Hey guys and gals
I first head about Mead about a year ago when I wanted to buy something special for a buddy of mine... he never opened the bottle when I gave it to him so I my curiosity grew regarding Mead and what it would taste like...
Anyway after a while I started searching online and found this website which I have been lurking since... I decided I needed to make my own so after gathering equipment and a ton of reading I finally started my first batch today...
I must say it was a bigger than normal batch for a newbie because I got an incredible deal on some equipment but it was larger than I expected... I figured the deal was worth the risk of having a first batch go so so
Here is my recipe for a 54 litres batch:
43 litres of water (aprox)
15 kilos of Wildflower Honey
1 kilo of Buckwheat Honey
150 grams of Hibiscus flowers (dried)
3 Kilos of diced Apples (mostly McIntosh)
450 g of raisins
I sanitized everything with household bleach and rised fully... I then boiled the water and let it rest to remove impurities and chlorine.. Once the water was warm but not hot I poured it into my primary fermenter (a glass carboy). Warmed the honey by putting the tub in the sink with warm water and added it to the mix. I mixed the honey with the water fully with a made-shift lees stirrer and my cordless drill (which sadly did not survive the adventure). I then boiled the Hibiscus flowers and added them with the water (part of the 43 litres mentioned above). Finally I added the apples still frozen (I had previously cored and sliced them, washed them with lemon water and froze them) and the raisins... Finally I stirred everything with a plastic spatula.
At this point the gravity was exactly 1.100, I understand this is probably a little under since the apples and raisins had not had the change to provide their sugar to the must.
Once it cooled down to room temp I pitch the yeast, 2 packages (5 grams) of LALVIN K1-V1116
As I understand it I should not be able to produce more than 14% alcohol with this must. I am expecting to rack, stabilize and backsweeten it later as this yeast will probably consume all the sugars. I'm just hoping to stop fermentation properly as I would not like to end up with an 18% mead. Am I in the ball park here?
Also, I understand that using apples makes this a Cyser (or is that only the case when apple cider is used?)... I also added hibiscus which would make it a Metheglin, what are the rules for naming crossovers??
I would appreciatte any suggestions, comments or any feedback you can provide me... I have to say this website (and its patrons) have been a fantastic source of information and making mead was one of the most fun projects I have done so far... I just hope I end up with 50 bottles of drinkable something LOL
Cheers!
I first head about Mead about a year ago when I wanted to buy something special for a buddy of mine... he never opened the bottle when I gave it to him so I my curiosity grew regarding Mead and what it would taste like...
Anyway after a while I started searching online and found this website which I have been lurking since... I decided I needed to make my own so after gathering equipment and a ton of reading I finally started my first batch today...
I must say it was a bigger than normal batch for a newbie because I got an incredible deal on some equipment but it was larger than I expected... I figured the deal was worth the risk of having a first batch go so so
Here is my recipe for a 54 litres batch:
43 litres of water (aprox)
15 kilos of Wildflower Honey
1 kilo of Buckwheat Honey
150 grams of Hibiscus flowers (dried)
3 Kilos of diced Apples (mostly McIntosh)
450 g of raisins
I sanitized everything with household bleach and rised fully... I then boiled the water and let it rest to remove impurities and chlorine.. Once the water was warm but not hot I poured it into my primary fermenter (a glass carboy). Warmed the honey by putting the tub in the sink with warm water and added it to the mix. I mixed the honey with the water fully with a made-shift lees stirrer and my cordless drill (which sadly did not survive the adventure). I then boiled the Hibiscus flowers and added them with the water (part of the 43 litres mentioned above). Finally I added the apples still frozen (I had previously cored and sliced them, washed them with lemon water and froze them) and the raisins... Finally I stirred everything with a plastic spatula.
At this point the gravity was exactly 1.100, I understand this is probably a little under since the apples and raisins had not had the change to provide their sugar to the must.
Once it cooled down to room temp I pitch the yeast, 2 packages (5 grams) of LALVIN K1-V1116
As I understand it I should not be able to produce more than 14% alcohol with this must. I am expecting to rack, stabilize and backsweeten it later as this yeast will probably consume all the sugars. I'm just hoping to stop fermentation properly as I would not like to end up with an 18% mead. Am I in the ball park here?
Also, I understand that using apples makes this a Cyser (or is that only the case when apple cider is used?)... I also added hibiscus which would make it a Metheglin, what are the rules for naming crossovers??
I would appreciatte any suggestions, comments or any feedback you can provide me... I have to say this website (and its patrons) have been a fantastic source of information and making mead was one of the most fun projects I have done so far... I just hope I end up with 50 bottles of drinkable something LOL
Cheers!