# Mead for beginners.



## Myrrrrr (Apr 11, 2015)

Hello all. 

Today I started a new batch. 

12 lbs clover honey
Water to just over 4 Gal
2 Tsb yeast nutrient ( I plan on adding another 2 Tsbs a half way through)
1.5 Tsb Acid blend. (PH of 4.50)

I made a little yeast starter with some D47. Let it sit untill there was a layer of foam. (about an hour)

The OG came out to 1.095

Ok. So My plan to to wait until the gravity comes down to around 1.010 or so and then Take 3 of the gallons and make an Orange mead with it. Ill Zest and Juice 3 big Oranges and maybe a small stick of cinnamon and add them to the mix.

The other gallon i plan on putting in a jug with some mashed frozen strawberrys 

If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them.


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## BernardSmith (Apr 11, 2015)

Hi Myrrrrr, My feeling is to avoid adding any acid blend until after the fermentation has ended. Honey is notorious for really strong swings in the pH because it does not have any buffers. Adding acid blend can result in the pH dropping to a point that the is too low for the yeast to ferment the sugars...


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## Myrrrrr (Apr 11, 2015)

Well too late now but i will remember that for next time. recently a few of my wines had ended up on the acidy side so thats why i figured to leave the PH in the mid 4's. I had only made one other mead and i didn't have a PH meter to check anything.


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## Bergmann (Apr 12, 2015)

Well if the must was in the mid 4 there is little danger of it being to low. so You ate alright. as the mead fluctuated through the fermentation process it may lower You can add acid later, much harder to take it out. 
I do not know as I would have used D-47 with a SG of 1.095 that SG can produce an Alcohol By Volume (ABV) of slightly over 14% D-47 has an alcohol tolerance of 14% however it has a medium variance, it has been my experience that swing with D-47 tends to swing toward the low side. resulting in stalled fermentations when used in high SG meads. When making a sweat mead the residual sugar is not the problem, the problem is the suspended yeasties leave behind a bit of an off flavor. 
I would give the mead a dose of fermaid K at the 1.055 break. to give the yeast all the help you can.


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## Myrrrrr (Apr 22, 2015)

So here are some updates. 

Two days after dropping the yeast I checked the sg and it had gone up to 1.115. With almost no action happening from the D47, I decided it was time for some desperate measures. I Mixed up a fresh batch of 1118, let it get started, then poured it in with a Tsb of nutrient. 

4/13 - when I added the 1118 + 1tsb nutrient
4/16 - SG: 1.074 - Added Tsb 1 nutrient
4/20 - SG: 1.050
4/21 - Added 1 Tsb nutrient
4/22 - SG: 1.042 

My house is kindof always between 60-70F so its a little cool.

Is there any harm in using to much nutrient?


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## Bergmann (Apr 22, 2015)

If you add nutrient too near the end of fermentation the nitrogen may not be used and could lead to spoilage.


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## BernardSmith (Apr 22, 2015)

I guess my question is what happened that stalled the fermentation and what ensures that the same thing will not happen with this yeast.. ? I wonder whether the addition of acid blend to the must allowed the pH to drop so low that the yeast was unable to chomp through the honey...


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## mmadmikes1 (Apr 22, 2015)

I use d 47 in a lot of mead and have not had a problem .....YET. But my PH, nutrients, temp, and O2 (early are always right


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## Myrrrrr (Apr 28, 2015)

Ok so heres another update

The gravity finally got down to .018 ish so I decided it was time for the next step. I took my thawed strawberrys from the fridge and smushed them up with my hand through the bag and poured them into the gallon jug. I then zested and juiced 3 Orange oranges and dropped all of that goodness into a 3 gal carboy. Im still on the fence about adding the cinnamon. 

Heres a Pic of the two meads and also one of everything that is currently in the works. The other 3 gal is dragons blood with 2x the fruit and half the lemon juice with 2/3 oak sprial in it. Thats going to be bottled in about 2 weeks or so. The 2 jugs are White grape Razzberry with a razzberry f-pack with the other 1/3 of the oak sprial, and Cherry made from cherry Jam and then a cherry f-pack added.


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## Myrrrrr (Oct 7, 2015)

Hi everyone, I guess its time for an update. 

So sometime in the beginning of June their was a fair amount of sediment so it was time to siphon. When I did, I checked the PH and it had dropped to 3.49 so I feel that worked out great. The Sg was down to .998 
For the orange, I added 2 cinnamon sticks and half an Oak spiral (Medium+) 

10/4 I added the recommended dose of Sparkanold. I'm going to wait about 2 weeks and then ill rack one final time and stabilize. 

And before anyone says anything the strawberry will be going from a 1 gal to a 3 liter jug. 

I strawberry smelled a little curious, kind of that silicon smell? But the orange Smelled great. I cant wait to try it. 

Maybe about a month after i stabilize I figured some orange blossom for sweating the orange and a little clover for the strawberry.


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## Arne (Oct 8, 2015)

I strawberry smelled a little curious, kind of that silicon smell? But the orange Smelled great. I cant wait to try it. 


Doesn't hurt a thing to taste it as the ferment goes along. Just remember it will probably taste better as time goes along. Early it will probably have a strong yeasty taste, but you can get an idea of how it is going to come out. Arne.


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