Quick Status Check of First Mead

[tactical.hooligan]

I just started my first mead (and homebrew ever) on the 10th (5 days ago) and wanted to do a quick check to ensure that everything looks to be going as it should and if not then hopefully I can correct my mistakes. From the reading I've done I understand my results are going to be unique but obviously there is a ballpark I should be in. The recipe I followed looks like:

6 lbs honey (I used wildflower)
2.5 gallons water
1 packet yeast (I used D47)
2.5 teaspoons yeast nutrient (I used DAP)

Ambient temperature in my apartment ranges from 71 - 73 F and I've tested the temp of my mead and it is sitting around 74-75 F.
My recipe didn't tell me to aerate after initial pouring/aerating my must in the primary fermenter so I haven't aside from an occasional swirl of the bucket.

I didn't have a hydrometer when I started but do now and took a reading today and if I did it right (fingers crossed) then my mead is sitting at approximately 1.025 SG. Is this about right for this point in fermentation? Also, from what I've gathered I'm probably going to have a rather dry mead (I didn't really plan what I wanted, doh! Just kinda went with a basic looking recipe) is this correct?

One last question, when it comes time for me to bottle I was thinking of bottling in half gallon growlers that I've accumulated from local breweries. They have screw on caps and I wanted to know if these would be suitable or not.

Thanks for all the help!

 

[Riverat]

Well I probably would have tried to keep it a bit cooler by sitting in a pan of water and wrapped it in a light cloth as a wick and both areated daily and spread those nutrients out over a few days but yea, sounds about where it belongs gravity wise and yes that should go dry (check out the "mead calculator" from the home page under Mead Menu / Recipes and mead making) and bottle with what you have or can get (I have friends save me their used ones) but remember, like any wine, once you open it you should probably consume in sooner rather than later, a half gallon might call for a few friends to help.

 

[Chevette Girl]

I haven't had any problems with bottling Joe's Ancient Orange Mead and variations on that theme in half-gallon screw-top bottles, even left 3/4 empty I haven't had one oxidize on me yet. But that doesn't mean it'll be good to leave your traditional like that for more than a day or two.

 

[fatbloke]

I just started my first mead (and homebrew ever) on the 10th (5 days ago) and wanted to do a quick check to ensure that everything looks to be going as it should and if not then hopefully I can correct my mistakes. From the reading I've done I understand my results are going to be unique but obviously there is a ballpark I should be in. The recipe I followed looks like:

6 lbs honey (I used wildflower)
2.5 gallons water
1 packet yeast (I used D47)
2.5 teaspoons yeast nutrient (I used DAP)

Ambient temperature in my apartment ranges from 71 - 73 F and I've tested the temp of my mead and it is sitting around 74-75 F.
My recipe didn't tell me to aerate after initial pouring/aerating my must in the primary fermenter so I haven't aside from an occasional swirl of the bucket.

I didn't have a hydrometer when I started but do now and took a reading today and if I did it right (fingers crossed) then my mead is sitting at approximately 1.025 SG. Is this about right for this point in fermentation? Also, from what I've gathered I'm probably going to have a rather dry mead (I didn't really plan what I wanted, doh! Just kinda went with a basic looking recipe) is this correct?

One last question, when it comes time for me to bottle I was thinking of bottling in half gallon growlers that I've accumulated from local breweries. They have screw on caps and I wanted to know if these would be suitable or not.

Thanks for all the help!

Yes, you seem to have worked out the likely result i.e. dry, though you could feed it a little more honey, along with either something like FermaidO (not K), or some yeast hulls, or even a couple of teaspoons of bread yeast that's been boiled in 100 to 150 mls of water and simmered for 5 or 10 minutes, then cooled before adding it.

One other point, is your use of D47. If you read some of Medsen Fey's posts, you'll see that it's best fermented under 70F (mid 60's or so seems about right) as it has a habit of making fusels when fermented warmer......

As for bottling in the half gallon jugs, well I don't see a problem as long as you have something to make an airtight seal inside the screw caps - I use the thin plastic packaging foam that comes in sheets and just cut the piece to fit the cap - it's not going to touch the liquid, just make the cap airtight and I've found works fine - like that it's almost as good as "bulk storage". Just make sure that the air space is to a minimum, and if need be, any smaller amounts, put into smaller bottles etc (even something like a crown capped beer bottle will be fine).

Oh, and I'd guess that this batch will need considerable ageing to mellow, if it comes out as I suspect.......

regards

fatbloke