I have slowly been drawing closer to trying my hand at making mead. I’ve been brewing beer for nearly 8 years. I bought my wife what she needed to make fruit wines years back but after 2 wines simultaneously she gave up so I’ve adopted the gear, which included three 3 gal Better Bottles.
I order my brewing needs from MoreBeer and they sell mead kits as well so I’ll be purchasing from them. As I’m using a smaller volume vessels I figured the hydromel kit which comes with 6 lbs of honey would be a good starting point, though I’m not sure I want it to be a lower ABV. According to the calculator here it would produce roughly a 9.6% mead. Adding an additional 1.5 lb bottle would boost it to about 11.9%, and 3 lbs to about 14%. For a wine-like mead I figured I wanted in the neighborhood of 13-14%, but I’m wondering if I should start lower with just the 6 lbs for my first attempt.
One thing that confuses me it that the calculator doesn’t determine the ABV based on the yeast used. Looking over the options at MoreBeer most don’t give an attenuation figure, though one does (75-100%). Does wine yeast not work in the same manner as beer yeast?
I figured I’d start with their hydromel kit as it comes with instructions and the nutrients needed. All I need to do is choose the yeast. What I’m wanting is a very dry mead that has the honey flavor intact. I’m not sure I’d want any yeast flavor influences. I think I’d prefer to start with Redstar dry yeast based solely on the price. It appears to my novice mind that the Cuvée packet would be ideal for what I want. Opinions?
I keep my beer yeasts on hand making yeast starters. I generally make a 1.5 qt starter using the quart for the beer and the pint as what’s to be stored giving it another ~3 months of life. Does mead yeast work in the same manner? Does anyone keep their yeast going like this?
I’m also curious how temperature impacts the process. Does it influence the attenuation? Like beer does it influence flavor contributions? I assume it also influences the speed at which the yeast works. My fermentation chamber is set to 65* and the thermostat is set to 75*. Using the Cuvee yeast (assuming its optimal) which would you ferment it at to achieve a well attenuated mead with little yeast flavor impact?
I had bought a Mr Beer kit from a garage sale solely for the little fermentor and the plastic bottles so as to give me the ability to take mead to the lake, pool, or camping. I’ve contemplated using the little fermentors instead of the Better Bottles because they have the little spigot that would make transferring without aerating a bit more simple, but it has a fairly large opening at the top that I assume gives too much headspace for this purpose, right? Essentially I’d be aerating it more than what’s desired, and why carboys and such have the small neck?
I order my brewing needs from MoreBeer and they sell mead kits as well so I’ll be purchasing from them. As I’m using a smaller volume vessels I figured the hydromel kit which comes with 6 lbs of honey would be a good starting point, though I’m not sure I want it to be a lower ABV. According to the calculator here it would produce roughly a 9.6% mead. Adding an additional 1.5 lb bottle would boost it to about 11.9%, and 3 lbs to about 14%. For a wine-like mead I figured I wanted in the neighborhood of 13-14%, but I’m wondering if I should start lower with just the 6 lbs for my first attempt.
One thing that confuses me it that the calculator doesn’t determine the ABV based on the yeast used. Looking over the options at MoreBeer most don’t give an attenuation figure, though one does (75-100%). Does wine yeast not work in the same manner as beer yeast?
I figured I’d start with their hydromel kit as it comes with instructions and the nutrients needed. All I need to do is choose the yeast. What I’m wanting is a very dry mead that has the honey flavor intact. I’m not sure I’d want any yeast flavor influences. I think I’d prefer to start with Redstar dry yeast based solely on the price. It appears to my novice mind that the Cuvée packet would be ideal for what I want. Opinions?
I keep my beer yeasts on hand making yeast starters. I generally make a 1.5 qt starter using the quart for the beer and the pint as what’s to be stored giving it another ~3 months of life. Does mead yeast work in the same manner? Does anyone keep their yeast going like this?
I’m also curious how temperature impacts the process. Does it influence the attenuation? Like beer does it influence flavor contributions? I assume it also influences the speed at which the yeast works. My fermentation chamber is set to 65* and the thermostat is set to 75*. Using the Cuvee yeast (assuming its optimal) which would you ferment it at to achieve a well attenuated mead with little yeast flavor impact?
I had bought a Mr Beer kit from a garage sale solely for the little fermentor and the plastic bottles so as to give me the ability to take mead to the lake, pool, or camping. I’ve contemplated using the little fermentors instead of the Better Bottles because they have the little spigot that would make transferring without aerating a bit more simple, but it has a fairly large opening at the top that I assume gives too much headspace for this purpose, right? Essentially I’d be aerating it more than what’s desired, and why carboys and such have the small neck?
