Hello,
I'm soon starting my very first batch of mead and I'm in the process of getting the ingredients for it so, naturally, I have a few questions.
Since I'm located in Europe in a place where meadmaking is practically unheard of, my supplier of DAP, Go-Ferm and Fermaid-K will have to be eBay (also, I bought a few 5g packets of Lalvin D-47 there). However, I'm too lazy to wait for 3-4 weeks for this stuff to come all the way from USA and therefore I'd like to order from Europe. That's kind of a problem, since there are no products that go by that name on european eBay.
So I'm asking: will this be a good DAP and nutrient for my mead? I cannot find anything close to Go-Ferm, can someone recommend something that I can order from european eBay? Or I'll be forced to wait for all of that stuff to come from USA?
As for the recipe, this is what I was planning to do (end result would be 25L of mead):
I would try my hand with SNA following this recipe from Homebrewersassociation (copied from that site):
The fermentation process should be done pretty quickly, if everything what I've read is true. I would start with rehydrating the yeast in water with whatever equivalent of Go-Ferm I can find and then pitching it in the must. Then I'd add nutrient and DAP and generally follow the above staggered nutrient addition recipe. Once the fermentation is complete (I'm guessing 2-3 weeks), I'd rack it into another 25L bottle and let it sit for a while until bottling.
My questions are:
ANY feedback is highly appreciated!
Kind regards,
A.
I'm soon starting my very first batch of mead and I'm in the process of getting the ingredients for it so, naturally, I have a few questions.
Since I'm located in Europe in a place where meadmaking is practically unheard of, my supplier of DAP, Go-Ferm and Fermaid-K will have to be eBay (also, I bought a few 5g packets of Lalvin D-47 there). However, I'm too lazy to wait for 3-4 weeks for this stuff to come all the way from USA and therefore I'd like to order from Europe. That's kind of a problem, since there are no products that go by that name on european eBay.
So I'm asking: will this be a good DAP and nutrient for my mead? I cannot find anything close to Go-Ferm, can someone recommend something that I can order from european eBay? Or I'll be forced to wait for all of that stuff to come from USA?
As for the recipe, this is what I was planning to do (end result would be 25L of mead):
- Around 10kg of honey
- Around 15L of water (to fill up the 25L bottle)
- 3 packets of 5g Lalvin D-47 dry yeast (so, 15g in total, just to be safe)
- Something like 25g of nutrient
- Around 10g of DAP
I would try my hand with SNA following this recipe from Homebrewersassociation (copied from that site):
This recipe is for 5 gallons of mead, so I would slightly increase these numbers.Day 0: After re-hdyrating the yeast with Go-Ferm and pitching, add 4.5g of Fermaid-K and 2g Diammonium Phosphate (DAP)
Day 1, 3, 5, 7, 8: Degas mead by gently stirring, twirling the carboy carefully, or using a wine de-gasser
Day 2, 4, 6: Gently stir and add 4.5g Fermaid-K and 2g of DAP
NOTE: When degassing and/or adding nutrients, do so very slowly to avoid foaming.
The fermentation process should be done pretty quickly, if everything what I've read is true. I would start with rehydrating the yeast in water with whatever equivalent of Go-Ferm I can find and then pitching it in the must. Then I'd add nutrient and DAP and generally follow the above staggered nutrient addition recipe. Once the fermentation is complete (I'm guessing 2-3 weeks), I'd rack it into another 25L bottle and let it sit for a while until bottling.
My questions are:
- Can I use a bucket with tight-seal lid (with airlock, naturally) for the primary fermentation? 25L bottles are quite expensive.
- Is degassing really necessary? I'm assuming gently stirring during SNA for 8 days would be enough for degassing, or?
- With Lalvin D-47, yeast energizer, nutrient, DAP and SNA, how fast do you think will the fermentation be complete? That is, when will I be able to drink the mead?
- For how long should I keep the mead in the bottle after racking?
- I know the best way to see whether the fermentation is complete is via hydrometer, but is that stuff necessary or I can live without it? I, naturally, don't need any of that bottle bombs nonsense in my life.
- What do you think of this recipe? Does it reek of failure to you?
ANY feedback is highly appreciated!
Kind regards,
A.