It’s about time to start up another brew log. This time, it’s the start of my first mead.
I am going to attempt to make this raspberry mead or melomel following the recipe and procedure I put together earlier this year.
Although I had plans to go to my local apiary and buy some honey in bulk, I decided to purchase a gallon first and see how this recipe went before I had 5 gallons of honey on my hands and not enough desire to make mead with it.
So I ordered online most of my mead ingredients. I got a gallon or 12 pounds of clover honey, some yeast nutrient, some yeast energizer, and a dry mead yeast strain.
The raspberries will come from other sources. I do have some local ones that I froze but I will need to supplement with more frozen berries that come from the grocery store. Meh.
I have to watch that Curt Stock episode of BrewingTV again. He has such a laid back approach to his mead making but where he succeeds is in keeping his yeast energized in those first 48 hours of fermentation.
I plan to make 4 gallons with this amount of honey. It should be a learning experience.
chris
I’ve been using fermaid K as nutrient with my meads. I put 8g in the must at the start and once fermentation is vigorous dump in another 5g. Fermentation is done in 3 weeks usually. I rack it to a secondary (purged with CO2) for 2 weeks to clear, then into a tertiary for two months. Bottle on an auspicious date and start drinking 6 months later. You only really need to wait a year if its full of fusels which it shouldn’t be if you kept the yeast happy.
chris
In fact, I’ve been so impressed with fermaid K (which I know is probably just a mix of stuff i have on my shelf anyway) I’ve started putting it in my beer.
Cheers!
John
Good stuff chris. I am hoping to keep the yeast happy. Curt Stock was saying he was drinking mead at 7 weeks. We’ll see.
chris
The staggered feeding of the must works a treat. I’m lucky enough to have a mazer cup winner living nearby who says that if you use the no boil technique, oxygenate the crap out of the must, pitch plenty of healthy yeast and feed it during the initial stages of fermentation then 6 months is plenty. Seven weeks seems amazing but in my hands after two months its apparent that all the hot fusel smells have gone and the typical antiseptic taste has almost totally faded.
Derek
Yeast Nutrient is the savor to mead. I’ve saved so many just with some yeast nutrient. Rule of thumb that I learned is, that if it starts smelling sulfuric just add a 1/2 of teaspoon a day until it goes away. I learned that one from a good ole’ boy and it has seemed to work for me.
John
Good stuff Derek. I have been adding the nutrient over the past few days. Tonight will mark 72 hours after fermentation started. No sulfuric smells at all at this point.