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First timer with question!

Barrel Char Wood Products
R

Roadtrippin55

Guest
Guest
First timer here. I have a question about my first mead attempt.

I purchased the Skullduggery kit from Midwest supplies thinking it would be an easy introduction into making some mead. The kit consists of 18lbs of honey, 2 packs of yeast, and 3 packs of yeast energizer that is added each 24hrfor 3 Days. The only thing I did that varied from the instruction was to add an additional 3 pounds of honey to fill up the big mouth bubbler. I also added some raisins because I seen some people doing this on YouTube.

Anyways, I had some good fermentation going on for the first couple of weeks, but it is about day 17 and the bubbling has pretty much stopped.

My question is, can it already be done fermenting? It isn’t clear at all. I do see a lot of sediment on the bottom. The instructions with the kit were to leave it for one month, then put it into a glass carboy for another couple of months.

If this isn’t normal, is there anything I can do? Should I just follow the instructions?

Thanks in advance.
 

darigoni

Got Mead? Patron
GotMead Patron
Jun 4, 2016
945
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Brookline, NH
What do you actually get for $99? Looks like the total volume is 5 gallons, right? If so, adding the extra 3 lbs of honey was a little excessive and pushed your expected alcohol from 16.5% to possibly 19%. It's quite possible that your fermentation is complete, but the only way to know for sure is using a hydrometer. Does one come with the kit or did they suggest buying one?

Unless you want to invest in a hydrometer, I guess the best thing you can do is follow the directions, which are wait a month, then rack into a carboy (getting my off the gross lees/sediment), wait until it totally clears and either bottle it or rack again and let it batch age. Wait a couple of months (they recommend up to a year) and start tasting it to see if you like it or not.

There are better ways of making mead and, if you decide to do this again, invest some time by reading the Gotmead NewBee guide, watch the Meadolgy series on YouTube (by the Canadian Sasquatch) and asking for help from people on this forum.
 
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R

Roadtrippin55

Guest
Guest
The $99 basically got the honey, yeast and the energizer powder. I also purchased a wine starter kit which came with all the basics to get started including a hydrometer. I did take a measurement when I started, but I didn't actually know what I was looking for. Unfortunately I was so impatient and anxious to get started that I just went with what I learned from watching some youtube videos and what was indicated in the very limited instructions. I have since bought a book to read and found some great sources online such as this site to help myself along.

I did add the additional honey, but I also added additional water to keep the ratio the same. Will this still mess things up as you mentioned with regards to the alcohol?

I think what I will do is try taking a hydrometer reading a few times several days apart and see if they remain the same. Then from there probably wait it out until the month is up and rack it into a secondary. I just wasn't sure if it was possible that the fermentation is actually complete already.

Thank you for the reply, i will definitely continue to research this site, and I did find the newbie section that seems like it has a ton of info.

Rick
 
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