New guy questions

[BudNini]

I would like to make 6 gallons of mead using this recipe that is for 1 gallon.
My question is, can I times this recipe by 6 ?

3 1/4 lb. Honey
7 pts. Water
3 tsp. Malic Acid
1 1/2 tsp. Tartaric Acid
1/4 tsp. Tannin
3/4 tsp. Energizer
2. Campden,crush
1 pkg. Lalvin EC-1118 yeast

 

[jtratcliff]

You don't need 6x the yeast... probably not 6x the campden either... Not sure about the acids and tannins... Definitely do 6x the honey & water.

Look at other 5 or 6 gal recipes and see if 6x-ing the acids and tannins is reasonable.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi BudNini, and welcome. Jtratcliff is right about the amount of acids and tannin but I guess I would argue that any recipe that advises you to add a specific quantity of acid to a must BEFORE you have tasted the finished product is not a recipe that you want to follow. Why are you adding acids to the must? The yeast don't need a particularly high acid bath. to do their thing and honey has no chemical buffers so adding acid at the start CAN create real problems for the yeast because those critters call it quits if the pH of your mead drops below to 3.0 or a little below that.
But here's the thing: you asked can you multiply a recipe designed for 1 gallon to make 6... and so when you ask that question you tell me that you are not a seasoned mead maker, and if you are not a seasoned maker of mead why are you leaping into making 6 gallons of what might turn out to be very poorly made mead when it would be a great deal less expensive AND a great deal easier to drink a single gallon of this mead. If you made 6 one gallon batches of mead serially rather than 1 six gallon batch you would (or should) be a far better maker of mead after the 6th batch than you will be after the first.
Brewers love to brew enough beer for their city every time they take out their kettles but there is no legal requirement that you need to make 6 gallons of wine or mead just because someone says that it is just as easy to make 6 gallons as it is to make one. It is true: it is just as easy but it is also just as easy to make six gallons of barely drinkable mead or wine as it is to make one. AND - in my opinion - making a good traditional mead, a naked mead, basically just yeast, water and honey, which is really what you are making (no fruit, no spices, no herbs, no nuts to hide flaws) takes some skill... Your money, of course. Your mead, and you are not asking me but if you were I would suggest that you make a one gallon batch , perhaps even with less honey, because the higher the % of alcohol the longer you may need to age this to allow for more of the faults to quietly fade away. Good luck.

 

[BudNini]

You don't need 6x the yeast... probably not 6x the campden either... Not sure about the acids and tannins... Definitely do 6x the honey & water.

Look at other 5 or 6 gal recipes and see if 6x-ing the acids and tannins is reasonable.

Thank you

 

[BudNini]

Hi BudNini, and welcome. Jtratcliff is right about the amount of acids and tannin but I guess I would argue that any recipe that advises you to add a specific quantity of acid to a must BEFORE you have tasted the finished product is not a recipe that you want to follow. Why are you adding acids to the must? The yeast don't need a particularly high acid bath. to do their thing and honey has no chemical buffers so adding acid at the start CAN create real problems for the yeast because those critters call it quits if the pH of your mead drops below to 3.0 or a little below that.

But here's the thing: you asked can you multiply a recipe designed for 1 gallon to make 6... and so when you ask that question you tell me that you are not a seasoned mead maker, and if you are not a seasoned maker of mead why are you leaping into making 6 gallons of what might turn out to be very poorly made mead when it would be a great deal less expensive AND a great deal easier to drink a single gallon of this mead. If you made 6 one gallon batches of mead serially rather than 1 six gallon batch you would (or should) be a far better maker of mead after the 6th batch than you will be after the first.
Brewers love to brew enough beer for their city every time they take out their kettles but there is no legal requirement that you need to make 6 gallons of wine or mead just because someone says that it is just as easy to make 6 gallons as it is to make one. It is true: it is just as easy but it is also just as easy to make six gallons of barely drinkable mead or wine as it is to make one. AND - in my opinion - making a good traditional mead, a naked mead, basically just yeast, water and honey, which is really what you are making (no fruit, no spices, no herbs, no nuts to hide flaws) takes some skill... Your money, of course. Your mead, and you are not asking me but if you were I would suggest that you make a one gallon batch , perhaps even with less honey, because the higher the % of alcohol the longer you may need to age this to allow for more of the faults to quietly fade away. Good luck.

 

[BudNini]

I got this recipe from a handbook I bought from the Bottom Of The Barrel in Oneida N.Y. The response from Jtratcliff and yourself makes me believe it’s time to put book back on the shelf. You both make sense and I will put time in reading posts from this forum. All my questions have probably been asked before so I will start reading and hopefully learning. Thank you for the honest comeback.
Budnini

 

[Seamonkey84]

I highly recommend reading “Brays One Month mead” pinned at the top of the forum, and also into TOSNA. They are nutrient protocols to help your yeast along to make meads drinkable in just a couple months vs waiting a year or more.

 

[bernardsmith]

I highly recommend reading “Brays One Month mead” pinned at the top of the forum, and also into TOSNA. They are nutrient protocols to help your yeast along to make meads drinkable in just a couple months vs waiting a year or more.

I have no problem with TOSNA protocols (although I am a lazy mead maker and I tend to add all my nutrients at the one time shortly after I pitch the yeast) but the truth is that if you make a hydromel - a session mead (that is a mead with a starting gravity of about 1.050 (1.5 lbs +/- honey to make 1 US gallon) and you ferment at the yeast's higher temperature end (so you get the yeast to produce esters and other flavors to add to the lighter honey flavor), and you pitch a large colony of very viable yeast you can get a very reasonable mead to drink in the same amount of time it takes a brewer to crack open a bottle of ipa. (6-8 weeks from start to finish). Meads that need something like a year to be good tend to be greater in their ABV and the wine maker tends to have stressed the yeast into producing more volatile alcohols (fusels) that then need to dissipate as the mead ages. Bray's protocol for his mead in a month (BOMM) is excellent, but it is one way to make a quick drinking mead but it's not the only way.

 

[BudNini]

I have no problem with TOSNA protocols (although I am a lazy mead maker and I tend to add all my nutrients at the one time shortly after I pitch the yeast) but the truth is that if you make a hydromel - a session mead (that is a mead with a starting gravity of about 1.050 (1.5 lbs +/- honey to make 1 US gallon) and you ferment at the yeast's higher temperature end (so you get the yeast to produce esters and other flavors to add to the lighter honey flavor), and you pitch a large colony of very viable yeast you can get a very reasonable mead to drink in the same amount of time it takes a brewer to crack open a bottle of ipa. (6-8 weeks from start to finish). Meads that need something like a year to be good tend to be greater in their ABV and the wine maker tends to have stressed the yeast into producing more volatile alcohols (fusels) that then need to dissipate as the mead ages. Bray's protocol for his mead in a month (BOMM) is excellent, but it is one way to make a quick drinking mead but it's not the only way.

I am so pleased I came here. I have been reading about the (BOMM) as directed by seamonky84. This recipe will be my first challenge. Needless to say I will start with 1 gallon lol. Many thanks
Budnini

 

[Seamonkey84]

I have no problem with TOSNA protocols (although I am a lazy mead maker and I tend to add all my nutrients at the one time shortly after I pitch the yeast) but the truth is that if you make a hydromel - a session mead (that is a mead with a starting gravity of about 1.050 (1.5 lbs +/- honey to make 1 US gallon) and you ferment at the yeast's higher temperature end (so you get the yeast to produce esters and other flavors to add to the lighter honey flavor), and you pitch a large colony of very viable yeast you can get a very reasonable mead to drink in the same amount of time it takes a brewer to crack open a bottle of ipa. (6-8 weeks from start to finish). Meads that need something like a year to be good tend to be greater in their ABV and the wine maker tends to have stressed the yeast into producing more volatile alcohols (fusels) that then need to dissipate as the mead ages. Bray's protocol for his mead in a month (BOMM) is excellent, but it is one way to make a quick drinking mead but it's not the only way.

I see you use the same approach as Groennfell Meadery, nothing wrong with that. so far I been avoiding esters, but I really haven’t gotten around to playing with different yeasts yet, kinda just dove head first with BOMM and getting use to staggered nutrients. I’ll be using TOSNA for any other yeast, and I’ve been doing the same thing to all my fruit wines. Although fruit provide nutrients, I just can’t help but get involved with the process.

 

[BudNini]

I have been reading the BOMM pinned at the top of the page. The recipe on page 1 differs from the same recipe on page 17. The discrepancy is with potassium carbonate. Each page gives a different amount of potassium carbonate. I want to be correct when I make the BOMM.

budnini

 

[Maylar]

The later one is a correction.

 

[BudNini]

The later one is a correction.

Thank you

 

[Seamonkey84]

All the most up to date info https://www.denardbrewing.com/blog/category/mead/
I highly recomend the berry death

 

[jtratcliff]

Also look in to JAOM, recipes are here on the boards... it's a sweet mead w/ bread yeast (Yes! Bread yeast!) and oranges.. Works quite well for a 1st mead attempt....


It's a forebear of BOMM...

 

[SKBugs]

Chuck in the honey and water and stir/shake the living heck out of it. Add the yeast. Next day add the nutrient. Keep it in 16-20 c (68-70) for a month. Rack to a second container. Wait for a couple of months and bottle. It’s all good. Don’t sweat the small stuff until you get the big stuff.
Enjoy

 

[BudNini]

Being a 70year old newbie is fun lol
All the suggestions, responses,etc have been taken with a smile and thankfulness.
Now it is time for me to go amazon shopping for equipment etc. so I can get started with my new hobby.
Thanks to all

 

[Blacksmith1]

Don't give up on your book completely. Once you get the basic mead down those recipes can by helpful, even if it's just to give you ideas for something similar.

 

[BudNini]

What do I use to measure 0.4 tsp or 0.79 tsp?
My measuring spoons won’t measure those amounts.

 

[jtratcliff]

0.4 is about a half.... 0.79 is about 3/4... Or convert measurements to grams and use a scale....

i.e. weigh 1 tsp of your ingredients in grams, then calculate 0.4 or 0.79 of that and weigh it out...

But about a half and about 3/4 should be good enough for most things

 

[BudNini]

0.4 is about a half.... 0.79 is about 3/4... Or convert measurements to grams and use a scale....

i.e. weigh 1 tsp of your ingredients in grams, then calculate 0.4 or 0.79 of that and weigh it out...

But about a half and about 3/4 should be good enough for most things

 

[BudNini]

Thank you, the lady down the road told me the same thing about rounding up or down. I honestly didn’t think of that. Lol

 

[jtratcliff]

I know,right? We focus on the numbers and forget what they mean... It's a trap all too easy to fall into....

BTW, here's the JOAM thread.. for a quick (1-2 month), easy, sweet mead...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/joes-ancient-orange-mead.49106/

Go from this to a BOMM and you'll have a mead pipeline going as you extend into more complex recipes...

 

[Amonratut]

You don't need 6x the yeast... probably not 6x the campden either... Not sure about the acids and tannins... Definitely do 6x the honey & water.

Look at other 5 or 6 gal recipes and see if 6x-ing the acids and tannins is reasonable.

When should I add tannin to my mead??

 

[Grump]

@Amonratut - That would depend on what you want from the tannins. If you're making a traditional mead, then tannins would be for added astringency (to balance/mellow the sweetness) and would be added in the secondary, or prior to bottling (too taste). Just remember, you can always add more; but once added, you can't take it away.

If making a melomel, tannins could contribute some desirable color extraction qualities so adding them in the primary might be recommended.

 

[Amonratut]

Thanks Grump that info really helps. Have you ever tried making a blueberry melomel?

 

[Grump]

I have. Rather than hijacking the thread, I'm sure members and moderators would prefer you start a new one with your question(s). Besides, that would likely cause other (more knowledgeable) mazers to weigh in and you could further benefit from their experience..

 

[Amonratut]

I have. Rather than hijacking the thread, I'm sure members and moderators would prefer you start a new one with your question(s). Besides, that would likely cause other (more knowledgeable) mazers to weigh in and you could further benefit from their experience..

Sorry for hijacking bud.

 

[Grump]

As I read my earlier reply, it sounds harsh. My apologies. My suggestion of starting a new thread, and the reasons for it, still stand though. I have no doubt that several members here would be able to give valuable insight with regard to creating a wondrous blueberry melomel.

 

[Amonratut]

No worries.

 

[BudNini]

Sorry for hijacking bud.

Brother, no problems