My First Meadventure (hydromel)

[Meadpyro]

Ok, just bottled my first mead. I made a hydromel with a 2 gallon bucket and 3 pounds of honey and filled with water a few inches below the top to increase the sugar/water ratio and, thus, the ABV%. OG: 1.062. Used EC-1118 yeast, degassed once, and used 1 ounce raisins for natural nutrient. I got worried after degassing because nearly a day passed without any "bloops" (I like calling it that) but it immediately started up after adding nutrient booster. Made the mistake of using the wrong size hose to the auto-siphon and it generated a lot of bubbles racking it. Hope it doesn't ruin it. All-in-all, I'm pleased with the result. FG: 1.000 resulting in 8.1% ABV in 9 days. Now I want to make a sweeter mead at around 10% but sweet. I'm talking Arbor Mist of mead. Any ideas? Btw, my advice for first-timers: practice racking and bottling with water first. That's when you realized all the things you need and what to expect.

 

[Elise Jardine]

Ok, just bottled my first mead. I made a hydromel with a 2 gallon bucket and 3 pounds of honey and filled with water a few inches below the top to increase the sugar/water ratio and, thus, the ABV%. OG: 1.062. Used EC-1118 yeast, degassed once, and used 1 ounce raisins for natural nutrient. I got worried after degassing because nearly a day passed without any "bloops" (I like calling it that) but it immediately started up after adding nutrient booster. Made the mistake of using the wrong size hose to the auto-siphon and it generated a lot of bubbles racking it. Hope it doesn't ruin it. All-in-all, I'm pleased with the result. FG: 1.000 resulting in 8.1% ABV in 9 days. Now I want to make a sweeter mead at around 10% but sweet. I'm talking Arbor Mist of mead. Any ideas? Btw, my advice for first-timers: practice racking and bottling with water first. That's when you realized all the things you need and what to expect. View attachment 597429View attachment 597431

How does it taste? I’m new to home brewing so the only thing I’ve been making lately is hard Apple cider. I’ve been thinking about making a mead.

 

[Meadpyro]

If you've never tasted mead it's a bit like wine. You either need to backsweeten or use a lower ABV yeast to make a sweet mead. With the lower ABV% it's smoother but with age it should be better. The best mead I've tasted was Chaucer's mead. Found it in Total Wine. Sweet and comes with a herb bag for extra flavor.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Meadpyro - and welcome. Here's the thing: adding any powder to a mead that is fermenting (and so almost certainly is saturated with CO2 - unless you work to degas on a regular basis) will cause the gas in solution to erupt out of solution. This is called nucleation. Bu that does not mean that the yeast is producing any additional CO2. The powder allows the gas to collect around the edges of the powder (much like rain collects around dust particles) . And for the record unless you added a few bushels of those oxidized grapes (AKA raisins) you really did not add any nutrient to your mead. It's a lovely old wife's tale that raisins add the kind of nutrients that honey lacks.. but they are in each raisin in such microscopic quantities that it makes no difference whether you add those raisins or you don't. Much better to add dead yeast cells or lab manufactured nutrients (Fermaid O or K) ..