Mead brewday emergency

[Andres Falconer]

Due to a miscalculation converting honey from volume to weight I ended up with a much higher OG than I intended for my mead. My refractometer reads about 1120 after I diluted the must as much as I could. Am I still in the ballpark? The yeasts I have on hand are Red Star Premier Blanc and Premier Cuvee dry sachets. Will one pack of yeast do the job for about 20L/5.3 gallons or should I double the yeast? Which of the yeasts should I use? Both have high alcohol tolerance and ferment dry, as I like it, and Cuvee supposedly is "good to restart stuck fermentations" - is that relevant for a high gravity mead?

I plan to use one sachet of Cuvee and add another if I don't see any activity after 24h. Any other advice to make sure this batch ferments properly? Any help is welcome, as I wait for my must to cool down...

 

[Maylar]

should be OK if you use a nutrient protocol like TOSNA.

 

[Andres Falconer]

should be OK if you use a nutrient protocol like TOSNA.

Thanks! Yes, managing nutrition appropriately. Mead is bubbling up beautifully!

 

[JP_BeerFan]

Doubling (or more!) for that gravity might have been an idea, but the main thing is handling the nutrition. Maybe go a little higher on that as well.

Guess I should have asked if they were 5g packets or 11g? 1g/gal might be a bit light at higher grav... Just keep that yeast well fed, and it should be OK.

 

[Andres Falconer]

Doubling (or more!) for that gravity might have been an idea, but the main thing is handling the nutrition. Maybe go a little higher on that as well.

Guess I should have asked if they were 5g packets or 11g? 1g/gal might be a bit light at higher grav... Just keep that yeast well fed, and it should be OK.

Thanks! It seems to be going well with one 5g pack. Still bubbling away healthily on day 3. I'm adding nutrients and degassing every other day for the first week.

 

[Ty520]

With a good nutrient protocol, I think you're going to end up around 1010 FG...1005 at the very best, so in the sweet end of "dry"

 

[madscientist451]

Wine yeast is cheap, honey is expensive. I try to use 1 pack per gallon if I'm making a high ABV mead. Also its best to rehydrate with Go-ferm and don't add first nutrient addition until after 24 hrs.

 

[Andres Falconer]

Wine yeast is cheap, honey is expensive. I try to use 1 pack per gallon if I'm making a high ABV mead. Also its best to rehydrate with Go-ferm and don't add first nutrient addition until after 24 hrs.

Still bubbling away well and I'm in no hurry. Is it still worth adding another 5g pack - on day 4?

 

[Andres Falconer]

Thank you to all. I have another question... Actually, a few. If I don't get responses here I'll start a new thread

Over on the beer threads, a passionate discussion about the need (or not) to rack beer into secondary stirs up every once in a while. With some saying that with good protocols, it is completely unnecessary, at best, or even harmful, for exposing the beer to oxygen and potential infection. What about mead? Do the same arguments hold? Is there any downside to leaving the mead "on lees" for an extended period? Is racking absolutely necessary? How long does it typically stay in primary?

I have always racked after 4 weeks or more in primary. My results have always been good, though not very consistent.

 

[Ty520]

Thank you to all. I have another question... Actually, a few. If I don't get responses here I'll start a new thread

Over on the beer threads, a passionate discussion about the need (or not) to rack beer into secondary stirs up every once in a while. With some saying that with good protocols, it is completely unnecessary, at best, or even harmful, for exposing the beer to oxygen and potential infection. What about mead? Do the same arguments hold? Is there any downside to leaving the mead "on lees" for an extended period? Is racking absolutely necessary? How long does it typically stay in primary?

I have always racked after 4 weeks or more in primary. My results have always been good, though not very consistent.

at the hobby home level, racking isn't super critical, but could begin to cause unpleasant aromas and flavors with enough time; at the commercial scale, however, the quantities they produce can be so heavy that the compression of the lees can begin to cause problems much much faster.

Some are experimenting with 'Sur Lie' aging - actually leaving (some yeast in the mead for extended periods, but regularly reincorporating it to put it back into suspention to help minimize production of bad aromoas and flavors, and allowing the lees to decompose and start to release additional sugars and proteins, and thus impart new and different flavors and aromas. (note: I've haven't tried Sur Lie yet). It can impart a 'creamy' mouthfeel, however, meads i've tried that have had a bit of yeast remnants swirling about tend to have a bready, yeasty quality i did not find pleasing.

Also, the alcohol content and acid in mead also helps to protect it from infection, so I wouldn't worry about that - just keep a clean, sanitary workspace..

But if you want clear mead, racking is absolutely necessary. One option is to invest in a good conical fermenter that can allow you to dump the lees without ever opening the vessel up. (there are many on the market, so do research)

 

[JP_BeerFan]

I'm not an expert, (so far!) but in research I've done, the consensus seems to be that straight traditional mead is much less sensitive to oxidation than beers, due to hops being very easy to oxidize, for starters. Fruited Melomels, though, are another story due to fruit sensitivity to oxidizing. YMMV, depending on other ingredients. I've heard of folks leaving it on the yeast for weeks to months, without big changes, though most get it off sooner, mostly to help with the clarification process and prevent risk of stirring things up.

Slow racking while minimizing splashing seems to be pretty adequate for most folks, if you have CO2 available, flushing the receiving container should protect even more.

Let us know how it turns out!

 

[Andres Falconer]

Thank you to all who commented. My mead is still in primary, going strong after 3 weeks (bubbling away, once every 6 seconds). My hope now is that the high summer temperatures (mid 80s - I have no temperature control or AC in my current location) don’t negatively affect the character of the mead. In a couple of weeks I plan to rack into secondary in a cold cellar and forget about it for the rest of the year. Watch this space…

 

[dwhite60]

I've made a lot of mead.. I find it a lot less troubesome than beer. I'll do three rackings to clarify it. When you rack just try to eliminate as much bubbling as possible.

Something else it took me a while to learn, de-gassing is very important before bottling. Changes the flavor a lot. De-gassing also helps clarify it as a lot of particles get stuck on those suspended gas bubbles.

Primary ingredient in mead is TIME. Give it a year in the bottle before drinking it. A few years ago I went through my stock and found a lot of stuff five plus years old I decided to clear out. I was really surprised looking back on my notes of what these had turned into. Wished at the time I had saved more of them. I have an apricot melomel that has just hit a year in the bottle. It's going to get another year as I don't think it's qquite there yet.

 

[JAReeves]

I can concur with the aging statements. My first mead (a 5 gallon batch) has been in the secondary for over a year and the toothpaste flavor has finally aged out. It has nice notes of caramel and vanilla from the oak to complement the wildflower flavors. I plan to bottle it for this year's Christmas gifts. I used organic wildflower honey, D47, and the AIH mead feeding kit (~$10). Leaving it alone has been hard, but I think the reward is worth it.

 

[Andres Falconer]

I can concur with the aging statements. My first mead (a 5 gallon batch) has been in the secondary for over a year and the toothpaste flavor has finally aged out. It has nice notes of caramel and vanilla from the oak to complement the wildflower flavors. I plan to bottle it for this year's Christmas gifts. I used organic wildflower honey, D47, and the AIH mead feeding kit (~$10). Leaving it alone has been hard, but I think the reward is worth it.

I can only agree about the benefits of aging. But... I never had enough mead, nor enough patience to wait. I may have found the solution: a) making more - much more - mead than I used to, and b) storing it in my mother-in-law's excellent cellar. We don't visit very often, and she doesn't drink. I'll be looking forward to those visits now!

 

[Dan O]

I can only agree about the benefits of aging. But... I never had enough mead, nor enough patience to wait. I may have found the solution: a) making more - much more - mead than I used to, and b) storing it in my mother-in-law's excellent cellar. We don't visit very often, and she doesn't drink. I'll be looking forward to those visits now!

Sometimes, some people need a drink to see the in laws . But, that IS a good way to age it