Hello All,
I just brewed up my first mead last week using the JAO recipe, but I have this character flaw where I can't help but experiment, so I've kinda invalidated the warranty on this one!
I actually bought a homebrew beer kit and had just finished making my second batch, when I stumbled upon the JAO recipe. Being a fan of Mead, I had a bolt of inspiration and rushed out to get ingredients. Because of where I live (and the fact that I was impatient), I had to make do with what I could find.
Having done a lot of reading and research and completing 2 beers I was feeling pretty confident in making some modifications, but accidentally misread my own handwriting and added a tad more honey than I had planned for! I guess time will tell how it turns out. I'm aiming for a sweet mead, around 4L worth in total:
1.5kg Beechworth Honey
100g Tasmanian Natural Bush Honey
100g Raisins
175g Black Flame Grapes
3 Cloves
1 Vanilla Bean (dried / sliced)
1 Orange (Sliced)
25g Black Strap Molasses
2g Cinnamon
2g Cardamom
3L Water (top up)
5g Diamminium Phosphate
W-yeast 2046
From this, I ended up with an O.G. of 1.129
Initially pitched on the 22nd Jan, I have oxygenated by vigorous stirring and sloshing each day for the first 3 days, and then "swirled" the mixture for the following 3 days to disperse/mix the fruit. It has been bubbling nicely, but has slowed down a lot in the last couple of days.
I can't find any info on the net for this particular strain of yeast (W-Yeast 2049), but my HBS recommended it and apparently is good for about 15%. I have found a single reference that claims it might be a Fermentis SC-22, but no idea if that is true.
The BeerSmith2 program estimates that there is enough sugars to reach a final ABV of 19%, so I'm thinking that the yeast should reach saturation point before sugars are used up. The only thing is that it also estimated an OG of 1.118, which is obviously below actual, so maybe theoretical 20%?
Am I correct in thinking that this might take a while to age properly and smooth out?
I just brewed up my first mead last week using the JAO recipe, but I have this character flaw where I can't help but experiment, so I've kinda invalidated the warranty on this one!
I actually bought a homebrew beer kit and had just finished making my second batch, when I stumbled upon the JAO recipe. Being a fan of Mead, I had a bolt of inspiration and rushed out to get ingredients. Because of where I live (and the fact that I was impatient), I had to make do with what I could find.
Having done a lot of reading and research and completing 2 beers I was feeling pretty confident in making some modifications, but accidentally misread my own handwriting and added a tad more honey than I had planned for! I guess time will tell how it turns out. I'm aiming for a sweet mead, around 4L worth in total:
1.5kg Beechworth Honey
100g Tasmanian Natural Bush Honey
100g Raisins
175g Black Flame Grapes
3 Cloves
1 Vanilla Bean (dried / sliced)
1 Orange (Sliced)
25g Black Strap Molasses
2g Cinnamon
2g Cardamom
3L Water (top up)
5g Diamminium Phosphate
W-yeast 2046
From this, I ended up with an O.G. of 1.129
Initially pitched on the 22nd Jan, I have oxygenated by vigorous stirring and sloshing each day for the first 3 days, and then "swirled" the mixture for the following 3 days to disperse/mix the fruit. It has been bubbling nicely, but has slowed down a lot in the last couple of days.
I can't find any info on the net for this particular strain of yeast (W-Yeast 2049), but my HBS recommended it and apparently is good for about 15%. I have found a single reference that claims it might be a Fermentis SC-22, but no idea if that is true.
The BeerSmith2 program estimates that there is enough sugars to reach a final ABV of 19%, so I'm thinking that the yeast should reach saturation point before sugars are used up. The only thing is that it also estimated an OG of 1.118, which is obviously below actual, so maybe theoretical 20%?
Am I correct in thinking that this might take a while to age properly and smooth out?
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