Making mead one gallon at a time

[dnitrof]

I am new to mead making, however interested in making mead one gallon at a time. Looking for a simple recipe for a sweet (medium) mead.Thanks

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Many of the recipies shared on the forum are for one gallon. Try a JAOM. Welcome to the forum.

 

[Maylar]

Indeed, look up JAOM (Joe's Ancient Orange Mead). There are 1 and 5 gallon recipes and it's the perfect intro into meads.

http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/6885-Joe-Mattioli-s-Foolproof-Ancient-Orange-Clove-and-Cinnamon-Mead

Or Bray's One Month Mead (BOMM) here -

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=429241

 

[Iceman6409]

I'd go 3lbs honey, your choice, I use clover, water and yeast. Put the jar your honey is in in warm water. This will make it easier to pour and get more honey out of the jar. Put some room temperature water in your just or whatever you are using. Pour honey in. Put more water in to the one gallon mark. Add your yeast. Shake it up real good. Add air lock and wait awhile.

 

[dnitrof]

Thanks for the info...

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi dnitrof, and welcome....
I would suggest that you aim for a starting gravity of between 1.090 and 1.110 ( a potential ABV of between 12 and 13% ) and ferment in a food grade bucket loosely covered to allow you to add nutrient shortly after the yeast has begun to ferment the honey and a second time when the gravity drops from your starting gravity to a level that suggests half the sugar has been fermented (45 - 55 points) and a third time when the gravity has dropped by half again so that it is about 1.020 - 1.030 . If you ferment in a carboy then you will likely create a volcano of mead as the nutrient will create points of nucleation which will allow the CO2 to rush to the surface pushing up any liquid above the gas and using the neck of the carboy to rifle the liquid up towards the ceiling...
I prefer to mix my honey and the water in a blender to aerate the must.. but shaking will do the job..
You might want to use apple juice rather than water - and so make a cyser... or you might want to use grape juice rather than water and so create a pyment. You could also use any other fruit juice to replace the water - pomegranate, mango, pineapple, mixed berry - These will all boost the starting gravity so you may want to calculate the likely starting gravity (my rule of thumb is that 1 gallon of fruit juice is likely to be about 1.050 and 1 lb of honey will increase the gravity by about 1.035 to 1.040). You also need to watch the pH of the must. Honey has problems buffering pH and that means you can have huge swings in pH and if the pH drops close to 3.0 you may have a stalled fermentation. So try to keep the pH at about 3.5 - 3.8.
Yeast - Your call. I have been using 71B but have begun to experiment with US-05 (a beer yeast) and Loveofrose swears by Wyeast 1388. This is a liquid yeast in a smack pack.

 

[dnitrof]

I will be tapping my birch trees in a few weeks. What about utilizing fresh birch water for the mix?

 

[JJack887]

I've been trying to do the exact birch thing, but I'm having trouble finding black birch.

 

[dnitrof]

Are you asking about Chaga?? It is usually located on yellow birch, ( in Northern Maine) Extraction either by water (tea) or ETOH Grain or by both as a double extraction.

 

[pricelessbrewing]

I'd go with a session style BOMM. Keep the OG low for you first try, aim for 7-9%. Use staggered nutrients, and degas. The biggest issue with most newbie mazers is aiming to high for their first few trys and having to let it age for years. Nutrients+degas+lower OG = faster time to drink.

Use sorbate and back sweeten to taste.

 

[JJack887]

Are you asking about Chaga?? It is usually located on yellow birch, ( in Northern Maine) Extraction either by water (tea) or ETOH Grain or by both as a double extraction.

Nope, just sap or twig tea (or both!). But if I found chaga, I guess I'd be obligated to use it.

 

[dnitrof]

I want to make one gallon of mead, using 3.5 pounds of honey, including 8 oz. buckwheat honey. Plan on using raisins and plan on using Lalvin K1-V116 yeast.

I am not sure how to "degas", I will be using a primary fermentator (3 gallon food grade).. will use one gallon jug as secondary. Do I leave the primary container open or do I place an air lock … any suggestion??

Thanks
Dan

 

[dnitrof]

Do you use the sap in making mead??

 

[JJack887]

Never have before, but I'm determined to do it. And I install an airlock during primary.

 

[dnitrof]

What do you do to "degas"…

 

[JJack887]

After fermentation has calmed down, I just pick up the bucket and very gently swirl it around without aerating for about 30 seconds. I do that for about five days. It helps dissolve the excess CO2 that could be detrimental to the yeast.

 

[dnitrof]

OK.. is bucket covered and have an air lock on it or is the bucket open for those five days????

 

[JJack887]

Lid with air lock.

 

[dnitrof]

Thanks for the responses ….. I as understand.. once the must is put together (honey,waster, yeast, nutrients) the fermenter is covered, air lock installed, the next day you swirl it about (degas) and repeat for 4-5 days. Continue fermenting until few bubbles per minutes in air lock: perhaps 3-4 weeks?? Then rack ….

I must learn about SG of must. Any suggestions of GS base line to start?

 

[Maylar]

For standard meads, 1.100 is good. The JAOM recipe starts higher than that but finishes sweet.

 

[bernardsmith]

To degas during the fermentation you simply whip the mead with a sanitized stirring rod or a whisk. To degas before you bottle you might pull a vacuum of about 23 inches or attach a stirring rod (a paint stirrer for example) to a drill.

 

[nitack]

I'd go with a session style BOMM. Keep the OG low for you first try, aim for 7-9%. Use staggered nutrients, and degas. The biggest issue with most newbie mazers is aiming to high for their first few trys and having to let it age for years. Nutrients+degas+lower OG = faster time to drink.

Use sorbate and back sweeten to taste.

Here here!

Biggest mistake for people new to making mead is shooting for sky high ABV. You see a yeast chart, hear about "The Beast" (EC-1118), and go for 18%... THEN you learn that the higher the ABV the longer it needs to age and you'll have to wait YEARS before your first mead is going to be any good.

High ABV meads are to be made when you have a lot of mead ready to drink and you have a robust pipeline of quick and medium meads coming out.

 

[dnitrof]

Thanks to all who have responded to my request.. BOMM will be my first!!