Hello I looking to brew my first Mead
Thinking about spiced pumpkin mead for thanksgiving (am I too late, with the ageing required?)
Probably...
How does this sound?
15# honey
1gal water
4gal apple juice
2# dark brown sugar
1 large can pumpkin (roasted in a 400F oven)
1 oz Cinnamon stick in 2ndary
You have an awful lot of fermentables here...assuming a 5 gal total volume batch, just with the honey and brown sugar you're looking at an OG of almost 1.130! Add in the apple juice, and you're easily going to be pushing 1.150. This is a really high starting gravity, and you're going to have a tough time having almost any yeast get started in that.
I would cut the honey back at least to 12 lbs, and the brown sugar to at least 1 lb. You may even want to consider dropping the brown sugar altogether, but if you want that brown sugar quality/flavor/aroma, you can consider adding it as the main primary fermentation slows down. This will lower your OG at the beginning, and will preserve some of the brown sugar's aroma/flavor.
Regarding the pumpkin, you will have a lot of unfermentable sugars/complex carbs from the pumpkin, and you should really consider mashing the pumpkin either with amylase powder, or perhaps with a small amount of 2-row or 6-row barley.
Can I use Irish Moss, Or do I have to use Sparkolloid?
You don't necessarily have to use any fining agent, and Irish Moss in general doesn't have much of a place in mead making. Sparkolloid and other fining agents can be helpful in getting the primary to clear if it's taking an excessively long time.
Boil Water and Honey, add Irish Moss
Everything (Less Cinnamon) goes in to Primary for 30days
Move to Secondary add Cinnamon for 120 Days
You'll start off a firestorm around here if you talk about boiling your honey. It's not necessary, although I seem to occasionally be the lone voice of reason regarding the fact that it won't necessarily "ruin" your honey. You will get a different mead with boiled honey, but the honey aroma and flavor should be stronger if you just gently warm it and then dissolve it in your brewing liquor, which in this case is your apple juice.
I'm definitely not trying to discourage you at all, but overall, this is a pretty aggressive mead recipe for a first attempt, unless you have a pretty solid handle on brewing techniques and fermentation management in general, and other mead specific fermentation management topics such as staggered nutrient additions, etc. This may be a better project for Thanksgiving 2013...
