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No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

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Jmattioli

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

I am presently waiting on a mead that will be finished and clear and ready to drink in 3 weeks from start to finish. It is ~10-11% ABV and has a SG of 1.020. It arrived at that SG in 2 weeks and would continue but is so good I am stopping it. It should be clear in 3 weeks without fining. It is already not only drinkable but quite extraordinarly good. I will post the recipe in a week if anyone is interested. Uses a blend of 2 honeys and no acid and only minimal nutrients.
Joe
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
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The OC
Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Joe,

That sounds great. I'm finding that my large batch of Orange Blossom Sweet Show Mead will be done in about another two to three weeks tops.

At four weeks it is leggy, glyceric and very nice. I'm going to stop it once it clears, but I will put about ten gallons to oak for about three weeks and then stabilize and bottle. I'm just floored by how quickly this stuff went mature.

This is really the first time I've had this happen. This is that batch I used the D-47 yeast on, and I'm just in awe of how quickly and how well it has gone at only 4 weeks. Amazing!

Oskaar
 

WikdWaze

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 2, 2004
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Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Three weeks start to finish? You just know I'll be interested in that ;D Very curious to see how you accomplished this feat, and if it's something that can be used on other recipes.
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
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Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Oh, I read that wrong Joe you're talking three weeks soup to nuts! Damn Sam, that's impressive! I'm going to be at least six!

Oskaar
 
V

Vicky Rowe

Guest
Guest
Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Do please post the recipe Joe! I need to get some meads ready for faire.......and I'm behind with all this programming!
 

Talon

NewBee
Registered Member
Jul 8, 2004
431
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Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Here is a short mead recipe if you'd like to try it:

ON MAKING MEAD
by Baron Sir Riekin ap Gruagach

Being a simple recipe and observations on that most ancient and civilized of beverages, MEAD ! Here offered in hopes of leading benighted and ignorant savages toward the light of true humanity and brotherhood.

APPARATUS
1 - 6 qt or better pot, with cover
1 - 1 gal glass jug, well cleaned
1 square of paper toweling and a rubber band
or 1 loosely fitting cap, or fermentation lock
3 feet of 5/16" or 3/8" aquarium tubing (plastic)
Enough champagne bottles or 2 liter bottles to hold 1 gal.
(which can be sealed to withstand carbonation)
INGREDIENTS
1 packet all purpose wine yeast (do NOT use brewer's yeast or yeast for baking bread)
2 lbs. clover or orange blossom honey
2 WHOLE cloves (uncrushed)
2 sticks cinnamon, lightly broken
1/4 tsp. sliced ginger root (do not use powdered)
2 long strips of orange peel (approx. 2 tbsp.)
1 gal. of the best water available
PROCEDURE
Bring 3 qts of water to a boil along with the spices.
Simmer 15 minutes. REMOVE SPICES.
Add honey, stirring vigorously (or you'll have caramel on the bottom of the pot!)
Once the honey has fully dissolved, allow the water to barely simmer. White scum will form, skim it, and continue skimming until no more rises. Failure to do this completely will allow the yeast to act on the waxes and form turpines (which tastes like turpentine!) so make sure you get every last bit, no matter how small.
Never allow the mixture to come to a full boil, or the character of the honey will be destroyed.
Take pot off heat, cover, and leave overnight.

Next morning, when the liquid has cooled to room temperature, add the contents of 1 FULL packet of yeast. (Failure to add the entire packet can lead to the incubation of inferior yeast strains which will ruin the flavor.) Cover pot again.

12 to 24 hours later - you should have a wildly foaming mixture.
Siphon the mixture into the previously sterilized 1 gal. glass jug. (Clorox solution is fine for this - rinse well!)
Loosely screw on lid so gasses can escape, or cover with four folded paper towels and rubber band, or fermentation lock.
Allow to ferment for 48 hours more, or until bubbling nearly ceases.
Siphon the liquid off the layer of dead yeast on the bottom of the jug, so that none of the bottom layer gets into the mixture.
Clean the jug carefully, replace the liquid back in the jug, top off with clean water, reseal, and place in refrigerator overnight.

Next day - Siphon into CLEAN, STERILIZED wine bottles or 2 liter soda bottles, and cap tightly.
Leave in refrigerator 3 to 5 days and enjoy!
WARNING: pressure will be forming in the bottles; avoid excessive handling. Flavor will improve up to ten days, after that, you really need to drink it.

Note: The hangover produced by mead was considered by the Norse to be a punishment too sublime to inflict on the frail frame of a mortal. This is probably due to insufficient skimming of the "white scum".

AFTER-WORDS
These instructions produce a lightly carbonated, mildly alcoholic metheglin (spiced mead) which was originally taught to me by Duke Cariadoc in 1974, (though he doesn't remember it - Good Stuff! ;) It is intended to be prepared for revels and consumed in large quantities (proviso you are over 21 & not driving!)

The hangover cure is available for an exorbitant fee.

BOTTOMS UP !!!!!!!!!!
Baron Sir Riekin
 

Jmattioli

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Re: No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Ok Guys and Gals,
I've been away for a few days and I got demoted from a Hive manager and the hackers managed to take over 50 of my posts. (ha) Well here's the recipe and its my no age sweet mead in three weeks from start to drink. I call it CW sweet mead because I use a buckwheat percentage blend and yeast combination that I received as a tip from Chuck Wettergreen (CW) and have been experimenting with for many months. I use a procedure different than he does but am grateful for his unselfish sharing of his experience with natural mead making. If you want the exact same results as I describe, please do not alter the ingredients or procedure. There is a reason to this madness. Here goes from my notes the latest batch ready:

Batch #25
CW Mead Experiment
1 gallon recipe 68F fermentation temperature​

2 lbs 3 oz Unprocessed Clover honey (ok to substitute if
you must)
7 oz Buckwheat honey (do not substitute)
.6t Grape Tannin (needed for taste and clearing)
1/8t Fermax (more will not be better)
1 5g K1V-1116 (must use this yeast)
Balance tap water to make 1 gallon (don't use distilled)
4 Liter Carboy if you have one otherwise use 1 gal

August 8, 2004
No boil, no skim, no sulfite. Dissolve honey in quart of warm water (tap water). Dissolve tannin and 1/8t Fermax in 8 oz warm tap water. Add honey mixture and tannin mixture to carboy and fill to 3 inches from top with cold tap water. Shake well to mix and aerate all ingredients. Must OG = 1.100 Rehydrate K1V-1116 in 4 oz of tepid water for 15mins in dark place according to instructions on packet. Must temperature should be between 68-80F degrees. If so swirl yeast and gently pour yeast in carboy. Install airlock and place in dark place or basement with temperature as close to 68F as possible. Will start bubbles in one hour.
After 2 days add a little honey/water mixture to bring to 2 inches from top
August 15th - SG 1.045 (1 week)
August 22nd - SG 1.020 (2nd week) and still working well - Taste great - Gotta stop here
August 23rd - Racked (all must except lees and approximately 5 oz of liquid) into clean 1 gallon carboy containing 1/8t potassium metabisulfite and 1/4t Potsassium Sorbate. No need to top off since used 4 Liter carboy for primary and it is almost done.
August 24th - Already Clearing well
August 26th - can read newsprint already
Finished 3 days early. Wait 3 days if you can but it is one fine mead to drink now while you are waiting for something a bit stronger in Alcohol to age. Enjoy,
Cheers, Joe

P.S. Edited to change Sorbate from 1/2t to 1/4t per manufacturers recommendation on label.
 

Norskersword

NewBee
Registered Member
May 19, 2004
683
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Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

I recently started 2 batches. One with D-47 and one with K1V-1116. I'm interested to see how long it takes for them to become drinkable!
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
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The OC
Stepping back from short mead

I've been watching my Orange Blossom Special mead which I was going to initially back-off and stabilize next week.

I've re-examined my decision and decided to let it go full boat. I was really high on this mead two weeks ago. I'm even more enthused about it now. It is in mid-clearing stage at this point, and I think I'll let it go. I'm going to pull a gravity once it clears completely and I rack to long term aging.

Before I do that I'm going to bust one of the secondary carboys down to one gallon batches and drag them across some oak as a small sample test for complexity and oak character. This could turn out to be the "El Dorado" basic sweet mead recipe I've been searching for. When I racked the first time I took about a liter off of each of the nine primary 5 gallon vessels.

I tried a a couple of them within the first two days and they were excellent; very deep and leggy at just three weeks. The other ones have been sitting and clearing in small 1 liter wine bottles. I popped one of them last night when I got home from Yuma, AZ. and in two weeks it has turned another corner hinting at being an outstanding end product. So I'm pulling this one out of the short term plan and developing a long term strategy.

Oskaar
 

jkcapello

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 29, 2004
5
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62
Re: No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Joe,
I decided to make your recipe for my trip to the tx ren faire. But, since my friends and I can't get enough MEAD, I decided to make 5 gals. Here's the delimma that I ran into and what I did to solve it. I'm not looking to see if I did it right, just if the results will turn out similiar to yours.

After doing the standard math thing and converting everything to 5 gals, I started my must. Here's what I started with:
12# of wildflower honey(1 gal was easier than measuring 11)
2# of buckwheat honey(do you know how hard it is to find!)
3 tspn tannin
5/8 tspn fermax
2 5g K1V1116 yeast

After getting things rolling and the must mixed, my SG was only 1.085, so I started adding in more honey (diluted in warm filtered water) and stirred in until I reached an SG 1.100. Well I was surprised that I had to add 4 more #'s to get to the 1.100. That's 16# wildflower honey, plus the 2# of buckwheat. Well anyway, It's been happily perkin for a week now and I drew off the lees from the bottom of my fermenter(conical) and drew some more off to get an SG. It was 1.042 and the mead already tastes pretty good. I can only imagine what 2 more weeks will make it taste like!
I'll keep you posted on my results.
Thanks for the recipe!!!
Regards,
John
Keep Your Powder Dry!
 

Jmattioli

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Hello John,
Your calculations were right on. Why you had to add the additional 4 lbs I don't understand unless your wild flower was a bit on the low of the sweetness side. Typically each pound of honey to 5 gallons will raise the SG 8 points according to Ken's book. Personally I found the honey's I use raise it closer to 9 points but regardless you did right to bring it to 1.100.
Why your 14 lbs didn't do it is a mystery to me except that certain honey's are not as sweet as others. I have a 5 gallon batch on now myself to the exact calculations as yours. Stopping yours at between 1.020 to 1.030 should be perfect.
Enjoy,
Joe
 

scottlind

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 14, 2004
131
1
0
Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

hi!

ok, i have assembled all the EXACT ingredients needed for a five gal batch.

one question for for now...

should i use a bucket primary for a couple of days then transfer to my 5 gal glass carboy,

or use the glass carboy right from the start?

how wild will the bugs get and with a five gal carboy how far should i leave it down till i top off?

wife will kill me if i blow the roof off the pantry ;D

also if i mix up five gallons will it be ok to keep one gallon back for a week in the fridge for topping later (without yeast)?
 

Jmattioli

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Re: No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Idahoskunk said:
hi!

ok, i have assembled all the EXACT ingredients needed for a five gal batch.

one question for for now...

should i use a bucket primary for a couple of days then transfer to my 5 gal glass carboy,

or use the glass carboy right from the start?
Why bother ? I use a 5 gallon glass carboy from the start.

how wild will the bugs get and with a five gal carboy how far should i leave it down till i top off?
You said 1 question but okay. To the shoulder for the first few days.

wife will kill me if i blow the roof off the pantry ;D
You won't.

also if i mix up five gallons will it be ok to keep one gallon back for a week in the fridge for topping later (without yeast)?
Why bother! Mix it up to shoulder with all the honey for 5 gallons. When you dilute it with water after topping off at 3 days, you will be right where you are suppose to be.

Oh, and very important. Since you are doing 5 gallons. Increase the Fermax to 1/2t per gallon. (2 1/2)t The 1/8t is good for a 1 gallon batch since the yeast already has some nutrients in package as filler. But with 5 gallons you will not be pitching 5 packs of yeast.

Also aerate extremely well. You will love this mead! I just finished 5 gallons to take some with me to Fla for the winter months.

Joe
 

scottlind

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 14, 2004
131
1
0
Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

it's in the carboy and going fine!

my mix was the following and came out to a starting sg of 1.116

12# Clover Honey
2# Buckwheat Honey
3 Tsp Tannin
2 1/2 Tsp Fermax
2 Lalvin 1116

all blended and started at 78 degrees in glass carboy.
i held back a lil for topping in a day or so before pitching yeast. it fired up in about one hour.

looks good, smells good.... i'll give results in a few weeks.

thanks for the recipe!

scott
 

Erik_the_Red

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 15, 2004
19
0
0
Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

Not to sure if a rookie mead maker like yourself ;) should be throwin' a five gallon batch together. Sound just a little to risky IMHO. :eek:

If it does turn out though, give me a call ;D

And for all those out there... how often do any of you swap bottles?
 

scottlind

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 14, 2004
131
1
0
Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

The less you bet, the more you lose when you win.

MAWAhahahahahahaha ;D
 

Erik_the_Red

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 15, 2004
19
0
0
Re:  No Age Straight Sweet Mead in 3 weeks

It would truly take a rogue viking to take a gamble like that :eek:
 
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