Sweet Meed from finevinewines recipe index

[vcasey]

got the complete meadmaker by Ken Schramm from finevinewines today.

Check out the Fall's Bounty Cyser recipe - it terrific and I've made it using both Apple Juice and Pear Juice.
And enjoy the book.

 

[DirkDiggler]

great idea! I really should be thinking about fall/winter meads now!

 

[vcasey]

great idea! I really should be thinking about fall/winter meads now!

Well actually .....
The AHA National Mead Day is the first Saturday in August (8/7/2010). The official recipe will be posted May 1. This link will give details as well as a link to past recipes. http://homebrewersassociation.org/pages/events/mead-day/recipes
I may or may not use the official recipe, but I will be making mead on Mead Day and I encourage everyone to make a gallon as well.

 

[DirkDiggler]

Wow thanks for the links!

 

[DirkDiggler]

I am reading the complete meadmaker and just got to the ingredients chapter.
Also today is the 2 week mark for my mead since I racked it once. I have been keeping my temps between 75-77 degrees consistently, but I wasn't surprised when I did my gravity reading that pretty much nothing is happening. I see the airlock slowly filling with gas and releasing every so often, so something is going on in there. Grrrr! This is suppose to be at 1.000 next week and I know that isn't happening. I went ahead and shook the hell out of it. I then took some of the mead and whipped it in a sanitized blender. We will see. I have been adding yeast energizer 1/4 tsp at a time 4 times already. This is for 1-1/2 gallons of mead. My current reading is 1.024 (4/23/2010). Reading on the 14th was 1.024.

 

[vcasey]

The mead could just be releasing CO2. And the yeast could very well be finished. Meads can be stubborn and well test your patience more often then not. Do you have this in glass? If so make sure its topped off and forget about it. I know (really I do) you want to play and you want to be able to drink this ASAP. But I would give it some time to finish up on its own and I would not add anymore energizer - too much will affect the taste of the mead. In 2 months check the SG and rack it again.
If you want to rush this (and again I understand), pick up a pack of EC1118 and add it - no energizer cause I think there is plenty already in the mead. EC1118 has a repetition for finishing up stubborn (stuck) wines.
What ever way you choose will be fine - Good Luck.
And remember the wine/mead will be finished when its ready to be finished - for some reason the little yeasties just don't pay attention to calendars.

 

[DirkDiggler]

Hi vcasey,
I do have the batch split between two 1-gal carboys. When you say top off, you mean fill to the neck with 1-2" of clearance at the top? Right now both jugs are a little over half full.

 

[vcasey]

Yes and you should rack it off any sediment. Left overs can go in a wine bottle - you can use a balloon for the air lock but pick up a #2 bung and airlock as soon as you can.

 

[DirkDiggler]

Thanks vcasey,

I think for this batch, the forget about it policy is the best. I have been learning so much from this forum (you mainly) and the book you suggested. Since I shook up the mead really good, I am going to wait before racking since there is no sediment right at this moment.

 

[DirkDiggler]

Hello all,
Thought I would update you on my mead progress. For some reason, the yeast decided to do some work for the past 2 weeks. Today, I took a reading it is 1.001-1.002. I racked the mead into a 1 gallon carboy up to the neck. I also put the rest in a beer bottle with an airlock. Now I will wait 2 months and rack again or maybe bottle. I got a wine filter so I can also filter the wine. I am not sure when I should add a campden tablet if at all. I did give the mead a taste and it is good at this stage. I am almost done with the Complete Meadmaker's book. I am reading about spices (chapter 10). I found the Honey chapter really interesting.

 

[vcasey]

Make sure it has a stable SG before adding the campden tablet - which for me means 2-3 days in a row with the same SG. You may need to give it some time (a couple of racks or so) before it clears or you can add a clearing agent to help it along. Next time you rack take the SG again and then see if its ready to consider adding the campden.
Glad you are reading the book. It is amazing what the different honeys will do to the final product. On my rather long "to make list" is a blueberry mel using blueberry honey and a blackberry mel using blackberry honey. I've used Orange Blossom and Clover honey on other batches so I'll be able to taste what the different honey will bring to the table.

 

[DirkDiggler]

Thanks vcasey,
I will do that. I am just going to let it set for a couple of months. Between all these beers and wines we are brewing, it will be easy to leave it alone!

 

[Bert]

It does sound like you have things under control.....Just give it some time to mature......Meads can be so much fun and great to enjoy.....

 

[DirkDiggler]

Well I bottled my Mead on 10-18-2010. I filtered the mead to polish it and noticed a difference. The taste is kind of harsh but age may help it out. I think I will set this away for a year before trying one. Here are some pictures:

Unfiltered on left, filtered on right. No clearing agents used

Nice sparkle to the wine. Very clear but needs some aging

Labels and ready to hide away for at least a year.

 

[ibglowin]

Wow!

Looks like Champagne! Crystal clear. Beautiful presentation. Nice job all the way around!

 

[DirkDiggler]

Thank you for the compliment! I have some other meads that I have in the works and will share some pictures soon! I have learned so much from this forum and reading. This mead was a first try without knowing what I was doing!

 

[Wade E]

I agree as that just looks awesome. Mead, especially straight Mead can take some time to mellow out but when it does youll have some awesome bottles there. Did you sweeten back at all?

 

[gaudet]

Ok. Now I need a filter system. Dang it. That is beautiful

 

[Waldo]

Awesome job on the Mead !!!

 

[DirkDiggler]

Wade,
I did not back sweeten. It was semi-sweet to my taste anyway. Here are my readings: OG: 1.088 FG: 1.001 ABV 11.3%