I finally did it. Started my first batch of mead.

[BlindMike]

After years of toying with the idea of making mead, I've decided, "what the heck, 51 isn't too old to start, right?"
So I hopped online and bought a couple pieces of fermenting equipment, carboys, siphon, bottling wand, etc., and thought, Wait!!! I don't know ANYTHING about making mead. I mean, when I was little I helped grandpa make wine in his basement, but what did being in charge of putting balloons on top of gallon jugs teach me? Not much.

So I read, and I read, and I watched youtube, and I read some more....Then I found a JAOM recipe, and then I found G.M. & the H.B.T. forums.
Now, here I am after reading a mind numbing amount of information and opinions, and listening to about a dozen of the G.M. podcasts so far, with a 3 gallon Fermonster bubbling away under the kitchen table. Wondering if I've done it right.....so far. What I could do better, and what mistakes am I most likely to make next, and how to avoid them.

Here is what I have done so far. I would appreciate any comments, tips, etc. Thanks!

Malkore's JAOM (Joe’s Ancient Orange Mead) Might as well start with what is probably the mead made the most by newbies, right?
2 Gallon Batch

Ingredients:
Zest of 1 large organic Orange (Remember to wash thoroughly.)
Freshly squeezed juice of 1 large organic Orange (strained)
5lbs Honey (3lbs Costco/Kirkland Raw Organic Unfiltered/2lbs Costco/Kirkland Signature Wildflower)
2 Cinnamon sticks
2 Whole Cloves
Go-Ferm (1.25g/1g yeast)
D.A.P. (1/4tsp/gallon, then 1/2tsp/day for 3 days while aerating.
Lavalin D-47

Directions

1. Heat honey in 100F water bath for easy pouring.
2. Heat 1 gallon of filtered water to 165F in stainless steel pot..
3. Zest orange. (Be sure to thoroughly wash first.)
4. Juice orange.
5. Add honey to pot and stir till dissolved.
6. Pour strained juice into pot. Then place zest, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and pulp in a hops/grain bag and add to pot. Aallow to steep for 10 minutes, then remove from heat to cool.
7. Allow mixture to cool to below 135 degrees and transfer must to carboy.
8. Reserve 1 cup of must for rehydrating yeast.
9. Add D.A.P.
10. Top off to 2 gallons and shake carboy well. (Note to self: Ouch, shoulder, purchase wine degassing wand.)
11. Take gravity reading.
12. Rehydrate Yeast
13. When reserved must gets below 95F, combine add Go-Ferm, and stir well.
14. Wait 20 minutes before adding yeast.
15. Next add yeast pack. Wait 20 minutes before pitching.
16. Vigorously shake carboy to aerate. (See note above.)
17. Pitch yeast when

Pitched yeast on 4/11 @ 9:30PM
My original goal was for a semi-sweet with an ABV 14%.....think I was shooting too high and that it will end up closer to 12%-ish.

Batch numbers & history:
2023-04-11/21:30
2gal.s in 3gal. Fermonster with 3 piece airlock filled with StarSan
Water: Target store brand filtered water pH 7.4
5g packet Lavelin D47
7g Go-Ferm
1/2tsp D.A.P.
Starting SG “OG” 1.086 (My wife took the initial sg reading and I promptly lost the paper she wrote it on. She said it was either 1.186 or 1.086. I guessed based upon google searches. I have ordered an ispindel tilt)
Starting Brix 20 (See above....wife thinks this was either 20 or 30)
Calculated Sugar Breaks
1/3 – 1.057
2/3 – 1.028
FG – Goal 1.050-1.080 (Figuring I'll rack to secondary when sg hits 1.050 or after the bubbles stop for a few days.)

2023-04-12
03:05 - Noticed lag phase had ended and 3 piece bubbler was bubbling several times per minute.
07:30 Degas
23:00 Degas

2023-04-13
10:45 - Aerated/Degassed & Added 1/2tsp D.A.P.
21:15 – Aerated/Degassed

2023-04-14
12:47 – Aerated/Degassed

How am I doing so far....ya know, if we ignore the lost OG/Brix numbers. Maybe the cat took it. lol

 

[Rish]

Looks like you're off to a good start. You might want to look at the TOSNA 3.0 nutrient schedule using Fermaid O instead of dap next batch if it's not another JAOM. I get a mead that gets to the "drinkable" stage sooner doing this.

 

[BlindMike]

Day 7 Update.

• 2023-04-17
• 19:48 – Degassed w/wand
• SG – 1.046
• Brix – 11.5
• Tasting Note: Notes of honey, lightly sweet with slight citrus finish. Very subtle cinnamon and clove. A bit fizzy and yeastie.

I was surprised by how subtle the cinnamon and clove flavors were. I think the whole cloves were a bit old but the cinnamon was good quality. Planning on continuing to degas and rouse lees once daily throughout primary.

Updating estimated FG to 1.005-1.010 10.5% A.B.V. Now that I've found Batch Builder on meadmkr I think I'll be a little more on target next go round.

 

[DBhomebrew]

You're referencing specific gravity and Brix. With what tool are you measuring gravity? If a refractometer, are you using a refractometer calculator?

 

[BlindMike]

You're referencing specific gravity and Brix. With what tool are you measuring gravity? If a refractometer, are you using a refractometer calculator?

I purchased this hydrometer from Amazon.

 

[MightyMosin]

I was surprised by how subtle the cinnamon and clove flavors were.

That flavor can build fairly quickly when used in secondary, though I am not sure how it is in primary. Careful with the cinnamon as it takes a while to age down to a more subtle flavor if you go to far with it..

 

[BlindMike]

Broke a hydrometer today....now I know what is inside one. lol Glad I forgot I bought one and purchased a second one. ADHD at its finest.

End of week 2 we are now at SG 1.040. I kind of expected it to be a little lower than that given it went from OG - 1.086 to 1.046 at the end of week one. I was guessing it would be somewhere between 1.020 & 1.030. Am I stalled?

After degassing once per day for past week. Todays notes:
2023-04-24
19:00 – Degassed w/wand
SG - 1.040
Brix – 10.0 (converted from SG online)
Tasting Note: Still a little fizzy. Smoother orange flavor with no pithiness. Maybe a hint of cinnamon but no clove.

 

[BlindMike]

Thank you all for the help. My first mead has, so far, been a great learning experience.
BAck on 2023-04-24 I noticed that the SG had been stuck at 1.030 for 4 days. Re-pitched yeast using the following rehydration method.
1. Mixed 6g. Go-Ferm with 125ml filtered water @ 135F.
2. Allowed slurry to cool to 104F.
3. Added 5g. packet of Lavalin D47 and stirred for 15 minutes.
4. Added a couple tablespoons of must (71F) to slurry (97F) to temper.
5. Pitched yeast.
6. Lag ended about 85 minutes later, added 1tsp. D.A.P.
7. Added second tsp. D.A.P. 24 hours later.

2023-05-05
Must burned down to 0.996
Racked to secondary, very cloudy. Smells & tastes ike everything I don't like about super dry white wines. But that's okay. I'm planning on back sweetening it with honey and maybe aging in a little cinnamon/clove once it has aged a little.
This morning 2023-05-08, upper half of carboy starting to clear. Sampled from the top. Very hot, can taste the CO2, just a hint of citrus but no cinnamon or clove. Tasted some of the honey I used for this batch, then came back to my sample glass. I can definitely detect some of the notes of honey in the mead.

Going to let it sit for a few months, sampling every few weeks.

Started a 1 gallon batch of cherry mead using Trader Joes 100% Tart Cherry Juice & 3lbs wildflower honey with Lavalin 71b last night. Will be creating a post on it soon. Planning on starting a Pomegranate juice based mead in the next few weeks as well....just waiting to learn from any mistakes I make with the cherry first.