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Questions on first mead

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M

mattbum

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 16, 2006
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I just racked my mead the second time, and its clearing fairly well. It tastes wonderfull too. Has a scent of cloves and cinnamon, the taste of honey, with a warm feel on the way down, leaving a hint of ginger in the aftertaste. Here is my recipe and questions:

5 gal batch
6 thin slices of ginger
4 cinnamon sticks (broken up a little)
12 whole cloves
1 diced lemon
strong tea made w/ four black tea bags
1-5g package of Red Star Champagne yeast

Must warmed (not boiled) along with spices for 30 minutes in two gallons of water. Must cooled down, then diluted in fermenter with water. Good shaking then off to the closet.

OG: 1.118 @ 80F (8/11/06)
FG: .980 @ 78F (whew, dry)

Racked 9/2/06 when fermentation slowed, with a heavy sediment layer. Smelled like rocket fuel, whew.

Racked 9/16/06, fermentation stopped a while ago, very little sediment, still hazy, might chill to clear? Smelled like honey and spices, no more rocket fuel smell.

Questions:
1) I did the ABV calcs a while ago (after first rack w/ fementation stopped), and it was around 18% if memory serves well. Can someone link info on calcing this?

2) Did I ferment to warm (in Florida, no fridge setup yet)?

3) What would your opinions be on the spice ratio?

4) With such a high ABV (if my calc is right), would I still be able to prime it with some sugar at botting to make some sparkling?

Thanks for the help you guys have provided so far, and for any you can offer.

Matt
 
Questions:
1) I did the ABV calcs a while ago (after first rack w/ fementation stopped), and it was around 18% if memory serves well. Can someone link info on calcing this?
Click to expand...
I'm guessing it is closer to 15.5. Part of that depends on what temp your hydrometer was calibrated at. Still potent, but not quite at the yeasts' tolerance! ;D

2) Did I ferment to warm (in Florida, no fridge setup yet)?
Click to expand...
If you don't taste off flavors now, you probably won't taste them at all.

3) What would your opinions be on the spice ratio?
Click to expand...
This is going to be a personal preference thing. Personally, I leave the spices in while it ferments, so my results may vary!

4) With such a high ABV (if my calc is right), would I still be able to prime it with some sugar at botting to make some sparkling?
Click to expand...
It should work. I've never had a sparkling spiced meth before. I'd wonder if the bubbles would intensify the spices or not. Might be worth experimenting with one bottle first.
 
Sorry, I left the adjucts in the primary, but left them behind when racking, since it would be hard to pull them off the crud at the bottom.
 
Question, would I prime my mead to make it sparkling? Since it seems I am not at the ABV limit of the yeast.
What would you prime with? honey or corn sugar? and is there a good amount you guys would recomend? I would like to learn the math behind this someday.
Thinking of a blueberry or raspberry melo next :^>
 
Yes you would prime your mead to sparkle it.

See if this link answers your question.

Also consider that most sparkling wine is primed at about 11-12% ABV, remember that the higher the alcohol content is at prime time, the tougher it is for the yeast to get going. I'd suggest DV10, K1 or EC-1118,

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
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