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Traditional mead

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R

Recurve

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 26, 2014
17
0
0
Western Australia
Hi I have a few questions before I start my 1st mead

I am a beekeeper so I decided to use some of the honey to get into mead making. I purchased all the gear needed to get started

1x 30L fermentation bucket kit (airlock etc)
3 x 23L Better bottles
3x dry airlocks
3x closure
Hydrometer
auto syphon
no rinse sanitizer

I plan to make a traditional mead to begin with before trying some of the fruit based Melomels, Since my Carboys are a bit over 6Gallon (23L) this is the recipe I was thinking of using

Style: Traditional sweet

Honey: 10KG (22lbs)?
Batch size: 25Litres (6.6Gallons) would this be enough to make to ensure I can fill the better bottles after racking off the lees?
Yeast: I have a choice here of EC-1118, Lalvin D47, Lalvin ICV OKAY, Lalvin 71B, Lalvin KI-V1116 (thinking D47)?
ABV: 12-15% ?
SG: 1.120 ?
FG: 1.00 ?
ABV est: 15%
Temp: ~20C (68F) I purchased a controller to keep a fridge at temp I wish so advise please if there is a better temp

I also purchased the following additives after reading what people used on this site. Fermaid A,Campden Tablets,Potassium sorbate,Go ferm yeast nutrient,bentonite,wine nutrients (contains DAP,Mag sulphate and Mag Carbonate, trace vit,trace minerals)

Method.

Sanitize everything well
Rehydrate yeast 10grams with some Go-ferm as instructions say
Make must up to 1.120 (mead calculator I used to get quantities)
Pitch the yeast
aerate with a Sanitized paint stirrer on drill for 5mins
Close lid and place airlock with water
aerate twice a day for the 1st 5 days ?
use vodka after day 5 in airlock
Allow fermentation to complete before racking to BB


Will I need to add nutrients to this batch if so which choice is best Fermaid A or the mixed nutrients DAP,Mag sulphate and Mag Carbonate, trace vit,trace minerals. Do I add these before pitching the yeast or after?

One last question as this is my own honey from the hives do you suggest heating it up with water like I have seen some do or would you use it straight from the hive just filtered?

If anyone can see any errors or recommendations I should change I would be appreciative
 
Most here prefer Fermaid K and DAP mixture because the YAN can be calculated. You should wait until after the lag phase, which is at the first signs of fermentation after pitching the yeast. It can be added at once, but I prefer over 2 or 3 days. Check out the Newbee guide.

At 22 pounds of honey this mead will be quite sweet at 15% ABV and exceptionally sweet at 12% ABV. Are you planning to cold crash at the desired ABV? Have you considered using less honey and then back sweetening? You have potential for rocket fuel when using a more alcohol tolerant yeast such as 1116 or 1118. If using D47, I would definitely recommend a temp in the low 60’s.

Heating is not necessary or desirable. The fresher the better, straight from the hive. The bee butts and wax will either float or sink during fermentation and can be skimmed or racked off.

Good luck.
 
Thank you for the reply

I thought I would require that much honey for the size batch I was making 25Litres (6.6Gallons) I used the mead calculator as my guide

I am happy to try and back sweeten and reduce honey quantity. How much honey would you suggest I use and what gravity readings to target? I am happy with a high alcohol % as long as it does not effect fermentation.

I tried finding Fermaid K but have only been able to find Fermaid A in Australia

http://www.scottlab.com/product-337.aspx
 
6.6 gallons is a good amount if you want to end up with six gallons, as you will have losses with each racking. Just have a smaller carboy (jug) to collect the extra after the first racking. ABV above 13% often gives a hot tasting mead which may take years to mellow. However, added sweetness will cover much of the hotness. If this is your first mead I recommend 13% ABV or lower. You can adjust your next batch accordingly using this one as a basis of comparison. O.G.= 1.100 provides 13.2% ABV @ 1.000 and 13.7% ABV if it ferments to 0.996, and requires 18.4 lbs. of honey for 6.6 gallons. I usually shoot for O.G. = 1.090 which provides 12% ABV @ 1.000 and 12.5% ABV if it ferments to 0.996 and requires 16.5 lbs. of honey for 6.6 gallons.

The most tried and true way to back sweeten after stabilizing is to just keep adding honey to a sample (4 fluid ounces) of your finished mead until the desired sweetness results and proportion it to the 6 gallon carboy. Mead actually tastes sweeter as it ages, but chances are that your first batch will not be around too long. Do you have a wine that you like for residual sugar (RS) or added sugar comparisons? RS = 2% requires about 2.24 fluid ounces of honey in a gallon of mead, including the added honey. RS = 4% requires double that. Etc.

The Fermaid A looks similar to Fermaid K, but I have not done any calculations. There are a lot of discussions in this forum on YAN. Use the search engine to find out about how much to add. Generally you want twice the YAN from the Fermaid as from the DAP.

Again, good luck.
 
Fermaid A will work fine. At 1g/L it will provide about 123 ppm YAN according to the data sheet.
I'm not sure of the exact YAN content of your other nutrient mix, but I'd probably use a combination of both. If you are going to use D47, I'd probably add:

Fermaid A - 1 g/L
DAP mix - 0.5 g/L

I'd add 2/3 of the total at the beginning and the rest at the 1/3 fermentation point.

D47 is a great yeast if you can maintain the temperature. It will typically go to 14% which equates to a starting gravity of about 1.105. If you start any higher than that, you'll likely have some residual sugar. If you want it sweet that may be OK. Heating honey is not something I'd suggest unless you have some aromatic elements that aren't pleasant that you'd like to try to get rid of - it isn't necessary to pasteurize the must before starting.

I hope you get a great batch.
 
Hi again, I started this batch 24hrs ago. I aerated it 13hrs after pitching the yeast and it looked like it had gone past the lag phase so I added my nutrients 2/3 at the begging as suggested

I have just aerated it again and it has a fair amount of foam on top of the must. I did have an airlock on which was not bubbling but i think I may not have had a good seal on the airlock (does the foaming indicate the yeast are active and doing well?).

The temp I am fermenting at is between 16C-16.5C (60.8F-61.7F)

Any advice on when to start checking for the 1/3 sugar break?
 
The foam is an indication that the yeast are fine. You should check no later than day 2, especially when temps are greater than 70 degrees F. But at your fermentation temperature, it could easily take a few days more. The daily gravity reading will give some idea on how the fermentation is progressing. Checking the pH is also a good idea as traditional meads often require some pH adjustments to keep the yeast happy.
 
Thanks I will start to check it when I aerate it next.

OG 1.112 a little higher than I targeted, So by what I can work out after searching sugar breaks, 1/3 sugar break will be at around 1.074?

I thought I had corrected the air leak but I am still not seeing any bubbles from the airlock. Is this something to worry about?
 
update

I took a gravity reading which was a little hard to do as there was lots of bubbles rising in the test tube but I think it is around 1.100 so still to early to add more nutrients

pH test was around 4
 
Those airlocks have a ridge on them from the manufacturing process that can cause leaks. What I have done is to file mine down then gently flame them to soften the plastic and make it smooth so it gets a better seal. Takes some practise to get it right, but it works for me, I did melt a few airlocks in the learning process, but it's worth it in the end knowing my airlocks will not leak gasses in or out the bung area and oxidizing my mead!
 
Hi just an update and a quick question

My must is still fermenting at about 1 airlock bloop (S type) every 7 seconds is this a bit to slow and should I take a gravity reading and test pH or just let it continue doing its thing?

thanks
 
Recurve said:
Hi just an update and a quick question

My must is still fermenting at about 1 airlock bloop (S type) every 7 seconds is this a bit to slow and should I take a gravity reading and test pH or just let it continue doing its thing?

thanks
Click to expand...

Take that gravity reading. As Medsen said, pH wouldn't hurt either.

In general, you'll want to wait until the 'bloops' slow down to 1 per every 30 seconds. By then, a lot of the sediment and dead yeast will have settled to the bottom.
You don't want to rack too often, because you leave some behind every time you rack off the lees. I try (and I emphasize TRY) to go longer than that because I'm... frugal. Yeah, let's call it frugal. ;)

You wont hurt anything if you go longer than that before racking. I've waited until there was no bubbling activity at all and then racked, and it did not affect the outcome at all. It just saved me a glass or so of darned good mead.

Sounds like you're well on your way go being able to brag!
 
Thanks

I took a a gravity reading it was 1.026 which would make it around 11.5% ABV ATM, pH was still 4 on the strips I purchased. I will be investing in a digital pH meter so I can get more accurate results.

I tasted it and was expecting for it to taste not that great at this point and was surprised to find I enjoyed it even now, It tastes a bit like champagne

Can not wait to rack it into my Better bottle so I can get on to making another batch :)
 
I have just taken another gravity reading and it is 1.004 which would make it around 14% ABV.

I am still getting 1 burp every 2 mins so will not rack it yet.

My plan is to test the gravity every 2nd day and if I see no movement in 2 consecutive tests it has finished fermenting. Does this sound like the correct thing to do?

I still enjoyed the taste (may say more about my palate than anything) so I am not sure if I should back sweeten at all

Do I need to stabilize still if I do not back sweeten?

This site has been such a great help it is time to become a patron :cool:
 
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