# Just plain Mead.



## Arne (Feb 17, 2012)

I have had 6 lb. of honey sitting around for a long time. Decided it was time to use it. Wanted to make a 3 gal batch, but after reading on here seemed like the 6 lb. mite be a little weak. So used the 6 lb. in 2 gal. The s.g. came out to 1.090 which I thought was a little low. Made up another gal. with sugar to 1.092. Makes enough for my 3 gal. carboy. Got it going yesterday, and the ferment started off good. Was going to flavor it, but the honey smelled so good, I am just fermenting plain. Has kind of an apple smell to it. Anyway this morning withoug glasses on, the ferment looked like it had kinda stopped. (The room the fermenter was in cooled down over night. ) Looking close, it was still going. When I put it in the primary, I stirred it well with my stir stick, not a drill mixer. Stuck the hydrometer in it this A.M. and like magic I had a s.g. of 1.130. Must not of got it mixed up quite as well as I thought I did. That s.g. was closer to what I thought it should be, tho. Anyway, no problems so far, just a suprise on the S.G. Now I don't know for sure what I started out with, but bet it will kinda be rocket fuel. Will update this down the road. Arne.


----------



## robie (Feb 17, 2012)

I have never made mead. I have never made a fruit wine or SP, either. I am saving these for when I retire in a few years. I think it will be fun to experiment in gallon batches... drive my wife crazy, but still fun.

Anyway, let us know how it goes - the good, the bad, and even the ugly.


----------



## Arne (Feb 18, 2012)

robie said:


> I have never made mead. I have never made a fruit wine or SP, either. I am saving these for when I retire in a few years. I think it will be fun to experiment in gallon batches... drive my wife crazy, but still fun.
> 
> Anyway, let us know how it goes - the good, the bad, and even the ugly.



Checked the s.g. this morning. Down to 1.092. For no longer than this has been fermenting, that seems to be quite a drop. Also, it is not a rolling ferment, just the small fiz bubbles you sometimes get with the champaine yeast. Looking forward to tomorrow to see what happens today. Arne.


----------



## Arne (Feb 19, 2012)

Another day has passed. Down to 1.082 and foaming now. Acts like it is going to settle down and just be a regular ferment now. Arne.


----------



## CB750 (Feb 24, 2012)

The two big factors that will determine how your mead will turn out are, the starting SG and the type of yeast that you use. Given these variables you can produce anything from a very dry to a very sweat mead and everything in between with a variety of alcohol levels. 

Given your high starting SG you are in the range of producing a sweet sack mead with an alcohol of around 11% or so. For example the last sweet mead that I made for Christmas had a starting SG of 1.110 and stopped fermenting at a SG of 1.030 after 60 days in the primary. I used 2 packs of Lavin 71B-1122 yeast. This produced a very sweet mead with lots of honey flavor and tones as so much of the sugar in the honey had not fermented. If I had used a champagne type of yeast that was more alcohol tolerant I may have ended up with a lower ending SG and a dryer mead. The reason that the SG stopped at 1.030 was the simple fact that the yeast ran out of gas when the alcohol hit 11%. I might have been able to get more out of it if I had added some more yeast nutrient/energizer and more yeast but I was happy as I got exactly what I wanted.

Do not be surprised if you don't get as strong Co2 as Honey ferments much slower than wine. I find that it produces about 1/2 the amount of bubbles as wine. You can expect fermentation to be long as 60 to 90 days and the mead will take a long time to clear on it's own. I found that one pack of Liquor Quick Super Clear K.C. will clear mead quite well in about 2 days.

One thing you are going to find is that folks are going to like your mead so much that you wish you would have made more, and will switch to 5 to 6 gal batches. Here is another hint. Since I am a beer brewer I bottle my mead in 12 oz beer bottles. I find that amount makes for a nice after dinner drink for two or an nice portion for one.


----------



## Arne (Feb 25, 2012)

CB750 said:


> The two big factors that will determine how your mead will turn out are, the starting SG and the type of yeast that you use. Given these variables you can produce anything from a very dry to a very sweat mead and everything in between with a variety of alcohol levels.
> 
> Given your high starting SG you are in the range of producing a sweet sack mead with an alcohol of around 11% or so. For example the last sweet mead that I made for Christmas had a starting SG of 1.110 and stopped fermenting at a SG of 1.030 after 60 days in the primary. I used 2 packs of Lavin 71B-1122 yeast. This produced a very sweet mead with lots of honey flavor and tones as so much of the sugar in the honey had not fermented. If I had used a champagne type of yeast that was more alcohol tolerant I may have ended up with a lower ending SG and a dryer mead. The reason that the SG stopped at 1.030 was the simple fact that the yeast ran out of gas when the alcohol hit 11%. I might have been able to get more out of it if I had added some more yeast nutrient/energizer and more yeast but I was happy as I got exactly what I wanted.
> 
> ...



I am finding some of this out. It is now down to 1.070. I thought it stuck and added another pack of yeast. Now I think it was just slow. Started this with red star champaine yeast. Hope it ferments down, but it is coming along pretty slow. Nice to see yours took so long. I am going to rack to a caroby one of these days and just let it sit. Need some warm weather so the basement will warm up and it can go down there. My temps are not anywhere near perfect, but everything else I have fermented has worked fine. This has been interesting, will keep everyody informed how this works out. Arne.


----------



## mmadmikes1 (Feb 25, 2012)

Make sure you keep it warm. If it gets stuck it is a bear to get going again. Mead is a lot of work to de-gas as well, but it will clear even though it is not completely de-gassed. Buy an aquamarine submersible heater and set it on the bottom with temp set at 75. This has become my fool proof method to maintain temp.


----------



## CB750 (Feb 26, 2012)

mmadmikes1 said:


> Make sure you keep it warm. If it gets stuck it is a bear to get going again. Mead is a lot of work to de-gas as well, but it will clear even though it is not completely de-gassed. Buy an aquamarine submersible heater and set it on the bottom with temp set at 75. This has become my fool proof method to maintain temp.



Their was no doubt that my fermentation was stuck at 1.030 but when I tasted the mead it was the sweetness I wanted so I ended the fermentation with sulfate and sorbate.

If you want to get a stuck fermentation going here are a few things I have used in my beer making days that worked for both mead and high gravity beer.

1. Add some yeast nutrient

2. Add more Oxygen, shake up your mead to add more air into the must.

3. Add more yeast. One thing I would do is make up about a half a Ltr of sugar water at a SG around 1.040 to 1.050, pitch the yeast and wait a day or two for it to get going and then pitch it into your mead. This is going to over load it with lots of active yeast cells. 

4. Keep the temperature up in the 74 to 76 degree range until it gets going again. I use a brewers belt.

5. Be patient, if you get fermentation going again you should be OK if not then you are going to have a very sweet mead. Also remember when you get to around 14% alcohol most yeast will stop working no matter what you do. 

Being a beer brewer, I never heard of De gasing until I started to make wine. Therefore I never did it to any of the meads that I made as I would tend to just let it bulk age for many months. But I did degas this last batch of mead and I did notice a lot of CO2 in the mead which took a lot of time with a drill and vacuum pump to remove. After that the Mead was quite cloudy a week or two later. So added the Liquor Quick Super Clear K.C. and it became very clear in two days.


----------



## mmadmikes1 (Feb 26, 2012)

1.03 is finished in my book. I like plain Mead to be finished at 1.02 so 3 is maybe a little sweet but probably finished and not stuck. Step feeding nutrients and honey prevent getting stuck as well. I would never add O2 to Mead that late because to sweet is better than oxidized. If I didn't like it I would start a new batch and add it in while second batch was going strong.. Hell good excuse to start more MEAD


----------



## Arne (Apr 3, 2012)

It has been a while, but it is still fermenting. Took it downstairs where it is cooler, but for some reason it acted like the ferment picked up a bit. The s.g. reading is still falling, although slowly. Now it is tucked back out of sight, will check on it in another month or so. It appearently just wants to do its own thing. Arne.


----------



## GreginND (Apr 3, 2012)

I find my meads can take a long time to ferment out and it varies a lot for each batch of honey. Without acid and/or yeast nutrients they tend to be slower. Did you add any to your mead or just use straight up honey with no additions?


----------



## Arne (Apr 4, 2012)

GreginND said:


> I find my meads can take a long time to ferment out and it varies a lot for each batch of honey. Without acid and/or yeast nutrients they tend to be slower. Did you add any to your mead or just use straight up honey with no additions?


 
Yep, addid acid blend, nutrients, energizer, and some tannin. Its just takin its own sweet time. Got it set away and not goin to pay it much attention. It will get done in its own sweet time. Arne.


----------



## CB750 (Apr 4, 2012)

Arne said:


> Yep, addid acid blend, nutrients, energizer, and some tannin. Its just takin its own sweet time. Got it set away and not goin to pay it much attention. It will get done in its own sweet time. Arne.


 
Here is my tale of two identical Mead's. 

Before Christmas I made a sweet mead 15 lbs Costco honey, 5 gal water, acid blend, yeast nutrients and energizer SG= 1.110 two packs Lavin 71B-1122 and fermented between 70 to 72 degrees. After 50 days fermentation was stuck at 1.030. I stopped the process with sulphate and sorbate as I wanted a very sweet mead for Christmas. 

Last month I started a second batch everything was exactly the same except I left out the yeast energizer and added 2 tsp Bentonite. SG= 1.110 I started to get CO2 one hour after pitching the yeast. After 6 days SG= 1.060 and CO2 was stronger than batch #1. After 14 days SG= 1.010 and is still fermenting and I am going to let it go until it stops. This time I wanted a dryer Mead and was prepared to deal with stuck fermentation but it didn't happen. 

I remember the ancients felt that Mead came from God and sometimes you wonder if he does play a part in giving you what you want.


----------



## mmadmikes1 (Apr 4, 2012)

71B 1122 reduces acid, I always have to add an acid to get it to ferment clean. I don't believe that is a good yeast for mead, but I love it for blackberrys


----------



## CB750 (Apr 5, 2012)

mmadmikes1 said:


> 71B 1122 reduces acid, I always have to add an acid to get it to ferment clean. I don't believe that is a good yeast for mead, but I love it for blackberrys


 
What yeasts are the current Mead favorates?

I had taken a 10 year break from Mead making and in the past I had used Wyeast Sweet, Dry and Ale liquids as well as Red Star Champagne and Cote Des Blancs yeast. When I started up again the Beer and Wine supply store where I get my wine kits recommend the Lavin 71B 1122. While I got the results I wanted with batch #1 I now realize that may not be on the mead makers favorite list.


----------



## mmadmikes1 (Apr 5, 2012)

I like RS champagne and D-47.


----------



## fatbloke (Apr 7, 2012)

You'll only ever be able to work the numbers with meads and get a "guesstimate". Yes I tend to use Lalvin yeast products because they give more data about them than any other manufacturer, so it makes it easier to judge. Yet even with two identical batches from the same source i.e. honey, water, etc, the two may ferment in a similar way, but still I end up with a slightly different result.

Meads don't have to be slow fermenting. A well balanced must, using staggered nutrients, properly aerated down to the 1/3rd or even 1/2 sugar break, will invariably ferment out fine. I never use acids in the must now, or tannin for that matter. The acids will give you potential for a stuck ferment, because if you measure the pH of just honey and water, you'll find it's already pretty low (acidic taste being masked by the sugars), so adding anything that potentially reduces the pH further can cause problems. I just add both of them i.e. acid and tannin, too taste once it's finished the ferment, cleared etc etc....

My preferred yeasts are K1V-1116 and D21. So I don't blow all of the aromatics and some of the more subtle flavourings straight out the airlock. Plus I don't have to worry like you do with D47 about keeping the temperature within it's range (to prevent fusel production - when fermented above about 70F), etc etc.....


----------



## SarahRides (Apr 7, 2012)

I'm new to making mead as well Arne, I started a 3 gallon spiced batch last October, and have several one gallon experimental batches lying around as well (vanilla, cherry, mint and will be starting a blueberry after Easter). I haven't checked their gravities in a while, so I don't know how they are doing, but I've heard they take a very long time to ferment down. Mine all started with a vengeance, but would slow down after a few weeks (all of them were pretty high SG's). We'll have to compare notes when they are all done!


----------



## Neviawen (Apr 7, 2012)

mmadmikes1 said:


> Make sure you keep it warm. If it gets stuck it is a bear to get going again. Mead is a lot of work to de-gas as well, but it will clear even though it is not completely de-gassed. Buy an aquamarine submersible heater and set it on the bottom with temp set at 75. This has become my fool proof method to maintain temp.



You have a heater that goes "inside" the mead? Does your airlock fit snugly w/ the electrical cord hanging out the top of the carboy?


----------



## fatbloke (Apr 7, 2012)

Neviawen said:


> You have a heater that goes "inside" the mead? Does your airlock fit snugly w/ the electrical cord hanging out the top of the carboy?


A lot of people will brew their meads in a bucket, with either a lid just laid on top to allow for the gas escape, or even just a piece of muslin/cheese cloth to keep the dust and bugs out.

Only moving it to a carboy once it's getting down low on the gravity stakes or even once it's finished, so it secondary ferments/clears.

You can often find bungs with 2 holes drilled in them for vacuum racking/degassing, but one hole has the airlock and the second has the cable for a heater if it's required and the cable is sealed with silicone or similar.

As they say, "there's more than one way to skin a cat".......


----------



## mmadmikes1 (Apr 7, 2012)

Neviawen said:


> You have a heater that goes "inside" the mead? Does your airlock fit snugly w/ the electrical cord hanging out the top of the carboy?


 I ferment in a 10 gallon bucket and just snap lid on up to cored. I keep a towel over the bucket and lid. The only acid I add is lemon juice or pineapple juice, depending on what I have in frig the day I start. My water PH varies alot (8.2 to 5.5)


----------



## Arne (May 12, 2012)

While bottling last night, I noticed the mead has finally settled down and quit fermenting. The gallon top off is clearing nicely although the 3 gal. is still really cloudy. Both have a nice compact bunch of lees. Next time I sit down to the wine bench, I will rack them off, get a s.g. reading, and probably a taste test off the clear top off bottle. Will keep you updated. Arne.


----------

