Need some answers to get me started

[SatiricalPuma]

Ok this is a lot but hear me out:

I've been looking into making mead for quite some time after being inspired by a tour of Moonlight Meadery in NH last year. I've been reading up (started reading The Compleat Meadmaker and have been poking around forums) and thought I'd give it a go this weekend or the next.

I really want to dive into this and start figuring out what ingredients and quantities work...so I'm debating getting 5 1-gallon (or 4-liter) carboys to use as primaries for a 5 gallon batch. My thought is that this way, I can experiment with different honey and fruit quantities without having to make multiple 5-gal batches. For example, in one of the 5 small fermenters, I could scale down from 18 pounds of honey to 3.6 pounds (18/5 = 3.6). In another, I could scale down from 16 pounds to 3.4 pounds. Etc.

I feel that this may be the fastest way to experiment and get to the taste I like.

My concerns:

• Degassing the must in the carboy may be difficult. I've read that this is very important and I may simply find it difficult to get in there and stir the gas out.
  
• I've heard that when fruit floats to the top it can trap gas and heat in the must. Pushing the fruit down may be difficult in a carboy.
  
• Adding nutrients (I'm going to do a staggered addition of Fermaid K and Go Ferm at 24 hours, 48 hours, and 2/3 through fermentation)
  
• Because of scale, perhaps an extra two blueberries might make a massive difference.

I figure to rack the mead, I can actually just have an extra 1-gal carboy on hand, rack one primary to that, then use that now empty (and cleaned/sanitized) primary as the secondary for another and essentially rotate the carboys.


Thoughts on any of this? Is this the dumbest thing ever? Any concerns/advice is very welcome. Thanks guys

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

How far are you form Boston? Maybe we can trade meads some time? Anyways;

•I think you can get a drill attachment for helping degas.
•When fruit is all floating at the top it is called a "Cap" that needs to be "punched" down. During the first stages of fermentation, you can just shake up the carboy a few times a day to get the cap broken up. During parts where oxidation is a threat, you can take a sanitized stirring spoon, and use the handle end which should have no issues fitting through the carboy.
•SNA is good always do it. Theres huff and puff about which stagger rate works best but I think all the way up to 80% at pitching is fine. Lots of people do 50/50 or in thirds.
•Ken's book you have has a fruit chart. An extra few berries won't change things, an extra pound will.

— You can also rack into an empty water jug (form the grocery store Poland Spring store brand or etc.) clean the carboy out, and rack it back into the same carboy. But buying an extra and doing a carboy dance works just fine too.

 

[SatiricalPuma]

How far are you form Boston? Maybe we can trade meads some time? Anyways;

•I think you can get a drill attachment for helping degas.
•When fruit is all floating at the top it is called a "Cap" that needs to be "punched" down. During the first stages of fermentation, you can just shake up the carboy a few times a day to get the cap broken up. During parts where oxidation is a threat, you can take a sanitized stirring spoon, and use the handle end which should have no issues fitting through the carboy.
•SNA is good always do it. Theres huff and puff about which stagger rate works best but I think all the way up to 80% at pitching is fine. Lots of people do 50/50 or in thirds.
•Ken's book you have has a fruit chart. An extra few berries won't change things, an extra pound will.

— You can also rack into an empty water jug (form the grocery store Poland Spring store brand or etc.) clean the carboy out, and rack it back into the same carboy. But buying an extra and doing a carboy dance works just fine too.

Awesome, thanks a lot. These are all great ideas that eased my concerns. I just hope I kind find a drill attachment that both fits into the carboy and does a good job degasing. What do you use to degas, a lees stirrer?

Oh and I live around Davis Square in Somerville, so I'd love to trade meads some time!

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Awesome, I'm in Allston. A lees stirrer will work during the first third of fermentation as introducing new oxygen at that point will be beneficial. Degassing while aging, you'll want to be able to move the mead around without it sloshing (not sure if a lees stirrer will or wont slosh the mead). So a gentle swirls should help remove some of the suspended gasses.

I use a milk frother from the IKEA in Stoughton. It's very dinky but gets the job done and fits in 1 gallon carboys.

 

[mooney]

If I were you doing one gallon batches to experament I would get a 2 gallon bucket and every week start a mead in the bucket with fruit and so on and after a week rack into a demijhon and start another mead and then in 5 weeks you have 5 meads with plenty of space to degas and add fruit to primary.

 

[fatbloke]

If I were you doing one gallon batches to experament I would get a 2 gallon bucket and every week start a mead in the bucket with fruit and so on and after a week rack into a demijohn and start another mead and then in 5 weeks you have 5 meads with plenty of space to degas and add fruit to primary.

yes, that occurred to me too. D/J's, jugs, small carboys, whatever you want to call them, are an excellent shape to direct foam driven fruit toward an airlock or even as a jet to point any eruption/foaming issue up at you ceilings.......

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

yes, that occurred to me too. D/J's, jugs, small carboys, whatever you want to call them, are an excellent shape to direct foam driven fruit toward an airlock or even as a jet to point any eruption/foaming issue up at you ceilings.......

This can also not be stressed enough how much of a Pain in the Ass it is to clean this up.

 

[SatiricalPuma]

If I were you doing one gallon batches to experament I would get a 2 gallon bucket and every week start a mead in the bucket with fruit and so on and after a week rack into a demijhon and start another mead and then in 5 weeks you have 5 meads with plenty of space to degas and add fruit to primary.

That sounds like the move. I'll do that. 2 gall buckets are pretty cheap so maybe I'll even get 5 2-gallon buckets and 5 1-gallon carboys...I'm really trying to kill 5 birds with one stone every time i do a five gallon batch (sometimes i'll play with different honey varietals, other times with different yeast, different spices, fruits, etc.)

Thanks for the help, all!