New to brewing

[fatmalky]

Hi there, I am completely new to brewing. I found I recipe for mead online the other day and thought I would give it a try. The recipe was for a melomel.

Recipe

1.5 kg honey
3 litre bottled water
2 cups raspberries
1 orange
Wilko wine yeast

I made it the other day. The recipe says to just leave it for 6 weeks then bottle and drink. But on doing further reading this does not look like I good idea. The air lock was going like made about every second. I racked the fruit off and now the airlock is only going once every 40 seconds. I did not take a hydrometer reading at the start as I did not know I was meant to. I took a reading when I racked it and it's at 1.085

I was just wondering if it sounds as if I will turn out ok or have I messed it up?

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi fatmalky. There was a LOT of fermentable sugar in that must and a gravity of 1.085 (f that is accurate) is pretty close to the kind of reading I want to have BEFORE I pitch my yeast.. In other words a gravity of about 1.085 means that there is stlll the equivalent of about 2 lbs (plus) in every gallon (US) of liquid or about 11 % ABV still to ferment... so you never needed to rack the mead .
The recipe looks as if it has not been created by a mead maker. The addition of raspberries and oranges to the primary is likely to encourage the mead to become quite acidic - perhaps too acidic for the yeast. Always better to add acidic fruit to the secondary rather than the primary or be prepared to add K-carbonate or C -carbonate to increase the pH (you want the pH to be around 3.5). Also the ingredients you list makes no mention of nutrient. There MAY be enough nutrient in the fruit ... but I don't know... I add nutrient whenever I make a mead...

 

[fatmalky]

Ye I did think that it was a weird recipe after looking at others. I only made a gallon so it's not a massive batch. Think I might try to make another batch using a different recipe.