Hello all.
After a first brew that I am sure is a disaster for now, 10 days into the fermentation it has been acting very erratic. I have identified many of the things I did wrong. So here is my second go.
Components:
Lalvin 71b, Blueberry blossom honey and clover honey respectively (Purchased from Honeybee Centre in Langley, BC. Good stuff!) , Go Ferm, Fermaid O, Cinnamon sticks, Cloves, Nutmeg Powder and plenty of Canadian tap water from Beautiful BC after it's been run through a Britta filter to reduce some of the chlorine and fluoride.
Step 1: Cleaning:
1.1) 140 grams of PBW into a 5 gallon bucket
1.2) 0.40 oz of star san to a 2 gallon bucket. (i will put one spray bottles worth aside for later)
Step 2: The Must:
2.1) Blueberry - Started with roughly 2lbs of honey adjusted to SG of 1.100. There is some room to add lemon peel, fresh blueberries, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg after 2-4 weeks.
2.2) Clover - Started with 2lbs of honey, adjusted to SG of 1.090. (This honey is friggin' delicious. while I like the idea of the blueberry, honey for honey, this was soo much nicer and its notes came through very strong while the blueberry blossom can be easy to confuse for regular honey)
2.3) Shake well and incorporate, aerate and oxyginate. Test SG. Add Nutrient as in Step 3.
Big Question here ... I read somewhere that every mead should have an acid compenent to it. is this true and at what point should that be added in? I would love to use lemons with the blueberry and perhaps some fresh orange juice with the clover if so. Thoughts?
Step 3: Nutrients
3.1) Fermaid-O - 0.9 grams across 4 additions (day 0, day 1, day 2 and day 4) for the blueberry blossom and 0.8 grams for the clover. These were shaken in before pitching the yeast.
Step 4: Pitching
4.1) Used Tosna calculator to understand the go ferm and fermaid amounts which I have never done before.
4.2) Added to must accordingly.
Fermentation on the clover mead started within 30 mins and was quick to kick off. The blueberry however is slower and even a few hours later is barely moving. This could be because Tosna recommended 50ml of water for the yeast and go ferm mixture for blueberry as opposed to 26 ml for clover. also, I may have added the yeast into the blueberry must when there was a 10degree temp difference so maybe they are stressed.
Anywho, lets see how it goes
@Mods, apologies, but it seems i have a duplicate account and may have posted a similar thread under that. could you please remove it as that account is set for deletion. My apologies. Thank you.
After a first brew that I am sure is a disaster for now, 10 days into the fermentation it has been acting very erratic. I have identified many of the things I did wrong. So here is my second go.
Components:
Lalvin 71b, Blueberry blossom honey and clover honey respectively (Purchased from Honeybee Centre in Langley, BC. Good stuff!) , Go Ferm, Fermaid O, Cinnamon sticks, Cloves, Nutmeg Powder and plenty of Canadian tap water from Beautiful BC after it's been run through a Britta filter to reduce some of the chlorine and fluoride.
Step 1: Cleaning:
1.1) 140 grams of PBW into a 5 gallon bucket
1.2) 0.40 oz of star san to a 2 gallon bucket. (i will put one spray bottles worth aside for later)
Step 2: The Must:
2.1) Blueberry - Started with roughly 2lbs of honey adjusted to SG of 1.100. There is some room to add lemon peel, fresh blueberries, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg after 2-4 weeks.
2.2) Clover - Started with 2lbs of honey, adjusted to SG of 1.090. (This honey is friggin' delicious. while I like the idea of the blueberry, honey for honey, this was soo much nicer and its notes came through very strong while the blueberry blossom can be easy to confuse for regular honey)
2.3) Shake well and incorporate, aerate and oxyginate. Test SG. Add Nutrient as in Step 3.
Big Question here ... I read somewhere that every mead should have an acid compenent to it. is this true and at what point should that be added in? I would love to use lemons with the blueberry and perhaps some fresh orange juice with the clover if so. Thoughts?
Step 3: Nutrients
3.1) Fermaid-O - 0.9 grams across 4 additions (day 0, day 1, day 2 and day 4) for the blueberry blossom and 0.8 grams for the clover. These were shaken in before pitching the yeast.
Step 4: Pitching
4.1) Used Tosna calculator to understand the go ferm and fermaid amounts which I have never done before.
4.2) Added to must accordingly.
Fermentation on the clover mead started within 30 mins and was quick to kick off. The blueberry however is slower and even a few hours later is barely moving. This could be because Tosna recommended 50ml of water for the yeast and go ferm mixture for blueberry as opposed to 26 ml for clover. also, I may have added the yeast into the blueberry must when there was a 10degree temp difference so maybe they are stressed.
Anywho, lets see how it goes
@Mods, apologies, but it seems i have a duplicate account and may have posted a similar thread under that. could you please remove it as that account is set for deletion. My apologies. Thank you.
