making a mead recipe w/ Beersmith 3

[inda_bebe]

Has anyone tried using beersmith 3 when building a mead recipe? The software looks pretty cool, but im not sure if im doing it correctly. I want to make a 5 gal batch of 15% or so traditional mead. so i entered in 36 lbs of Meadowfoam honey which brings me up to 56 brix with a potential abv of 15%.

as im reading the recipe steps, it says just to add enough water to bring the volume to 5 gals (which is 2 gals), but i dont think that sounds right. doesnt 4 gals sound more like it? i dont think 2 gals is enough water to dilute the honey for fermentation. and i care more about target abv than volume. i was told that you need to add an extra gal of water on top of how many lbs of honey you start with.

 

[Maylar]

Dunno what Beersmith is, but...

15% would be SG of 1.114 which is 3.3 lbs honey per gallon (typically). Usually a gallon of honey is 12-ish lbs. So for a 5 gallon batch you'd want 16 lbs of honey and enough water to make 5 gallons total. Honey varies in sugar a bit, so approach OG slowly and check with your hydrometer.

 

[inda_bebe]

what if i want it to be sweet and finish or back sweeten to a gravity of 18 brix or og of 1.075? i was thinking of using 71b yeast.

 

[Maylar]

71b will get you 14% if you treat it well. Best to let the mead finish dry and stabilize/back sweeten to where you want it.

 

[inda_bebe]

awsome, thanks for the advice. is there a max starting gravity that the yeast is comfortable at? i dont want to stress it too much if i start with a too high gravity. and again, thanks for the replies.

 

[Maylar]

1.106 will get you 14%. If you add .01 for residual sweetness you can start at 1.116 or so without problems. Be sure to follow a nutrient regimen.

 

[inda_bebe]

step feeding thru out fermentation with this:

• Day 0: After re-hdyrating the yeast with Go-Ferm and pitching, add 4.5g of Fermaid-K and 2g Diammonium Phosphate (DAP)
• Day 1, 3, 5, 7, 8: Degas mead by gently stirring, twirling the carboy carefully, or using a wine de-gasser
• Day 2, 4, 6: Gently stir and add 4.5g Fermaid-K and 2g of DAP

 

[Oginme]

If you go to the BeerSmith blogs, Brad has a couple of posts on how to create mead recipes in BS3. This may help answer some of your questions.