seven77
Well-Known Member
Hello. I've been brewing beer and cider for about a year now, and decided to try making a mead. I didn't really follow one specific recipe, but just remembered a few ingredients from several recipes I've come across online. What I used was 12lbs of clover honey, filtered water so must was equal to 5 gallons, I boiled the rinds of 3 lemons then added that water, and 1 cup of black tea. I used some ammonium phosphate (supplied by online brew shop) for yeast nutrient, and some vinteners choice dry mead liquid yeast.
I'm aiming for a dry mead, yet smooth... (if possible). My questions are about temperature and how to get my mead as dry as possible with the ingredients I used. First of all, I'm in no hurry to get the mead into bottles so time isn't an issue... but what would an ideal temperature for brewing a dry mead be? I like my house chilly in the winter so the temperature usually runs from 55 - 63 degrees. I don't think this is too cold for the yeast because my airlock is bubbling away after only 1.5 days in the fermentor. I can get it colder or warmer in here, I just need a good temp range to work with.
Secondly... how exactly can I get my mead very dry? I have no idea what the starting gravity was, but I imagine it was extremely high with 12lbs of honey in the mix. I do not want a sweet mead... I tried a sweet mead once and did not like it. I liked the aftertaste, and saw that the mead had potential but it was just too sweet... it was like drinking liquid candy. So how can I get my mead as dry as possible without sacrificing alcohol percentage?
Anyways, thanks for reading. Any advice or comments would be appreciated.
I'm aiming for a dry mead, yet smooth... (if possible). My questions are about temperature and how to get my mead as dry as possible with the ingredients I used. First of all, I'm in no hurry to get the mead into bottles so time isn't an issue... but what would an ideal temperature for brewing a dry mead be? I like my house chilly in the winter so the temperature usually runs from 55 - 63 degrees. I don't think this is too cold for the yeast because my airlock is bubbling away after only 1.5 days in the fermentor. I can get it colder or warmer in here, I just need a good temp range to work with.
Secondly... how exactly can I get my mead very dry? I have no idea what the starting gravity was, but I imagine it was extremely high with 12lbs of honey in the mix. I do not want a sweet mead... I tried a sweet mead once and did not like it. I liked the aftertaste, and saw that the mead had potential but it was just too sweet... it was like drinking liquid candy. So how can I get my mead as dry as possible without sacrificing alcohol percentage?
Anyways, thanks for reading. Any advice or comments would be appreciated.