Mead Brewing

[lethearen]

Thanks for the correction, Jeff. I'd always though "sack" referred to sweetness; didn't know that it had to do with proof!

Good luck with your judging!

[Madadh]

Jeff,

Thanks for the additional information. It is always good to have expert advice and council when doing anything, and since I just dabble with making mead it is good to hear from someone who has more experience.

Slainte

[Madadh]

Jeff,

What is your favourite recipe?

Rob

[robbiethepiper]

Made 5x 5 gallon batches over a period. some with additional fruit ( apple blackberry... ). All took well over a year to become decent...

[jkane]

Any big fruit mead tends to be liked by the most people. Like 20 lbs of fruit in a 5 gallon batch! I guess my favorite tends to be the cranberry which I make with 20 lbs of cranberries. My next is a chocolate-mint mead. Made with 1 gallon of chocolate-mint leaves. Not really chocolate. But it has a hint of it. I make a sweet sac for that one. My wife hates it though. ;-) Also made a "absinthe" flavored mead thsi year I love, and she hates. Also a sweet sac!

[lethearen]

Never had luck trying to make a chocolate mead

And the absinthe mead I tried to brew? OMG no. I got sick on wormwood tea when I was younger, and I hate licorice. Guess absinthe really isn't a good choice for me ;) Glad to hear yours turned out!

[Kilted Rogue]

So happy this thread started. i have been acquiring my gear to brew with for some time, kinda have to do it on the cheap, so i have 1 gal cider bottles for carboys, a few food grade 2 gal and 5 gal buckets, 2 ferm locks, and 2 packets of champagne yeast. I need some sanitizer, any one have a good one they like to use? what about yeast nutrient? what works best ?

[jkane]

Old 1 gallon glass jugs are perfect ferementers!

I use PBW as a cleaner and 1Step as the sanatizer. A lot of people I know like StarSan. It tends to leave a foam residual that affirms it's working. Other than that, they end up being the same. Also, I have heard that StarSan "breaks down" into things the yeast needs. Whatever!

Go to any homebrew store, or even any online store. There are two products. Yeast Energizer and Yeast Nutrient. I always get them confused. Read the label! One is used when rehydrating the yeast. The other is used to provide minerals and vitamins the yeast need for reproduction. There are a few different brands. They all are close to the same.

The only thing added in the past few years is DAP. Diamonium Phosphate. There are a lot of discussions on FAN (Free A-something Nitrates or somethign like that). Most recent medal winners have been using DAP for the first 1-3 days. Then again, there are still some winners in contests who don't use it at all. So do what works for you! Some yeast "nutrient" sold contain a small amount of DAP already.

Honey lacks the nutrients barley has. So while beer is OK without the nutrients, mead can really be helped to ferement better with it.

2 points. First, yeast needs this in the first 3 days, not after. It may help a stuck fermentation but usually not. Once they get a good colony going and have about 30% of the sugar turned into alcohol, they stop reproducing so much and just eat sugar. This is why adding in the first 3 days is the best time to do so. If you test specific gravity, you could do the math and add as needed. Most people add all the first day. I have been playing with the first 3 days this summer. It helps, but not 100% of the time.

Second, too much nutrient ends up staying in solution. It gives a metalic after taste. Don't just add more thinking more is better. Read the label.

BTW: I just got my BJCP Mead Judge results this morning. I took the test 6 months ago. It takes this long for the graders to finish comparing notes and getting a final grade out. I and my wife are both now BJCP Judges with a Mead Judge endorsement. That doesn't mean I know everything! I am an old school brewer. Seat of my pants is still my favorite way. I know enough to be dangerous now.

[Madadh]

Congrats Jeff on passing the test.