Mead First Timer - A Few Questions

[Snowden]

Hi everyone,

I am going to be attempting my first 1 gal batch of traditional dry mead soon; I am fortunate to have three coworkers who have hives that donated honey to the cause!

I have read through the FAQ sticky and information on the web and have a few follow up questions:

-D47: Lalvin's literature gives an average alcohol tolerance of 14%. I would like this batch to have little residual sugar. Do people see this level of attenuation regularly? Or, should I reduce my initial honey amount to make sure it ferments completely before pooping out?

Urea: my LHBS carries LD Carlson's yeast nutrient which lists urea as an ingredient. I want to minimize the potential for off flavors (and health issues?). Any additional thoughts on this? Not a problem for me to order some non-urea nutrient online.

Many thanks!


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[bernardsmith]

Hi Snowden, You are looking for a dry mead. OK then you want to dilute about 2.5 - 3 lbs of honey in one gallon of water. My sense is that D47 will not have any real problem with that amount of sugar (potential ABV of about 13 - 15.5% ). But I might choose a different yeast - 71B not because it is more comfortable with higher levels of alcohol but because I think it is less likely to create off flavors.

If you are anxious about fermenting a yeast slightly above the "guaranteed" level of alcohol all you do is deliberately ferment a lower amount of sugar and step feed to the amount you are looking for. In other words, let's say that you are anxious about your yeast being able to ferment 3 lbs of honey, then create a must with 2.5 lbs and after the gravity has dropped to about 1.000 add 4 oz of honey. When the mead drops to 1.000 again, add 2 oz...and repeat again (2 oz) IF (and that is a HUGE "if") the yeast will have a problem then the very worst problem will be that your mead will finish with a gravity of about 1.005 (2 oz of sugar)...

My understanding is that Carlson's nutrient is fine. At least I have never had any problem with this. Yeast needs nitrogen as well as the minerals that the nutrient provides and urea contains nitrogen). I recently made 4 batches of cyser (mead made with apple juice rather than water) and the starting gravity was above 1.120. Used 71B - good with malic acid and the gravity in all 4 batches is below 1.000. The four batches all used different varietals of honey with same batch of orchard pressed apple juice.

 

[alane1]

You might want to search the forum for SNA-staggered nutrient additions, this should answer a lot of your questions. I believe the go to nutrient for mead is DAP-diammonium phosphate and fermaid k. Good luck.

 

[SmCranf]

Stager your nutrients, and I have had great results with d47

 

[gratus fermentatio]

If you use the D-47, ferment it at the lower end of the temp range. D-47 is notorious for throwing fusels at higher temps.
Regards, GF.

 

[Snowden]

Thanks for the responses everyone; great help all around.

If you use the D-47, ferment it at the lower end of the temp range. D-47 is notorious for throwing fusels at higher temps.
Regards, GF.

Thanks for the tip. Going to be in the basement that is in the low 60s; last few batches of beer with US-05 and S-04 have been super clean. I guess winter is my sweet spot for basement fermentation!




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[Snowden]

Update for everyone and a follow up question! SNA and initial fermentation went smoothly, and transferred over into 1 gallon jug. Made sure that the headspace was almost nonexistent.

On to my question: I took a taste of the gravity sample. It was ok, tasted thin and had what I can only describe as an acidic note. Plan to forget about it for a while in secondary, but curious about how the flavor profile develops over time.

Thanks everyone!


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