Mead some help...

[Purdaddy]

Haha, but really. If I'm posting this in the wrong area, or it has already been addressed, I apologize.
I'm looking to try out brewing some mead, and got some equipment (as well as a starter type of ingredient kit that includes all the yeast / nutrients and that good stuff). So I have that kit, a primary fermentation bucket with a stopper and spigot, and that is pretty much it. I understand the need for an airlock, so I'm either going to buy one or make a homemade one. My questions start here, what else do I need in terms of equipment? My directions mention something called a hydrometer (I beleive?), that measures the gravity of the mead. Also, as far as secondary fermentation goes, does it need to be done ina glass carboy? Or can I save money and just purchase another bucket. Just want to get these questions out of the way before I start and realize I can't go back. Thanks!

 

[daugenet]

You will need the hydrometer to tell when you have reached your final gravity.

Yes you can just use another bucket

 

[RedCabbage]

You can get away with an educated guess instead of a hydrometer (i.e. it hasn't bubbled for a while and tastes kinda alcoholic - assume it's finished) but you're running the risk that your bottles will explode.

I recommend using something transparent as you wait for it to clear because it will be tricky to judge the mead's clarity in a bucket and you'll have to keep opening it up. You can use a big plastic bottle if you're on a budget.

 

[KenSchramm]

Once the primary fermentation is done, you want to minimize exposure to air to prevent oxidation. The smaller neck of a carboy means that less of the mead is exposed to air, and the shape of the vessel insures that there is less O2 there to begin with. You'll need some racking hose and a racking cane, and then bottles, closures, and some way to crimp the caps or shove the corks in. And a little bit of patience.

And there is this book out there...

 

[lumpher]

make sure you taste mead before you use 2 years aging it. i don't like mead, so i'm not going to make any more

 

[MeadWitch]

I wish I had known back then when I first started making mead just how much patience it takes. LOL I am much better now than I use to be!

 

[Purdaddy]

I'm not in too much of a rush, I always read mead was one of the easiest things to brew (except for the time it takes). The few times I've tasted home brewed meads I was reallly a fan. I mentioned this to my girlfriend and she got me most of what I what need for my birthday last weekend, hence the bucket and whatnot but since neither of us knew exactly what to get we'll figure out the rest for Christmas. I'm excited, and hope it turns out well. Sorry again that I posted questions that have probably been asked a hundred times but y'all really did help clarify what I wanted to know. So to break it down the process is basically primary fermentation, using the hydrometer to take a starting measurement, then secondary fermentation when the fermantation seems to have slowed (but how much is the drop on the next hydrometer reading?), and transfer to the glass carboy. About how long for secondary fermentation? Followed by bottling and aging. More or less got it, right?

 

[MarsColonist]

For your kit, how many gallons is the final batch size batch, how many pounds of honey, and what kind of yeast.

Also, did you get any cleaning/sanitizing chems outside of the kit?

 

[biochemedic]

I'm not in too much of a rush, I always read mead was one of the easiest things to brew (except for the time it takes). The few times I've tasted home brewed meads I was reallly a fan. I mentioned this to my girlfriend and she got me most of what I what need for my birthday last weekend, hence the bucket and whatnot but since neither of us knew exactly what to get we'll figure out the rest for Christmas. I'm excited, and hope it turns out well. Sorry again that I posted questions that have probably been asked a hundred times but y'all really did help clarify what I wanted to know. So to break it down the process is basically primary fermentation, using the hydrometer to take a starting measurement, then secondary fermentation when the fermantation seems to have slowed (but how much is the drop on the next hydrometer reading?), and transfer to the glass carboy. About how long for secondary fermentation? Followed by bottling and aging. More or less got it, right?

If you don't have any experience with brewing, you might want to pick up a good book on basic brewing techniques...these books will concentrate on beer, but the general techniques (sanitation, racking, use of various specialty equipment such as hydrometers, etc.) are identical. Two good books would be either Papazian's The New Complete Joy of Homebrewing or Palmer's How to Brew. FWIW, I know at least Papazian is also a mazer (mead maker), and as I recall, there is some info on mead in that book, but I could be confusing myself with his other tome, The Homerewer's Companion.

Another good read, that is more mead specific, is Ken's book (that he apparently felt too humble to plug compleatly...) The Compleat Meadmaker...get it, read it, know it...

When it comes to mead-specific techniques, It think the most important is doing staggered nutrient additions -- run a couple searches on Google, this board, or any other brewing message board (such as www.brewboard.com or www.gotmead.com) and you will find lots of info. The basic idea is that honey doesn't have all the stuff yeast needs to be healthy, so you need to add nutrients at various stages of the primary fermentation to have a truly healthy fermentation...and it will really reduce the amount of time you need to age the mead before it's at it's prime. (This is not to say you don't need a fair bit of patience to be a good mazer!)

Regarding timing of transfers and bottling...mead making has taught me one important thing about brewing...let the primary do it's thing! Once the bubbling has completely stopped, let it sit for several more weeks (or even a month or two or more). The yeast will continue to clean up after themselves, and a good bit of clearing will occur even in the primary. (I've even had one mead that cleared so well I bottled it right from primary). If you use a bucket for primary, you'll probably have to transfer to know whether or not it's cleared for bottling...after a while you can get yourself a carboy or better bottle to do primary in so you can watch it more...if nothing else, watching a primary fermentation is absolutely fascinating!!!

Best of luck, and let us know how it goes!