First Mead

[bdigi66]

Alright, I'm pretty much just looking for some general feedback here. I brewed up my first mead this morning using a recipe out of Papazian's book. The only difference between his recipe and what I did was I used 15 lbs. of honey instead of the listed 17.5 lbs. His target OG is 1.126-1.130 and when I measured mine right before pitching it was at 1.300 on the dot. Any ideas as to why there is such a dramatic difference?

The only other thing I can think of that was different is I didn't boil the honey...I decided not to after reading through gotmead.com and seeing that it's not always necessary. Could this have had anything to do with the high OG?

I used Red Star Pasteur Champagne yeast if that helps any.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

 

[BigKahuna]

You didn't stir.
15 # of honey made to fill 5 gallons made right on 1.100 with my leap year mead. And the 3# per gallon rule has become my favorite mix....My guess is you got a super sweet sample.
If it hasn't been too long since you pitched...get a clean spoon and stir it good. Make sure that you aerate the best you can too.
Then post back...This has happened to me, so I feel your confusion.

 

[Lanfox]

3lbs per gallon. thats a good rule of thumb. :rockin:

 

[malkore]

3lbs per gallon. thats a good rule of thumb. :rockin:

same here. then I just use a yeast strain that will give me the desired sweetness or dryness in the finished mead.
3lbs and a 13-14% ABV yeast leaves you with a fairly sweet mead, and just bump up from there. heck with champagne yeast you could feed more honey after 2-3 weeks to get up to 20% ABV easily.

 

[bdigi66]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I stirred and aerated the hell out of the must until I was positive it was all dissolved and then I pitched. Oh well, we'll see how this goes...it's fermenting like crazy right now.

The recipe calls for primary at about 1.5 months and then secondary for about 3-6 months. I'm thinking of just following this lead and once it's in the secondary just waiting until it has cleared, or at least 6 months, until I decide to bottle it.

Thoughts?

 

[BigKahuna]

I had a new thought tonight as I was racking my SMaSH. How familiar are you with a Hydrometer? Is it possible that your 1.300 was really a 1.030? The reason I ask, is that my hydrometer doesn't go to 1.300...Not even close. I remember making this same mistake when I first started to use a caliper when using a metal lathe. I made a genuine mess...because I missed a decimal.

 

[malkore]

good point Kahuna, i noticed yesterday on my braggot, that my hydrometer stops at like 1.180

 

[bdigi66]

You know what, after looking at it more carefully you're right. It is reading 1.130 and not 1.300. I completely read it wrong and kind of feel like a jackass right now. Oh well...thanks for bringing that to my attention.

 

[FSR402]

You know what, after looking at it more carefully you're right. It is reading 1.130 and not 1.300. I completely read it wrong and kind of feel like a jackass right now. Oh well...thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Hey if this is the first time you felt like one you are doing good. I get it at least twice a day.