Hi all,
I am brand new to mead making, and only been brewing my own beer/wine for about a year, and I have a few questions I'm hoping to get answered. ;D
The end of September I started 2 batches of mead, recipes as follows:
First batch
1 gallon (12 lbs) fresh buckwheat honey
1 package of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast (started in 1 quart of apple juice)
Racked to secondary with gravity of 1.01 on 11/15. I added 3 fresh madigascar vanilla beans (split) and 5 cinnimon sticks to it at this time.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2nd batch
1 gallon (12lbs) Thistle honey
1 package of Lalvin D-47 yeast (started in 1 quart of apple juice)
Racked to secondary with a gravity of 1.01 on 11/15. I added aprox 3oz of williams sonoma mulling spice (cinnamon, orange zest, clove and allspice) at this time.
Unfortunatly, I forgot to get a SG on both of these, so I'm unsure of expected alcohol content (guessing 10-12%)
My questions are
1. Did I add enough ingredients to give some of the flavor without if becoming too overwhelming?
2. Should I add more or take some out?
3. How long should I leave them in the secondary?
4. It was a little dry for what I wanted, can I add honey to the secondary and how much should I add for a semi-sweet mead?
I tasted both of them when I racked them over, and I have to say, I was surprised at how good the buckwheat was already tasting. The thistle was not nearly as flavorful, I'm hoping the mulling spice will help that out. Any information would be helpful on this, and I can add information if I left some out.
Thanks,
Damchi
I am brand new to mead making, and only been brewing my own beer/wine for about a year, and I have a few questions I'm hoping to get answered. ;D
The end of September I started 2 batches of mead, recipes as follows:
First batch
1 gallon (12 lbs) fresh buckwheat honey
1 package of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast (started in 1 quart of apple juice)
Racked to secondary with gravity of 1.01 on 11/15. I added 3 fresh madigascar vanilla beans (split) and 5 cinnimon sticks to it at this time.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2nd batch
1 gallon (12lbs) Thistle honey
1 package of Lalvin D-47 yeast (started in 1 quart of apple juice)
Racked to secondary with a gravity of 1.01 on 11/15. I added aprox 3oz of williams sonoma mulling spice (cinnamon, orange zest, clove and allspice) at this time.
Unfortunatly, I forgot to get a SG on both of these, so I'm unsure of expected alcohol content (guessing 10-12%)
My questions are
1. Did I add enough ingredients to give some of the flavor without if becoming too overwhelming?
2. Should I add more or take some out?
3. How long should I leave them in the secondary?
4. It was a little dry for what I wanted, can I add honey to the secondary and how much should I add for a semi-sweet mead?
I tasted both of them when I racked them over, and I have to say, I was surprised at how good the buckwheat was already tasting. The thistle was not nearly as flavorful, I'm hoping the mulling spice will help that out. Any information would be helpful on this, and I can add information if I left some out.
Thanks,
Damchi