Newbie ready to start first mead :)

[Daz666]

Hey guys, I'm just sending out a quick post for a bit of advice. It's gonna be my first attempt at making mead so I want to keep it nice and simple but obviously as tasty as possible. My main ingredients will be water, clear blossom honey (3.17kg) and EC-1118 Champagne Yeast 5g. I will be using a 4.05kg tub with a bung and bubbler airlock for fermenting. Then later I will bottle it when ready.

I was considering using vanilla extract and maybe pure red grape juice for extra Flavour but was wondering your thoughts as to whether this would work or not? Or would it taste better with just the ingredients I've listed above with the vanilla extract but minus the red grape juice? My reasoning for the red grape juice is the extra flavour but also the extra natural sugars for the yeast to work with. Many thanks

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Daz666, Fermented honey can taste quite delicious without any additional flavorings and pyment (mead made with grapes) or metheglin (mead made with spices) can taste quite delicious. The key issue is what you want to make (and drink). Your question is like someone asking whether they should vacation at the sea or in the country... But, if this is your very first mead my personal opinion is that you make the simplest mead you can. Once you have a good handle on the processes then you can think about adding complexity. But others on this forum I am sure will have other opinions. Honey, though, is notorious for its lack of nutrients and so to prevent stressing the yeast you do want to feed the yeast nutrient.
The other thing is that your choice of yeast is OK but if the honey you have chosen is good quality (and why would you choose anything but the best quality?) then using a champagne yeast will not necessarily bring out the very best aroma and flavor in the mead: the yeast is too aggressive. You might want to choose a yeast that works more gently - 71B , for example. Horses for courses.
Good luck!

 

[Daz666]

Many thanks for your reply BernardSmith! I shall give it a go using just simple ingredients for a start and see if my local brew shop has a different yeast similar to 71b and also see if there is any yeast nutrient I can use. Thanks again! hopefully my first mead will be a sucess! I've got used to the homebrewing process so thought I'd give mead a try since when I've had it before it has tasted very nice!

 

[bernardsmith]

Many thanks for your reply BernardSmith! I shall give it a go using just simple ingredients for a start and see if my local brew shop has a different yeast similar to 71b and also see if there is any yeast nutrient I can use. Thanks again! hopefully my first mead will be a sucess! I've got used to the homebrewing process so thought I'd give mead a try since when I've had it before it has tasted very nice!

If you cannot readily find nutrient (and you should be able to) you can simply proof some bread yeast and then boil the mix in your microwave, cool and the add to your must. Those dead cells will serve as good nutrients at a pinch. Another source of nutrients you often see in some "older" recipes is raisins (grapes are perfectly nutritious for the yeast), so a small handful of raisins will also work (but you need to be careful that the raisins are not preserved with yeast destroying chemicals (sorbates and the like)).