Less of a question and more of an Intro

[ShadowVII]

Hello to you all and I hope we are merrily met in this time. I joined this forum because of its activity frequency and the content, as well as to possibly document my endeavoring into the art of mead. Before joining I had scoured resource after resource, from books to websites to forums, garnering all of the info I possibly could before making a huge batch of 20 gallons of mead for a friend’s wedding (10 gals of traditional and 10 gals of blood mead). That was both exhausting and a great learning experience for me. I won’t be doing that large of a batch again but I will be continuing on making mead, which brings me to this forum. I decided to go to a smaller batch of 3 gallons to start with, and decided to go the route of a cyser this time. I’ve always been fond of cider so this sounded like a good one.

I’ll start off first by saying that I didn’t find this recipe anywhere, and cobbled it together based on what I heard someone dub the rule of thirds. As a disabled vet, I have nothing but time on my hands, so waiting for something to age out as I learn more and other ways to do things suits me fine. I guess that if I have to ask a question then it would be this: what are your thoughts on my recipe and process, and based on your experiences how do you think it will turn out?

Recipe:
1.5 gal natural cider
0.5 gal spring water
200 oz raw honey
8 cinnamon sticks
1.5 tsp pectic enzyme
1 pack Lalvin 71-B

All equipment washed and sterilized before start. Added 1 gal of cider to bucket while honey heat up in a water bath. Added honey slowly while stirring with large stainless spoon, one bottle at a time. Started rehydrating yeast with ~98F water and a bit of yeast nutrient. Added in yeast nutrient, water, rest of the cider, and pectin enzyme; stirred long and vigorously while yeast rehydrated. Pitched yeast when mix was almost equal temp to must, about 15-20 min. Added in cinnamon sticks, took starting gravity reading, and loosely covered to allow oxygen to yeast (thinking about 24 hours before sealing and air locking).

Start Grav = 1.170
Ambient storage temp = ~69F

I apologize for the long post, but I look forward to following along with you all and partaking of the collection of knowledge found within this wonderful place.

 

[Medsen Fey]

Welcome to GotMead!

You have started with a very, very high gravity. It will probably finish around 1.060 and will be extremely sweet. As long as that is what you are aiming for, then all is well.

When rehydrating the yeast, were you using GoFerm or an organic yeast nutrient?

-Medsen

 

[ShadowVII]

Just a generic yeast nutrient from my local brew shop. And yes, I know that it is high gravity since the sack mead I did before started at 1.060, but the yeast I’m using is the same and it used enough sugar to come down to a FG of 1.012. I know it’ll be sweet, since that’s what I was aiming for from the yeast lol.

 

[Medsen Fey]

As a general rule, it is best to hydrate yeast without generic yeast nutrient as that usually contains DAP and during rehydration, when the yeast membrane is not functioning properly, exposure to DAP can be toxic to the yeast. They perform better if they are rehydrated in plain water. They peform best if rehydrated in water with GoFerm which is an organic product that is designed for rehydration and contains no DAP.

 

[ShadowVII]

Interesting. Everything I came across was saying it was okay to add nutrients during rehydration, of course I used very little (literally a pinch) of diammonium phosphate. If it affects the yeast too much I’ll rehydrate another satchel plain and repitch. Thanks for looking out!

 

[Dan O]

Hello to you all and I hope we are merrily met in this time. I joined this forum because of its activity frequency and the content, as well as to possibly document my endeavoring into the art of mead. Before joining I had scoured resource after resource, from books to websites to forums, garnering all of the info I possibly could before making a huge batch of 20 gallons of mead for a friend’s wedding (10 gals of traditional and 10 gals of blood mead). That was both exhausting and a great learning experience for me. I won’t be doing that large of a batch again but I will be continuing on making mead, which brings me to this forum. I decided to go to a smaller batch of 3 gallons to start with, and decided to go the route of a cyser this time. I’ve always been fond of cider so this sounded like a good one.

I’ll start off first by saying that I didn’t find this recipe anywhere, and cobbled it together based on what I heard someone dub the rule of thirds. As a disabled vet, I have nothing but time on my hands, so waiting for something to age out as I learn more and other ways to do things suits me fine. I guess that if I have to ask a question then it would be this: what are your thoughts on my recipe and process, and based on your experiences how do you think it will turn out?

Recipe:
1.5 gal natural cider
0.5 gal spring water
200 oz raw honey
8 cinnamon sticks
1.5 tsp pectic enzyme
1 pack Lalvin 71-B

All equipment washed and sterilized before start. Added 1 gal of cider to bucket while honey heat up in a water bath. Added honey slowly while stirring with large stainless spoon, one bottle at a time. Started rehydrating yeast with ~98F water and a bit of yeast nutrient. Added in yeast nutrient, water, rest of the cider, and pectin enzyme; stirred long and vigorously while yeast rehydrated. Pitched yeast when mix was almost equal temp to must, about 15-20 min. Added in cinnamon sticks, took starting gravity reading, and loosely covered to allow oxygen to yeast (thinking about 24 hours before sealing and air locking).

Start Grav = 1.170
Ambient storage temp = ~69F

I apologize for the long post, but I look forward to following along with you all and partaking of the collection of knowledge found within this wonderful place.

Welcome to the forum!!
Just a word of caution on the cinnamon. It's a very strong spice. 8 sticks for 2 gallons may be very overpowering. If your not tasting it along the way, it may take forever to age out. It's easier to add some in, if there's not enough, but, nearly impossible to take it out once too much is in there.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[Medsen Fey]

If it affects the yeast too much I’ll rehydrate another satchel plain and repitch. Thanks for looking out!

I doubt you'll have to re-pitch. Yeast can tolerate a lot. But especially with high-gravity fermentations, getting the yeast in optimal shape helps them to go their farthest.
The warning about cinnamon are also good. The ole' "you can add more but you can't take it" out rule is worth remembering. However, if you are starting at a gravity of 1.170 and the yeast goes to 1.060, that amount of residual sugar can balance a lot of spice.

 

[ShadowVII]

Thank you for that! And yeah, I know it’s gonna be a strong cinnamon taste, but I do like cinnamon. I do plan on tasting it along the way as well, since I do the same when cooking. So the plus is that I’m familiar with not being able to take out what’s been integrated. I’ll be yanking them once I get a suitable amount of flavor from them. I don’t know how much they’ll give in primary which is why went a little overboard lol.

 

[ShadowVII]

I doubt you'll have to re-pitch. Yeast can tolerate a lot. But especially with high-gravity fermentations, getting the yeast in optimal shape helps them to go their farthest.
The warning about cinnamon are also good. The ole' "you can add more but you can't take it" out rule is worth remembering. However, if you are starting at a gravity of 1.170 and the yeast goes to 1.060, that amount of residual sugar can balance a lot of spice.

Yeah, the last batches actually came out pretty dry so I was planning ahead of time to back sweeten. I was also thinking the reintroduction of sugars would balance out the cinnamon if it came out too sharp.

 

[4give]

Welcome ShadowVII !
As you're starting out, and you really want to learn if you have a good protocol down, I'd recommend brewing some Trads. You don't have to of course, but adding other flavors can hide flaws. It's just an idea to know if your general protocol is good when you can make a good Trad that you really enjoy. I've made some good ones (at least to me, and that's most important ), and learned way more by trying to pair my honey with different yeasts without having other added flavors. (Kudos to Squatchy as it's one of his key recommendations as well).

 

[ShadowVII]

Welcome ShadowVII !
As you're starting out, and you really want to learn if you have a good protocol down, I'd recommend brewing some Trads. You don't have to of course, but adding other flavors can hide flaws. It's just an idea to know if your general protocol is good when you can make a good Trad that you really enjoy. I've made some good ones (at least to me, and that's most important ), and learned way more by trying to pair my honey with different yeasts without having other added flavors. (Kudos to Squatchy as it's one of his key recommendations as well).

Nothing wrong with advice in my book, and thank you for the welcome! I’ll definitely try some more traditionals, as the traditional I made last turned out pretty well. I am going to go more in depth in protocols because I wasn’t worried about clarity the last time. I didn’t discover my local shop until halfway through it, and the yeast selection here is kind of… lacking with a small shop. I had actually ordered D47 for it but they sent me 71B instead. It all came out well though which is why I’m trying a cyser, because I enjoy fall drinks a lot and plan on having this ready for next fall or even the one after.