My first mead. ( yea i know youve heard it before)

[seth8530]

Well, its official, tomorow im going to make my first mead. Im going to buy either 4 or 6 lbs of honey and im going to hopefully make atleast 2 gallons of mead.

Ive already made a starter out of preimier curvree redstar yeast out of warm water and a little honey. Im shooting for around 16 -17 % abv. If i dont get enough sugar from the honey i will supplement it with some granulated sugar.

I now have yeast energizer, ive heard that honey is kinda hard to ferment so should i use twice the ammount of energizer recomended to insure a good strong fermentation? Also i do have some lemon juice. Would it be benaficial to add some to the must to lower the PH? if so about how much per gallon.

I will probolly back sweeten it with honey if it goes dry... I plan on taking the lee's from this and making honey fied skeeter mead ^_^

Anything i should be aware of? helpfull hints or advice?

 

[Wade E]

I like to use both nutrient and energizer but step the energizer during fermentation. I add 1/3rd the energizer up front and then another 3rd at about 45% through fermentation and the last 3rd at about 65% through fermentation and that is calculated by using what Sg you started at and what yeast you have used to determine approx. where abouts it will end. I have used acid blend but lemon juice will substitute the citric acid ok. Make a good starter for this.

 

[seth8530]

Ive got a good starter going. Is there a big diference between energizer and nutrient? Ill remember to step it, thats a realy good idea..

I dont have ph strips, about how much lemon juice per galon do you think i will need?

 

[Torch404]

It's hard to standardize how much juice you get out of a lemon. I think generally you are safe with 1 per gallon if they are big. You can also zest them for additional lemon flavor, but don't get any of the white skin in there it tastes bitter.

Nutrient helps the yeast out one way, energizer helps yeast in a different way. It's best to have both. If you don't have both I believe nutrient is preferred, but the energizer will still help the ferment out. Use it if you got it.

 

[Julie]

Nutrient makes your yeast healthy, it is like vitamin's for your yeast and energizer gives it it's energy to keep on going.

 

[seth8530]

Oh ok i get yall. What i will do is take some tomatoe concentrate and put about a tsp in per ga.llon as a nutrient. Im thinking that im going to put in about 5 ounces of lemon juice per gallon (however much i have in the fridge lol). I dont think that lemon would be a bad flavor to have in a mead anyways.

 

[mmadmikes1]

I just finished my second Mead and this time I added pineapple juice instead to acid it up. Worked great and you really cant add to much. My first was a pain because I did it without adding any acid and it took FOREVER. Kinda forgot honey isn't acidic and yeast like acid. Had no trouble getting a high enough alcohol content with honey, I just step added it during fermentation. BTW now I know why the Ancient recipe has oranges in it

 

[Wade E]

Tomatoe concentrate??????????????

 

[seth8530]

Thanks, for that insight.... Yes tomatoe concentrate, it contains loads of nitrogen that yeast loves as well as other goodies. Its more of a moonshiner technique but it should work fine for wine making.

 

[Wade E]

OK, I do remeber that little tidbit now but its been awhile since Ive seen it.

 

[seth8530]

Yep, unfortunantly i went to the store today and saw that honey was like 9 dollars per kilo. so it looks like mead is out for now.... ) : Instead i picked up a couple things of lemon juice and 10 lbs of sugar. Looks like high octane skeeter pea for me.

 

[The_Zymurgist]

Honey is cheapest when it comes striaght for the Bee Keepers' themselves. A little searching on the internet will undoubtedly yield some results for local harvesters. Also keep in mind that Meads are best aged for LONG periods of time. Some types of Honey don't come into their peak for around 50 YEARS! Many of them reach their prime around 100 years. From me-to-you, If you happen to make mead allow at least 2 years before you sample the product. If you want good reciepes let me know and I'll get you some.

Bests,
The_Zymurgist

 

[phaz3]

Looking around helps I found a place around the corner from my house Online. they sell Raw Australian Bush Honey for $8.00 AUD which is $2.00 cheaper than the shops around here.