Hello GotMead,
My name is Tom Sluiters, I'm 21 years old and i come from the Netherlands. My English isn't perfect, so please don't mind
One and a half weeks ago I started my first batch of mead. I've bought some basic supplies like a 5l (1,3 US gallon) carboy with an airlock. Since I've tasted a nice cherry mead before i decided to try this for my first recipe.
2 kg (about 4.4 pounds) of supermarked bought wildflower honey
1,5 kg (about 3.4 pounds) of frozen cherry's
Sweet mead yeast (home brand from the webshop i used)
Bottled spring water
I decided to try the "no heat method". First i thawed the cherries. I put the yeast in a bowl of water with some honey in there to hydrate it. Since this was my first try i didn't use any yeast starter/energizer. Then I mixed the honey the spring water and filled up the carby till about 2/3. After this I added the thawed cherries and left some headroom. Lastly I pitched the yeast and closed the carboy with the airlock.
Fermentation started out quickly and vigorously. When I came home at night the airlock was full of foam/sludge. Clearly I didn't leave enough headroom . After a few days the fermentation slowed down a bit and there is a lot less foam forming now. All and all I thinks it's a really good start.
I do have some questions though. Since there is a lot of fruit in there, I will loose a lot of volume after racking. I'm thinking about adding some water to fill the carboy back up to 5l.
- When do I need to rack of the fruit?
- Will fermentation continue after adding water after racking?
I can imagine that I will need to rack of the fruit before the airlock stops bubbling so the yeast is still active. Also, when I add water, the alcohol level will drop so I think the fermentation will continue. Since I used quite some honey, I think there will be enough sugars left as well.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Thanks!!
Tom Sluiters
My name is Tom Sluiters, I'm 21 years old and i come from the Netherlands. My English isn't perfect, so please don't mind
One and a half weeks ago I started my first batch of mead. I've bought some basic supplies like a 5l (1,3 US gallon) carboy with an airlock. Since I've tasted a nice cherry mead before i decided to try this for my first recipe.
2 kg (about 4.4 pounds) of supermarked bought wildflower honey
1,5 kg (about 3.4 pounds) of frozen cherry's
Sweet mead yeast (home brand from the webshop i used)
Bottled spring water
I decided to try the "no heat method". First i thawed the cherries. I put the yeast in a bowl of water with some honey in there to hydrate it. Since this was my first try i didn't use any yeast starter/energizer. Then I mixed the honey the spring water and filled up the carby till about 2/3. After this I added the thawed cherries and left some headroom. Lastly I pitched the yeast and closed the carboy with the airlock.
Fermentation started out quickly and vigorously. When I came home at night the airlock was full of foam/sludge. Clearly I didn't leave enough headroom . After a few days the fermentation slowed down a bit and there is a lot less foam forming now. All and all I thinks it's a really good start.
I do have some questions though. Since there is a lot of fruit in there, I will loose a lot of volume after racking. I'm thinking about adding some water to fill the carboy back up to 5l.
- When do I need to rack of the fruit?
- Will fermentation continue after adding water after racking?
I can imagine that I will need to rack of the fruit before the airlock stops bubbling so the yeast is still active. Also, when I add water, the alcohol level will drop so I think the fermentation will continue. Since I used quite some honey, I think there will be enough sugars left as well.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Thanks!!
Tom Sluiters
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