my first mead
- Thread starter duff571
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fatbloke
Well-Known Member
Need a bit more info than that my friend. Recipe, ingredients, method/technique and any other data like OG, temperature, yeast type and so on....
Hey Duff,
The only way to tell if the ferment is close to being done is if you took gravity readings with your hydrometer. Did you take these readings?
If so what are your numbers? Bubbling stopping doesn't always mean ferment has stopped.
While your mead is fermenting its producing CO2 which will protect it - this isn't when headspace is usually an issue. Once the fermentation is done there's no protection or at least the CO2 peters off - now it's time to be in a smaller carboy. You want the least amount of surface area exposed. I usually will leave my mead in primary until it's 90% done and then I'll move it to secondary.
Once you move it into secondary you can leave it for a month or so. You'll see the yeast start to drop down and form sludge (lees) at the bottom. Depending on the type of yeast you used ppl may tell you to rack off the sludge earlier or that there's no rush (not sure about your yeast). You can then rack it off the sludge into a clean carboy and wait for it to clear. If you're waiting for it to naturally clear it can take a very long time. I have mead that I made in April that's still not totally clear.
What size is your carboy? It must be huge if it's holding 5 gallons and not even half full!!
The only way to tell if the ferment is close to being done is if you took gravity readings with your hydrometer. Did you take these readings?
If so what are your numbers? Bubbling stopping doesn't always mean ferment has stopped.
While your mead is fermenting its producing CO2 which will protect it - this isn't when headspace is usually an issue. Once the fermentation is done there's no protection or at least the CO2 peters off - now it's time to be in a smaller carboy. You want the least amount of surface area exposed. I usually will leave my mead in primary until it's 90% done and then I'll move it to secondary.
Once you move it into secondary you can leave it for a month or so. You'll see the yeast start to drop down and form sludge (lees) at the bottom. Depending on the type of yeast you used ppl may tell you to rack off the sludge earlier or that there's no rush (not sure about your yeast). You can then rack it off the sludge into a clean carboy and wait for it to clear. If you're waiting for it to naturally clear it can take a very long time. I have mead that I made in April that's still not totally clear.
What size is your carboy? It must be huge if it's holding 5 gallons and not even half full!!
that one is borrowed and is labelled as 18 gal... i have bought one that is a 5 gallon.. assuming im going to lose some in the racking it should fit in the new one ... ill post pics once its tranferred over later today ...
i have a clearing agent from the brew coy that i bought my gear at and will be using that after a week as per his instructions. then onto bottling.
i have a clearing agent from the brew coy that i bought my gear at and will be using that after a week as per his instructions. then onto bottling.
Don't move onto your clearing agent and bottling until its done fermenting. Take your gravity reading. If you don't finish your ferment and stabilize you'll have bottles potentially explode on you. Ppl who don't stabilize will wait months to ensure that there's no fermentation left. I was positive once that my ferment was done and all my corks popped out months later. Anyways mead can take up to a year before it even tastes good to drink...I wouldn't bother rushing it to bottle
fatbloke
Well-Known Member
Hum ?
If that's all the ingredients, then its likely nowhere near done. As it stands, it reads like a "show" mead because of the lack of nutrients of any sort.....
Traditional meads are the same as yours but also use nutrients because honey is famously low/lacking......
If that's all the ingredients, then its likely nowhere near done. As it stands, it reads like a "show" mead because of the lack of nutrients of any sort.....
Traditional meads are the same as yours but also use nutrients because honey is famously low/lacking......
fatbloke
Well-Known Member
Not necessarily. Depends entirely where the ferment is at, and you're gonna have to use a hydrometer for that.
Normally youd use the must OG/SG, say for example 1.100 so it's fine to be adding regular nutrients that contain inorganic nitrogen i.e. DAP or even better Fermaidk or similar "complete" nutrient type stuff. Equally unlike with beers, its recommended to give a bloody good stir, aeration or even bubbled or pumped air/O2 into the batch but only down to the 1/3rd sugar break - which is the SG/OG less 2/3rds so about 1.066 in this example.
After that point it seems that the yeast won't absorb inorganic nitrogen, but a source of organic nitrogen seems fine. Organic nitrogen comes from stuff like FermaidO or yeast hulls/ghosts or even boiled/microwaved bread yeast and a handful or two of raisins and a vitamin B1 tablet can help too.....
If you went for the bread yeast/raisins trick, the bread yeast just needs boiling or microwaving in a couple of ounces of water then let it cool before stirring and adding. You can generally just chuck the raisins in. If worried or paranoid just snip them in half and rinse in some sulphite solution before adding in.....
If you dont have one, you definitely need a hydrometer and testing tube container...... as its all about the numbers......
View attachment 144320
checked the sugars and its only sitting about potential of 6%
will be adding 2 cups of raisins to the large carboy and half a cup to the gallon tomorrow
checked the sugars and its only sitting about potential of 6%
will be adding 2 cups of raisins to the large carboy and half a cup to the gallon tomorrow
Attachments
fatbloke
Well-Known Member
Well the 25 figure is probably from the JAO recipe, but that also has a whole orange cut up to get it into the jug/carbouy.
Plus it uses bread yeast so make of that what you will.
With "proper" nutrients, if you're making a brew to the 12 to 14% ABV level, then its about 200 ppm FAN per litre and for brews stonger than that its considered that 300 to 400 ppm FAN.
Fermaidk gives about 110 ppm per gramme per litre hence for a 4 litre batch (a US gallon is close enough) you'd be thinking about 8 grammes. You could weigh out 8 grammes and then compare it to 25 raisins and decide for yourself whether you think your batch might be under nourished or not.......
Then again, you see people mention DAP/di-ammonium phosphate too. Basically its used to boost the nitrogen cheaply. Its cheaper than Fermaidk and gives 200 ppm FAN per gramme per litre.
You wouldnt want too much nitrogen as it can give off flavours in excess that doesn't get munched by the yeast. Equally wouldn't want too much raisin either otherwise you can taste them.
Which is why I explained about boiled or microwaved bread yeast earlier......
I took the small carboy and racked it today for a second ferment... added some lemons to the mix.....
alc it had dropped from 1.01 to about 1.04.... so not much more than a beer at this point.... hoping it mellows out a bit as its still pretty harsh
alc it had dropped from 1.01 to about 1.04.... so not much more than a beer at this point.... hoping it mellows out a bit as its still pretty harsh
