A bit too simplistic?

Hello all,

1st time poster and 2nd time Mead brewer, so obviously I don't really know much about the whole process (espically the science part) and I mostly go by the simplest route. My 1st batch was a disaster, tasted like olive oil. BUT it had great clarity and gave us a good buzz. That was over 3 years ago and I'm starting again.

Basically I got a two glass gallon jugs, 3 lbs of honey, some Lalvin yeast, and added this to just boiling water. I corrected the mistake I made last time and actually sanitized everything (with that no-rinse powder) then added the honey to the "Must". Stirred that up and with 1 cup of rasins (heard they make good nutrients?) with a juiced lemon (for acid content?) and then put it in the jug. Added the yeast with the air-lock and stored away.

Question is, I'm clueless on gravity (this is the Alc. content correct?) and other tools that I see referenced in making mead (and beer and wine) so is what I did too simplistic? Will it turn out well or will it end up like my last batch, bad-tasting? I'm hoping for a sweet tasting mead as neither my wife nor I like dry wines.

I should also reference the fact that I never racked the 1st batch of brew and drank it with my friends directly from the Primary jug (I'm assuming this was bad).


Anywho, I'm really excited to get things underway properly this time and I understand that some of the tools can get costly (not to mention honey itself) but I'm patient and willing to learn. Greetings to you all and I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun with this hobby!

Thanks for the feedback. I'll look into the books and the FAQ is a good place to start. Ancient Orange does look like a nice recipe. I have another empty 1 gallon jug that I'd like to try something different in so Ancient Orange looks to be a great start.

I also just recently purchased a 5 gal bucket from Home Depot (orange in color with a air-tight lid) that I had high hopes of turning into a nice fermentation bucket. I checked the Recycling info and it seems OK as it's listed as a 2. Wikipedia says 3's and 7's are the ones that could possibly effect food and water storage. So by using a rubber grommet, tube, and balloon it seems like a cheap and easy air-lock.

For the mead recipe, an Apple Cider/Honey mead (called a Cysor I think) is what I'm gonna attempt. Simply because Apples are in season (being Fall) and rather simple to make from what I gathered. Since I'm using cheap-o honey from Wal-Mart and pasturized Apple Cider from our local farm I feel farily competent in doing a "no boil" if I use distilled water. Add in some cinnimon, nutmeg, cloves, and (again more lemon) and it should turn out OK.

I wonder though how important is it to know the gravity of your mead? And how long after the fermentation phase should the mead sit and age after racking? One site suggests that initial fermentation could last as early as 18 days to 3 weeks and after you rack it, 2 more weeks of aging and it's good to drink. I had figured once I hit that peroid I'd keep some stuff on the shelf for 6-8 months and drink the rest to see the difference.

Thanks again for the info and links.

Chevette Girl said:

I used to boil every ingredient that came in contact with my meads and wines but I've loosened up over the years, a good vigorous fermentation pretty much trumps anything else in there.

Also, watch out adding lemon juice to meads, it can drop your pH too low and tick off your yeasties and make them give you off flavours. If you want lemon flavour, use just the zest, and don't add the juice until your fermentation's done (when your SG measured by your hydrometer is no longer dropping). That said, the acidity from the orange is an intrinsic part of the JAO recipe, so it does have its place, but honey itself causes acidity (low pH) so you want to be careful not to compound that.

Click to expand...

Yea as I read further and further into the process apparently the acidity of lemons helps stop the fermentation process. However, I went by the recipe and it was very clear on adding lemon juice (or juicing 1 lemon) into the must prior to the yeast. As for adding additional flavors to your mead, should this be done during the primary fermentation period or after you rack it? I've read that other fruits can be added to give it a different flavor, thus calling it something other than mead but I'm not sure when this is included during the process.

Chevette Girl said:

You mentioned adding the honey to just boiling water, did you add the yeast at that time too? If you did and it's not doing anything after a day or two, you may need to pitch another packet if it was too hot at your original pitch.

And welcome to the forum! The more mistakes you make, the more you learn, or at least, that's what my Sensei says ;D

Click to expand...

Na, I knew enough to wait for the must to be around room temp. before pitching the yeast. I did, however, chill the must in my sink with ice and cold water to expedite the process of bringing the temp. down, hope that was ok?

Another question I have is it generally rule of thumb for 1 packet of yeast per Gallon or does it matter? As I get ready to attempt a 5 gal. brew, I only have 4 yeast packets (that Lalvin EC-1118 stuff) and need to figure out if that's enough for one 5 gal. brew and a 1 gal. brew or should I buy more?

BTW, went out and bought a Hydrometer so that should help figuring out when my current brew's fermentation is finished and all my future brewing needs. Is it imperative to know the SG for your mead to get an idea for the ABV content?

And thanks for the warm welcome!

Chevette Girl said:

The "old" theory was that you wanted any non-grape wine to mimic a grape wine in sugar content, pH, tannin, etc. And I've done plenty of recipes with lemons up front and most of them worked out just fine because I don't mind if it stalled out a little early as I prefer sweeter

But we've discovered that honey doesn't behave quite the same way as fruit or granulated sugar. For more info, do a forum search on the term "gluconolactone" with poster "Dan McFeely".

Click to expand...

Hmmm.. thanks for the info. I'm thinking that it'll be ok since it's just the lemon juice. Time will only tell.

Chevette Girl said:

With respect to adding fruits/flavours in primary versus secondary, well, that's an ongoing debate, some do mostly primary fruit additions (I'm in that camp as most of my experience is wine rather than mead), some do mostly secondary additions because the vigorous fermentation sometimes blows off some of the more delicate qualities, and some do both just to cover all bases.

Click to expand...

Well I just started a batch of the JAO recipe and it calls for 1 whole orange (cut up) and so we'll see how that works. I still used the EC-1118 yeast but I figured that's just as good or better than grandma's breat yeast. I think as I get more familiar with the process I'll start tweaking the recipes to include diverse and flavorful fruit (like cherries...mmmmmm).

Chevette Girl said:

We never know from a new poster's post exactly how "newbie" they are, so we will occasionally point out the blindingly obvious because to some people it really isn't.

Chilling the must in ice is just fine, I've done it a time or two and I think some folks here might do that with their beer worts as well.

Click to expand...

Excellent news. Yea I tried making mead one other time a few years ago and it just turned out bad. Clear as a crystal with a beautiful gold color but tasted like olive oil. of course, I didn't take any heed of sanitation or racking and let it sit in the primary for like 4 months.

Chevette Girl said:

As Fatbloke said, 1 packet will do for a 5-gal batch and most of us toss in a whole packet for a 1-gal batch. But I make so many 1-gal batches that I often use half a packet, then fold the cut end over a few times and refrigerate the unused half... And EC-1118 does have its uses, don't be afraid to use it but don't be afraid to try other yeasts either. You can still make a decent-tasting mead even if some of the more delicate aromas are gone, and that one and K1-V1116 are both pretty sturdy yeasties and will generally do the job without much complaint whether you cosset them or not.

As for the ABV, yeah, you do need an initial SG reading, but you can get an approximate idea using the mead calculator tool if you knew measured what you put in.

Click to expand...

I like the idea of only using half. Yeast isn't really expensive but conserving some for more batches is a good idea. Next time I go to the brewing supply Co. I'll be sure to see what selection of yeasts they have. As for the SG readings, well my newest batch was SOOO dark I couldn't read the Hydrometer. When I put a sample into the tube, the hydrometer floated really high, almost above the Dessert Wine line. Not really sure if that's good or bad. ???

kerbythepurplecow said:

If your mead ends up too dry in the end you can always back-sweeten. In fact, many of the wine primers I've read suggest that as the preferred method. Once fermentation has stopped and you're about ready to bottle, you simply add more honey to sweeten it up. If you haven't added potassium sorbate, fermentation may start up again. So, that's something to watch for before actually bottling.

Click to expand...

I think I may do just that. I'm suprised that after 12 days the Air Lock is still bubbling rapidly so I figured I'm going to have to wait even longer (recipe said 18 days) but I figrued that's ok. But if I were to back-sweeten, doesn't that create Sparkinling Mead? Not that I mind carbination, just I wasn't shooting for a carbonated beverage.



As for my JAO mead, well I made it up last night and "shook the hells out of it" like the recipe says but one ingrident, cinimmon stick, i used powdered cinimmon which may or may not have been a good idea. Then, my second mistake was not waiting for all the foam to dissipate so when I pitched my yeast....well I got something called blow-off all throughout my Air-Lock. I hope this isn't a bad or uncommon problem and won't effect my mead much. I cleaned it all out and put it back on. Is my brew in trouble?

Soyala_Amaya said:

To answer the question, yes, but not for the reason you think it is. See the sentence up there that says "as good or better than grandma's bread yeast"? Yeah, you voided the warranty hard core. Changing the yeast is pretty much the single most dramatic change you can make to any recipe, ESPECIALLY JAO. This has a MUCH high alcohol tolerance and will make your JAO very dry. JAO is not meant to be dry, the sweetness is supposed to counteract the pith and spice. Also, I wouldn't let it sit on the EC1118 like you're supposed to on the bread yeast, once again, like your other batch, it will get nasty yeast characters.

Click to expand...

Well............crap, lol. Hey, I learned something today so that's good! Hmm...the recipe calls for waiting 2 months for it before bottling so I figured 1 month might be ok? And I'll probably have to back-sweeten this to make it taste ok. Good thing I only did a 1 gal. batch. Thanks for the tips and info.

Soyala_Amaya said:

As for the other questions, JAO is supposed to have a very high SG, for the reasons I mentioned. It's supposed to end sweet, not dry. And backsweetening won't carbonate your mead unless you do it just right, bottle it at the right time, and use the right bottles. Mess up those three criteria and you just make bottle bombs (if you bottle it too early), or a cloudy mead. Age it in the carboy till it's completely clear after backsweetening and it should be fine.

Click to expand...

Thanks and noted. I was gonna do a 5 gal. braggot because my friend does a lot of beer making and he has some extra stuff he might give me (Malt Extract for one) but based on these two batches, I might hold off. We'll see.