NewBee here!

[Kyle.brechin]

Hey there everyone! I've been reading around this site since September, and decided to join today.

I'm a complete beginner when it comes to mead making. I had my first mead September 17th this year, and I was so amazed I had my first two batches started on the 18th.

Hopefully I will learn a lot from this site and get my jargon up to par. I have no home brewing background whatsoever.

Here's a picture of my first sack? mead!
http://tinyurl.com/mlr8zh3 [photobucket]

Cheers!

 

[joemirando]

Hey there everyone! I've been reading around this site since September, and decided to join today.

I'm a complete beginner when it comes to mead making. I had my first mead September 17th this year, and I was so amazed I had my first two batches started on the 18th.

Hopefully I will learn a lot from this site and get my jargon up to par. I have no home brewing background whatsoever.

Here's a picture of my first sack? mead!
http://tinyurl.com/mlr8zh3 [photobucket]

Cheers!

Kyle

Welcome aboard! You are right; you'll learn a lot on this site. The folks here are the best. If one of THESE people don't know it, you don't need it to make mead.

Well, there's one thing I've got to say about the pictures of your mead...

FRICKIN' AWESOME! It looks GREAT! My only comment would be about the amount of headspace (airspace) you've got in the jugs. Are they the same recipe? If they are, I would recommend topping one off with the other and finding a smaller glass bottle to put the rest in. Mead oxidizes much more slowly than wine or beer do, but it does oxidize. You want to minimize the free oxygen available as much and as soon as you can.

Can you give us some details about the recipe?

Jargon is a funny thing. I spent about an hour one day trying to figure out what DAP and K-Meta were. They sounded like product names to me but, try as I might, I couldn't find any company that had those product names. Come to find out, they're DiAmmonium Phosphate and Potassium (chemical symbol K) Metabisulphate. The lesson here is: Don't be afraid to ask.

And if you haven't gotten one already, get thee a hydrometer. Get it before someone asks what your SG reading is. They're about ten bucks at a local home brew store (If you have one), or as low as 5 on eBay.

There're also things that'll be helpful down the road, but you can get those as you need.

How about some tasting notes on these puppies? They look really really good!

Congrats and welcome from another newbee

Joe

 

[Kyle.brechin]

Thanks Joe. I wasn't aware the headspace would effect the mead, I'll top it off and find a smaller bottle as you recommended. I watched a lot of videos and they all recommended leaving space for the fermentation.

As for the recipe, they are both the same, except for yeast content.
Lavlin D47 broken into 2g and 3g batches (wanted to see if yeast amount changed it at all)
3Q local Colorado Wildflower honey
1/2 tsp BSG yeast energizer
1 1/4 tsp BSG yeast nutrient
3/4 G of purified water via Brita


I thought keeping it simple would let me see if the process worked, as there were a bunch of different ways shown online. I chose to use the heated method.

I did buy a hydrometer recently, but I didn't take a reading as this was just to see if I could even do it.

I have yet to taste either of them, they are just over 2 months old. They smell nice, but also have a small yeasty smell to them. There is a small amount of yeast still floating around after racking. I didn't use any kind of filtration system. Is the yeast inside a concern? There's no fermentation taking place.

 

[fatbloke]

Welcome......

Joes gives some good suggestions there. Though in fairness to the point raised, most specific interest groups can fall into the trap of subject specific phrases and acronyms, and it would be rare not to get the occasional "Duh?"

Not to be mean etc, just tbe way we can all be at time I suppose.

So, yes, good colour and pretty clear. The thing with airspace, particularly with carboys and jugs that type, is mainly because during the early stage of the ferment, you can get a big build up of carbonic acid/dissolved CO2. One it its properties is that it can, given appropriate conditions cause a "mead eruption"/foaming. This can be spontaneous or if the liquid is disturbed (known as nucleation as the carbonic acid attaches to tiny particles as nucleii and come out as gaseous CO2 (bubbles) - its quite a fast reaction which is made worse if your fermenter has a ready made jet nozzle built in like a carboy/jug......

If you make a batch with fruit in and it decides to blow, you only end up cleaning chunks of fruit off the ceiling the once before you buy a few buckets of 2 or 3 different sizes and learn to start batches in them, transferring to glass later on......

As your current batch is young, if/when you top off etc, I encourage you to taste now so you understand how nasty/hideous young meads (especially traditional type) can be when young.

Once its had time to age some (minimum 6 months IMO) it mellows in an amazing way.

Equally, it also teaches that the honey without sweetness taste is contrary to what we're familiar with in a major way and that a well managed ferment is only part of the making process......

There's a sh1tload more tips, ideas and suggestions, but if you haven't already, read the NewBee guide linked in the left side yellow dialogue/links box.......

Again, welcome and good effort with the first batch(es)........

 

[GntlKnigt1]

....Aind I would add that even though it may have stopped fermenting, there are still things you can do to affect the flavor, like oak chips, or backsweeten with honey if it is too dry, or add fruit or other flavors.... This would be the place to post what it is that you want to do with your batch, and we can help guide you through the first batch or two or twentieth (I am still learning as well).

Oh... and there are some here who feel that you have to have an MEA (Mead Explosion Accident) with fruit on the ceiling before you can be considered a veteran mead maker. It's rather like adding baking soda to vinegar, in a coke bottle and watching it spray.

Happy New Year !!!

 

[joemirando]

Thanks Joe. I wasn't aware the headspace would effect the mead, I'll top it off and find a smaller bottle as you recommended. I watched a lot of videos and they all recommended leaving space for the fermentation.

As for the recipe, they are both the same, except for yeast content.
Lavlin D47 broken into 2g and 3g batches (wanted to see if yeast amount changed it at all)
3Q local Colorado Wildflower honey
1/2 tsp BSG yeast energizer
1 1/4 tsp BSG yeast nutrient
3/4 G of purified water via Brita


I thought keeping it simple would let me see if the process worked, as there were a bunch of different ways shown online. I chose to use the heated method.

I did buy a hydrometer recently, but I didn't take a reading as this was just to see if I could even do it.

I have yet to taste either of them, they are just over 2 months old. They smell nice, but also have a small yeasty smell to them. There is a small amount of yeast still floating around after racking. I didn't use any kind of filtration system. Is the yeast inside a concern? There's no fermentation taking place.

Kyle,

In my opinion, you did exactly the right thing for your first batch... you kept it simple and got yourself a 'baseline' by which to judge. My first batch was the ever-popular Joe's Ancient Orange. But following the start of that by only a matter of days were two batches in which I made just about every mistake possible.

I'm actually quite jealous of your results on this one. They look great, and I'll bet that after aging they'll taste great. Congratulations! Ya done good!

Joe

 

[Kyle.brechin]

Thanks for the feedback and information.

I do have a concern though. I've racked twice to ensure I get as much yeast out as possible, but there does seem to be a little still floating around. Will the yeast affect the taste? It does seem to smell a little like yeast, but it still has a nice honey wine smell to it. Should I be concerned about the yeast at all?

And does anyone have any information on the "science" of mead making? There's a lot of variables, factors, and information being thrown around that I'd like to understand better.

 

[WVMJack]

Welcom Kyle, have you a hydrometer in your toolkit yet? You will also need a hammer and a good sharp saw to start building your mead racks to store your mead and to get a start on building your mead room. Go ahead and make it big, it will never be big enough anyway but will give you some room while you start expanding into different types of honey, different types of mead, you will eventually want to do the normal test every kind of yeasts on your honey experiment, then the effects of different kinds of oak etc etc etc. Get out now while you are still sane. I have found a big tool chest on wheels make things a lot easier to find for building projects. WVMJ

 

[mannye]

Welcom Kyle, have you a hydrometer in your toolkit yet? You will also need a hammer and a good sharp saw to start building your mead racks to store your mead and to get a start on building your mead room. Go ahead and make it big, it will never be big enough anyway but will give you some room while you start expanding into different types of honey, different types of mead, you will eventually want to do the normal test every kind of yeasts on your honey experiment, then the effects of different kinds of oak etc etc etc. Get out now while you are still sane. I have found a big tool chest on wheels make things a lot easier to find for building projects. WVMJ

You think he's kidding but I started last year and I'm selling my muscle car to free up the garage for a meadery! AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO MAKE MEAD YET!

 

[mmclean]

I bought a new house on five acres so I can have my own bees and grow blueberries and such.

I think I will come out cheaper in the long run.

 

[McJeff]

I bought a new house on five acres so I can have my own bees and grow blueberries and such.

I think I will come out cheaper in the long run.

dont be afraid to experiment, worse case you just mix it with something else and its still drinkable. I started 7 months ago and ive done 16 diff types of test meads in that time. most drinkable, one i dumped, and few really pleasant. Keep a log of what you are doin also!

 

[Kyle.brechin]

I finally took a taste: http://tinyurl.com/mb5sejh

If anyone's tasted the Redstone Meadery Traditional Mountain Honey Wine, it tasted a bit like that. It definitely tasted of alcohol and you could smell the honey in the air. I would like it a little bit sweeter, though it is nice how it is. I look forward to tasting again in a few months to see the difference.

Anyone have any secrets of back sweetening?

 

[joemirando]

I finally took a taste: http://tinyurl.com/mb5sejh

If anyone's tasted the Redstone Meadery Traditional Mountain Honey Wine, it tasted a bit like that. It definitely tasted of alcohol and you could smell the honey in the air. I would like it a little bit sweeter, though it is nice how it is. I look forward to tasting again in a few months to see the difference.

Anyone have any secrets of back sweetening?

Well, I don't think there are any secrets (if there are, nobody's told ME any of them! ), but its not that hard to do right.

First of all, your mead looks GREAT! Congratulations!

Second, you're going to want to stabilize your batch. You do this by racking it onto one crushed Campden tablet (or a particular amount of potassium metabisulfate) and 1/4 tsp of potassium sorbate. This will stun and 'neuter' any remaining yeast. Usually I would cold crash the batch first to get as much of the yeast down to the bottom and inactive, but your mead is clear and probably fairly free of the little single-celled bastards, so I would just rack it onto the stabilizing chems, let it sit for a day or so, then draw out a small amount (a quarter cup, maybe?) and add a little bit of honey at a time, tasting each time until you get the desired sweetness.

Then check the SG of your sample. Slowly build up the honey in your batch until the SG matches that of your tasting sample. Bingo. You've backsweetened. This will probably become known as 'fatbloking it', since it is from our friend fatbloke that I learned this.

The only issue is that adding honey to a finished batch is that it will often (always, in my case) cause a thick haze that will have to age out. Its for this reason that I backsweeten before letting the mead clear, either on its own or with the help of a clarifying agent such as bentonite or Sparkloid.

Congratulations again!
Joe

 

[skunkboy]

Well, I don't think there are any secrets (if there are, nobody's told ME any of them! ),

Well, duh, wouldn't be secrets if we told everyone... hehe...

 

[joemirando]

Well, duh, wouldn't be secrets if we told everyone... hehe...

Awwwww, c'mon! Tell me tell me tell me! I can keep a secret! I never told anyone about the time you.....


Joe

 

[Kyle.brechin]

Alright guys, so I finally took an SG reading just now and I have to say I'm a little worried about my result.

The SG is.....*drum roll*

1.



A solid 1.00 for both batches.

I'm somewhat confused, did I do something wrong? Do I need to do something to it?

 

[kudapucat]

Well. It's dry.
That may or may not be a problem. It's a matter of taste.
You can stabilise and backsweeten, or age it and see how it goes.
It really depends on you.
Nothing is unfixable at this point. Too sweet is an issue, but not too dry. Residual sugar covers a multitude of sins so you may want to do that.

So. What do you want from this mead?

 

[Kyle.brechin]

So nothing actually went "wrong"? It's just dry? Is it because I ran out of sugar during the fermenting process? I plan on going semi-sweet to sweet.

 

[Stasis]

Fairly new to mead myself but from what I gathered, the mead ends up dry depending on the yeast strain, how healthy they are kept and various other variables.
It does not seem that you needed more honey since you mentioned an alcohol taste (which should mellow out) and faint honey aroma. (seems that the mead went well)

There are two main ways for a healthy yeast to stop fermenting:
1. All sugar is eaten up
2. Alcohol tolerance is reached and they die off

If it's neither one of those 2 then something might have gone wrong.
It is usually preferable for yeast to stop because of reason 1, because a yeast dying of a high alcohol level may result in stressed yeast producing off flavors/alcohols. Also, some strains have a high alcohol tolerance which is undesireable to max out

Therefore, most people backsweeten

 

[kudapucat]

Nothing went wrong.
Stabilise and backsweeten.

I'm not 'most people' I prefer to pick a yeast and gave it clap out at max tolerance, leaving sugar.

You can also cold crash a batch to get it to stop fermenting whenever you choose - then stabilise.

Stabilising is stopping the yeast from continued fermentation. This is done either chemically or by sterile filtering.