New, confused, and overwhelmed

[Homercidal]

I got a small batch of BOMM going. Probably 4 days on at this point. I degassed last night.

On the subject of oxygenating, I plan to rack using CO2 and the carboy cap. I haven't had all the stuff to do it like this before, but I do now (if I plumb that extension to my CO2 lines to allow for charging kegs and bottles and whatnot without having to pull hoses out of the kegerator.

In this way a person can maintain the CO2 in the headspace of the primary and directly start a siphon to push the mead (or beer or wine) through a dip tube and into a secondary already filled with CO2. You *can* do this with your mouth, but I've been holding off on it until I had my CO2 rig set for it instead. I don't like the thought of breathing into my mead.

 

[specialkayme]

How do you plan on getting the mead from the bottles to the carbouy?

Ideally, I'd like to siphon it. I say that only because I suspect I may have an issue using the siphon I have in reverse (as the large end won't fit in the wine bottle . . . but we'll see). But you are right, if I can't then I'll end up using a funnel. If I use a funnel, I'll probably try and tilt it to the side, hopefully to let the mead run down the side of the carbouy rather than splash around. But this is probably just wishful thinking.

I'm not trying to harp on the oxidation issue, just trying to explain it. Maybe I'm not explaining it very well.

I think you are doing a good job explaining it to me. I'm understanding significantly better than I was before.

I think what happened with the stalled fermentation was that you racked too early AND sulfited.

You're probably right. I didn't worry about it because I figured there was no way that I could have had this problem if I only added one campden tablet, and racked every 3 months. But I guess I was wrong.

Either today, or more likely tomorrow, I'm going to get started on fixing the mead. I at least know enough to start on that. I decided that I'm going to take 3.5 lbs of honey and put it in a gallon jug with some DAP and yest energizer and pitch the yeast into it. At the same time, take the wine and siphon it into the 5 gal carboy, and add 1 crushed campden tablet. After the 1 gallon jug has started going off, I'll add some more DAP and entergizer to the 5 gal batch, and top it off with the new pitched yeast.

I also decided that I think I'm going to have to start ordering my supplies online. I went to the local brew shop with a list of supplies, and they basically didn't have any of them (Fermaid-k, Go-Ferm, SuperKleer). Everytime I would ask for something, they would say "Um . . . I'm not familiar with that, what does it do?" And then would just point me to the bottle of yeast energizer and say that's probably the same thing.

Which is fine, but if I'm trying to learn, I want to replicate the recipe as darn close to the original as I can before I start trying to make some changes.

 

[skadalajara]

Sounds like your local brew shop staff have never made wine nor mead before.

 

[specialkayme]

I don't know about wine, but they said they've done mead before. One guy was telling me about all the different types he's made. Who knows though.

 

[Matrix4b]

I strongly recommend investing in an auto siphon and some plastic tubing.

Example below, they should have it at your brew store.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064ODELI/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

It is not all that expensive and makes racking easy.

 

[specialkayme]

I already have an autosiphon, as well as a bottle filler. I appreciate the advice though.

 

[Matrix4b]

I already have an autosiphon, as well as a bottle filler. I appreciate the advice though.

Ah, I saw the question on how to rack so I was confused.

 

[specialkayme]

So I figured I'd give an update:

I uncorked all of the bottles last Sunday and put it back in the 5 gallon carboy (while adding a campden tablet, crushed). It was my goal to siphon the liquid, but that didn't work. So I ended up using a funnel. It splashed around a bit, so it may end up being lost. But I'm learning, so there's that. The bottles ended up filling the carboy to about the 4 gallon mark, if not a little bit more.

I took another gallon jug, added 3.5 lbs of honey, filled with boiling water, and added some yeast nutrient and DAP. Let cool to 80 deg. and pitched the yeast. The goal is to get the 1 gallon jug down to the ~ 1.040 SG mark, then add it to the 5 gallon carboy. As of today, SG in the 1 Gallon jug was at 1.090 (when it started at 1.133). So we are moving. I'm going to add a little more nutrient and DAP to the 1 Gallon once it hits below 1.080 mark, then add some more when I introduce the 1 Gallon to the carboy.

In the meantime:
I started a cyser last Sunday as well. At least this way I should have some end product to drink while I wait. Should take between 6 and 8 weeks, according to the recipe I had.

I also ordered and am halfway done reading The Complete Meadmaker.

Next Batch:
Next, I think I'm going to do a 1 Gallon JAOM batch, followed by a BOMM batch (I hope my abbreviations are right). If those work out halfway decent, I'll have a second go at a basic mead (maybe 1 gallon, maybe 5, not sure yet), followed by some type of spiced mead, or melomel, or something else. Not sure yet.

So, do you think I'm on the right track?

 

[gratus fermentatio]

Sounds like you're on the right track to me.
Regards, GF.

 

[stella_tigre]

Best of luck with the old batch, and the new one! I like that idea of filling the headspace using a starter, make sure it has the best chance to get going.

Remember I mentioned the cyser I bottled too soon? Another one was pushing out the cork, so I chilled them, uncorked, let them sit overnight to warm back to room temp and get rid of SOME of the carbonation, and recorked this morning. Those (as well as the beer bottles that I actually added freaking priming sugar to) are in my cool storage room inside of a plastic tub (with latching cover!) in case of bottle bombs or further issues. The cyser was bottled over 2 1/2 months ago, so hopefully they're all right now...the beer bottles fizz over when you open them, even after chilling, so I am crossing my fingers they make it...

Lessons learned, eh?

 

[specialkayme]

So I waited till the SG in the 1 Gallon mead was down to 1.040, then I added Yeast Nutrient and DAP to the 5 gallon batch and combined the 1 gallon into the 5 gallon carboy. That was as of last Friday, and it's still heavily fermenting. Which is good.

I would say I have between 3/4 and 1" of leeds on the bottom of the 5 gallon carboy already. Which has me a little concerned. Should it?

The Cyser is coming along just fine. About two more weeks till I rack it and add some cinnamon and cloves.

Yesterday I started a 1 Gallon JAOM. It makes me very nervous using bread yeast, but oh well. We'll see how it turns out.

 

[The_Bishop]

You need this book:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381802/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

A membership at gotmead.com would be good, too. Lots of very helpful folks over there.

 

[stella_tigre]

I would say I have between 3/4 and 1" of leeds on the bottom of the 5 gallon carboy already. Which has me a little concerned. Should it?

Don't worry about the amount of lees during primary. (Which, in essence, this is, in spite of the whole shenanigans you've been dealing with!) Once your mead is slowing down, and hopefully the SG is down below 1.010 or so (if it can make it that far!) then you start to "worry". You can let that sucker sit for several weeks, clearing, and that is fine. Some yeasties cause more issues than others, but I don't think any of them are an issue until the timeframe is into a couple of months.

The rule of thumb that I understand is:
Rack to secondary after the SG is less than 1.010. Later is OK. Some don't rack until there is significant settling and clearing of the yeast.

Rack again if there is more than 1/4 or 1/2 inch of lees. Campden every other racking. (That is the winemaker's rule, but from what I've seen here, it's also done by some mazers.)

After you rack, and lees quit accumulating, you can think about bottling.
If you want to backsweeten, rack onto campden and sorbate, wait a bit, add sweetening, check SG, wait a bit, make sure SG is not falling.

If you aren't backsweetening, and your SG is above dry (1.000ish) then understand that you still might want to sorbate to make sure something doesn't get going again - just bottling the product can wake it up, I think it must be that oxygen is getting mixed in....We both know that one!

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I would say I have between 3/4 and 1" of leeds on the bottom of the 5 gallon carboy already. Which has me a little concerned. Should it?

Just let it be for now, check the SG in a week or so. I'd wait till the SG hits 1.005 or thereabouts, before racking off the lees. Then just wait till it clears, or it has over 1/2 inch of lees, rack again & bulk age or bottle when its clear enough to read a newspaper through.

About the spices you mentioned, avoid using powdered spices, they make a mess & cannot be removed without filtration. Use whole, cracked, chopped or sliced spices instead. You can easily contain them in a hop sack & weigh them down with a couple of sanitized marbles if you feel the need. That way you can remove them when your desired flavor profile is achieved.
Regards, GF.