Dutch meadvirgin (bee gentle) with some questions

[Boschman]

greetings from the Netherlands,
pardon my english.


we started 2 10ltr buckets, one JAOM and one BOMM.
yeast was Saccharomyces Cerevisiae var. Cerevisiae (the only one we could get from dutch webshop).
we didnt had a Hydrometer so no starting numbers.

after 10 days i racked the BOMM, hydrometer reads 1.080. -Is this a correct reading to rack for the first time?
-my friend could not help, only time in the weekends, he is really disappointed that he could not be there and asked if we could do it again this weekend. - is it okay to rack it again?

my roomtemp is average 16 C (60.8F). -is this to cold or acceptable? . first 3 days i turned down heating to nighttemp of 14C

-are here any dutchies who would like to talk with me about meadmaking on FB

tons of questions left but alas , the wife is calling, i have to go.

regards, Boschman

 

[darigoni]

Saccharomyces Cerevisiae can be bread, beer or wine yeast, Can you be more specific?

60.8 would be cold for a standard BOMM (which uses Wyeast 1388 ) or a JAOM (which uses bread yeast). A BOMM usually likes to be in the 20C (68F) range and bread yeast likes to be in the mid-70's to mid 80's (24 to 29 C).

If you are reading your hydrometer correctly, then you have a long way to go before you should have racked. A reading of 1.080 means that you have approx 80% of your honey still left to ferment. Racking should not have happened until you reached 1.000 (or slightly less).

If you misread your hydrometer and meant the reading was 1.008 then, while you were close, you still should have waited until you reached 1.000. As the originator of the BOMM would say "why would you remove your soldiers before the battle was finished". By racking you have removed a majority of your yeast, before the fermentation was complete.

Did you use any nutrients? Did you do daily degassing (vigorous stirrings)?

Leave it alone until it reaches 1.000, then wait until it clears and then you can either rack or bottle. It's called a BOMM for a reason (One Month Mead). Even at one month it will probably need some time for it to clear (yeast to settle) and mead is always better with a little aging.

 

[Boschman]

Thank you for replying darigoni,

i now understand the importance of correct logging and detailed information,

lets go back all the way to the civil war...

yeast: 10 grams Saccharomyces Cerevisiae var. Cerevisiae, sold as arsegan premium wineyeast, mead, white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tya3sKwV5o
this video we used for what i call the JAOM. pls correct me if im wrong naming it like this.
2.7 kilo honey, oranges, cloves and cinnamon. As nutrition we used about 30 raisins. Filled the bucket to 10ltr.

the second bucket is which we call the BOMM. After we made the mead i was looking on youtube and found the BOMM recipe. it looked like ours so we called it da BOMM. i realize now that this is not a BOMM.
same yeast,
2.7 kilo honey, 30 raisins and filled it up to 9 ltr.

left both buckets for 3 days stirring it 3 times a day. we let it stand for one week.
the JAOM is still bubbling away after the 10 days.

the other bucket we wanted to rack because we saw it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1gJmPsaSFE&index=10&list=WL

im afraid the reading i gave is correct 1.080. maybe i read my hydrometer incorrect , its the 80 in the blue part on the hydrometer.

can the racked one be saved?

 

[Squatchy]

You're going to have made some problem by changing the yeast in because you didn't use bread yeast for JOAM and 1388 for the BOMM. Both recipes require following the exact protocol. Or it doesn't turn out. Raisins have never been a source of YAN. It's misinformation. By racking when you did these will be way to sweet after they struggle along for a while before they finally crap out.

Youtube would not be a place I would try to learn how to make mead from. Or the web in general. So much misinformation, wifes tales and flat out dumbasses. Of course, everyone and their brother can become an expert in a few hours on the web. And these are now proclaiming all kinds of truths that they have only heard and have zero real experience with. Ask first on here before you make your next batch. We can steer you clear of this kind of crap. Go listen to the gotmeadlive podcast starting at 9/5 and you can get step by step instructions on how to use the best science and materials we have currantly.

Your racked on will dye trying and the other one will go bone dry. You can blend them once you stabile them with sorbate and k meta

 

[darigoni]

Thank you for replying darigoni,

i now understand the importance of correct logging and detailed information,

lets go back all the way to the civil war...

yeast: 10 grams Saccharomyces Cerevisiae var. Cerevisiae, sold as arsegan premium wineyeast, mead, white.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Tya3sKwV5o
this video we used for what i call the JAOM. pls correct me if im wrong naming it like this.
2.7 kilo honey, oranges, cloves and cinnamon. As nutrition we used about 30 raisins. Filled the bucket to 10ltr.

the second bucket is which we call the BOMM. After we made the mead i was looking on youtube and found the BOMM recipe. it looked like ours so we called it da BOMM. i realize now that this is not a BOMM.
same yeast,
2.7 kilo honey, 30 raisins and filled it up to 9 ltr.

left both buckets for 3 days stirring it 3 times a day. we let it stand for one week.
the JAOM is still bubbling away after the 10 days.

the other bucket we wanted to rack because we saw it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1gJmPsaSFE&index=10&list=WL

im afraid the reading i gave is correct 1.080. maybe i read my hydrometer incorrect , its the 80 in the blue part on the hydrometer.

can the racked one be saved?

Well, the BOMM video is a good one. One that I refer people to when they are starting out, but you just can't pick and choose which parts of it you want to follow. Having watched the BOMM video (by the Canadian Sasquatch) several times, I'm pretty sure I've never seen any raisins in the recipe. As another person has already stated, raisins are not a nutrient, and you would literally have to use many pounds of them to supply enough YAN (nitrogen). If your hydrometer reading is correct and you want to try and save the BOMM, I would pitch another packet of yeast and this time wait the full month before racking. Also, either buy some nutrients or, at a minimum, take two packets of bread yeast (14 grams) and drop it into 1/2 a cup of boiling water (this will kill the bread yeast) and pour it into your BOMM. Yeast are cannibalistic, so the wine yeast will feed on them.

A JAOM is supposed to be sweet, but because you used wine yeast all the honey will be eaten and it will end up dry (no sugar). Lots of alcohol, but it probably will not taste very good. A JAOM works only if you follow it exactly.

So, not a very good start to your mead making attempts. I suggest you not only listen to the modern mead making podcast on gotmead, but also watch the 9 episode Meadology series, also by the Canadian Sasquatch. Pay particular attention to episodes 3, 6 and 7.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEUA9sOZJbckxRlIRaAyUw6jg2Zlrgko7

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Boschman - and welcome. Your English is excellent.
By my calculations (and these are very approximate) your second batch used about 6 lbs of honey in 2.4 gallons . This would give you a starting gravity of about 1.085 so if you racked this at 1.080 your yeast has not done very much work... but that may be because you have not provided the yeast with any of the compounds they need to develop and repair their cell walls and the like. You do need to provide the yeast with nutrients. If these lab produced products are hard to find where you live you can always take some bread yeast - a tablespoon, perhaps -and I would proof the yeast but many say that that is not necessary - and then boil the yeast it in a little water. The dead yeast cells provide your yeast cells with much of the nutrients they need and which honey simply does not have. Good luck !

 

[Boschman]

i've been very busy these days, thanks everybody for your comments.

i need to think about your thoughts. ' will be back soon.

 

[Boschman]

added boiled yeast for extra nutrients. found a place in my house with a temp of 20C. moved it all to that place. (banged my head).

At this moment im having a coffee and browsing the internet for collecting ingredients for an official BOMM.
i have found a Dutchies group here on gotmead. Reading through their posts.