Book Ahead, enjoy.
Ok, this wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I guess I should start with the recipe I used (ended up with rather):
9 lbs of Clover Honey
2.5 Gal of Apple Juice (pure not sweetened by concentrate)
1 tsp Whole Cloves
1/4 tsp of Cinnamon powder
4 tsp of Yeast Nutrients
2 Ginger roots (both just knobs smaller than a golf ball)
2.8 Gal of Tap water
1 pack of Pasteur Champagne Yeast
Now on with the newbie story:
First, I had a hard time getting my equipment. I was going to order some stuff online for cheap (in retrospect, I SHOULD have) but I opted to instead Drive 2 hours to Dallas and visit a brew store. I figured since I haven't brewed anything in a long time (Helped my uncles brew some beer when I was younger) I'd like to talk to someone about what I want to do.
Well I arrived at the brew store on Saturday afternoon and the place was packed. I tried waiting around forever, but even getting some quick help wasn't very encouraging. The helper guy knew NOTHING about brewing ANYTHING. I went ahead and bought a simple 2-stage kit, some champagne yeast, some bottles, and a few other things. I did get the Compleat Meadmaker too, which is probably the only GOOD thing I was able to obtain. I get home and my airlock isn't in the box. ACK!! I ordered one on Monday and they were nice enough to send me the one they didn't have in the box as well. Still I spent twice as much on the equipment I got that I should have. I also received no insight to brewing (or meadmaking at that).
The honey I had already ordered some "Amber Honey;" why spend more money if I don't know what I'm doing. I have 2 local beekeepers but NEIGHTER seem to answer their phone. I had everything laid out and ready for the honey to arrive yesterday. I get home and they delivered a HALF full 5-gallon pale of honey. I was confused. I opened it up and it STANK like hell for one (probably just from getting hot traveling) but I was confused why I only got 37 of my 65 lb pale. I call and she says they don't even ship the honey in just the pale, that it's put in a box and they tape the lid on the pale. There was no tape (EVER) on this pale and there wasn't a box, but the label was taped on the pale from being cut off a box. So I guess UPS dumped it in another pale and dropped it at my door (didn't even wait for a signature; bastards). So they're going to pay to have another 5 gal pale sent to me, but I'M ALREADY READY!!!
I didn't want to use the nasty honey (who knows where the pale even came from) so I gave my local keeper another try and SOMEONE ANSWERED. Need to shorten this, so I was able to obtain a 1 Gal bottle of Clover (and something else that's even lighter) honey for $20.50. He even told me next time if I bring back the same jar it would be a little cheaper. He wouldn't however sell me the raw honey ($1.25/lb) in less than a drum full (I don't have a forklift). The honey is very light but tasty nonetheless. I wish I was able to get a hold of him sooner. Now I'll have a 60 lb and (maybe) a 37 lb tub of honey to either use or offload onto someone.
Ok, ok, I have my recipe (not what I listed above) that I came up with from just looking here and there. Trying to make it simple, but not plain. I was aiming for a very dry mead with a little apple bite to it, not a heavily apple cyser. I have all my equipment (I thought) and I have my ingredients. So I get started with sanitizing and heating up the water to single the honey a little (seemed like a compromise from the MANY different methods used). Well first off I notice my thermometer is missing!!! Looked EVERYWHERE and I cannot find it.. But it's too late; I'm already too far into this. I assume my daughter though she'd play with it; if only she knew what I was talking about she would have taken me straight to it.
Sanitize (everyone has been there, I think I did ok)
Heat up water to boiling for 15 min (was busy rinsing). I used about 1.8 Gal here.
Add Ginger (sliced). Mix in honey on low (from the looks of it I'd say around 8 lbs) and simmer about 5 min while making sure it's mixed.
I poor 1 Gal of Apple juice into the primary fermenter (plastic pale), this stuff was left at room temp. I then add the 2.5(ish) gal of honeywater (I didn't remove Ginger slices). I then add 1.5 Gal of chilled apple juice. The smell is WONDERFUL. It's sweet and cidery.. But wait.. crap it smells like a sweet cider, not something like a dry (thinking green apple) flavor. So last minute, I decide to spice it up some and throw in the cloves and cinnamon. Now this smells GREAT. I mean perfect.
Something's not right. There's WAY too much room in the fermenter. I've never heard anything about there being room at the top of the fermentor. I've only seen recipes say "enough water to top off fermentor). That can't be right either. How does my 5 gal not even go close to the top? Did I boil off too much water??? CRAP CRAP CRAP. Well I sprayed some more tap water directly into the fermentor, thinking the entire time that this has got to be something stupid (gotta love the fresh chlorine smell anyways, but maybe that's from my sanitizing). Well I top it off leaving a little over 2 inches at the top. The stuff is looking WATERED down as hell. It doesn't smell delightful anymore. It looks pretty pale. Oh well..
Well at this point I'm ready to throw in yeast. Not sure when I should take gravity reading, so I do it first. The gravity reading is about 1.065 (wtf that seems too low).
I better add more honey.. Can't hurt, the yeast can handle it. So I dump in about another pound (I need a kitchen scale). I'm thinking the whole time, ANOTHER stupid move.. Moron, you can't just jump un-sanitized honey in there and try to stir it in. Oh well, what's done is done. Another gravity reading; wait I doesn't really even look to be at 1.065.. But oh well I'll use my original reading. I take a taste.. It tastes VERY watered down. Oh well.
So I go ahead and pitch a package of yeast directly into the pale. I stir some more (hoping to aerate the yeast for their aerobic starting cycle). I let this sit about an hour and close it up nice and tight. I look at where the water is in the airlock so I can see if ANY CO2 could have been created.
Take my daughter to a movie and return. The airlock as obviously had a bunch of air through it. I was able to catch a glimpse at one bubble.
Sleepy time. Take a look at the airlock. I only caught 1 more bubble (I didn't stay long) but it's definitely not CHEWING along. Maybe after they run completely out of air (when I get home tonight) they'll be moving along.
Ok.. didn't list all my bad little experiences but it's definitely not an easy process. I just don't have the experience with it. Would be nice to have a brew buddy or something where we could visit the other's house and help start brews (and maybe finish them, but I'm not there yet).
Well this is in the newbie section and I wanted to post so I could ask questions here (As a brewlog would have been more appropriate).
1a: The extra 1.4 gal of head space in the fermentor. What did I do wrong here? Is it supposed to be empty or COULD I leave it that way and be perfectly okay?? I assume it could be fine, but I got confused at the last moment.
1b: when I rack to a secondary do I need to top it off?
2a: The gravity seems low. I would like a nice 10% or so dry mead with a hint of apple (and now some spice)?
2b: Should I rack it on top of my 3lbs of leftover honey??
3: Would the flavor have been a nice tart apple if I didn't spice it up?
4: Comments on my recipe or any newbie tips??
Ok, this wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I guess I should start with the recipe I used (ended up with rather):
9 lbs of Clover Honey
2.5 Gal of Apple Juice (pure not sweetened by concentrate)
1 tsp Whole Cloves
1/4 tsp of Cinnamon powder
4 tsp of Yeast Nutrients
2 Ginger roots (both just knobs smaller than a golf ball)
2.8 Gal of Tap water
1 pack of Pasteur Champagne Yeast
Now on with the newbie story:
First, I had a hard time getting my equipment. I was going to order some stuff online for cheap (in retrospect, I SHOULD have) but I opted to instead Drive 2 hours to Dallas and visit a brew store. I figured since I haven't brewed anything in a long time (Helped my uncles brew some beer when I was younger) I'd like to talk to someone about what I want to do.
Well I arrived at the brew store on Saturday afternoon and the place was packed. I tried waiting around forever, but even getting some quick help wasn't very encouraging. The helper guy knew NOTHING about brewing ANYTHING. I went ahead and bought a simple 2-stage kit, some champagne yeast, some bottles, and a few other things. I did get the Compleat Meadmaker too, which is probably the only GOOD thing I was able to obtain. I get home and my airlock isn't in the box. ACK!! I ordered one on Monday and they were nice enough to send me the one they didn't have in the box as well. Still I spent twice as much on the equipment I got that I should have. I also received no insight to brewing (or meadmaking at that).
The honey I had already ordered some "Amber Honey;" why spend more money if I don't know what I'm doing. I have 2 local beekeepers but NEIGHTER seem to answer their phone. I had everything laid out and ready for the honey to arrive yesterday. I get home and they delivered a HALF full 5-gallon pale of honey. I was confused. I opened it up and it STANK like hell for one (probably just from getting hot traveling) but I was confused why I only got 37 of my 65 lb pale. I call and she says they don't even ship the honey in just the pale, that it's put in a box and they tape the lid on the pale. There was no tape (EVER) on this pale and there wasn't a box, but the label was taped on the pale from being cut off a box. So I guess UPS dumped it in another pale and dropped it at my door (didn't even wait for a signature; bastards). So they're going to pay to have another 5 gal pale sent to me, but I'M ALREADY READY!!!
I didn't want to use the nasty honey (who knows where the pale even came from) so I gave my local keeper another try and SOMEONE ANSWERED. Need to shorten this, so I was able to obtain a 1 Gal bottle of Clover (and something else that's even lighter) honey for $20.50. He even told me next time if I bring back the same jar it would be a little cheaper. He wouldn't however sell me the raw honey ($1.25/lb) in less than a drum full (I don't have a forklift). The honey is very light but tasty nonetheless. I wish I was able to get a hold of him sooner. Now I'll have a 60 lb and (maybe) a 37 lb tub of honey to either use or offload onto someone.
Ok, ok, I have my recipe (not what I listed above) that I came up with from just looking here and there. Trying to make it simple, but not plain. I was aiming for a very dry mead with a little apple bite to it, not a heavily apple cyser. I have all my equipment (I thought) and I have my ingredients. So I get started with sanitizing and heating up the water to single the honey a little (seemed like a compromise from the MANY different methods used). Well first off I notice my thermometer is missing!!! Looked EVERYWHERE and I cannot find it.. But it's too late; I'm already too far into this. I assume my daughter though she'd play with it; if only she knew what I was talking about she would have taken me straight to it.
Sanitize (everyone has been there, I think I did ok)
Heat up water to boiling for 15 min (was busy rinsing). I used about 1.8 Gal here.
Add Ginger (sliced). Mix in honey on low (from the looks of it I'd say around 8 lbs) and simmer about 5 min while making sure it's mixed.
I poor 1 Gal of Apple juice into the primary fermenter (plastic pale), this stuff was left at room temp. I then add the 2.5(ish) gal of honeywater (I didn't remove Ginger slices). I then add 1.5 Gal of chilled apple juice. The smell is WONDERFUL. It's sweet and cidery.. But wait.. crap it smells like a sweet cider, not something like a dry (thinking green apple) flavor. So last minute, I decide to spice it up some and throw in the cloves and cinnamon. Now this smells GREAT. I mean perfect.
Something's not right. There's WAY too much room in the fermenter. I've never heard anything about there being room at the top of the fermentor. I've only seen recipes say "enough water to top off fermentor). That can't be right either. How does my 5 gal not even go close to the top? Did I boil off too much water??? CRAP CRAP CRAP. Well I sprayed some more tap water directly into the fermentor, thinking the entire time that this has got to be something stupid (gotta love the fresh chlorine smell anyways, but maybe that's from my sanitizing). Well I top it off leaving a little over 2 inches at the top. The stuff is looking WATERED down as hell. It doesn't smell delightful anymore. It looks pretty pale. Oh well..
Well at this point I'm ready to throw in yeast. Not sure when I should take gravity reading, so I do it first. The gravity reading is about 1.065 (wtf that seems too low).
I better add more honey.. Can't hurt, the yeast can handle it. So I dump in about another pound (I need a kitchen scale). I'm thinking the whole time, ANOTHER stupid move.. Moron, you can't just jump un-sanitized honey in there and try to stir it in. Oh well, what's done is done. Another gravity reading; wait I doesn't really even look to be at 1.065.. But oh well I'll use my original reading. I take a taste.. It tastes VERY watered down. Oh well.
So I go ahead and pitch a package of yeast directly into the pale. I stir some more (hoping to aerate the yeast for their aerobic starting cycle). I let this sit about an hour and close it up nice and tight. I look at where the water is in the airlock so I can see if ANY CO2 could have been created.
Take my daughter to a movie and return. The airlock as obviously had a bunch of air through it. I was able to catch a glimpse at one bubble.
Sleepy time. Take a look at the airlock. I only caught 1 more bubble (I didn't stay long) but it's definitely not CHEWING along. Maybe after they run completely out of air (when I get home tonight) they'll be moving along.
Ok.. didn't list all my bad little experiences but it's definitely not an easy process. I just don't have the experience with it. Would be nice to have a brew buddy or something where we could visit the other's house and help start brews (and maybe finish them, but I'm not there yet).
Well this is in the newbie section and I wanted to post so I could ask questions here (As a brewlog would have been more appropriate).
1a: The extra 1.4 gal of head space in the fermentor. What did I do wrong here? Is it supposed to be empty or COULD I leave it that way and be perfectly okay?? I assume it could be fine, but I got confused at the last moment.
1b: when I rack to a secondary do I need to top it off?
2a: The gravity seems low. I would like a nice 10% or so dry mead with a hint of apple (and now some spice)?
2b: Should I rack it on top of my 3lbs of leftover honey??
3: Would the flavor have been a nice tart apple if I didn't spice it up?
4: Comments on my recipe or any newbie tips??