After doing what I consider extensive research, I decided to take the plunge and go for my first Mead. I read Ken Schramm's book and I don't know how many threads here (awesome info btw guys) trying to soak up as much knowledge as I can. But it got to the point to where it was time to jump into the deep end so here goes:
I saw that a lot of people used the "4 week Quick Cyser" as their first mead and since I love Apple Cider I figured this would be a good one for me too. I'm not in that much of a hurry to finish it I just wanted to use the recipe and guidelines to get me going. I made a few changes for myself.
Ingredients:
2lbs Clover Honey
1 gal Musselmans Apple Cider (Pasteurized/No preservatives)
1/2 tsp of tannin
1/2 tsp of nutrient
1/2 tsp of energizer
1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme
1 packet of KIV-1116 yeast
*First I sanitized all my equipment using bleach (only thing I had). Rinsed it till there was no smell using warm water and let it air dry.
*Then I added my yeast packet to 4oz of 105d water per packets instructions and set a 15 minute timer.
*While that was going on I poured the gallon of cider into a pot and warmed the honey a little bit to loosen it up and poured it in their with it and stirred it for a few minutes until it was dissolved.
*I put the tannin, nutrient, energizer and pectic enzyme into a 1gal glass carboy (I have 4 of them, only thing i have atm) then poured the must onto it through a funnel to about 2/3 full.
*When the timer went off I stirred up the yeast a little bit and pitched it into the carboy. (Temp of yeast had come down to 95 and temp of must was 83) Then topped off with some more must a little below the neck leaving enough room for krausen to work.
*Put a stopper on it and shook the carboy for 5 minutes (ouch) and then set it down and took a reading with my hydrometer. SG came out to 1.090 I was hoping for a little higher but I was too close to the top on my carboy and didnt want to add more honey.
*Put a stopper with airlock on it and set it aside. Temp is 68 in the closet it's being kept in.
*I came back about 2 hours later and I could already see some movement. Foam was coming up and it was bubbling about once every 30 seconds through the airlock. I checked again this morning and it was about once every two seconds with a bit more krausen.
I'm pretty excited, it seems to be going well so far. Any and all tips are appreciated and welcome. I plan to be doing a lot more so thank you for your input.
I saw that a lot of people used the "4 week Quick Cyser" as their first mead and since I love Apple Cider I figured this would be a good one for me too. I'm not in that much of a hurry to finish it I just wanted to use the recipe and guidelines to get me going. I made a few changes for myself.
Ingredients:
2lbs Clover Honey
1 gal Musselmans Apple Cider (Pasteurized/No preservatives)
1/2 tsp of tannin
1/2 tsp of nutrient
1/2 tsp of energizer
1/2 tsp of pectic enzyme
1 packet of KIV-1116 yeast
*First I sanitized all my equipment using bleach (only thing I had). Rinsed it till there was no smell using warm water and let it air dry.
*Then I added my yeast packet to 4oz of 105d water per packets instructions and set a 15 minute timer.
*While that was going on I poured the gallon of cider into a pot and warmed the honey a little bit to loosen it up and poured it in their with it and stirred it for a few minutes until it was dissolved.
*I put the tannin, nutrient, energizer and pectic enzyme into a 1gal glass carboy (I have 4 of them, only thing i have atm) then poured the must onto it through a funnel to about 2/3 full.
*When the timer went off I stirred up the yeast a little bit and pitched it into the carboy. (Temp of yeast had come down to 95 and temp of must was 83) Then topped off with some more must a little below the neck leaving enough room for krausen to work.
*Put a stopper on it and shook the carboy for 5 minutes (ouch) and then set it down and took a reading with my hydrometer. SG came out to 1.090 I was hoping for a little higher but I was too close to the top on my carboy and didnt want to add more honey.
*Put a stopper with airlock on it and set it aside. Temp is 68 in the closet it's being kept in.
*I came back about 2 hours later and I could already see some movement. Foam was coming up and it was bubbling about once every 30 seconds through the airlock. I checked again this morning and it was about once every two seconds with a bit more krausen.
I'm pretty excited, it seems to be going well so far. Any and all tips are appreciated and welcome. I plan to be doing a lot more so thank you for your input.