# 3 new meads



## sangwitch

My plan for tonight is to start three medium meads to which I will add fruit later on for a secondary fermentation. The first will become a Blueberry Chamomile, the second will be a Ginger Peach and the third will be a Tart Cherry.
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I’ve chosen to use Lalvin 71B-1122 because it’s supposed to enhance the fruit flavor profiles. The yeast has a 14% alcohol potential so I’m going to shoot for a starting SG of 1.096. Adding the fruit to secondary - especially since some of it is packed in sugar water - makes further readings pointless (or so I’ve read), but I’m hoping my initial target and chosen yeast will get me to 14%. 
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The reason I’m posting now is in case anyone wants to give advice on my plan. (Target SG, yeast, recipe changes, financial advice, etc.) Here’s a rough layout of the recipes I’ve put together from various similar recipes.
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Blueberry Chamomile:
12 lbs honey
2 tsp each yeast nutrient &amp; energizer
1 small lemon
Chamomile tea
4 15oz cans of <?amespace prefix = st1 ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficearttags" /><ST1:STATE wt="on"><ST1LACE wt="on">Oregon</ST1LACE></ST1:STATE> blueberries in light syrup
3 lbs frozen blueberries
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Ginger Peach
12 lbs honey
2 tsp each yeast nutrient &amp; energizer
3 tsp pectic enzyme
2 oz mashed ginger root
1 3lb can Oregon Peach Puree
5 lbs frozen peaches
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Tart Cherry
12 lbs honey
2 tsp each yeast nutrient &amp; energizer
6 cans Oregon Tart Cherries in water









Edit: Yes, I will provide pictures Waldo.




*Edited by: sangwitch *


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## masta

I assume these will be 5 gallon batches to start in the primary? What kind of honey are you using?


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## sangwitch

yes, 5-gallon batches. I'm using white clover. They also have a wildflower/soy amber honey, but I thought that might be too chancy.


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## masta

Not sure if you have seen this mead batch calculator or not but I have found it to be fairly accurate in targeting SG when planning out batches.



http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=745&amp;Itemid=16http://www.gotmead.com/content/view/745/158/
It has options to add all types of sugars besides honey and also fruits. I suggest sticking with your amounts on the honey for 12lbs per 5 gals on the makeup even if it comes in below your target of 1.096 ( I believe it will). From my experience of making mead, pushing the alcohol too high results in an end product that takes a very long time to age. I think adding the fruit in the secondary will add enough sugar to reach your targetand you don't want to push the ABV in your primary too high that the yeast quits on you when trying to ferment all the sugar from the fruit.


Sorry for the rambling...





*Edited by: masta *


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## sangwitch

Thanks Masta. This is exactly the type of input I was hoping for. I was originally thinking 1.090 as a good starting. Now, my plan is to add the fruit towards the end of primary. Ken Schramm says to add it after 2 to 4 weeks. Did you tell me that you usually wait until the SG has dropped to around 1.00?


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## masta

Anywhere around 1.010 is good and please keep good records as you proceed so I can make some myself after you send me a bottle of each when it is ready to drink!




Where did you buy your honey?


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## Angell Wine

Are you thinking about using any Oak chips ?


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## masta

BTW sang thanks for stirring my interest in making mead...I dozed off for a minute at the computer and when I woke up an order had been placed for 12 lbs of Orange Blossom Honey!


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## sangwitch

I'm not thinking of any oak chips for these batches. Are you recommending? 


Glad I could help masta! Here's a nice quote I ran across the other day...


"_The Juice of bees, not Bacchus, here behold,
Which British Bards were wont to quaff of old;
The Berries of the grape with Furries swell,
But in the honeycomb the Graces Dwell_."


-&gt; Barclay's Argenis, 1625


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## sangwitch

couldn't figure out a good way to get the honey from the 5-gallon bucket to the 1-gallon buckets that masta was kind enough to send me. I think a spigot would work, but I don't have one and didn't want to wait so I used a ladle for the first couple gallons. I also sat the bucket in hot water to try and get the honey to flow a bit better. There was surprisingly little mess.


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## sangwitch

poured the honey into some hot water to help dissolve it. I don't boil my honey for several reasons.


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## sangwitch

pouring the honey water into the primary...






The steam is more from the open window than the heat of the must.


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## sangwitch

SNAP! my drill mixer snapped on the second batch. I had to stir the old fasion way. Grrr!


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## sangwitch

And finally... (man, my back hurts)







The fourth primary is a bergamais that I started tonight before the meads. I threw in three cans of welch's concord concentrate to bring the SG up a bit. This'll be some fast drinking wine to let the good stuff age.


Let's see... all three meads came out with a starting SG of 1.080 so that's a little lower than I was aiming for, but I think it'll work out fine cause I'll be adding fruit and sugar after a few days of fermentation.


I added nutrient and energizer to the hot water and honey. Tomorrow I'll pitch the yeast. I'll have to hit the local shop and pick up a new drill mixer.


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## sangwitch

Angell Wine said:


> Are you thinking about using any Oak chips ?




I may use some after all. I was reading a bit of Ken Schramm's book tonight to see what he says about oak. And I quote...


"_The effects of aging become even more pronounced if some or all of the bulk aging is done in (or with) oak. Simply put, oak and mead are a match._"


"_... you know how a really good mead can seem like it has attained a level of deliciousness this is nigh on to impossible to improve? Well, oak can grab it by the scruff of the neck and haul it three rungs up the ladder._"


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## Wade E

The rest of your mixer wouldnt fit in your drill/ What do you have a 3/8" chuck?


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## Waldo

Looking good sang. Just curious thoughwhat are your concerns about boiling your honey?


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## grapeman

Just for chuckles sang try two drops of superglue and see if it will hold. Offset the two pieces ever so slightly. I had a second stirrer I got a couple years ago I hadn't used yet. I used it over the weekend and noticed it was two pieces glued together with an offset. It gives better stirring action as it wobbles ever so slightly while turning. Yours may have been like that and you hadn't noticed and just came apart rather than breaking. Your meads sound very interesting. I can't wait to hear how they turn out.


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## masta

WOW....Looks great and I can't imagine having to stir the honey into solution by hand! I broke a few mix-stirs like that and switched over to the Fizz-X since the shaft is S/S and can't break.


I am thinking about amaking a Oaked Blueberry Melomel since I have some Blueberry concentrate that needs to be used up.


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## Angell Wine

I kept on braking mine until was to small to fitin a gallon jug. I like the fizz X better.


Use some light toast French oak on the ginger one, that's if you feel like experimenting. You might be surprised.


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## sangwitch

wade - no, wouldn't fit. I've got another drill in the shed, but if you could look in the door you'd know why I didn't try to fetch it.







appleman - I've got some gorilla glue I can try using. I checked the shaft and it looks like it was one piece. 


Incidenally, This thing actually broke as I was walking from one room to the other. I had it in the drill and was holding the drill so the stirrer was wobbling slightly and, "snap", that was the end. I'm sure it would have broken during that stir though.


masta - I'm going to take a look at the fizz-x... I've been wanting to anyway. I meant to ask you yesterday what mead you were going to make. Sounds yummy.... blueberries and honey just seem to go together.


Angell - I'm glad you asked me if I was going to oak these because until you did I had no plans to do that. I read a few different items about oaking meads last night though (one I posted earlier). It seems that oak does wonderful things for meads. I think I'll try some light oak and then do some experimenting with levels on some 1-gallon batches. I'll be travelling soon so I won't be around to keep taste testing the oak. *Edited by: sangwitch *


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## sangwitch

Waldo said:


> Looking good sang. Just curious thoughwhat are your concerns about boiling your honey?




I gotta be honest with you Waldo,at this point any original thought I have pertaining to mead making is limited to recipe tinkering. My no-boiling method pretty much comes straight from Ken Schramm's book so I'll paraphrase...


Basically what he says is that the reason old mead recipes told to boil the honey was because the honey would contain unwanted components of the hive such as bees, comb, etc. 


Heating the honey destroys some ofthe aromatic compounds that you want in the finished product.


Another reason he gives is that the foam boiling creates is composed mostly of protein compounds that contain nitrogen that the mead needs to ferment strongly.


He goes on to say that the natural antibiotic nature of honey will prevent bacterial infection and that a good fermentation will stop any infection providing "good sanitation procedures are adhered to stringently for all implements, instruments, and vessels."


So there you have it...for the moment Ken is doing my thinking for me. That way I have more time to relax.






He actually doesn't heat his honey at all, but I did heat mine a bit. So maybe I have a little thought coming through.


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## masta

sang - I also have Ken's book and I learned much about making mead and more about honey itself. I do not and never have heated my honey for the same reasons and so far it has worked well for me.


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## sangwitch

I pitched the yeast tonight. The SG readings were slightly higher tonight, which I found strange since I mixed thoroughly both times. 


Anyway... I added a quart of tart cherry juice to the 'Tart Cherry', a cup of strong chamomile to the 'Blueberry' and the ginger to the 'Ginger Peach' before pitching. I will add the fruit in a couple days and take some pics at that time.


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## sangwitch

this mead is violent over here! It's spitting the liquid right out of the airlock like a water fountain and it's making deep guttural noises that sound like my name being called.



Is this usually the case with meads? I went to bed last night with no visible action and woke up to buckets possessed! 


On another note, my bergamais didn't take off for some reason. I used Lalvin EC118 because the packet of Premier Cuvee got used for something else. The Lalvinis supposed to be the same strain. I had to run down to the local shop for a new packet of yeast this afternoon and another customer down theretold meto always rehydrate Lalvin before using. Has anyone every heard that? I rehydrated the 71b-1122 I used for the meads, but sprinkled the EC118 directly on to the bergamais. I've never hada batchnot start before.*Edited by: sangwitch *


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## sangwitch

I'm adding the fruit tonight. I'm not sure the SG will be right where masta recommended, but I won't have time over the weekend to work on them so tonight it is. I set up a temporary humidor for the fruit to sit in while it thaws out...


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## Wade E

Looking and sounding great sang!


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## sangwitch

thanks Wade. I added the fruit to the meads. I couldn't get shots of the mess I made at the table cause I was home alone and my hands were a mess, but here are a few of the carboys. The ginger smelled awesome in the ginger peach batch.


Ginger Peach






Blueberry Chamomile






Tart Cherry


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## Waldo

Looking awesome there buddy.......I need to come and get me a good sniff of them darlings


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## grapeman

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH YYYYYYEEEEEAAAAHHHHHH, that's looking mighty good there!


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## masta

Looks and sounds awesome sang!




I finally found some honey at a decent price after my e-bay connection in CA ran out and hope to be starting my Blueberry Melomel next weekend.


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## Wade E

sangwitch said:


> thanks Wade. I added the fruit to the meads. I
> couldn't get shots of the mess I made at the table cause I was home
> alone and my hands were a mess, but here are a few of the carboys. The
> ginger smelled awesome in the ginger peach batch.
> 
> 
> Ginger Peach
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Blueberry Chamomile
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Tart Cherry



More like you didnt have time to take a picture because you had to
clean up the mess before the honey got home and put you in the bucket
to ferment!


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## sangwitch

masta, if you like the new honey connection how 'bout a link? Looking forward to following along with that batch.


wade... well... don't blow my cover eh? Since no one really knows me here I like to pretend that _I'm_ in charge at home!


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## masta

sangwitch said:


> masta, if you like the new honey connection how 'bout a link? Looking forward to following along with that batch.




I will let you know how the honey works out and my issue right now is availability of an empty carboy since production at Valley Brew is at it's peak!


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## sangwitch

Ok... I racked my meads to carboy tonight...







Ginger Peach - .996 : I didn't taste this one because people showed up at my house in the middle of racking. It smelled great though!


Tart Cherry - .996 : tastes a bit harsh, but very complex. I took several small sips and I swear each one tasted completely different. I think this is going to be a huge winner after a year or so!


Blueberry Chamomile - 1.020 : wow. This one tastes great already!It's still pretty active. I also have a 1-gallon batch that I started on 1/7 that is still bubbling away. 


Besides the 5-gallon carboys each of the batches produced almost another gallon, which I have in smaller jugs. I started these as 5-gallon recipes, but the addition offruit/juice to secondary added almost another gallon in volume.


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## sangwitch

Besides my blueberry 1-gallon batch being active, so are my ancient orange batches. (I have 2 1-gallon going). So either they have a very slow secondaryfermentation or meads release C02 easier. Anyone?


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## Wade E

Nice colors! Thet look like they should be sitting on top of a Slurpy Machine!


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## Bert

Can you check your PH??? I had a mead drift kind of low on the PH level [below 3.0] I brought it up to 3.4 [I think] and it helped move things along...But Meads can be a bit slower than kits or friut wines..


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## grapeman

Looking good there Sang. What reaction do you get to visitors showing up like that. Here some people ask what that horrible smell is while others are genuinely excited to see the operations going on.


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## Waldo

Looking good there sang !!


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## sangwitch

appleman said:


> Looking good there Sang. What reaction do you get to visitors showing up like that. Here some people ask what that horrible smell is while others are genuinely excited to see the operations going on.




People walk in my house and see all the carboys covered with 
just the S-locks sticking up and they think I'm running a meth lab!





I have to uncover the wine to show them.








Well, I tasted the meads today and they all taste kinda flat. Not much flavor to them at all. I'm going to rack them later this week after I free up a 5-gallon carboy. I think I'll add some oak to them as well. I'm sure they'll come into their own at some point (I hope)


Edit: Oh yea, I also tasted my 1-gallon batches and the blueberry still tastes like jet fuel (yes, I know what that tastes like) and the ancient oranges are nice, a little sweet, but nice. 

*Edited by: sangwitch *


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## grapeman

Do the people that think you are running a meth lab know what one would look like? If so I'm not sure I would get too close to them!






I had a batch a couple years a go smelled like paint thinner. It was a raspberry. Not sure if that's just like jet fuel, but probably close. I bottled it after 6-8 months and it doesn't smell like that anymore, but still isn't the best in the world. Maybe another year and it will be good..


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## Waldo

Hmmmmmmmm rasberry meth.......How interesting appleman


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## dsiddall

I have a honey mead that Ive had in the carboy for about a month an a half. I'm worried that it will taste flat since all I used was what was in the kit which was honey, yeast, nutrient and instructions. I did do an orange juice starter for it. Is it too late to add oak? Would that help?

I'm really confused when people write about tasting their wine/mead in between primary/secondary etc...are they pouring some in a glass and drinking it? Mine smelled like baby sh*t till the last rack and I haven't taken off the airlock recently to see what it smells like now..





Any advice, this is my first attempt at mead. I expected to age it at least a year per the recommendation of some friends. thanks.

de


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## Wade E

You can oak it at any time as long as you use cubes or spirals. I
personally would use a spiral on a pce. of fishing string so that you
can easily pull it out when it reaches the point at where you want it.
As for tasting it, they probably just pull out a little sample with
their wine thief. By the way, welcome and dont be afraid to ask any
questions you want.


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## dsiddall

Thanks a bunch! I have the chunks so will try the pantyhose method I've read about.
de


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## masta

I can tell you mead takes a long time to age and start to taste good and at 1.5 months yes it will taste and smell bad!



*Edited by: masta *


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## sally3

Mine seriously tasted like I might imagine lighter fluid would taste
for about 7 months...now it is amazing.....Masta helped me out with
being patient and having faith. Hang in there,,,,it will work
out.


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## sangwitch

Racked the meads tonight from the nasty carboys to nice clean ones. They taste a whole lot better. They're not quite there, but you can taste the fruit struggling to come out and hints of honey that were not there the last time I tasted. You can't tell from the pic, but the blueberry and cherry are pretty clear. The peach is still a bit hazy as expected. From left to right: Blueberry Chamomile; Tart Cherry; Ginger Peach. The three amigos!


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## masta

Sweet!!! I still have to bottled my meads I have so they will be ready to test at Winestock this fall.


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## Wade E

Nice colors.


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## Waldo

Looking very good sang !! How is the ginger-peach developing?*Edited by: Waldo *


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## sangwitch

Waldo said:


> Looking very good sang !! How is the ginger-peach developing?




Right now it's my least favorite of the three. It tastes really flat. I'm not going to worry about it though... I'll give it lots of time and I'm sure it will develop into a winner. (trying to stay positive!) In any case,you'll get a chance to taste itand decide for yourself.


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## sangwitch

hey y'all. Hope someone can answer this one...


I racked my meads back in early May and I left a couple inches of head space in the carboys. I got home from Peru the other day and noticed that all three of the meads are full up to the bung. The Ginger Peach even had some yuck in the air lock looking like it had boiled up there at some point. 


How could the volume have expanded? ??


I changed the airlock on the peach and gave it a sniff when I had the bung off. It smells awesome. I was afraid it got contaminated, but it doesn't seem so.


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## Wade E

Temperature will do this and so will a low pressure system. My
Watermelon Merlot did this last week when it got really hot and went up
into the airlock as you described and I was shocked at how much it
dropped when it cooled back down.


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## grapeman

Either that or Waldo came over and topped them off for you while you were gone. Nice to see you agin, hope you can stay a while soon.


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## Waldo

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!! Dont tell appleman...I'm a trying to confuse him


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