Mead - the homebrew thread

[Beerontwowheels]

axeman9182 = mind posting your recipe for the traditional that placed in NY regionals? Actually going to mix up my maplefoam honey into a traditional over the next few weeks. Interested in your starting/ending gravity and honey:water ratios.

Thinking 18lbs of honey, 3.75 gallons of water. Want an OG of 1.124 or so. I think that checks out.

 

[axeman91821]

axeman9182 = mind posting your recipe for the traditional that placed in NY regionals? Actually going to mix up my maplefoam honey into a traditional over the next few weeks. Interested in your starting/ending gravity and honey:water ratios.

Thinking 18lbs of honey, 3.75 gallons of water. Want an OG of 1.124 or so. I think that checks out.

I made a 3 gallon batch with 11lbs of orange blossom honey. Don't know how much water I added, just that it brought the total volume of the must to 3 gallons. OG was 1.132 and it finished somewhere in the low 1.040s. I used 71b and basically followed Sergio's instructions on meadmaderight.com as closely as possible as far as yeast prep and nutrient regimen, and degassed twice a day for the first week. I've been cutting all my competition entry bottles with just a splash of water before submitting them.

 

[doobiegoobie]

Made a 6 gallon batch of a strawberry & peach mead with all local ingredients yesterday. I almost went with CostCo clover honey but decided to keep it as local as possible, so ended up spending a little extra. ~20# strawberries, ~15# peaches, 17.5# cotton honey. OG around 1.128, and hoping for it to finish with ~20 gravity points after fermenting. I used 20g 71B rehydrated with GoFerm, and hit it a couple of times with 30 sec of O2 last night, and might do that again this morning. I'll start the Fermaid O additions tonight. Been a while since I've made a mead so I'm exited for this one.

 

[RLD]

CurrantC concentrate came in today. Thinking about mixing up a 3 gallon batch. I remember mjohnson17 said he used about 11-12oz per gallon. Really not sure on the amount of honey I should use because this stuff is super tart. I'm thinking I'll use around 4.25-4.50lbs of honey per gallon. Also picked up a 60lb pail of raw Orange Blossom honey last week for $180. Excited to see how much better mead this produces over the mediocre Dutch Gold honey I was using.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

CurrantC concentrate came in today. Thinking about mixing up a 3 gallon batch. I remember mjohnson17 said he used about 11-12oz per gallon. Really not sure on the amount of honey I should use because this stuff is super tart. I'm thinking I'll use around 4.25-4.50lbs of honey per gallon. Also picked up a 60lb pail of raw Orange Blossom honey last week for $180. Excited to see how much better mead this produces over the mediocre Dutch Gold honey I was using.

I used 64 ounces of CurrantC concentrate along with 18lbs orange blossom in a 5 gallon batch. Turned out great.

 

[Jb123]

I used 64 ounces of CurrantC concentrate along with 18lbs orange blossom in a 5 gallon batch. Turned out great.

True story !

 

[abawol01]

Paging bigk84

 

[kscaldef]

So, I've got a few batches under my belt, and a question that I can't seem to find discussed anywhere. When I condition my meads before bottling, in addition to the lees dropping to the bottom in a distinct layer, I've also developed a second layer above that of cloudier liquid. When I transfer off the lees, I've isolated and tasted that liquid and it's much sweeter than the rest of the mead, as if some of the unfermented honey is coming out of solution and settling at the bottom.

As I've said, I've looked in book and various forums and can't seem to find discussion of this phenomenon. Is this something that other people experience as well? Is there a trick to keeping all the sugar in solution?

 

[RLD]

I noticed I sometimes get some layering in my bottles. Seems to happen more with my melomels. Half inch or so on the bottom of a 750ml bottle ends up being turbid and more sweet. I was taking a look at my B4 black agnes bottle the other day and it also had a similar turbid layer on the bottom. Not sure exactly what causes this. Maybe it's the fruit?

 

[RLD]

This is the b4 agnes bottle I described above. My black currant mead has an identical layer. Maybe just not quite as much.

 

[kscaldef]

Interesting. I generally keep my schramms bottles horizontal, so it's probably hard to notice any layering, but I'll have to look closely at some of them. That said, I've seen this layering in the carboys of my traditionals as well as melomels.

 

[mjohnson171]

CurrantC concentrate came in today. Thinking about mixing up a 3 gallon batch. I remember mjohnson17 said he used about 11-12oz per gallon. Really not sure on the amount of honey I should use because this stuff is super tart. I'm thinking I'll use around 4.25-4.50lbs of honey per gallon. Also picked up a 60lb pail of raw Orange Blossom honey last week for $180. Excited to see how much better mead this produces over the mediocre Dutch Gold honey I was using.

Depends on where you want your end product to end up. The concentrated currants are super tart. If you're looking for a sweeter taste you definitely want to use a LOT of honey (or backsweeten, which I'm personally not a fan of). The currants are going to dry out your mead even more than letting it ferment completely. I think I used about 5# per gallon of honey. I also suggest Orange Blossom since it has more of a sweeter citrus taste. It will help balance with the currants.

 

[mjohnson171]

So, I've got a few batches under my belt, and a question that I can't seem to find discussed anywhere. When I condition my meads before bottling, in addition to the lees dropping to the bottom in a distinct layer, I've also developed a second layer above that of cloudier liquid. When I transfer off the lees, I've isolated and tasted that liquid and it's much sweeter than the rest of the mead, as if some of the unfermented honey is coming out of solution and settling at the bottom.

As I've said, I've looked in book and various forums and can't seem to find discussion of this phenomenon. Is this something that other people experience as well? Is there a trick to keeping all the sugar in solution?

Is what you're seeing exactly like what RLD showed in his Black Agnes bottle? If you're making melomels with fruit more than likely its fruit particulates. That will drop out over time, week, or months. You can drink/bottle it, but it doesn't make for the best product. I sometimes bottle one or two for an R&D bottle, but other times I'll bottle a 5 gal batch up to the point that I hit that sludge. Then transfer that sludge to a smaller carboy, like a gallon, and let it sit for a few months. Often times more particles will drop out of suspension and you can get another few clean bottles out of it with some patients.

 

[brokensail1]

I've been looking into making mead for a couple months and skimming through this thread as I used to homebrew but I got rid of almost all of my equipment as there isn't really a good place to keep or use it in my current apartment situation. Mead, however, I think I can manage as I really just need a couple small buckets and jugs (plan on making 1 - 2 gallon batches).

I'm still debating what I actually want to make, and I am leaning toward something relatively high gravity and on the sweeter side. Maybe along the lines of a Trójniak, but I'm having a bit of a hard time figuring out my yeast strain. Getting a lot of conflicting or just seemingly bad information with searches. Has anyone here tried to brew a traditional Polish-style mead?

 

[mjohnson171]

Did a few mead things this weekend.

Bottled a little batch of bi-floral traditional

Transferred a blueberry melomel (handpicked wild blueberries) to secondary.

Started primary on a strawberry (berries from my garden).

 

[buzzword]

Did a few mead things this weekend.

Bottled a little batch of bi-floral traditional

Transferred a blueberry melomel (handpicked wild blueberries) to secondary.

Started primary on a strawberry (berries from my garden).

iso

 

[RLD]

Have 8 gallons of black currant mead fermenting. In the Vintner's bucket is a mixture of Vintner's Harvest black currants, currantc concentrate and raw orange blossom honey. Fermenting with 75% 71b yeast and 25% d-47. The single gallon carboys are currantc concentrate, raw orange blossom honey, and 100% 71b yeast.

Got some goodies in the mail yesterday too.

 

[mjohnson171]

Have 8 gallons of black currant mead fermenting. In the Vintner's bucket is a mixture of Vintner's Harvest black currants, currantc concentrate and raw orange blossom honey. Fermenting with 75% 71b yeast and 25% d-47. The single gallon carboys are currantc concentrate, raw orange blossom honey, and 100% 71b yeast.

Got some goodies in the mail yesterday too.

Blending D47 and 71B is my favorite yeast combo.

 

[axeman91821]

Planning on doing a mango short mead this weekend and hopefully kegging it in two weeks.

 

[jvanaus]

After reading through this thread over the last few days, I got bit by the mead bug. Made two traditional batches today, but might turn one into a Metheglin if I can find a decent source of vanilla and/or cinnamon.

Glass carboy:

4 lbs clover (costco)
Added water to fill to 1 gal
DAP and Fermaid K additions at pitch
3 gram Safale US-05 (re-hydrated with Go Ferm)
2.5 gram Lalvin 71B (re-hydrated with Go Ferm)
OG: 1.145
Planning nutrient additions at 48 and 72 hrs.

Bucket:

3 lbs Arizona wildflower
1 lb clover (costco)
Added water to fill to 1 gal
DAP and Fermaid K additions at pitch
3 gram Safale US-05 (re-hydrated with Go Ferm)
2.5 gram Lalvin 71B (re-hydrated with Go Ferm)
OG: 1.141
Planning nutrient additions at 48 and 72 hrs.

Diff in OG is likely due to water additions. Thinking I under-filled the glass and overfilled the bucket.

In any case, I still have 4 lbs of clover from Costco, so I'm thinking of doing a cyser tomorrow if I can find some decent cider. Cheers everyone!

 

[axeman91821]

Anybody have recommendations for a target FG for a short mead? I mixed up four gallons of mango short mead with an OG of 1.060 and I'm assuming it'll ferment all the way out. Planned on then backsweetening and kegging it.

 

[jvanaus]

Moved my initial two batches to secondary today and the differences between the two were pretty surprising.

Batch 1: primary in a 2 gallon bucket
One lb clover (costco)
Three lbs Arizona wildflower (amazon)
Mixture of 71b (2.5g) and Safale 05 (3g) both rehydrated
1 tsp DAP at pitch
1/2 tsp Ferm K at pitch
OG: 1.141
G at secondary: 1.041
Estimated ABV: 13.13

Batch 2: primary in a 1 gallon glass jug
Three lbs 11 oz clover (costco) - basically whatever was left over from the first batch's one lb
Mixture of 71b (2.5g) and Safale 05 (3g) both rehydrated
1 tsp DAP at pitch
1/2 tsp Ferm K at pitch
OG: 1.145
G at secondary: 1.06
Estimated ABV: 11.16

Both fermented for 15 days in primary essentially using the same yeast and nutrients, degassed on the same schedule, but one ended up with a higher gravity in second reading than the other. I should have taken more gravity readings, and will need to take a few more to ensure fermentation is complete before bottling, but I find it strange that one batch is a full 2% higher. Could be the quality of honey or maybe the bucket provided a better environment - or pretty much anything else...

Interested to see how they both turn out and if this is my FG (doubt it) then it's very odd to me. I like sweet meads, so it should be a fine first try.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Moved my initial two batches to secondary today and the differences between the two were pretty surprising.

Batch 1: primary in a 2 gallon bucket
One lb clover (costco)
Three lbs Arizona wildflower (amazon)
Mixture of 71b (2.5g) and Safale 05 (3g) both rehydrated
1 tsp DAP at pitch
1/2 tsp Ferm K at pitch
OG: 1.141
G at secondary: 1.041
Estimated ABV: 13.13

Batch 2: primary in a 1 gallon glass jug
Three lbs 11 oz clover (costco) - basically whatever was left over from the first batch's one lb
Mixture of 71b (2.5g) and Safale 05 (3g) both rehydrated
1 tsp DAP at pitch
1/2 tsp Ferm K at pitch
OG: 1.145
G at secondary: 1.06
Estimated ABV: 11.16

Both fermented for 15 days in primary essentially using the same yeast and nutrients, degassed on the same schedule, but one ended up with a higher gravity in second reading than the other. I should have taken more gravity readings, and will need to take a few more to ensure fermentation is complete before bottling, but I find it strange that one batch is a full 2% higher. Could be the quality of honey or maybe the bucket provided a better environment - or pretty much anything else...

Interested to see how they both turn out and if this is my FG (doubt it) then it's very odd to me. I like sweet meads, so it should be a fine first try.

Did these have equal amounts of water added? Interesting that B1 had about 5 more ounces of honey but a lesser OG than B2.

I probably would have left these in primary a bit longer to clear/settle. 15 days seems a pretty short time. A month is more standard for me.

 

[mjohnson171]

Moved my initial two batches to secondary today and the differences between the two were pretty surprising.

Batch 1: primary in a 2 gallon bucket
One lb clover (costco)
Three lbs Arizona wildflower (amazon)
Mixture of 71b (2.5g) and Safale 05 (3g) both rehydrated
1 tsp DAP at pitch
1/2 tsp Ferm K at pitch
OG: 1.141
G at secondary: 1.041
Estimated ABV: 13.13

Batch 2: primary in a 1 gallon glass jug
Three lbs 11 oz clover (costco) - basically whatever was left over from the first batch's one lb
Mixture of 71b (2.5g) and Safale 05 (3g) both rehydrated
1 tsp DAP at pitch
1/2 tsp Ferm K at pitch
OG: 1.145
G at secondary: 1.06
Estimated ABV: 11.16

Both fermented for 15 days in primary essentially using the same yeast and nutrients, degassed on the same schedule, but one ended up with a higher gravity in second reading than the other. I should have taken more gravity readings, and will need to take a few more to ensure fermentation is complete before bottling, but I find it strange that one batch is a full 2% higher. Could be the quality of honey or maybe the bucket provided a better environment - or pretty much anything else...

Interested to see how they both turn out and if this is my FG (doubt it) then it's very odd to me. I like sweet meads, so it should be a fine first try.

How much water did you add to both? I assume total volume on Batch 2 was 1 gal since it was a 1gal jug, but Batch 1 would have been up to 2 gallons. Sounds like with OGs so close together the volume was probably similar, but not exact.
That would probably account for the majority of your difference. The other could be difference in fermentation, even though it was the same yeast and nutrient schedule, every fermentation is slightly different.

 

[jvanaus]

Did these have equal amounts of water added? Interesting that B1 had about 5 more ounces of honey but a lesser OG than B2.

I probably would have left these in primary a bit longer to clear/settle. 15 days seems a pretty short time. A month is more standard for me.

How much water did you add to both? I assume total volume on Batch 2 was 1 gal since it was a 1gal jug, but Batch 1 would have been up to 2 gallons. Sounds like with OGs so close together the volume was probably similar, but not exact.
That would probably account for the majority of your difference. The other could be difference in fermentation, even though it was the same yeast and nutrient schedule, every fermentation is slightly different.

Both were one gallon batches, adding water to the honey until it hit the one gallon mark. Given there was less honey in my glass jar, there was probably slightly more water in the jug. I did make a "one gallon" mark on the plastic bucket, which is probably not as precise as I think it is, but it's close enough for me.

The mead is very cloudy at this point, and I did see some signs of fermentation when I racked to secondary, so I probably should have waited a few more days, as Beerontwowheels commented. I was reading about off flavors when the mead sits on the yeast cake for too long, so I got worried. Obviously, wanting to avoid that if possible but having it sit an extra two weeks probably wouldn't hurt anything.

I'm planning on taking another gravity reading in about a week, and then re-rack if necessary to get a secondary yeast cake gone. Then I'll bulk age until clear, which I'm assuming will take roughly six months.

Thanks for the comments - looking forward to trying these in a few months. Probably going to put together a cyser this weekend with some honey I found at a farmer's market in Kenosha - apple blossom based, so I'm pretty excited about this one.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Both were one gallon batches, adding water to the honey until it hit the one gallon mark. Given there was less honey in my glass jar, there was probably slightly more water in the jug. I did make a "one gallon" mark on the plastic bucket, which is probably not as precise as I think it is, but it's close enough for me.

The mead is very cloudy at this point, and I did see some signs of fermentation when I racked to secondary, so I probably should have waited a few more days, as Beerontwowheels commented. I was reading about off flavors when the mead sits on the yeast cake for too long, so I got worried. Obviously, wanting to avoid that if possible but having it sit an extra two weeks probably wouldn't hurt anything.

I'm planning on taking another gravity reading in about a week, and then re-rack if necessary to get a secondary yeast cake gone. Then I'll bulk age until clear, which I'm assuming will take roughly six months.

Thanks for the comments - looking forward to trying these in a few months. Probably going to put together a cyser this weekend with some honey I found at a farmer's market in Kenosha - apple blossom based, so I'm pretty excited about this one.

IMO, you racked too early the first time. You want the yeast to finish fermenting and then precipitate out. I don't think you need to rack anything for 3-4 weeks at earliest. Let the yeast finishing fermenting and then give them some time to drop out. Take it easy and be patient, it will pay off.

You're not going to get any off flavors from the yeast. It would take a much larger batch to impose the pressures needed to have that happen. Or - you would need to let it sit in primary for a few years. Even then, who knows.

 

[jvanaus]

IMO, you racked too early the first time. You want the yeast to finish fermenting and then precipitate out. I don't think you need to rack anything for 3-4 weeks at earliest. Let the yeast finishing fermenting and then give them some time to drop out. Take it easy and be patient, it will pay off.

You're not going to get any off flavors from the yeast. It would take a much larger batch to impose the pressures needed to have that happen. Or - you would need to let it sit in primary for a few years. Even then, who knows.

Thanks for the advice - all good things to know and to keep in mind for the next batch. I think part of it was also that I'm used to brewing beer where 15 days in primary is about the right amount of time, so I need to step back and change my mindset.

Given how cloudy it still is, I'm thinking I'll have to re-rack at some point for bulk aging before bottling anyway. Just creating more work for myself, but.. oh well.

 

[quirk6]

Brewed a batch of black currant and blackberry mead a while ago, it turned out great. I got excited and started 3 more batches, all of which wound up with plastic-y flavors. I haven't tried it since, but this talk is kind of making want to give it another try.

 

[mjohnson171]

The #1 piece of advice I'd give for mead making: have patients. Time is your friend when making a mead. Forget the brewing mindset of quick fermentations.

As a reference point - most of my meads are in primary for about a month.

Time will do wonders for a lot of off flavors too. I don't remember if I said it here or another forum, but a banana mead I did had the worst fusal alcohol flavors for the longest time, probably about a year. But I was patient and just let it sit and it eventually turned a corner and now tastes like banana fosters.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Listening to the meadmakr podcast and I've heard two professionals (Ken Schramm being one of them) now poop on Fermaid O. DAP and Fermaid K seem to be preferred.

Thoughts Naegerbomb ?