Mead - the homebrew thread

[Ednolb]

Mine doesn’t, that’s the problem. Maybe I should look for one with a bigger stock then.

 

[axeman91821]

Man, 71B really is a beast. Took my cyser down from 1.114 to 1.002

 

[jvanaus]

Man, 71B really is a beast. Took my cyser down from 1.114 to 1.002

How long was the fermentation and what nutrients / schedule did you do? I have a cyser fermented with 71B as well that's pretty clear and I think pretty close to being "done" so I'm currently bulk aging.

Need to get some readings soon so I can see how it's fallen and how much I might want to backsweeten.

 

[axeman91821]

How long was the fermentation and what nutrients / schedule did you do? I have a cyser fermented with 71B as well that's pretty clear and I think pretty close to being "done" so I'm currently bulk aging.

Need to get some readings soon so I can see how it's fallen and how much I might want to backsweeten.

Made/pitched this batch sometime in late August. Was down at 1.008 on October 1st, which I thought it was done at that point. Took another reading while getting ready to rack to secondary with some vanilla and cinnamon last night and it was down to 1.002. Good thing I checked as I ended up increasing the amount of honey I used to backsweeten. I used Fermaid-O in additions at 1, 2, 3, and 7 days, degassing twice a day for the first week.

 

[mjohnson171]

More homemade mead porn needed.

 

[MooseLang]

I'm on my phone, so I can't catch up on 40 pages of Mead talk right now. I recently had my first Schramm's, and it blew my mind. Was thinking about making a Ginger mead.

- My local Amish Market has raw wildflower and Alfalfa honey for $30 per 5lb container. Is that a decent price? Are either of those varieties good for mead?

- How much honey do I need to make a 5 gallon batch?

 

[mjohnson171]

I'm on my phone, so I can't catch up on 40 pages of Mead talk right now. I recently had my first Schramm's, and it blew my mind. Was thinking about making a Ginger mead.

- My local Amish Market has raw wildflower and Alfalfa honey for $30 per 5lb container. Is that a decent price? Are either of those varieties good for mead?

- How much honey do I need to make a 5 gallon batch?

$6/lb is on the high side for bulk of 5 or > lbs, especially for wildflower. Never bought alfalfa so that might be in line. Typically $4-5/lb is what you pay for “bulk” honey.

Both would be good for a mead, however I’d think the alfalfa honey would be wasted on a fruited or ginger mead if that’s what you were looking to make.

 

[MooseLang]

$6/lb is on the high side for bulk of 5 or > lbs, especially for wildflower. Never bought alfalfa so that might be in line. Typically $4-5/lb is what you pay for “bulk” honey.

Both would be good for a mead, however I’d think the alfalfa honey would be wasted on a fruited or ginger mead if that’s what you were looking to make.

Thanks for the info! I will keep shopping around.

 

[elkhunter36]

Stealing ideas from bigk84 HOD clone recipe. I wanted to do this with all fresh fruit from Wisconsin. Everything is in season now.

10# fresh Door County Montmorency cherries
10# fresh Door County Raspberries
10# fresh Red Currants. We picked these ourselves



and 14# orange blossom honey

We will see how things turn out


Oh and we picked a few gooseberries, wife wanted to make a pie.

Bottled today. I am pretty pleased with the results. The Pyment should be bottled Sunday and I will post a pic.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Update on my traditional - mixed it up on 8/3, 11 gallons split into two 6.5G carboys, both read out at 1.130 OG. Gravity samples so far have been:

8/06: 1.112 (2.4%)
8/08: 1.100 (4.0%)
8/12: 1.060 (9.5%)

Looking for at least another 30 points, and would be thrilled if the yeast quit at 1.026 (14%). Quick temp check before gravity reading shows the mead is chilling at 65° in my keezer/ferm chamber.

Took my first ever legit (not paper strips) pH reading today (MW102) and it revealed the mead is sitting at 3.27pH. Seems on par as research shows most meads finish fermentation somewhere between 3.0 - 3.2. Going to cross my fingers and hope my SNA regimen (Travis Blount Elliot schedule) keeps the yeast healthy enough to finish out.

Early impressions are that my split of 71B & D47 might not have been the best yeasts to ferment with since I was looking to retain some of the marshmallow/maple traits of the MeadowMaple honey. I kind of figured this but wanted to stick with yeasts I was familiar with given this honey wasn't cheap. Still...tastes great so far (fruitier than what I had in my head though) and I think it will taste great once it comes out of a barrel a few months down the road.

Found a 10g whiskey barrel today on the interwebz. Wasn't cheap, but at least the search is over (still some left @ midwestbarrelco.com, in case anyone is interested). Purchased this morning and already have tracking info.

Will pull a sample of the mead tonight (for science) and figure out what the hell I am doing with regards to fining/clarification. Any suggestions? Bentonite, SuperKleer, etc.? Haven't used finings before, hoping I don't have to. I guess I could coldcrash it...

 

[mjohnson171]

Found a 10g whiskey barrel today on the interwebz. Wasn't cheap, but at least the search is over (still some left @ midwestbarrelco.com, in case anyone is interested). Purchased this morning and already have tracking info.

Will pull a sample of the mead tonight (for science) and figure out what the hell I am doing with regards to fining/clarification. Any suggestions? Bentonite, SuperKleer, etc.? Haven't used finings before, hoping I don't have to. I guess I could coldcrash it...

Personally i don't use any finings, just time and coldcrashing provide enough clarity. But if I were to put this in a barrel I wouldn't worry about clarifying it until after you dump it from the barrel.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Personally i don't use any finings, just time and coldcrashing provide enough clarity. But if I were to put this in a barrel I wouldn't worry about clarifying it until after you dump it from the barrel.

Makes sense. I don't really want to use any finings, so maybe a few weeks in the barrel and then rack to a keg for cold crashing, transfer to new keg for bottling. That'll do.

 

[Ednolb]

Bottled my first batch of mead yesterday. After the first fermentation I racked it into 2 different varieties: one dry mead and one with vanilla and raspberries. The dry mead is oxidized because I had too much headspace in my carboy (I tried adding marbles, but there were too few marbles). The vanilla/raspberry one came out pretty good, though I can't taste any vanilla in it

 

[elkhunter36]

And today is pyment day. We ended up with 24 quarts of concord grape juice this year so making 2 batches, one with our usual Wisconsin white clover honey and one with orange blossom honey. Will be fun to try them side by side.

Bottled the pyment over the weekend. Both finished at 13.39%

 

[elkhunter36]

And now we experiment with cranberries.

 

[Ednolb]

I've got a few questions about adding sulfite and sorbate. I made my first batch of mead without adding any of those, based on the Schramm book recipe. Now I'm looking to make a second batch and I'm looking for a new recipe. I noticed that most of these recipes add sulfite and sorbate to the mead, with the goal to stabilize everything and avoid bottle bombs.
Now I am wondering a few things:

1) Is my first mead dangerous? Do I have a chance on exploding bottles? (I had a SG of 1.112 and had a FG of 1.002 going into secondary and three months later I bottles it with a FG of 1.002, so it was stable for two months in secondary even though I added raspberries in secondary).
2) How is it that Schramm doesn't use any sulfite in his meads, yet doesn't have any exploding bottles? What does he do to avoid it? I understand that, once the FG is stable normally the fermentation has stopped and the chance of exploding bottles is small, however there's always a small chance the fermentation will start again when there's lots of residual sugars.

 

[mjohnson171]

I've got a few questions about adding sulfite and sorbate. I made my first batch of mead without adding any of those, based on the Schramm book recipe. Now I'm looking to make a second batch and I'm looking for a new recipe. I noticed that most of these recipes add sulfite and sorbate to the mead, with the goal to stabilize everything and avoid bottle bombs.
Now I am wondering a few things:

1) Is my first mead dangerous? Do I have a chance on exploding bottles? (I had a SG of 1.112 and had a FG of 1.002 going into secondary and three months later I bottles it with a FG of 1.002, so it was stable for two months in secondary even though I added raspberries in secondary).
2) How is it that Schramm doesn't use any sulfite in his meads, yet doesn't have any exploding bottles? What does he do to avoid it? I understand that, once the FG is stable normally the fermentation has stopped and the chance of exploding bottles is small, however there's always a small chance the fermentation will start again when there's lots of residual sugars.

I never use sorbate or sulfite either. I’m perscibe to The Book of Ken. And I’ve only ever had 2 meads carbonate in the Bottle. One was my fault because I added fresh lime juice at bottling (don’t introduce new sugars). The second was a cranberry mead that I was too impatient with and bottled a little too earlier. TBH that was a good mistake because I like the sparkling cranberry better than still.

As far as will you have bottle bombs on hand, sounds like you should be safe. If your FG was 1.002 AND you moved it to secondary for another 2 months with no movement it sounds stable. However I am a little surprised that you added additional sugars in the form of raspberries in secondary and it still stayed at that. Did you notice any activity in the airlock after adding fruit? It’s possible you transferred at 1.002, added fruit to bump it up something higher, then it refermented down to 1.002 again. That would be a coincidence.

Whatever the case you’re probably fine. You might get some bubbly bottles, just keep an eye on them as open one every so often to track progress. If they’re still still after a month in the bottle then you’re safe.

 

[mjohnson171]

Did a lot of mead this weekend.

First up is a wild blueberry mead I made that ended up being a bit too tart. So to smooth it out I added maple syrup.


Then I transferred a massive mixed berry melomel.

This was the settling after 24 hours.

Then hit a cherry melomel with some vanilla.

 

[Ednolb]

However I am a little surprised that you added additional sugars in the form of raspberries in secondary and it still stayed at that. Did you notice any activity in the airlock after adding fruit? It’s possible you transferred at 1.002, added fruit to bump it up something higher, then it refermented down to 1.002 again. That would be a coincidence.

I did saw airlock activity for two weeks while in secondary, but it was slow. Maybe a bubble/2-3 minutes.
I must say I was surprised too when I saw that my FG was the same as before. Makes me wonder if I misread my hydrometer...

Thanks for the advice!

 

[jvanaus]

I've got a few questions about adding sulfite and sorbate. I made my first batch of mead without adding any of those, based on the Schramm book recipe. Now I'm looking to make a second batch and I'm looking for a new recipe. I noticed that most of these recipes add sulfite and sorbate to the mead, with the goal to stabilize everything and avoid bottle bombs.
Now I am wondering a few things:

1) Is my first mead dangerous? Do I have a chance on exploding bottles? (I had a SG of 1.112 and had a FG of 1.002 going into secondary and three months later I bottles it with a FG of 1.002, so it was stable for two months in secondary even though I added raspberries in secondary).
2) How is it that Schramm doesn't use any sulfite in his meads, yet doesn't have any exploding bottles? What does he do to avoid it? I understand that, once the FG is stable normally the fermentation has stopped and the chance of exploding bottles is small, however there's always a small chance the fermentation will start again when there's lots of residual sugars.

Based on my reading of Ken's book, the Schramm method relies on reaching the alcohol tolerance of the yeast so there's no need for sorbates or sulfites to halt fermentation or kill yeast.

If your mead was stable for that long, like mjohnson17 said, you're probably safe.

What did you use for closures? If corks, it's likely the cork will push up over the mouth of the bottle before bombs would happen. If caps, check to see if any bottles have carb on a schedule of a few weeks at a time. If all looks good, the mead is likely stable for the long haul.

 

[Ednolb]

That’s what I got from the book too, but it isn’t a very accurate method, right? And that is something that would surprise me with Schramm’s being a professional meadery. The chance of things going wrong is too big that way...

 

[mjohnson171]

That’s what I got from the book too, but it isn’t a very accurate method, right? And that is something that would surprise me with Schramm’s being a professional meadery. The chance of things going wrong is too big that way...

This is my completely unsubstantiated thinking, but Schramms waits WAY longer than most meaderies to release their meads. As mentioned Ken goes all the way up to the alcohol tolerance of the yeast. That coupled with letting a mead sit in secondary or terciary for an additional 3,4,6 months (w/ no airlock or hydrometer activity) to naturally clear provides a relatively safe, but no foolproof, method to ensure no carbonation. In my experience of making mead for almost 5 years I’ve found the same thing. Leave a mead long enough and you’re safe. I’ve left a mead in terciary for over a year.

 

[jwazzy]

I made my first mead and didn't add sulfite or sorbate. I also didn't wait long enough to bottle. Incidentally I had bottled it in flip tops. I just burped the bottles and drank a gallon of mediocre mead much quicker than I had planned. This doesn't help at all but is my experience.

 

[jvanaus]

That’s what I got from the book too, but it isn’t a very accurate method, right? And that is something that would surprise me with Schramm’s being a professional meadery. The chance of things going wrong is too big that way...

This is my completely unsubstantiated thinking, but Schramms waits WAY longer than most meaderies to release their meads. As mentioned Ken goes all the way up to the alcohol tolerance of the yeast. That coupled with letting a mead sit in secondary or terciary for an additional 3,4,6 months (w/ no airlock or hydrometer activity) to naturally clear provides a relatively safe, but no foolproof, method to ensure no carbonation. In my experience of making mead for almost 5 years I’ve found the same thing. Leave a mead long enough and you’re safe. I’ve left a mead in terciary for over a year.

If memory serves, there have been a few instances of slightly carbed Schramm's bottles which had been replaced by the meadery if brought to their attention. Personally, I think having a slightly carbed bottle wouldn't be a bad thing, provided it wasn't going to explode at some point.

 

[elkhunter36]

Mead bottling / making day.

Bottled the experimental cranberry.
It went from this:

To this:

It's good but super dry. It will be fun to get some feedback on this one. I think it needs more cranberry.




Also when we picked fruit in August we had some extra so we froze them until we had some free time and fermenter space.

Blackberry:

And Red Currant:

 

[axeman91821]

Very excited that A) I have a new 8 gallon bucket so I can start doing bigger batches without worry of overflow when I'm stirring the crap out of it, and B) I have a bunch of meadowfoam honey on the way for my next batch.

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Very excited that A) I have a new 8 gallon bucket so I can start doing bigger batches without worry of overflow when I'm stirring the crap out of it, and B) I have a bunch of meadowfoam honey on the way for my next batch.

What yeast are you thinking of?

 

[axeman91821]

What yeast are you thinking of?

I've only ever used 71B and it hasn't done me wrong yet.

 

[blckout201]

It's good but super dry. It will be fun to get some feedback on this one. I think it needs more cranberry.

Would be happy to lend my palate (and those of my mead drinking associates) on any of your creations. That goes for pretty much any mead makers here.

 

[souredstouts]

Hey, I went to bottle my melomel today and it is still not super clear. I have floating particles of blackberries and raspberries. Is there any reason to not use a sterile strainer like a coffee filter to filter out the floating bits at the top of the melomel?