First mead ever and (probably) too many quesitons

[enigma_0z]

Well, if I've read his posts correctly, he didn't mix his honey in very well, so his OG reading may be suspect......

Yeahhhhh there were some clumps in the bottom of the bucket before I sealed it for the first time. When I mixed it up yesterday though, I couldn't find any of them with my spoon so I think we'll have a better bead on it after I give it some more time.

Good look though on the seals/bubbles. I'll try to stop obsessing over it now LOL

 

[Squatchy]

Spot on. Take note that you can dilute Star San with distilled water and it'll last for a LONG time in it's diluted form. You then don't have to toss batches each time, meaning you can make ~1 gallon of sanitizer and only use little bits of it in spray bottles as you need it. Most home brewers take YEARS to go through a single bottle of Star San by following this method.

It might not last as long as you seem to think. A pH meter will give you exact info. But as a rule of thumb, once it becomes cloudy it's no longer really recommended. If you make this with distilled water it will last longer. And maybe this has already been said. This is a pretty messy thread to join in on so I didn't really read too much as I could see it was already being handled.

 

[Toxxyc]

It might not last as long as you seem to think. A pH meter will give you exact info. But as a rule of thumb, once it becomes cloudy it's no longer really recommended. If you make this with distilled water it will last longer. And maybe this has already been said. This is a pretty messy thread to join in on so I didn't really read too much as I could see it was already being handled.

Correct, yes. I did mention with distilled water and I've seen people use it for months after mixing it as such. Apparently the minerals and stuff in tap water reacts after a while with the Star San (since it's an acid based sanitizer) and forms the cloudiness, meaning it won't work as well anymore, so that's true yes.

PS: Your opinion is always welcome, I never know for sure if the information I'm giving is as good as the guy can get on here...

 

[enigma_0z]

Actually small update — moved things around a bit in my kitchen and I think the agitation restarted bubbling in the airlock ... ordered a long stir spoon and I’ll degas weekly and measure SG then too. Next reading in a week


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[enigma_0z]

Update: (I couldn't wait a week)

Degassed and measured SG... it's at 1.090 (and 12%), so fermentation is for sure going ... If I started my brew at 14% potential alcohol, then would this be at about 2% alcohol content right now?

It smells slightly sour but not unpleasantly so, more of a floral note I think, but it's quite light. It smells slightly of alcohol as well.

 

[Chevette Girl]

Glad you're getting on OK, and the stopping obsessing is a good one

As Squatchy said, this thread has been well handled, so I've only got a few suggestions for you:

K1V-1116 is a pretty forgiving yeast temperature-wise

Bubbles definitely do make it challenging to read the hydrometer, some ideas are to measure after you degas and also if you have a plastic hydrometer test tube for your measurements, sometimes you can give the hydrometer a gentle tap (with a sanitized finger if you think it's going to go all the way under the must) to bounce it off the bottom of the test tube then read it quick, that's my method for knocking the bubbles off so I can get a more accurate read.

A lot of new meadmakers think going for the highest alcohol punch they can manage is a great idea. Go ahead, try it (I sure did!), but trust us, you want to get consistently good lower alcohol ferments before you reach for the stars or you may well end up with what we refer to as "rocket fuel" which will need to be aged out for a long time to stop tasting like cheap vodka's been added to it.

And don't worry about the undissolved honey, all it means is your initial SG reading is a bit lower than reality. Oh, well. As soon as the yeast started eating some of the dissolved honey, the rest will have dissolved.

Oh, and your must may well keep degassing for a while after fermentation's actually complete so as long as you rack it not too long after the SG stops dropping, it will probably still release some CO2 to displace any oxygen in your headspace, but it's always good practice to minimize headspace once fermentation is complete. Good habits early on mean fewer bad habits to break later

And last thought, if you want to try something with this batch, might I suggest oak? The chips are cheap and easy to use (go with half the recommended dosage though so you don't end up with Chateau Plywood if you don't catch it early enough) and will give you an idea if this is a flavour profile you'd like to explore more with future batches (yes Squatchy, cubes or staves are way better, but for a first batch, a low dose of oak chips will at least tell enigma if oaking is worth pursuing).

 

[enigma_0z]

Glad you're getting on OK, and the stopping obsessing is a good one

As Squatchy said, this thread has been well handled, so I've only got a few suggestions for you:

K1V-1116 is a pretty forgiving yeast temperature-wise

Bubbles definitely do make it challenging to read the hydrometer, some ideas are to measure after you degas and also if you have a plastic hydrometer test tube for your measurements, sometimes you can give the hydrometer a gentle tap (with a sanitized finger if you think it's going to go all the way under the must) to bounce it off the bottom of the test tube then read it quick, that's my method for knocking the bubbles off so I can get a more accurate read.

A lot of new meadmakers think going for the highest alcohol punch they can manage is a great idea. Go ahead, try it (I sure did!), but trust us, you want to get consistently good lower alcohol ferments before you reach for the stars or you may well end up with what we refer to as "rocket fuel" which will need to be aged out for a long time to stop tasting like cheap vodka's been added to it.

And don't worry about the undissolved honey, all it means is your initial SG reading is a bit lower than reality. Oh, well. As soon as the yeast started eating some of the dissolved honey, the rest will have dissolved.

Oh, and your must may well keep degassing for a while after fermentation's actually complete so as long as you rack it not too long after the SG stops dropping, it will probably still release some CO2 to displace any oxygen in your headspace, but it's always good practice to minimize headspace once fermentation is complete. Good habits early on mean fewer bad habits to break later

And last thought, if you want to try something with this batch, might I suggest oak? The chips are cheap and easy to use (go with half the recommended dosage though so you don't end up with Chateau Plywood if you don't catch it early enough) and will give you an idea if this is a flavour profile you'd like to explore more with future batches (yes Squatchy, cubes or staves are way better, but for a first batch, a low dose of oak chips will at least tell enigma if oaking is worth pursuing).

Thanks for the ideas

Re: Oak ... I already like whisk(e)y so definitely interested on a that front

Thanks for all the ideas. Now jus to summon my greatest values of patience......


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[enigma_0z]

So, it's down to 1.070 from 1.110 SG over the past two weeks. I gave it a quick taste today and it tastes surprisingly different from what you'd expect "honey water" to taste. There's definitely a fruit juice note that's developed and if that's ostensably come from the D47 exclusively (star thistle honey is pretty neutral) then I can see how D47 would work well with fruit meads and cysers.

Questions, would it be safe to guesstimate the following things

1) Starting potential alcohol of 14% and current potential alcohol of about 9% means that I've got something at 5%-ish in terms of ABV
2) Given that it took two weeks to get from 1.110 to 1.070 (-0.040), would it be assumed to take another two-ish weeks to go from 1.070 to 1.030 (-0.040)?
3) If I measure it again in a few days to a week and it's not less than 1.070, then has the fermentation stalled, and if that's the case, what do I do to restart it, pitch more yeast?