OK, I'm on my second ever batch of mead. The first one went swimmingly and was delicious so I started another one. Because I'm so early in my hobby, I don't have any of those fancy yeasts and just used some Fleischmann fast acting bread yeast. Since doing some research after I started, I read that bread yeast is only good for like 10% abv. I don't know what my first mead ended up as because I failed to take accurate measurements but I do know that I could feel the effects of a 16oz bottle so I would guess it at around 10%-12%. This newest one I wrote down the measurements but I'm not sure how accurate they could be because I started at 1.15 and a month later I'm at 1.013. According to online calculator that's like 18% which shouldn't be possible with bread yeast. I can definitely taste the alcohol in it a lot more than my last batch. Am I possibly reading the gravity wrong or something?
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Were your samples taken at 60F, which the hydrometer you have is rated for? If not, you need to use an online calculator to adjust for temp. But even then, it's probably only changing your gravity by a few points. How much bread yeast did you pitch? I have only a few meads under my belt myslef and from my understanding, bread yeast can get to 18%, but it's not guaranteed, but it can also produce flavors that are not wanted when pushed that high, kind of funky off-flavors. How did it taste beside the booze kick?
I used 1 tablespoon of yeast along with .5g fermaid o then another .5g on the third and fifth days. Samples were taken at 70. I didn't bother using temperature calculations because I figured as long as all readings are taken at the same temp it would be good enough. Do the readings change on a curve or is it linear? I.E. a greater difference between actual readings at different temperatures. The taste is good for an unflavored mead. A little stringent but experience from my previous batch tells me that will go away once it clears and ages for another month or so.
First, 1.150 is an outrageously high starting gravity. If that's correct then I'm surprised the yeast was able to ferment it. Most times it'll go into sugar overload (osmotic shock) and not start at all. Please give us your recipe in terms of amount of honey and water so we can validate your readings. Secondly, I have had bread yeast take a mead to 15% so 18 isn't impossible.
Yup, 1.147
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Yeah thats hefty. Honey is roughly 35 points per gallon. 1 pound of honey with enough water to make a gallon would be 1.035. Most of us go 3 pounds per gallon = 1.105. What you have to remember with mead and wine is unlike beer, they ferment to 1.000 or even a little under that, 0.995, etc. 1.105 to zero would be about 13.7%. 1.147 and you stopped at 1.013 = about 17.6%.
Fermaid is a yeast nutrient. The closest thing I can relate it to is giving your plants MiracleGro. It helps the yeast and makes fermentation stronger.
Every yeast has an alcohol tolerance. The alcohol the yeast makes kills it when it gets to a certain level. If you used bread yeast and got to 17.6% I wouldn’t expect any more out of that yeast. Its not a bad thing, the 13 points of sweetness left will probably make it taste good. I just wouldn’t try to bottle carb it or anything.
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I checked again today when I was checking my Dr Pepper wine and it's down another .001 so it's still hanging in there.
on an unrelated note - My Dr Pepper wine was finished. It went from 1.075 down to 0.997. I would like to go on record saying that warm, flat, sugarless, alcoholic Dr Pepper is exceptionally nasty.
My first mead was in 17% ABV range. It took about 2 years to be truly pleasant. I just finished the last bottle of that, it was 5 years old and was amazing.
I’ve since dropped my abv to the 12-13% range. It’s easier to manage and tastes better a lot sooner. Nothing wrong with big meads, just give it a few years before it’s flavor peaks.
Lastly, wine yeast is pretty inexpensive, compared to beer yeast. Grab a few packs of wine yeast and don’t look back!
I’ve since dropped my abv to the 12-13% range. It’s easier to manage and tastes better a lot sooner. Nothing wrong with big meads, just give it a few years before it’s flavor peaks.
Lastly, wine yeast is pretty inexpensive, compared to beer yeast. Grab a few packs of wine yeast and don’t look back!
And when you get to the point where you want to fine tune your mead for tannin or acid adjustments, lower ABV makes that much easier. Otherwise you are fighting the alcohol burn. Ryan Carlson (Squatchy) at GotMead recommends making your traditionals 11%.
I'm sure every newbie has thought to themselves "i wonder how high i can go?" when first starting out and this is my attempt at pushing the boundaries of good sense. I figure if it's too alcoholic, I can do like an 8% and mix the two. My last one was in the 12% range and i liked it so I'm thinking that's where i want to be going forward.
Mine, as well. I shoot for 1.085 to 1.090 OG.
Gravity held on 1.012 for a week so I racked it off the lees and it is beginning to clear. Tastes good once you get used to the alcohol but I won't take another one this high again. I might even dilute it with a little fruit juice to bring it down to 14% or so.
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I had a 17% that horrid. I left it aging and came back to it about 1.5years after first making it and it was an incredible traditional at that point.
Sometimes you just need time for a high ABV.
Sometimes you just need time for a high ABV.
