Hi there folks. I recently began the process for making my first batch of mead. I got the inspiration from baking, since I'm quite an avid baker and yeast is a familiar 'force'. I've scoured the internet for all the information I could gather before making my batch, but I guess research often can't be a substitute for experience and gradual learning, so I figured I would ask here if there is anything incorrect about what I am doing. My recipe is as follows (sorry about the metric):
1,I took 1.8kg of honey and mixed it with grapefruit juice from three red grapefruits and I put in a whole sliced grapefruit and added sufficient water to bring the SG down to 1.130 (in about 4 litres of liquid).
2, I added yeast nutrient as per the instructions of the variant, and I stupidly didn't consider adding pectinase, what with the grapefruit. The fruit I added contained the pith as well, which I hoped would impart some, but not too much of the bitterness. I added the yeast (EC-1118) and sealed with an airlock. I did not heat treat the honey or the must.
3, After about 5 days, I transferred the preparation, leaving the pith behind and replaced it with just the flesh of the grapefruit, without any of the pith, zest or membrane.
4, After about a week and a half, I measured a gravity of 1.080.
5, At around 1.050, I will taste test it and see how I like it, and if it isn't too sweet (I love sweet and acidic fruity drinks, and I liked the flavour at even 1.080), I will transfer the preparation and stabilise it. If too sweet, I will try to go down in increments of 0.010, but since I could probably already drink the stuff despite the sweetness, I don't see this as a likely outcome.
6, After stabilisation, I will measure gravity weekly over a three week period, and if it remains unchanged, I will bottle. I know I'll have pectin haze, but I can live with an aesthetic defect on my first attempt. I'm not sure how much to age it, but I guess I will have to use my willpower and stop myself from drinking it, if I want to age it at all hahaha.
Does this seem like a good plan of action so far?
Thank you very much!
1,I took 1.8kg of honey and mixed it with grapefruit juice from three red grapefruits and I put in a whole sliced grapefruit and added sufficient water to bring the SG down to 1.130 (in about 4 litres of liquid).
2, I added yeast nutrient as per the instructions of the variant, and I stupidly didn't consider adding pectinase, what with the grapefruit. The fruit I added contained the pith as well, which I hoped would impart some, but not too much of the bitterness. I added the yeast (EC-1118) and sealed with an airlock. I did not heat treat the honey or the must.
3, After about 5 days, I transferred the preparation, leaving the pith behind and replaced it with just the flesh of the grapefruit, without any of the pith, zest or membrane.
4, After about a week and a half, I measured a gravity of 1.080.
5, At around 1.050, I will taste test it and see how I like it, and if it isn't too sweet (I love sweet and acidic fruity drinks, and I liked the flavour at even 1.080), I will transfer the preparation and stabilise it. If too sweet, I will try to go down in increments of 0.010, but since I could probably already drink the stuff despite the sweetness, I don't see this as a likely outcome.
6, After stabilisation, I will measure gravity weekly over a three week period, and if it remains unchanged, I will bottle. I know I'll have pectin haze, but I can live with an aesthetic defect on my first attempt. I'm not sure how much to age it, but I guess I will have to use my willpower and stop myself from drinking it, if I want to age it at all hahaha.
Does this seem like a good plan of action so far?
Thank you very much!