MyOwnHoney
New Member
Greetings! I'm new here and just started my mead-making journey. I'm a beekeeper and sometimes I have more honey than I know what to do with so I have decided to start making mead. I did a lot of reading here on this forum and elsewhere before starting and I think my 4 batches have had a good start. The primary fermentations are winding down and I am looking for guidance on what to do next and maybe some critique on what I have done so far.
After doing a lot of reading I decided I wanted to use Mangrove Jack's M05 as my primary yeast, however the meads I have tried so far and enjoyed were made with 71b so I am also using that in 1 batch to compare with.
For these meads I am using honey from my latest harvest in September. The primary nectar source is Goldenrod, along with Aster and Purple Loosestrife. It's a medium-dark honey with heavy caramel and butterscotch flavors. The funny thing is during fermentation I am getting very fruity/tangy aromas from the mead - smells divine! No sulfur smells or off smells at all so far.
My goal is to create two 14% ABVs using 71b and M05, and then one 17%ABV M05 and one 9%ABV M05 - just so that I can compare the 2 yeasts side by side, along with the various levels of ABV, so that I can see what I like best, and continue from there (I have a bag of frozen tart crabapples I picked last month for my next round).
All batches are just slightly above 1 gallon, so that I could fill up in to the neck of the carboys. Fermentation has been in my basement at a constant 63 degrees F. I actually started the fermentation in my kitchen for the first 24 hours, at about 68 degrees, then moved down to the basement. I pitched 3 grams of yeast for each batch after rehydrating with Go-Ferm.
My plan is to ferment each batch dry, and then back-sweeten as necessary. From the meads I have tried so far, my preference is on the drier side and with some tart/acid to it.
I am using Fermaid O as the nutrient and I believe it is the TOSNA method to feed. I did not have a scale that could measure fractions of a gram, only whole grams, so I had to guesstimate on the feedings (I have a better scale now for future batches). Water is from my well which tastes great on it's own.
Batch 1 - 71b OG=1.1045. I fed .9g Ferm-O at 24, 48, and 72 hours and 1g the following day, which was already past 1/3 sugar break and closer to 1/2. All of the batches have been fermenting faster than I thought they would.
Batch 2 - M05 OG=1.1045 with same exact feeding as batch 1, with final feeding closer to 1/2 sugar than 1/3
Batch 3 - M05 OG=1.12 although my target was 1.127. Fed 1.2g Ferm-O at each feeding, again the final feeding was closer to 1/2 sugar break
Batch 4 - M05 OG=1.07 with .7g Ferm-O at each feeding, again the final feeding was closer to 1/2 sugar break
For the first 5 days I would pour out 2/3 of the carboys in to a wide-mouthed glass jug and used an immersion blender with a whisk attachment to add nutrients and aerate the heck out of the mead. I spent about 5 minutes on each batch which was probably more than needed but I have read that there's no such thing as too much oxygen early on and I wanted happy yeast.
The next few days I stirred the mead in the carboy with the racking cane to degass, and have not been aerating any more.
So today is day 9 from pitching and when I put the hydrometer in the carboys it hits the bottom...so all meads are somewhere below 1.03 but they are all still bubbling in the airlock. Batch 1 & 2 bubble once every 4 seconds, Batch 3 bubbles once every 11 seconds and Batch 4 is bubbling once every 40 seconds.
Please critique anything I have done so far that may be wrong or incomplete. I have been taking detailed notes if more detail is needed. Now on to the questions:
I dont currently have one of those cylinder thingies that I can use with the hydrometer, however I could use an empty wine bottle, but do I need to be monitoring the exact SG if I am wanting all batches to ferment dry? If I do use the wine bottle, do I use a tube to rack in to the bottle or can I use a funnel and pour? Do I have to worry about oxygen at this point?
I am not sure what to do next to be honest. Just let primary keep going another couple weeks until there is no more bubbling in the air-locks?
Should I be stirring to degass any longer?
I need to start thinking about stabilizing. Do I have to stabilize if I am going to back sweeten? I am assuming that if I am going to back-sweeten at all, that I will need to stabilize, although if there is a way to do it without additives I'd prefer that, ie cold crash only?
My currently plan when I rack each batch, is to rack in to a sanitized bucket, clean and sanitize the carboy, and then rack back in to the carboy for the secondary stage. Is this the time when I would taste, stabilize, and then back-sweeten?
I have other questions but this is probably enough for now. Thank you for reading and any feedback!
After doing a lot of reading I decided I wanted to use Mangrove Jack's M05 as my primary yeast, however the meads I have tried so far and enjoyed were made with 71b so I am also using that in 1 batch to compare with.
For these meads I am using honey from my latest harvest in September. The primary nectar source is Goldenrod, along with Aster and Purple Loosestrife. It's a medium-dark honey with heavy caramel and butterscotch flavors. The funny thing is during fermentation I am getting very fruity/tangy aromas from the mead - smells divine! No sulfur smells or off smells at all so far.
My goal is to create two 14% ABVs using 71b and M05, and then one 17%ABV M05 and one 9%ABV M05 - just so that I can compare the 2 yeasts side by side, along with the various levels of ABV, so that I can see what I like best, and continue from there (I have a bag of frozen tart crabapples I picked last month for my next round).
All batches are just slightly above 1 gallon, so that I could fill up in to the neck of the carboys. Fermentation has been in my basement at a constant 63 degrees F. I actually started the fermentation in my kitchen for the first 24 hours, at about 68 degrees, then moved down to the basement. I pitched 3 grams of yeast for each batch after rehydrating with Go-Ferm.
My plan is to ferment each batch dry, and then back-sweeten as necessary. From the meads I have tried so far, my preference is on the drier side and with some tart/acid to it.
I am using Fermaid O as the nutrient and I believe it is the TOSNA method to feed. I did not have a scale that could measure fractions of a gram, only whole grams, so I had to guesstimate on the feedings (I have a better scale now for future batches). Water is from my well which tastes great on it's own.
Batch 1 - 71b OG=1.1045. I fed .9g Ferm-O at 24, 48, and 72 hours and 1g the following day, which was already past 1/3 sugar break and closer to 1/2. All of the batches have been fermenting faster than I thought they would.
Batch 2 - M05 OG=1.1045 with same exact feeding as batch 1, with final feeding closer to 1/2 sugar than 1/3
Batch 3 - M05 OG=1.12 although my target was 1.127. Fed 1.2g Ferm-O at each feeding, again the final feeding was closer to 1/2 sugar break
Batch 4 - M05 OG=1.07 with .7g Ferm-O at each feeding, again the final feeding was closer to 1/2 sugar break
For the first 5 days I would pour out 2/3 of the carboys in to a wide-mouthed glass jug and used an immersion blender with a whisk attachment to add nutrients and aerate the heck out of the mead. I spent about 5 minutes on each batch which was probably more than needed but I have read that there's no such thing as too much oxygen early on and I wanted happy yeast.
The next few days I stirred the mead in the carboy with the racking cane to degass, and have not been aerating any more.
So today is day 9 from pitching and when I put the hydrometer in the carboys it hits the bottom...so all meads are somewhere below 1.03 but they are all still bubbling in the airlock. Batch 1 & 2 bubble once every 4 seconds, Batch 3 bubbles once every 11 seconds and Batch 4 is bubbling once every 40 seconds.
Please critique anything I have done so far that may be wrong or incomplete. I have been taking detailed notes if more detail is needed. Now on to the questions:
I dont currently have one of those cylinder thingies that I can use with the hydrometer, however I could use an empty wine bottle, but do I need to be monitoring the exact SG if I am wanting all batches to ferment dry? If I do use the wine bottle, do I use a tube to rack in to the bottle or can I use a funnel and pour? Do I have to worry about oxygen at this point?
I am not sure what to do next to be honest. Just let primary keep going another couple weeks until there is no more bubbling in the air-locks?
Should I be stirring to degass any longer?
I need to start thinking about stabilizing. Do I have to stabilize if I am going to back sweeten? I am assuming that if I am going to back-sweeten at all, that I will need to stabilize, although if there is a way to do it without additives I'd prefer that, ie cold crash only?
My currently plan when I rack each batch, is to rack in to a sanitized bucket, clean and sanitize the carboy, and then rack back in to the carboy for the secondary stage. Is this the time when I would taste, stabilize, and then back-sweeten?
I have other questions but this is probably enough for now. Thank you for reading and any feedback!