noob mead question

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tellish33

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I just made my first 3 gallon batch of honey mead the other day. It has 9 pounds honey (orange blosom and wildflower mixed) and 2 pounds dark brown sugar. During the first week of adding my stage 1 and stage 2 nutreients the airlock was going nuts. I figurerd it would do this for awhile but it has slowed dramatically.

Do you need to stir it every once in awhile until you transfer to a carboy or just leave it alone?
 
That is a pretty high OG (probably over 1.140...right?), but using dark brown sugar in no way implies that you will have a sweet finish. What will give you a sweet finish is having such a high OG and your yeast pooping out either due to reaching alcohol tolerance, or other factors causing a stalled ferment.

But to answer your original question, it sounds like you're referring to degassing, which can be (carefully) done using a sanitized stirring wand, or by just frequently swirling the carboy. I find that the latter technique is much easier when you use a blow off tube, otherwise you'll blast all the solution out of your airlock every time...
 
I used two packets of D47 yeast. How do I know if I have a stuck fermentation? This is my first mead. Here are my numbers so far...

2-26-12 SG 1.133 at 72 degrees
2-28-12 SG 1.093 at 70 degrees
3-10-12 SG 1.010 at 72 degrees

My calculations say this mead should end around 18% ABV if all goes well. Will D47 be able to handle that high of an ABV?
 
In a short answer, no. D47 has a tolerance of 14%. If you have already churned through .123 I would say that's about it from that strain. I do not believe you have a stuck fermentation issue.
 
14% ABV, as suggested by the Lallemand yeast list for D47, is represented by a gravity drop of 103 points, so if you've got that or exceeded that, it's likely not to drop much further, if at all.

I suggest that you just leave it to settle/clear, taking occasional gravity readings and once you have had 3 identical readings across a period of about a week, then you can either just leave it to clear in the existing fermenter, or you could rack it off the sediment, etc etc...
 
I used two packets of D47 yeast. How do I know if I have a stuck fermentation? This is my first mead. Here are my numbers so far...

2-26-12 SG 1.133 at 72 degrees
2-28-12 SG 1.093 at 70 degrees
3-10-12 SG 1.010 at 72 degrees

My calculations say this mead should end around 18% ABV if all goes well. Will D47 be able to handle that high of an ABV?

Yeah, you're doing fine...good that you pitched more than one packet of yeast. You had a pretty healthy, quick fermentation...

Current ABV should be about 16.5%, so you've already "beat" the rated tolerance of the yeast...you're definitely not stuck, but as others suggested, you may not get much more -- which is fine...if you stay where you are, you should have a nice, lightly semi-sweet mead.
 
My calculations say this mead should end around 18% ABV if all goes well. Will D47 be able to handle that high of an ABV?
Extremely unlikely. You might be able to get 15 or 16%, but I wouldn't hold out any hope of 18%. I have an acerglyn going with D47 that's almost 15% and still going, but I fully expect it to poop out soon.
 
Are you also happy with 13-14%?

Da Duh Dunnnnn he says with dramatic effect.....

what if it only hits 12.9%?

Haha couldn't help it...

Think earlier in the posts they figured out based off his hydrometer readings that he already surpassed 14% and took the D47 over the top so I think the world will be safe
 
So Tellish, how did this turn out? Was it semi-sweet or dry? And if you don't mind, what were your exact ingredients? Now that I have started making my own beer SWMBO is bugging me to make her some mead :D
 
So Tellish, how did this turn out? Was it semi-sweet or dry? And if you don't mind, what were your exact ingredients? Now that I have started making my own beer SWMBO is bugging me to make her some mead :D

Mine is not done yet. Well, it technically is done but I'm letting it sit for a year before I bottle. Then I'm going to let it sit for another year once bottled.

Here is some of my info that I have from my batch:
2-26-2012 SG 1.133@72 degrees 31 Brix
2-28-2012 SG 1.093@70 degrees 22 Brix
3-10-2012 SG 1.010@72 degrees
3-17-2012 SG 1.010@77 degrees
3-24-2012 Racked @ 75 degrees

I used 9 lbs of a orange blossom and wildflower mix from my LHBS. It was either 2 or 3 lbs of brown sugar, two packs of D47 and enough water to take the fermenter up to 3 gallons. When I racked my mead I had a lot of trub. I ended up splitting my 3 gallon batch that I started with into two 1 gallon jugs. I hope this helps.
 
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