at 6 months

 

[Deathrage]

Didn't think there was going to be any fix. Was really just wondering if I was wasting my time. I'll have to look again but when I looked at the Mead this morning it looked like fermentation was just starting (I brewed on saturday) and other than it being hazy (which I guess is normal in the beginning) I didn't notice any separation, but I also wasn't looking for separation either. In your experience is 15lbs of honey enough? I made sure to keep it at a vigorous boil. I did take the reading Strait from the kettle before I aerated the mixture (not sure if since it's a Mead that it's still called a wort). Maybe I'll take another reading when I get home to make sure it's right

 

[Deathrage]

According to the HBS this kit should have been good for (with the sweet Mead yeast) 11%ABV

 

[fsr_racer]

I believe, like wine, pre-fermented mead is called "must". 15lbs in a 5gal batch is just about right.

 

[Deathrage]

Could the honey be bad? The larger of the two containers (12lbs) was nearly solidified and crystallized even after being in hot water for half an hour. I had to cut open the container and scrape out all the honey to add it to the "must"

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Crystalized honey isn't "bad". When added to warm water, it will mostly be dissolved back in, but sometimes some of it stays crystalized. It will ferment eventually though.

 

[bernardsmith]

Three pounds of honey in 5 gallons should result in a starting gravity of close to 1.120 (1 lb of honey will raise the gravity in one gallon by 40 points so 3 lbs will raise the gravity 3 *40 = 120).. A starting gravity of 1.120 means that the potential ABV = 15.5%... Not sure what the tolerance for alcohol the yeast you are using has (sweet mead yeast simply means that the yeast will die of alcohol poisoning before it can ferment dry all the sugars in the mead... but the fact that it is called a sweet mead yeast tells you zip about whether it can tolerate 2 lbs of honey in a gallon or 4 lbs... IMO, the better approach to making any sweet wine is to allow the wine to ferment dry and then stabilize that wine and then add more sweetener to make it as sweet as you and the flavors and acids, and alcohol levels prefer...
If you ferment at lower rather than higher temperatures the mead may be ready for drinking in 6 months but mead improves with age...

 

[ACbrewer]

Some thoughts.
First the 15lb as Berardsmith said will get you about 1.120 for a SG. and about 15.5%. Your original OG read was probably poorly mixed, even if the bottom didn't look like a separate sugary/syrupy layer.
Second the sweet mead yeast is a B* to work with. I've had it lag a bit on start - a week before it started really shoing a SG change. Don't be afraid to take a gravity reading and give it a stir if the gravity is above 1.060. Mead benefits from degassing (taking out the CO2).
Third - honey will recrystallize at times. If you get it good and hot it will reliquify. I've heard that both the pasteurization causes and prevents this. I've got no idea, it is in the nature of honey to do this.
Fourth sugar covers a multitude of flavor issues. By which I mean if the mead finishes sweet (1.010 or more) it will mask the boozey flavor, etc. This of this, we mix hard liquor with sugary drinks. At 15lb for 5 gallons, I suspect you will finish sweet.
Fifth - for your next mead, try not to boil it. The honey flavors - the flavors we associate with honey - are very volitale, and boil off fairly easily. It is to dry to grow bacteria, and most commercial honey is pasteurized before sale anyhow.

Let us know how you do.

 

[Deathrage]

I just got home and re-took the reading and I am now getting about 1.105. So Wince fermentation took place I'm guessing I had a SG of about 1.110 aprox. I have no clue why I got such a different reading before.

So since that mystery is solved, should I count on this mead being done around my wedding? Someone said above that a high ABV mead could be ready in 6 months. Is that true?

And since we are talking about my mead, how much honey or whatever other sugar could I use when I bottle to turn this into a sparkling mead? I know if I did a sparkling mead I would have to pasteurize the bottles in boiling water. BTW I'm not bottling in wine bottles, I'm going to use plain 12oz beer bottles so ruptured corks should not be a problem

 

[phoenixmead]

Where did you source the Colorado honey from?

 

[Deathrage]

Where did you source the Colorado honey from?

Schmidt apiaries wildflower honey, local to Colorado Springs

 

[phoenixmead]

Thank you deathrage. Always looking for more Colorado honey

 

[loveofrose]

If you want to fully understand your mead, read the article is my signature or go to my brewing website.

It is highly unlikely your mead will be ready in 6 months. It will be good, but it will likely need a year or more. A BOMM will be very good in 6 months. You can pick a tried and true recipe on my site if you wish.

Alternatively, a JAOM may be ready if you are careful not to add too much pith from the orange.

You still have plenty of time and options, so no worries!


Better brewing through science!

See my brewing site at www.denardbrewing.com

See my Current Mead Making Techniques article here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/current-mead-making-techniques.html

 

[Deathrage]

Thank you deathrage. Always looking for more Colorado honey

Are you local to Colorado Springs? I'm somewhat new to the area and would be nice to make some brew buddies.

 

[Deathrage]

If you want to fully understand your mead, read the article is my signature or go to my brewing website.

It is highly unlikely your mead will be ready in 6 months. It will be good, but it will likely need a year or more. A BOMM will be very good in 6 months. You can pick a tried and true recipe on my site if you wish.

Alternatively, a JAOM may be ready if you are careful not to add too much pith from the orange.

You still have plenty of time and options, so no worries!


Better brewing through science!

See my brewing site at www.denardbrewing.com

See my Current Mead Making Techniques article here:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/current-mead-making-techniques.html

Very interesting reading material! Already put in my favorites!

 

[phoenixmead]

Are you local to Colorado Springs? I'm somewhat new to the area and would be nice to make some brew buddies.

I'm up in republic of boulder. Hour and half or so north of you. Brew buddies are always a good thing.

 

[GreenSpyder]

I suggest you serve this batch at your wedding...in a year. If she understands, she's a keeper. If not, she may be like any of my three ex's. Good brewing lasts a lifetime, wives......not so much.

 

[mollysings21]

My fiancé and I are making a batch for our wedding as well, but it is honey from Walmart, lol. But it is not pasteurized and has been working well for us so far. We started it on the first of march and the wedding is in September. I think, when you serve it at big functions like this to people who don't know what the hell mead is, and lots of people don't, no one but you will know its not the beat age it could be yet. So relax, it sounds like its working and I hope it works out well for you. We don't rack our stuff the first time until a month has passed and then wait a couple more weeks to rack again and then see how well it clears before we decide to bottle. That's not to say that's what you should do, but maybe it helps a bit. We have been bottling our brews in label-less Newcastle bottles that we cleaned and sanitized and recapping them. As for making sparkling meads, we have bottled four brews so far and two of them were sparkling, so maybe the timeline has something to do with it. good luck and congrats on engagement.

 

[ACbrewer]

My fiancé and I are making a batch for our wedding as well, but it is honey from Walmart, lol. But it is not pasteurized and has been working well for us so far.

I suspect that the honey you used is pasteurized, unless is specifically said 'raw honey'.
But that isn't the point/problem with the mass commercial honey - in short honey can be cut with corn syrup which is cheaper. The is the exact same sugar type, but it cuts the flavors of the honey. There are also issues with possible 'Chinese' honey. I'll leave it to you to do more research. end

Congratulations on your engagement/wedding. As to 'will it be ready'. I've heard of a mead ready in 2 months. BUT the key factor was it was sweet in the end because sugar covers a multitude of flaws.

 

[Deathrage]

:



Congratulations on your engagement/wedding. As to 'will it be ready'. I've heard of a mead ready in 2 months. BUT the key factor was it was sweet in the end because sugar covers a multitude of flaws.

It seems like it won't necessarily hurt anything to bottle at 2 months. It may not be at its best, but I'm certain it will still be nice and enjoyable. I think I'm going to do must to try and give it the best chance of clearing up before bottling by racking it to secondary at 3-4 weeks, then possibly rack it again a month or two later (seems to be best practice for honey only mead if I read correctly). But I guess in the end we will see!

 

[ACbrewer]

It seems like it won't necessarily hurt anything to bottle at 2 months. It may not be at its best, but I'm certain it will still be nice and enjoyable. I think I'm going to do must to try and give it the best chance of clearing up before bottling by racking it to secondary at 3-4 weeks, then possibly rack it again a month or two later (seems to be best practice for honey only mead if I read correctly). But I guess in the end we will see!

I wasn't saying that every mead, or most meads could be done in 2 months, just that something drinkable could, but the secret/solution to get there was lots of residual sugar to cover the alcohol flavor.

I say stick to your recipe and plan. I've never made a 2 month mead