Online recipe from makemead website

[Dorkusmalorkus]

Has any one tried to make mead with the "easy bread yeast mead" recipe from makemead.net?

If so I have a few questions to ask

 

[AkTom]

I haven't used that recipe... I have used Jacks apricot mead. I the mead section in recipes. It uses bread yeast. I am a big fan. I used dried mangos, dried apricots, Craisins. Depending on the recipe and temps, your mead can be ready to drink in 2 to 6 months. This is a bad habit. I like reading recipes and making as much as drinking it. I do like drinking it too.
Welcome to the meadness.

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

For the recipe in question, the required fermentation time is 7 to 10 days. The next step says to transfer the liquid into another container to let it age for a few months.

Question: does that second container also require a pierced balloon or other airlock device, or can it just be capped?

 

[On-target]

YES you do need an airlock. The yeast will still be working for quite awhile and making CO2 which could build up pressure and explode if you don't give the gas somewhere to go.

 

[Hinermad]

[Edited to remove - didn't read the whole OP.]

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Another question about using pierced balloons as airlocks: when replacing a damaged balloon or transferring the liquid from one jug to another, should one be worried about contamination for the brief period of time the container is exposed to open air?

 

[bernardsmith]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. Another question about using pierced balloons as airlocks: when replacing a damaged balloon or transferring the liquid from one jug to another, should one be worried about contamination for the brief period of time the container is exposed to open air?

Short answer is ... no. Contamination is not a real issue - there is too much alcohol and too much acidity created by the host yeast to make the environment a good home for a cell or two of wild yeast that may be floating in the air. The larger problem is one of oxidation but for the couple of minutes your mead will be exposed to the air there is really no cause for concern. But is there any reason why you spend money on balloons rather than spending a couple of dollars on a bung and an airlock?

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

Balloons are cheaper and more readily available. At least for now until the ordered materials arrive. Too impatient to start experimenting. If successful, using the proper purpose-made material will be the way to go.

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

Followed the recipe and instructions written on makemead. It says the mead should be transferred to another container after the first ferment is done.

The balloon is supposed to go limp but is seems that it is still fermenting, although not as much as before. This has been going on for the last 7 days.

Is it possible that there may be too much yeast? Is it on the right track or did I make some sort of amateur mistake?

Help is appreciated, thanks

 

[wildmazer]

no, it shouldn't be possible that there's too much yeast. it's probably just unrealistic to expect a bread-yeast mead to finish fermenting in a week. JOAM, probably the most popular mead made with bread yeast, takes months. it sounds like it's going fine.

 

[Dorkusmalorkus]

Does this mean the first ferment takes months before the balloon is supposed to go limp? The recipe I tried is not JOAM, as far as I can tell.

 

[fossilcat]

I'm assuming you didn't take any gravity readings? It's easier if you do that - then you'll know for sure how far along the fermentation is.

So if I were you (and didn't take any gravity readings), I'd split the difference. Plan on going more than your 7 days but keep an eye on your lees. A lot of your yeast will be down there and you would benefit by stiring that up during active fermentation. It gets the yeast back into solution and also help release CO2 (and aerate - early in the ferment only). After about 3 to 4 weeks, I would consider racking to secondary if those lees are substantial and compact (at least more compact than originally - lees from bread yeast, I hear, are pretty fluffy).

If the yeast is still actively fermenting when you rack, then fermentation will continue in the secondary and more lees will form. Rack until there's no more lees, cold crash and/or wait until it clears, then bottle.

I've no experience with bread yeast so I can't advise how long the mead can be left on the original yeast cake without introducing an undesireable taste (if any are produced at all). It's an educated guess based on my limited experience, but something I would consider "safe", that I would feel fairly confident in producing a successful brew.

 

[bernardsmith]

The balloon is going to be filled with CO2. CO2 is in fact heavier than air so it is the pressure of the gas being produced beneath the balloon that forces the CO2 out of the pinhole in the balloon. The gas will tend to escape but even if or when the yeast has stopped creating more CO2 there may not always be enough pressure to force the gas in the container up into the balloon and the gas in the balloon to move out through that hole... So the balloon may seem somewhat inflated even if no more CO2 is being produced. Bottom line? I wouldn't use the fact that the balloon is semi inflated as any indication of whether the yeast was still producing a great deal or very little or no carbon dioxide. Best indicator of when to rack is when your hydrometer suggests that the density of the liquid (AKA specific gravity) is about 1.010 - 1.005. In that range the yeast is still producing CO2 (because some sugar remains) but you can reasonably rack the mead or wine off the lees and still be fairly confident that there will be enough yeast cells transferred to the target vessel or container for the fermentation to continue and not stall.