First Try

[jmack]

So I've decided that my first try at winemaking is going to be an AO mead, but I've got a few questions first. I know what the recipe calls for, and have read where everyone just loves the stuff, but... I've read so much against using bread yeast and the off flavors it may throw. I also don't know what mead tastes like, and am afraid at how sweet the finished mead may turn out. I'm not a fan of sugary sweet. So, would it be too unusual to use Cote des Blancs to get a drier mead, but also leave some residual sugar in it? I've also read that a very dry mead isundesirable. I was also wondering if it might be more beneficial to use golden raisins instead of normal ones. Are they any lighter in flavor than the regular raisins? Maybe I should use twice as many of these. I do plan on using a primary first, and not putting the orange or spices in until I rack into a secondary. Again, this is because I've read here that it is more beneficial to a mead to not include the fruit during primary fermentation. Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[Wade E]

Actually you want to put the fruit in during primary fermentation along with pectic enzyme to break down the fruit. As for the yeast, using a wine yeast in my opinion is a better way to go. You will take the wine to dry and then sweeten it back using sugar syrup(sugar dissolved in water or juice, or wine). The golden raisins will be better at the same amount. We switch back and forth from dark or golden depending on if we are doing a red wine or a white wine as you will want to keep a white wine clearer and the dark raisins will add color.

 

[Dean]

Keep in mind that the recipe you are going to play with has been developed over the years by Joe Matioli to be a quick drinker. Others who scoff at the use of bread yeast have to realize that as soon as you switch to wine yeast, and alcohol tolerances, you do mess with the formula of a "quick drinker". I've used both bread and wine yeast on that recipe, and to be quite honest, I prefer the bread yeast. I use Fleishmans regular bread yeast. It takes the mead down to about 12% for me everytime and leaves the perfect amount of residual sweetness. This is a sweet mead, and is nowhere near dry. Realize that if you use wine yeast, you may need to age this mead up to a year before it becomes palatable. To me, this wouldn't give a very good impression of making wine and keeping me coming back if I made what I thought was swill at the start.

Since this is a very inexpensive recipe to make, why not make 2? Make one totally to spec, and experiment with the other. This way, you can judge what your changes have done and if you like those changes.

Remember as well that this recipe is nowhere near a typical mead, so normal mead rules do not apply for AO. You do seem to have the normal mead rules well understood though! You've been reading a lot, which is a really good thing in this hobby

 

[jmack]

I have no intention of making, or drinking swill at any time. I also don't mind waiting a year, I've actually always planned on waiting at least that long before I tried anything I would make - if not longer. I'm a very light drinker (2-3 beers a month), and truly believe the old saying that good things come to those that wait. It can only get better with age right? If the bread yeast will take the mead to 12%, then that's all I was going to shoot for with the wine yeast. I had no idea the bread yeast would be that tolerant. All the posts I've read on this mead keep commenting on how sweet it is, so I assumed the bread yeast would not take it past 8 or 9% which would have left it far to sweet for me (or so I assume). Thanks for the advise, I'll start with the original recipe then.

 

[Wade E]

jmack, the only reason I suggested that you use wine yeast is the fact that you said you didnt want a sweet wine. Just because its high in alc. doesnt mean it wont be sweet. This is a sweet mead and once its sweet there is no going back, if you make it dry you can sweeten it back, that was my plan for you. Good luck whatever you choose.

Edited by: wade

 

[jmack]

Now I'm really confused. I was under the impression that a dry wine/mead is dry because the yeast has fermented all the availiable sugar into alcohol. If a yeast failed to ferment this sugar, or the fermentation was stopped short, then it would be left in the wine, leaving it off-dry, semi-sweet, sweet... Meaning that a higherABV %in a wine that has not been stabilized and backsweetenedexactly means less sugar/sweetness correct (aside from acids/tannin affecting the perceived sweetness)? I asked specifically about the Cote des Blancs strain of yeast because it does not have a high tolerance to alcohol (12-14%), and it's supposed to leave a level of residual sugar in the finished product. This would make it easier for me as a first timer than having to either A: stop the fermentation early with a more alcohol resistant strain of yeast; or B: ferment to dryness with that more resistant strain, stabilize, and then backsweeten. After readingthat people always commented on how sweet this mead is, and assuming bread yeast only fermented to about 8% ABV, I envisioned the finished product turning out like a weak syrup. However, if the bread yeast will ferment to 12% (just like the mentioned wine yeast), then I am not nearly as concerned. Also, since this is what is called for in the recipe, then I now have no qualms about using it.

 

[PolishWineP]

When I made this recipe I followed almost all of the instructions. The first rule I broke was the yeast. I used a wine yeast but I don't know which one. I would suggest sticking with the carboy and skipping the primary. I didn't keep my fruit in the jug the whole time but I would have had to pull it a lot sooner than if I'd put it into a primary. I think you'll lose out a lot if you have to pull the fruit too soon. This mead did finish sweet and I had to age it to get a good taste on it. A lot of the excessive sweetness disappeared through aging. This has been a very popular treat for many of our friends.

 

[jmack]

I finally started my AO a few days ago. I followed the recipeexcept I only used 3lbs of honey instead of 3.5. I couldn't find any golden raisins either, so normal ones had to do. I stuck it away in a closet for two days, and pulled it out today to check on it. The foaming had gone down enough to where I could top it off, but the jug was very cold to the touch. It's been in the 30's here, and we like it cold in the house. I don't know what the temp of my mead was, but it was still bubbling away quite vigorously. So I topped up with warm water (I hope that doesn't mess anything up), and wrapped the jug with a few towels. Hopefully that'll keep it from getting too cold.

 

[Wade E]

How much water did you use to top up with? was this water called for in the beginning and your just adding the rest now as you had to leave room for fermentation as that would be fine.

 

[jmack]

That's correct Wade. The recipe said to leave about 3 inches in my jug to allow for foaming, and then to top up when the initial active fermentation had slowed after a couple of days. I didn't know what to expect, so I left about 4 inches left unfilled in my jug, and then topped up to about 1 inch after it had stopped vigorously foaming.

 

[jmack]

Whew! Man I spoke too soon! Right after my previous post, I thought it would be a good idea to go and check on the progress, and am I ever glad that I did. I almost had a yeasty mess spewing from my airlock! I pulled my bung out, cleaned/sanitized it and the airlock, and hit the inside of the neck of my jug with a sanitized bottle brush where there were some yeasty soilds still stuck to it. Atleast it didn't end up on the floor...

 

[Wade E]

Nice catch, dont want wine hitting the floor!