first attempt at mead

[RedneckBrew]

I got a simple recipe for a sweet mead.
26 lbs of honey
5 gals of water
2 teas. Of yeast nutrient
2 teas. Of yeast energizer
1 packet of yeast

I want a sweet but high a percent of alchol.. what type of yeast shall I use ? What type of s.g. should I get?

 

[Deezil]

That's pretty simple, yeah

At 5lbs per gallon, it should be sweet or high alcohol...
If i were you, i'd decide what ABV i want and then match the yeast with that & add a little extra honey for residual sweetness.

Dose your nutrient & energizer per instructions that came with them, for the 5 gallons.

Although if you want to end with 5 gallons, you might want to make 6 originally

 

[RedneckBrew]

I have a 6.5 gal primary and 6 gal glass carboy for secondary... I'm looking around 14 to 16 abv. I got recipe from stromthe castle site gave no specifics oringally called for 18 lbs of honey for 5 gal batch but I'm trying to make atleast 6 gal..should up the nutrient and energizer to 3 teas. It had call for two packets as well but one should be fine

 

[mmadmikes1]

I max out yeast then add additional honey to desired sweetness. Add honey to a sample, then check SG. sweeten batch to that sg. I use D-47 yeast. It maxs out at 14% and leave a lot of floral bouquet. Make sure to keep temp in range. Don't forget to set the PH.3.5 , 3.6. I also put bentonite into primary. helps with protein haze and gives yeasties a little help

 

[RedneckBrew]

Ok just to mention I'm completly new to brewing so any suggestions helps out a lot cause there is only one nerby brewing place.

 

[mmadmikes1]

Ok so I will not give you a million of the tricks. Set SG at 1.09 to start. I already suggested using Lavin D-47 yeast. to max out yeast when the mead goes below 1.0 I add honey to 1.02. if it goes below 1 again I add more honey( I warm honey in small amount of water to 120 degrees and skim off the wax that rises to top. It makes clearing easier. If you dont have a thermometer I use my finger. As long as it is not to hot to put my finger in its ok .As soon as you cant put finger in, the temp is hot enough(as long as you are not a welder).

 

[RedneckBrew]

Funny thing is I am a welder ... I will try the yeast u suggested if brew place has it

 

[fatbloke]

Funny thing is I am a welder ... I will try the yeast u suggested if brew place has it

I'm a disorganised idiot when it comes to my mead making, plus my local home brew store only keeps a limited range of stuff (most of which, I don't like), so I'm happy to mail order and leave the actual mixing until I have the stuff I want to use.

D47 does make good meads, but it really needs to be fermented below 70F/21C, because above that, it produces quite high fusels, giving more of a "rubbing alcohol" type flavour, that takes a very long time to age out, if ever. Hence I don't use it very much (winter brews if at all). K1V-1116 is commonly available, it has a higher alcohol tolerance, a much wider temperature range and most of the other good points found with the likes of D47 (it's one of my preferred yeasts).

Good luck with your batch......