Recent content by KTbrew

I Recommend stirring with a sanitized spoon once or twice a day. D47 is very temperature sensitive and needs to be kept 60-65 degrees. Often times yeast will create sulfuric smells for a short period and as long as you have a healthy fermentation it blows off and the final product is great...

Thanks for all of the info! You've given me a lot to read and think about. I do understand the fermentation differences. I was a bit concerned about hop aroma and flavor being blown off and manipulated. I'm going for Pliney The Elder with honey. We shall see how it turns out.

I think a simplified answer is this... Goferm is for re-hydration. For your staggered nutrient addition you will probably need a combination of DAP and Fermaid K or Fermaid O. Many people now prefer Fermaid O because it contains a source of organic nitrogen. But either will work. It's important...

So, it's sealed up really well, doesn't look all that old, is quality bress malt and tastes good. I think I'll make a stout out of it.

My dad has some fairly old DME which has dried into a solid brick. He is wanting to use it in a beer. I really don't know how old it is. Normally I wouldn't use old ingredients like this. Any thoughts? Is it worth trying?

"All of them use D47" At it's best this yeast can be amazing. Left to chance it can be a mead ruiner. It's very picky about temperature. I recommend 71B with nutrients for your next experiment.

Also, sluggish fermentation's = unhealthy fermentation's. It's not just about speed, it's about yeast health.

I'm sorry that you, like many others, were sucked into the vortex of ignorant outdated mead information and add raisins. In order to see any benefit from raisins you would have to add like a half pound per gallon. At that rate you would be making raisin flavored mead. As a scientist you will...

Just a quick tip. Different yeast strains all have their purposes. They all contribute different characteristics and have their own strengths and weaknesses. While one yeast may work well in a traditional mead (honey only), you may be disappointed in it in a fruit mead. Fruit adds natural...

Good thoughts. I don't know the science well enough to determine exactly what's going on in a staggered nutrient feed. Hopefully someone will look into this and some day we will have a better process. All I know is that the methods we have today are way better than what I started out with. Back...

A small winery near me does it as well. Other than that I know nothing about it.

BTW- Steve Fletty is a champion mead maker and he uses a single addition.

First of all, sorry for jumping to conclusions on the off topic thing. I'll admit that in addition to trying single nutrient addition, SNA and TONSA I have simply played it by ear and added nutrient as I felt it was needed. I once did small additions every day untill about 3/4 of the sugar was...

Wow looks like a busy mead, and one that I would love to taste and see how it turns out. I have to agree with bernardsmith on this one. Personally, if I were attempting this recipe I wouldn't be willing to use the amount of ingredients, which adds up to quite a few $, in a 5 gallon batch. It's...

I doubt that the wine industry would be using SNA if it was pointless. I have used both methods on different occasions and found that there are appropriate times to use both. If your going to use a monster yeast that will power through anything such as ec-1118 one large dose at the beginning is...