Mead Recipe help

[Chilkat]

Starting my third batch. I'm about getting all my ingredients for this.

I have:

GoFerm
Fermaid O
Tannins
Acid Blend
Bentonite
10lbs Clover honey
Kv-1116
StarSan

So -

Hydrate yeast with Go Ferm; This portion I'm not sure how much to mix with hot water, I have one package of 1116 for 4 gallons of must; Can you use too much or too little?
Mix 10 lbs Honey with H20 in 3 gal carboy so can just shake;
Add 3t Bentonite to 6 gallon bucket;
Add 4g Fermaid O to bucket;
Add Honey to bucket and add spring water to 4 gallons total;
Take OG;
Record OG date and time;
Pitch Yeast.

Nutrient additions 24, 48 and 72 hour points.
Degas 2xdaily with whisk.
Measure SG at night after degassing to watch sugar breaks.

I have these ingredients and hope that's what I need for a great third batch. I don't know how much go-ferm to use for pitching yeast.

 

[seth8530]

You plan on making 3 gallons. What do you plan on aging it in? Also, do you have enough nutrient? Generally with go ferm you use 1.25 the mass of go ferm as the mass of yeast you use. Leme know if you want some pointers.

 

[Chilkat]

You plan on making 3 gallons. What do you plan on aging it in? Also, do you have enough nutrient? Generally with go ferm you use 1.25 the mass of go ferm as the mass of yeast you use. Leme know if you want some pointers.

I don't have anything for aging. Is there something that works best? I could go get some more 1gal bottles and have them split up. Is that the time to add fruit?

 

[seth8530]

You need containers for aging which prevent oxygen ingress. Most people use carboys (generally in the 5 to 6 gallon size) or kegs. With most any mead most of the time is spent aging and not fermenting. I suggest you go for a 5 to 6 gallon batch size.

 

[Chilkat]

I have carboys to age them in. I was thinking you were talking about something special.

 

[seth8530]

Nope, nothing special. I would tune your batch size so that once you rack out of primary you can fill the carboy all the way up.

 

[winemaker81]

Chilkat, I'm a bit late to this party, but wanted to mention that aging 3 gallons of anything in a 5 gallon carboy is a mistake. The air will destroy the mead (or wine or beer). I'm hoping you put your mead in 1 gallon jugs (which you mentioned). Anything that eliminates excess air space is good.

As Seth8530 said, it's best to plan your batches to fit your containers. Makes for less hassle. [I have a collection of glass containers from 375 ml to 1.5 l to gallon jugs, so I have something for everything.]

Folks that use CO2 for carbonating beer use that to make a layer over the wine/beer if the container is not full. I have a device that injects food grade nitrogen into wine bottles for storage after opening -- I've used that to make an oxygen barrier.