*waves frantically* Hi, everyone! I hope that some of you can give a hand with a recipe (ish). I am a total newbee (love the spelling!) with my total mead making experience being the batch of Joe's Ancient Orange that I started yesterday at my mom's house. I have read a lot of the information available on GotMead, though not ALL because I only found this site last week or so, and while I read fast, I'm not quite that fast. So here is the recipe that I came up with to use up some frozen cherries I have. I am trying for an all natural mead - just honey, yeast and water until I siphon it over the cherries. Here's what I came up with, questions will follow:
for 1 gallon
3lbs honey
water to one gallon
wine yeast
1.25lbs dark sweet cherries
2 oz. vanilla extract
Flash pasteurize honey, put in primary with water to get volume to one gallon (or a little more). When must cools down, pitch yeast. After ? ? ? ? time, siphon into secondary over thawed crushed cherries and add vanilla. Place airlock on secondary. Rack after ? ? ? ? time. ? ? ? ? Bottle.
Okay, question time:
1. Can someone help fill in the blanks?
2. Do the proportions sound right? I would like this to finish sweet.
3. I am currently in the process of packing up my house and moving across town in the next couple of weeks. Will the mead stand up to being jostled as it is moved? This is the reason I started the Ancient Orange at my mom's - no touchy, no shaky!
4. Will this be bottleable and drinkable by Christmas? I am planning on starting this weekend after a trip to the homebrew shop.
5. Any suggestions on yeast? And is there a good "all-purpose" yeast for both wine and meadmaking? Or will using the wrong type ofyeast totally destroy the flavor of the drink?
Any help or comment is appreciated greatly. Thanks - Scout
for 1 gallon
3lbs honey
water to one gallon
wine yeast
1.25lbs dark sweet cherries
2 oz. vanilla extract
Flash pasteurize honey, put in primary with water to get volume to one gallon (or a little more). When must cools down, pitch yeast. After ? ? ? ? time, siphon into secondary over thawed crushed cherries and add vanilla. Place airlock on secondary. Rack after ? ? ? ? time. ? ? ? ? Bottle.
Okay, question time:
1. Can someone help fill in the blanks?
2. Do the proportions sound right? I would like this to finish sweet.
3. I am currently in the process of packing up my house and moving across town in the next couple of weeks. Will the mead stand up to being jostled as it is moved? This is the reason I started the Ancient Orange at my mom's - no touchy, no shaky!
4. Will this be bottleable and drinkable by Christmas? I am planning on starting this weekend after a trip to the homebrew shop.
5. Any suggestions on yeast? And is there a good "all-purpose" yeast for both wine and meadmaking? Or will using the wrong type ofyeast totally destroy the flavor of the drink?
Any help or comment is appreciated greatly. Thanks - Scout