First mead attempt

[wildozarkwine]

I am getting ready to start my first batch of mead in the next day or two. I do not have any nutrient, and do not have the money to order any for a while, but I want to get it started. Can I just throw in a handful of raisins for this? I have read of this but am not sure how it would work.
Also I plan to do the primary in a food grade bucket, after I rack to a secondary can I start a second batch in the bucket using the lees as a yeast starter for the second batch? I am currently unemployed and short on funds to play with.
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Bearmaul]

While helpful, a yeast nutrient isn't absolutely required. Raisins are a common option, as is boiled bread yeast (that is to say, dead yeast). Forsaking an actual nutrient blend from your LHBS, raisins and boiled yeast should work just fine.

I can't speak from experience on re-using your lees, but there are plenty of people on the forum who do exactly that with good results.

 

[songe]

Hey. i got some help from ppl on this page with my mead. i was stupid enough to use wyeast sweet mead.... well my airlock is not bubbling.. (never using that plastic bucket again).. so i threw in 50g of raisins the second day. and 50g's today as a nutrient... i was still concerned it was not fermenting properly.. well my OG was at 1.100 and today 1.072.. soo.. just add raisins as nutrient and you will be fine

 

[cmiller356]

Man, to be honest I've done a few meads and I'm in no way your go to guy. But I've made them by literally adding in honey, water, yeast, and raisins. One came out "tolerable" and the rest are pretty good! In the recent I also had an "organically grown" orange that was pretty large and about 30-50 raises in the primary. I had three or four cloves, some nutmeg, and about a cup of brown sugar in the secondary. It's really good, and it fermented like a champ!