So after brewing beer for a couple of years, I've decided to try my hand at a batch of mead this past Saturday. Eventually I'll split it into smaller batches for experimentation. Here's what I've done so far, and what I plan to do. I've also got a few questions below. Please share any suggestions/feedback y'all may have!
10.5 lbs honey from my LHBS
Final must volume of 3 gallons
Mangrove Jack's M05 Mead Yeast
Day 1 (done): Added enough honey and water to reach the 3-gallon mark on my fermenter. OG: 1.120 according to my hydrometer. Added Fermaid K and yeast nutrient (DAP), pitched yeast, and set temp to 62F in my ferementation chamber.
Day 2 (done): Stirred the hell out of the must to degas.
Day 3 (done): Stirred to degas and added Fermaid K and DAP.
I plan on performing 2 more nutrient additions on days 5 and 7 and degassing in-between. Here are my questions:
1) How much longer should I plan on keeping this stuff in primary? Here's my dilemma: I'm going to need to up the temperature in my fermentation chamber to 66F once I get some beer in it tomorrow, so I'm curious as to whether that will adversely affect the rest of my primary fermentation. Then, in about a week I'll be ramping up the temp in there to 75F and then cold crashing to 32F after a couple more days. I assume the answer will be "check the SG until it looks done", but I'd prefer to have the mead out of there before messing with the temperature that much.
2) How long should I plan on leaving it in secondary? I plan on splitting the 3 gallons into three 1-gallon secondary fermenters and doing the following:
Hope these questions make sense--again, I'm very much looking forward to some feedback. I understand if they're stupid questions with wildly subjective and variable answers, but I am used to scheduling my beer brewing events by the day on a calendar. Perhaps that's not something I can do with mead!
10.5 lbs honey from my LHBS
Final must volume of 3 gallons
Mangrove Jack's M05 Mead Yeast
Day 1 (done): Added enough honey and water to reach the 3-gallon mark on my fermenter. OG: 1.120 according to my hydrometer. Added Fermaid K and yeast nutrient (DAP), pitched yeast, and set temp to 62F in my ferementation chamber.
Day 2 (done): Stirred the hell out of the must to degas.
Day 3 (done): Stirred to degas and added Fermaid K and DAP.
I plan on performing 2 more nutrient additions on days 5 and 7 and degassing in-between. Here are my questions:
1) How much longer should I plan on keeping this stuff in primary? Here's my dilemma: I'm going to need to up the temperature in my fermentation chamber to 66F once I get some beer in it tomorrow, so I'm curious as to whether that will adversely affect the rest of my primary fermentation. Then, in about a week I'll be ramping up the temp in there to 75F and then cold crashing to 32F after a couple more days. I assume the answer will be "check the SG until it looks done", but I'd prefer to have the mead out of there before messing with the temperature that much.
2) How long should I plan on leaving it in secondary? I plan on splitting the 3 gallons into three 1-gallon secondary fermenters and doing the following:
- 1 gallon will be dry-hopped with Centennial (and maybe some Cascade) hops
- 1 gallon will have candied lemon peels added to it (leftover from some homemade limoncello)
- 1 gallon will remain "plain" mead
Hope these questions make sense--again, I'm very much looking forward to some feedback. I understand if they're stupid questions with wildly subjective and variable answers, but I am used to scheduling my beer brewing events by the day on a calendar. Perhaps that's not something I can do with mead!
