New to mead brewing

[brattigo]

Hi there
I am completely new to brewing and have a few questions i'm wondering about
I am planing on trying to brew a 5L batch of ginger mead but am trying to figure out if i should boil the ginger and only add the water to the primary fermentation and then add raw ginger to secondary if needed.
Or if i should add raw ginger to primary and let it ferment with raw ginger from the start?

 

[Miraculix]

https://www.omnimead.com/mead-batch-builder

Start here!

 

[kev211]

I would add the ginger straight to primary. It just peel it, chop it into chunks and toss er into primary. Ginger will cloud your mead, so I would add to primary and then rack off the lees and ginger into secondary. Also, not a horrible idea to put the ginger into a sanitized mesh bag (just boil the bag for a few minutes prior to adding the ginger, it will make it easier to remove (sample the mead to make sure its not getting too "gingery")

Welcome to HBT and mead making!

 

[brattigo]

Thanks for the tips
Don't know if i can fit a mesh bag since it's in a carboy but i will just add the ginger directly to it when i set the batch tonight or tomorrow.
It's gonna be my first ever batch so wish me luck, I have used days to research how hydrometer and everything works so i think I'm ready

 

[kev211]

Ya, that would be tricky. Post your recipe! Make sure you are adding nutrients and degassing!

Good luck!

 

[brattigo]

I have just gotten a rough recipe online that I'm trying.

112.33g of Ginger
4.5L Water
1.78kg of honey
1-2 Lemons
5-600 grams of raisins as nutrient
2.64g of Mangrove jacks mead yeast M05

how often do you think i need to degas? like once ever 2-3 days?

 

[Rish]

I blend up the ginger, steep it in H2O at 180°F for 30 minutes, strain out the ginger and use the "ginger tea" in the ferment.

 

[brattigo]

I blend up the ginger, steep it in H2O at 180°F for 30 minutes, strain out the ginger and use the "ginger tea" in the ferment.

hmm, that might be easier considering it's in a carboy. do you get strong ginger taste with that? or do you then need to infuse it later?

 

[Rish]

Definitely easy to use in a carboy. You can adjust the taste by the amount of ginger you use. I like a lot of ginger so I use 8 oz of fresh ginger root per gallon. You can go with less in the primary and add more in secondary in it isn't where you like it.

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[Miraculix]

I have just gotten a rough recipe online that I'm trying.

112.33g of Ginger
4.5L Water
1.78kg of honey
1-2 Lemons
5-600 grams of raisins as nutrient
2.64g of Mangrove jacks mead yeast M05

how often do you think i need to degas? like once ever 2-3 days?

Please read the link I posted above and ditch this recipe. It won't be good unless you want to wait about two years for mediocre mead.

 

[madscientist451]

Using staggered nutrient additions greatly improved my mead. Buy some Go ferm, which is added to the yeast when rehydrating, and some Fermaid-O, which is yeast nutrient. Follow the schedule of the TONSA method. Pro mead makers generally make a base mead and add flavor after fermentation is over. I’ve never used ginger, but I would try making a tincture by using vodka to pull the ginger flavor out and then adding small amounts to a measured sample to get the taste you are looking for. Just chucking the ginger in your fermenter will likely work, but you won’t have any way to dial in the amount of flavor.

 

[madscientist451]

https://www.meadmaderight.com/tosna-calculator

https://gotmead.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Raisins-are-NOT-nutrients.pdf

 

[brattigo]

I set the batch this morning and changed the recipe a bit. I used the Ginger ''tea'' tips just so i did not have to add the ginger to the jar.
The bubbling is going strong, but it seems that i have left to little room for the raisins and for the bubbling. should i take some out or is it fine you think?
I got an OG of 1.080
Since this is my first batch i did not know about all the nutrient things and chemicals, so i will have to read more about it and order some before my next batch, i hope this turns out well even though it's not gonna be perfect
The first link i got was really helpful with giving me honey amount, but I could not get all the nutrients before I started.

 

[Miraculix]

You literally just would have needed to follow the one link I posted up there to get all the information regarding staggered nutrients and so on. It's a fool prove description there.

Good luck with this one now.

 

[IslandLizard]

should i take some out or is it fine you think?

I'd transfer at least 1/2 a liter out into another jar/jug to let that ferment by itself. And as much as 1 liter if you're not controlling ferm temps toward the cooler end (15C).

 

[Miraculix]

I'd transfer at least 1/2 a liter out into another jar/jug to let that ferment by itself. And as much as 1 liter if you're not controlling ferm temps toward the cooler end (15C).

Let him make his own experiences.

 

[MightyMosin]

For your next one, if you are going to do 1 gallon batches with added ingredients, you might want to use a 2 or 3 gallon bucket or something like the FerMonster 1 gallon (actually about 1.25 gallon) so that you have room for added ingredients as well as vigorous fermentation.

You can then make a batch that is about 20% larger than 1 gallon so that when you transfer to that 1 gallon glass container you will be filling it up all the way and you won't have much of an air headspace.