Worried about my barkshack gingermead

[meadman77]

Hi everyone,
I put a batch of Charlie's Barkshack Gingermead down 1 week ago. Followed the recipe except didn't boil the honey (couldn't bring myself to do it!) and I added 1.5mg of black plums and 1 tsp pectin enzyme and left it for 24 hours before pitching the yeast. I used EC 1118. Now after reading a bit more I would probably not use the same yeast again as it gets some negative reviews of the K1, D47, 71B etc.

It's the first time i've fermented anything in an open primary. I sterilised a stainless steel spatula daily and gave it a stir. The first few days I got a beautiful aroma of honey, ginger and plums. Now, 7 days later it just smells like a high alcohol wine. Tonight I racked it into a secondary.

I have heard that EC1118 can strip some flavours out and am worried about this I guess. The other thing is that I checked the SG when racking and it looks like it is about 1.010. I know that they say that you should rack when it hits 1.020 but I missed it. Also it started at 1.065 - it is normal to ferment that fast in 7 days? It has been about 27 degrees C here. The book said that it can take up to 45 days for complete fermentation. It is still bubbling in the secondary but not very fast which is probably normal for mead.

One last thing - I only have a 30L secondary that is free at the moment. The batch is about 15L after racking. So long as it is still fermenting and therefore producing CO2 to fill the ehadspace, will it be ok if it is only half full?

Sorry for all the noob questions, just a bit nervous on my first proper brew apart from some JAO mead which is really simple.

 

[Bergmann]

Although the fermentation can take up to 45 days it rarely will. especially with 1118 which would not be my choice for a melomel, however it is all but sure to ferment to dryness for you with little chance of a stuck or stalled fermentation. I am not going to tell you any Next times! as that would be rather useless and does not deal with the at hand issue. Although 1118 tends to strip flavor due to its hard fast ferment. It does not entirely leach all flavor from a mead and you may wind up with a pleasant mead regardless. It just may not be the mead you expect or are use to. Once fermentation is complete you can do some adjusting if you choose, Personally I only adjust immediately after the ferment as I find mead changes greatly throughout the aging, and most drastically within the first year.

As for the head space you will be okay for a while as long as the mead is shielded by cO2 but I would not risk it for too long. Mead is very susceptible to oxidation.

 

[meadman77]

Thanks for the reply. I am very open to any advice for next time as I will try to make it again. I guess that is the only way to get the technique right - trial and error. Unfortunate when you have $20 worth of honey in it!

When you say adjust - you mean back sweeten? As it is supposed to be a sparkling gingermead, I don't think I can adjust it much as it will need to ferment in the bottles.

At this stage my lessons are - keep a close eye on SG during the primary fermentation, use a different yeast and a more closely matched secondary fermenter.

 

[Deezil]

1118 is a workhorse yeast, so for it to ferment that fast is no surprise to me. It's actually slower than I've seen it go, it's chewed through starting SG's of 1.090 in 3 days or less.

Don't panic too much, as with lighter flavored wines, it's not uncommon for the wine or mead to smell of alcohol at one point or another. It will age out of it, if you give it time.

You just don't want to rack higher than 1.020. You didn't miss the mark, you did just fine. Above 1.020, and the ferment is going too strong and will make a volcano out of the fermentation still, but below 1.020, it's starting to calm down and can handle being corralled into secondary fermentation. I personally, ferment to dry in the primary, then transfer.

You will want to reduce the head space when it quits fermenting though, so it doesn't oxidize.

 

[Bergmann]

Thanks for the reply. I am very open to any advice for next time as I will try to make it again. I guess that is the only way to get the technique right - trial and error. Unfortunate when you have $20 worth of honey in it!

When you say adjust - you mean back sweeten? As it is supposed to be a sparkling gingermead, I don't think I can adjust it much as it will need to ferment in the bottles.

At this stage my lessons are - keep a close eye on SG during the primary fermentation, use a different yeast and a more closely matched secondary fermenter.

I find that hard fast ferments tend to remove or change the characteristics of the honey flavor, since you are doing a sparkling mead you will most likely need to add more for the finish. You can also improve the mouth feel by adjusting the acidity, and increase the spice to taste if you like. The reason I say make these adjustments immediately after fermentation is because meads seem to change greatly during the aging process, a mead that taste lovely post fermentation may taste terrible at the 6 month window. Them in a year it may be fabulous.. If a mead that tastes good post ferment is adjusted at the 6 month window because it taste poorly. It can be not so hot after a year. I call it the blind spot. Other than racking in 90 days if sediment develops, and adding Kmet I try to leave meads in the blind spot alone. I let meads bulk age for 1 year from the start date, then age in the bottle for 6 months.

 

[meadman77]

I personally, ferment to dry in the primary, then transfer.

Do you mean that you leave it in a plastic open container until it has completely finished fermenting? Wouldn't this leave it prone to oxidation?

I let meads bulk age for 1 year from the start date, then age in the bottle for 6 months.

Why do you bulk age? I can understand in oak, but what does bulk again in a fermenter achieve that bottling wouldn't? Plus bottling would leave your fementer open to be used for another brew.

 

[Bergmann]

Oxidative aging occurs in bulk, reductive aging in the bottle. Both have different chemical reactions that affect the aging wine. In my humble opinion both are equally important in producing a well balanced wine or mead. However, I just realized you are using Charlie Papasain's recipe for Barkshack gingermead, which I do not use. As I recall calls for like 3/4 cup corn sugar prior to bottling, to feed the Sparkle, I use Honey, after aging and a low alcohol tolerance yeast, which is way different than Charlie's recipe. Others may have had different results, but I have never had good results with Charlie's recipe. In fact quit the opposite!
Using Charlie's recipe you are using the still active primary yeast to continue the sparkle. ? again, here I am going by memory as I have not seen the recipe in years. Obviously you will have to continue with the recipe you are using as it may have a bearing on the process.
I would certainly be interested in knowing the outcome of this as Like I said I have never had good luck with that recipe.

As far s fermenting to dryness in the primary, I am not answering for deezil. but I also do the same. By fermenting to a SG of below 1.010 at which point I snap down the lid, and fill the air lock, to finish. There is no chance of oxidation because there is no O2 to replace the cO2

 

[meadman77]

Thanks Bergmann,

You are spot on regarding Charlie's recipe - it states to add 3/4 cup of corn sugar prior to bottling to restart fermentation for the fizz. I've attached the recipe

Sorry to push this thread but i'm really learning a lot here. Your technique sounds interesting and it looks like I need to do a lot more reading.

So to summarise:

You ferment in a plastic primary with loose fitting lid until SG is less than 1.010. Presumably stirring and knocking the cap down every day or so would be required here for a melomel.

Then you seal the lid, fix the airlock and leave in the same container until 1 year from starting date. I'm guessing if it was a melomel, you would rack to strain the fruit pulp out at this stage.

Then you stabilise with Kmet and adjust and bottle and leave for another 6 months. Do you also use potassium sorbate to stabilise?

If you want it to be a sparkling mead, you add honey and introduce a new yeast at bottling time.

Is there a formula for quantity of honey to add? What yeast do you use when bottling?

 

[Bergmann]

No Not leave for a year, Maybe I should start from scratch as I seem to have confused you. I set up the primary stirring and punching down daily, sometimes twice a day if warranted. When the SG gets to 1.010 I snap the lid down, and affix the airlock, and leave it for a few day to a week depending on the yeast. generally if the airlock is bubbling1 or 2 bubbles in a minute it is an indicator the ferment is pretty much done. I then take a SG reading most of the time I find a SG between 0.996 to 0.994 which is dryness. I then rack the wine/mead into a carboy and leave for 30 to 45 days, I rack the mead and take a taste to get a feel for the flavor and mouth feel. Add Potassium metabisulphite. At this point I make my adjustments acid, bicarb, spice, whatever. But not sweetening. I save that until just before bottling. reattach an airlock and let sit for 90 days +- them rack again. I then leave it stand If sediment develops within the 90 days I rack if not add Kmet and I leave it. At the end of the next 90 days I rack sweeten, add Kmet and potassium sorbate let stand a few days rack and bottle. Now if I am going to bottle sparkling I add 1/2 cup honey and a pack of yeast. I like Red Star Cote de Blanc for this it is a gentle fermenter and makes small bubbles. Do not add sorbate as this will interfere with the ferment. Bottle in bear bottles with crown caps. NOT SCREW TOP.

When bottling for sparkling you want to add just enough honey for the yeast to run a small ferment to give the necessary gas. usually 1/2 cup per 5 gallons works.
Hope this helps. This is what has worked best for me I know others who do things differently with good results. the beauty of winemaking today is sites like this give one the opportunity to tap into the opinions, knowledge, and experiences of a great many.

 

[meadman77]

Thanks a lot. I will try this process next time.