Skeeter Mead

[Arpolis]

Same to you. I can't get over how much I like the cherry skeeter mead. I really do not like cherry in general but this stuff is blowing my mind. I am sad I only blended up a gallons worth. I have 3 750ml bottles and 4 11.5oz bottles. Hmmmmmm that will go quick. I guess I need to start a new batch!

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Hey Guys

Just wanted to tell you that this sounds so amazing! I started Atek's version of this last night. I saw my airlock bubbling within 5 hours! I did not rehydrate the yeast tho. I have never had good luck and always had better luck just dumping it it. Today I have noticed a layer of Krausen. Is this normal? Do I degass this everyday stirring the sediment back in? Also Atek, you racked this when it hit around 1 and then added the lemon juice correct?

Thanks in advance!

Ps Atek I have your coffee vanilla pyment recipe going and it is coming along nicely!!

 

[Arpolis]

I just wanted to update. I took my skeeter mead and my skeeter mead mixed with tart cherry juice over to a x-mas get together and it was a big hit. I went to bed early and when I woke up everyone was passed out on the couches and all the bottles I brought were empty lol!

Newbiewinemaker, this may be late but depending on the yeast used the krausen can be normal. I like to mix the wine twice daily for the first week or so and at the 1/3rd sugar break it should be safe to dump in the lemon. Once the yeast is that far into activity it is hard to stop.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Thanks for the update. The krausen fell right after I posted. It hit 1.000 so I racked to secondary and added the lemon juice and sulfites. I did not de gas during fermentation however. I plan on bulk aging so I may not need to worry about that. Thanks for the reply. I am going to mix some with tart cherry juice as well. That sounds fantastic!

 

[Arpolis]

Oh man the tart cherry juice is amazing. I just mixed up 32 oz into a gallon jar and topped off with the Skeeter mead. I am sad I only have a gallons worth.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Maybe ill make up the whole 5 gallons with cherry and start a new plain skeeter mead! Merry christmas and thanks for the response. This forum has helped me more than a few times.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[Arpolis]

Oh I forgot to add! The bottles with the cherry started to ferment a bit more so these are carbonated. It looks like the amount of cherry juice I added was enough to dilute the sorbate enough to allow yeast to continue fermenting. So if you do this like me and mix in the juice after fermenting, stabilizing & back sweetening then make sure to hit it with a half dose of sorbate and Camden, wait a couple hours, mix the juice in and feel free to bottle after an additional 24 - 48 hours after that.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

I have one more question. How many # should I use to back-sweeten this? I have 5 gallons sitting in the carboy and starting to clear. It is no where close to being done but its getting there. Should I do a 50/50 of honey and water or just honey.


Thanks!

 

[Arpolis]

It should be about 3.5 lb of honey. Take about 1/2 gallon of your skeeter mead and mix that with you honey with a mixer to make sure it dissolves well. Then add that to your carboy and mix well again.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Thanks for the info again! I will do this.

 

[fuelish]

Sounds like an interesting mead....I prefer not to ferment sugar water, and this sounds like a good way of going about making skeeter pee mead-maker style ...added to my growing to-do list..heh

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Quick questions. I need to rack this but I'm worried about head space. Can I use sanitized marbles in a hops back to top up? I'm not a big fan of topping up with water. Also I tasted a little of this tonight and it has a pretty lemon acidic taste will aging and back sweetening calm this a bit?

 

[Arpolis]

Back sweetening helps a lot. A little age helps a lot too. With skeeter pee age seems to not really change much but this skeeter mead ages very well it seems.

Yes marbles in a hops bag will work. Be careful though. Some companies use lead in the glass to keep bubbles out and older marbles even used arsenic.

 

[Atek]

I have to second that, the back sweetening assists quite a bit. I did the straight sugar to honey conversions and judging by taste came up just a bit short on sugars compared to standard skeeter. I would go ahead and sweeten to the same sugar amount (all honeys are different), let it sit a week after thoroughly dissolving and then taste again. Add more if needed. If its a little shy of the sweetness you want age will still help here, meads age extraordinarily well.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Ok here is an update. I have racked for the 2nd time now and have it sitting on marbles to take up room as it is just shy of 5 gallons and my next size down is 3 gallons. It is half ways cleared. Still pretty hazy. I think it will be ok to go a couple of months sitting like that and then I will rack off and stabilize.



Does that sound about right? I started this on 12/10 so it is still pretty young. I dont plan on bottleing until it hits about 80F here outside I'm in SD so that could be awhile yet!

 

[Arpolis]

Yea that sounds ok. Meads can stay hazy for a long time some times. But dropping temps to 60*F or lower helps meads clear a lot. So stick it outside in that SD winter weather for about a week and it will probably clear vastly.

 

[Atek]

Yea that sounds ok. Meads can stay hazy for a long time some times. But dropping temps to 60*F or lower helps meads clear a lot. So stick it outside in that SD winter weather for about a week and it will probably clear vastly.

Whoa... SD weather, maybe not for a week unless you want it to actually freeze out the water... a high of -2 next monday over there. If you do, keep an eye on it, it should freeze slowly if it does start to do so which you can move inside if you see such crystals. Just wanted to forwarn on that one.

 

[Arpolis]

Lol sorry guess I was vague on that and did not mention the freezing thing. I just meant lowering temps helps a lot. I actually did have a mead recently freeze and turn to slush on me. Once it thawed though I will say it took two days of inside temps and it was crystal clear after that.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Thanks Guys. We had -20F windchills here yesterday. I decided to just cold crash in my fridge. Been in there for about 2 weeks it is crystal clear.

Thanks!

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Ok Guys,

I back-sweetened the other day and it got very hazy so I did what you two did and used some bentonite in hot water and shock the piss out of it and then added it in. Its been about 3 days and its pretty hazy yet and I can see the bentonite sitting at the bottom in the carboy.

Is it still working or should I rack off and try a clarifying agent?

Thanks

 

[Atek]

Hmm I didnt actually use any clarifying agents. I might have filtered but I cant recall, my gut says I did not. How much bentonite did you use?

 

[newbiewinemaker]

the package said 4 tsps in 1 1/3 cup of hot water and that is what I have used. I know Arpolis used Bentonite in his but I am not sure if I did something wrong or what I should do now. Do I let it sit for a few more weeks and see what it does or do I need to take action right away.

Thanks

 

[Arpolis]

Yea with my bentonite I went a little more than 4 tsp if I remember correctly. But only about 5 max I think, not a whole 2 TBS. Only difference from you to me was that I put the hot water and bentonite in a blender to mix well. When I added it to the carboy I did not mix it in at all. I just poured it in and left alone. After several hours it started clearing and it was like a murky grey cloud was slowly falling and leaving behind a crystal clear liquid above it.

Not sure what is happening with yours. It may be best to leave it for now rather than using more or different finnings. Now this is pure guess since bentonite as not reacted like this with me but it may be good to stir it up back into suspension if it looks like it did not clear it at all and just fall to the bottom. But take that with a grain of salt.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Ok thanks maybe I will give that a shot. I have worked very hard on this and have been very patient so I just dont want to mess it up!

Thanks

 

[Atek]

Ok thanks maybe I will give that a shot. I have worked very hard on this and have been very patient so I just dont want to mess it up!

Thanks

Worst case you do just let it settle clear. I have made some meads that cleared amazingly, then sweetened and had to wait a year for them to fully clear after that. Granted its a rare case but as with all meads it seems, it is still worth the wait.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

This will most likely be my first successful attempt at making mead. I tasted this when I backsweetened and oh my!! is it delicious! Back sweetening really took the acidic edge off of it that the lemon had given it. I cant wait to get this in the bottles for our good old South Dakota Summers!

 

[Arpolis]

This will most likely be my first successful attempt at making mead. I tasted this when I backsweetened and oh my!! is it delicious! Back sweetening really took the acidic edge off of it that the lemon had given it. I cant wait to get this in the bottles for our good old South Dakota Summers!

The stuff is really tasty. As long as you get the yeast rolling good this is a hard one to mess up I think.

 

[newbiewinemaker]

So i am not having any luck getting it to clear. I mixed the bentonite back up in suspension and it did the same thing. I am thinking I should rack it off the bentonite and just allow time for it to clear on its own. I am leery about leaving it sit on top of the bentonite for that long while it clears naturally. Thoughts? Or any other ideas to get it to clear?

Thanks

 

[Arpolis]

 

[newbiewinemaker]

Keyboard malfunction Arpolis?? haha