First Time Mead Maker

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

RPowell

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2014
Messages
96
Reaction score
16
Hey all,

Disclaimer, I read a page or two back but didn't search.

I want to start my very first mead. I've been making apple cider for over a year but I took it in my head to start a mead on the 4th of July with an eye towards drinking at christmas/new years. I want to go very simple at first. I'm afraid to go with JAOM for the first attempt - not being a mead connoisseur, I don't want to make anything complicated or too boldy flavored. That said, I was going to start a 5 gallon run, in hopes that it might make nice Christmas presents when bottled... I would welcome any advice, especially on yeast. I use saflale s-04 for my cider with good results, but I'm definitely listening. I'm aiming for a sweet mead at the end.

I have a source for local honey - filtered but unpasteurized - of various types. Any advice on which "types" (orange blossom, etc) would yield good results?

I have yeast nutrient. I'll get some energizer before pitching.

I'll stagger the nutrient additions, but I'm not real clear on when to do that. I don't have the ability to take hydrometer readings after pitching (yet?). Could I just pitch more nutrient every X days or something?

fake edit: I'll probably just do the the basic recipe from the Mead Making FAQ's

Thanks for any and all advice.
 
You really do need a hydrometer in mead making- it's for many purposes like to make sure the OG isn't too high for the mead to start as well as to avoid bottle bombs. It's a necessity, and luckily they are very cheap.

Aside from being sanitary (sanitizer is a must!) and having some tubing for siphoning, there aren't too many requirements but a properly sized vessel, some sanitizer, and a hydrometer are needs, not wants.
 
Lots of ways to make mead. You can read my article in my signature to give you a more up to date handle on things.

Lots of tried and true recipes on my site as well if you don't want to reinvent the wheel.

Come back with any specific questions you have.
 
Sorry - I didn't see a link in your signature. I would like to read the article.

I do have one question. My idea is to get a yeast that can tolerate about 8 to 10% ABV and stop, leaving a sweet mead for bottling at the end of things. Any good yeast advice?

also, i've been reading a lot about degassing mead. I never had to do this with cider. do you need to degas a lot? will stirring with a sterile spoon (long handled, of course) do?
 
Sorry - I didn't see a link in your signature. I would like to read the article.

I do have one question. My idea is to get a yeast that can tolerate about 8 to 10% ABV and stop, leaving a sweet mead for bottling at the end of things. Any good yeast advice?

also, i've been reading a lot about degassing mead. I never had to do this with cider. do you need to degas a lot? will stirring with a sterile spoon (long handled, of course) do?

I don't know of any yeasts for mead that reliably stop at 8%- most go higher. Many people wait until fermentation stops and the mead is clear, and then simply stabilize and sweeten as desired. That is a very dependable way to do it. You can target an OG of 1.065 for an ABV of 10% and then stabilize and sweeten later.

I've never degassed a mead at the end, but stirring in the beginning is also degassing, and it helps keep fermentation going. I do it for all of my wines and meads- stir for the first two or three days to allow oxygen in and c02 out. A spoon will do just fine.
 
I'm going to start with 15 lbs of honey (5 gallon batch). The recipe says this will be about 1.10 OG. Should I not add all 15lbs - reserving some for backsweetening perhaps and thus lower the OG? I don't know if I can get more than the 15 pounds of honey to start with, so I have to operate under the assumption that I get 15 lbs and no more, you know?

If I did my math right (well, used the online abv calculator correctly), an OG of 1.1 should get near 13% abv. Safale 04, an ale yeast, I know, but one I use to great effect in cider making, goes to around 11% for instance, if you work it right. The ICV-D47 in the recipe appears to go to around 14% by contrast.
 
You really do need a hydrometer in mead making- it's for many purposes like to make sure the OG isn't too high for the mead to start as well as to avoid bottle bombs. It's a necessity, and luckily they are very cheap.
Excellent advice (as usual from Yooper :) ) .....but I might add an inexpensive "want" - get 2 hydrometers. One is needed, but you'll definitely want that second one around if/when the first meets an untimely end....you know, like The Boy Scouts - "Be prepared..." ...hydrometers are fragile things, have inadvertantly broken a few over the years, but it seems if you have a backup, the first one lasts a lot longer...chance??? ...coincidence??? Who knows???....but...spending a few $$$ on a spare hydrometer is a sound invesstment, imho.
 
Excellent advice (as usual from Yooper :) ) .....but I might add an inexpensive "want" - get 2 hydrometers. One is needed, but you'll definitely want that second one around if/when the first meets an untimely end....you know, like The Boy Scouts - "Be prepared..." ...hydrometers are fragile things, have inadvertantly broken a few over the years, but it seems if you have a backup, the first one lasts a lot longer...chance??? ...coincidence??? Who knows???....but...spending a few $$$ on a spare hydrometer is a sound invesstment, imho.

I'd change that want to a need for a second hydrometer. hydrometers have a tendency to escape ones grasp at the most inopportune times. Learned from experience.
 
I actually do have a hydrometer and testing vessel, but i do not have a thief that fits into my 1 gallon carboys, so I never used it beyond taking OGs of ciders. Now, I'm going to buy a second 5 gallon carboy and, I suppose, a wine thief. I have one 5 gallon carboy now, but I never bothered taking readings with my ciders anyway... Now, given all that, I had the fear of infection and oxygenating cider pounded into me, so I was also afraid that taking a sample out to test the specific gravity and putting it back after the reading. (NEVER TAKE OFF THE AIRLOCK! OXYGEN BAD! DANGER WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!) Yes, I sanitize everything, but still... I'm gathering that this isn't quite the issue with mead as it is with cider and, perhaps, beer making.

I'm starting to warm up to using an ale yeast. I read that fermentation is faster and leads to a mead that needs a little less aging and doesn't attenuate as much as wine/champagne yeast.
 
ok, I now have everything I need to start the mead, minus some go-ferm and the honey, which I should have next week. I decided to go with the D71.
 
My wife surprised me with a cool brewing fermentation cooler! Can't wait to put it into play. July 3rd, first mead adventure!
 
So, tomorrow is pitching day. I have:

Yeast Nutrient
Yeast Energizer
Potassium Bicarb
DAP
Fermaid K
Go Ferm
10g of 71b yeast
7 gallons of water (more than i need)
15+ lbs of honey (more than I need)

Going to follow basic mead recipe in the sticky.

Pitching Day:
I'm going to re-hydrate with the Go-Ferm and 2 cups of warm water about 30 minutes before pitching

Add water and honey to carboy according to recipe
Add 1 + 1/4 tsp potassium bicarb
Add 1 + 1/4 tsp DAP and 2 + 1/2 tsp Fermaid K.*

Do I need to add the Fermax Yeast Nutrient and the BSG Yeast Energizer too? If so, I'll add 2 + 1/2 tsp of BSG Yeast Energizer and 5 tsp of Fermax Yeast Nutrient


Day 1 to 14:
De-gas daily (until 1/3 of SG)? I have a fancy de-gasser for my drill :)
take gravity daily?
add staggered nutrients at 1/3 and 2/3 sugar breaks


Post-fermentation (with questions):
Rack from primary to secondary

When can I stabilize and backsweeten?
When the mead clears, can I bottle it and let it age in bottles or should i leave it in secondary for 6 months? I'd rather bottle age after it clears in secondary, but I'm not sure if that's the way to go.



*This same amount of nutrient will be added two additional times at the 2/3 and 1/3 break points
 
Well, almost 24 hours later, fermentation is going well. My cool-brewing chamber is working - I'm still dialing in the amount of frozen 2 liters to use, but two 2liters got it down to 71 degrees, 3 brought it to 63. I'm back to two 2 liters now.

Going to degas and take a gravity at noon
 
I de-gassed and took a reading - 1.090

Temps hanging about 64 degrees right now. the cooler is working amazingly well, changing 2 liter bottles about ever 12 hours
 
degassed and took a gravity reading at 1.08. 61 degrees in the chamber.
 
Back
Top