KingBrianI
Well-Known Member
I'm getting married at the end of the year and we just decided to give out little bottles of mead to the guests as one of the guest-present things (sorry for the lack of terminology, all this is new to me!). So I know I'm waaaay late getting started. Oops. And I've made a few meads but never really done anything by the book, it's always been, well I've got some honey and some ale yeast, lets throw them together and see what happens. I want to do this one right, and with the short 3.5-4 months I have, I need it to be pretty quick.
I've already got 12 lbs. of orange-blossom honey and 2 packs of d-47 on the way. I have DAP and fermaid-k. I don't have any go-ferm. I was planning on just doing a straight orange blossom honey mead with no other honeys or flavorants (unless you think it needs some wine tannins or acid or something, I have no idea). So my questions are as follows:
1. How big should my batch be? I only have 12 lbs of honey so if I make 5 gallons it might be a little weak, right? But won't it age quicker? I think I'll need at least 3 gallons in order to get bottles to everyone. They'll probably be smaller than 12 oz. decorative bottles.
2. Should I pitch one or two packs of the d-47, and is go-ferm necessary or will rehydrating in water alone work fine?
3. I'll be staggering nutrient additions according to the sticky unless someone has a better plan to speed this up. I'm not trying to have it drinkable by the wedding, just cleared and bottled. I'll let everyone know it will only get better the longer they age it. Hopefully I'll have several bottles to keep and age for anniversaries as well!
I guess that's it for questions now, thanks for taking the time to help out! I want to ask about water profile target but that might be taking it too far.
I've already got 12 lbs. of orange-blossom honey and 2 packs of d-47 on the way. I have DAP and fermaid-k. I don't have any go-ferm. I was planning on just doing a straight orange blossom honey mead with no other honeys or flavorants (unless you think it needs some wine tannins or acid or something, I have no idea). So my questions are as follows:
1. How big should my batch be? I only have 12 lbs of honey so if I make 5 gallons it might be a little weak, right? But won't it age quicker? I think I'll need at least 3 gallons in order to get bottles to everyone. They'll probably be smaller than 12 oz. decorative bottles.
2. Should I pitch one or two packs of the d-47, and is go-ferm necessary or will rehydrating in water alone work fine?
3. I'll be staggering nutrient additions according to the sticky unless someone has a better plan to speed this up. I'm not trying to have it drinkable by the wedding, just cleared and bottled. I'll let everyone know it will only get better the longer they age it. Hopefully I'll have several bottles to keep and age for anniversaries as well!
I guess that's it for questions now, thanks for taking the time to help out! I want to ask about water profile target but that might be taking it too far.