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Long story short is that making mead is fairly simple; honey, water, yeast & a sanitized process. Now this is the basic form, but there are literally a thousand if not unlimited ways to make it. So what happened to my first batch & why did it fail?



So my first batch of mead consisted of 3lbs of honey & a gallon of spring water. I dissolved the honey into the spring water & added it to the glass jug that contained the yeast & some yeast nutrient. You shake the jug and put on the rubber stopper & airlock.



I then labeled the batch with the date & what type of yeast I used. I did four 1 gallon jugs, two of which had D47 & two which had EC-1118.



So I put these in the closet and let them sit, for over three months. I did not rack (siphon it to another container to get it off the yeast) until now. Well, come to find out the yeast died due to not having enough sugar to feed on, so I created allot of alcohol and nothing more. It was very potent and no taste other than some weird off taste.



So what went wrong? Well I got some help from a mead guru and he quickly pointed out that my ratio's were completely off. I basically had 1/4 honey and 3/4 water, which resulted in the yeast dieing early, but not to the alcohol content, but because it had no more sugar to feed on.



So he helped me re-work my recipe, but this time with correct ratio's:

1/4 honey (raw, unprocessed is best)

1/2 Juice (apple, cranberry... you can do pretty much anything, including the actual fruit itself)

1/4 spring water



He also suggested using bread yeast, though all the other types of wine/mead yeast are good to go, user preference. Some yeast can only live in x% alcohol so they will die once it reaches that level, while others like EC-1118 can be upward of around 18-20%.



I'm only a few days into my first test batch, in which I'm doing two 1 gallon setups:

1/4 Wildflower local honey, unprocessed

1/2 Pure Apple Juice (organic)

1/4 Spring water

1/2 tbsp bread yeast



the other:

1/4 Wildflower local honey, unprocessed

1/2 Pure Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice (organic)

1/4 Spring water

1/2 tbsp bread yeast



It is in the 'Primary' fermentation phase, in which I will monitor it until it stops bubbling, around 2-3 weeks. I will then leave it for another week and rack it into clean & sanitized jugs to get it off the dead yeast and sediment. I'm going to drink them and if the mead is good to go I'll do a large 6 gallon batch in a plastic fermentation bucket, then rack to individual 1 gallon jugs for aging!



There is so much information out there, but I have discovered a subreddit:

The Basics



I've discovered so much useful information and one can get into this at whatever depth you desire. I'm looking at this being a hobby of sorts, but look forward to creating some different flavors such as: blueberry, blackberry, cherry etc...



I'll update this with progress in a few weeks when it gets about the time for the taste test!! Awhile back I started a little project to create some mead. My first attempt ended in failure to produce a drinkable mead, but I did learn why it did not work.Long story short is that making mead is fairly simple; honey, water, yeast & a sanitized process. Now this is the basic form, but there are literally a thousand if not unlimited ways to make it. So what happened to my first batch & why did it fail?So my first batch of mead consisted of 3lbs of honey & a gallon of spring water. I dissolved the honey into the spring water & added it to the glass jug that contained the yeast & some yeast nutrient. You shake the jug and put on the rubber stopper & airlock.I then labeled the batch with the date & what type of yeast I used. I did four 1 gallon jugs, two of which had D47 & two which had EC-1118.So I put these in the closet and let them sit, for over three months. I did not rack (siphon it to another container to get it off the yeast) until now. Well, come to find out the yeast died due to not having enough sugar to feed on, so I created allot of alcohol and nothing more. It was very potent and no taste other than some weird off taste.So what went wrong? Well I got some help from a mead guru and he quickly pointed out that my ratio's were completely off. I basically had 1/4 honey and 3/4 water, which resulted in the yeast dieing early, but not to the alcohol content, but because it had no more sugar to feed on.So he helped me re-work my recipe, but this time with correct ratio's:1/4 honey (raw, unprocessed is best)1/2 Juice (apple, cranberry... you can do pretty much anything, including the actual fruit itself)1/4 spring waterHe also suggested using bread yeast, though all the other types of wine/mead yeast are good to go, user preference. Some yeast can only live in x% alcohol so they will die once it reaches that level, while others like EC-1118 can be upward of around 18-20%.I'm only a few days into my first test batch, in which I'm doing two 1 gallon setups:1/4 Wildflower local honey, unprocessed1/2 Pure Apple Juice (organic)1/4 Spring water1/2 tbsp bread yeastthe other:1/4 Wildflower local honey, unprocessed1/2 Pure Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice (organic)1/4 Spring water1/2 tbsp bread yeastIt is in the 'Primary' fermentation phase, in which I will monitor it until it stops bubbling, around 2-3 weeks. I will then leave it for another week and rack it into clean & sanitized jugs to get it off the dead yeast and sediment. I'm going to drink them and if the mead is good to go I'll do a large 6 gallon batch in a plastic fermentation bucket, then rack to individual 1 gallon jugs for aging!There is so much information out there, but I have discovered a subreddit: HERE I've discovered so much useful information and one can get into this at whatever depth you desire. I'm looking at this being a hobby of sorts, but look forward to creating some different flavors such as: blueberry, blackberry, cherry etc...I'll update this with progress in a few weeks when it gets about the time for the taste test!! « Last Edit: 26 Aug 13 by SeanLang » Dirus Veteran





Extra info Extra info Re: Mead Interesting seeing how you learn the posses.



How much did the whole thing cost? You need the jugs, proper stoppers, pure honey, juice, spring water, and a second container for aging, correct? Would this be fairly wallet friendly to do? In small batches that is. CowboyHatValor Rookie



Extra info Extra info Re: Mead I'll be curious to see how this develops. I've been interested in getting into a bit of hobby-brewing that is still somewhat low key, and mead seems like an great option. Does all mead have a distinctive taste? I want to brew something my wife would enjoy as well, and I've never tasted mead myself. Lan Rookie





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Being a Swede myself I should probably know all about mead (there is a great variety available in LARP circuits and fairs) but I don't drink so, sorry. Phil can give you'all feedback on that score I hope. Here's a bit of light reading for the Mead lovers - http://www.gotmead.com/ Being a Swede myself I should probably know all about mead (there is a great variety available in LARP circuits and fairs) but I don't drink so, sorry. Phil can give you'all feedback on that score I hope. Part of SweClockers.Com Gaming Community at mumble.sweclockers.com "Cattle die and kinsmen die, thyself too soon must die, but one thing never, I ween, will die, -- the doom on each one dead." Hávamál Farix Veteran





Extra info Extra info Re: Mead



In fact I think this was the guy. And he has a video all about using a hydrometer.



http://youtu.be/GTvmYaQq6Mc I remember watching a video on mead making and the person used a hydrometer to determine if he had enough honey/sugar in his brew.In fact I think this was the guy. And he has a video all about using a hydrometer. SeanLang NGNG Founder

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Extra info Extra info Re: Mead When these are done with the four week primary fermentation period, I'll do a large 6 gallon batch. I'll do a complete video on the entire process, that way people can see what goes into it all! So excited! Print

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