This is our first attempt at making mead, and as such we decided to start 3 small batches (1 gallon each) rather than a larger batch. What we have is 3 gallons started a week apart with the oldest being 5 weeks old and the youngest being 3 weeks old. Armed with a recipe and some loose instructions, here's what we did:
1 quart of honey (raw from a local farm)
1/2 orange
tea bag (used normal tea, not flavored)
Enough water to fill the bottle
1 pack 71B yeast
We made tea with about 2 quarts of water and mixed the honey in, then let it cool so the yeast wouldn't die when we added it, then added the yeast, mixed it up really good, and put into a glass gallon jug. Added the orange (sectioned) and an air lock and let it go. The guy at the brewing supply shop said 1 yeast pack would do 6 gallons but we could add the whole thing to 1 gallon and it would just speed up the fermentation.
Ok so today we taste it and here are the results:
1. Oldest batch is bubbling every 27-28 seconds - smelled like vinegar when we first took it out but after sitting for a while tastes ok with a slight bite to it.
2. Middle batch is bubbling every 14-15 seconds - smelled and tasted sour but after sitting a while tasted ok without the bite to it.
3. Newest batch is bubbling every 8-9 seconds - smelled and tasted sweet with mild alcohol taste, taste and smell didn't change after we let it sit.
Questions are as follows:
1. How do we know when it's done? We tried using a hydrometer and wrote down the beginning readings but now the thing just sinks to the bottom of the tube so obviously we're doing something wrong.
2. The person who gave us the recipe said we should let it bubble until it's clear with sediment on the bottom but ours is still very cloudy (honey colored). Is this letting it get clear good advice or did he steer us wrong there?
3. Did we use too much yeast after all and will that mess things up?
4. How important is keeping it in darkness? We have one batch in a closet but the other two are just sitting on the counter. If we are supposed to keep it dark then why?
1 quart of honey (raw from a local farm)
1/2 orange
tea bag (used normal tea, not flavored)
Enough water to fill the bottle
1 pack 71B yeast
We made tea with about 2 quarts of water and mixed the honey in, then let it cool so the yeast wouldn't die when we added it, then added the yeast, mixed it up really good, and put into a glass gallon jug. Added the orange (sectioned) and an air lock and let it go. The guy at the brewing supply shop said 1 yeast pack would do 6 gallons but we could add the whole thing to 1 gallon and it would just speed up the fermentation.
Ok so today we taste it and here are the results:
1. Oldest batch is bubbling every 27-28 seconds - smelled like vinegar when we first took it out but after sitting for a while tastes ok with a slight bite to it.
2. Middle batch is bubbling every 14-15 seconds - smelled and tasted sour but after sitting a while tasted ok without the bite to it.
3. Newest batch is bubbling every 8-9 seconds - smelled and tasted sweet with mild alcohol taste, taste and smell didn't change after we let it sit.
Questions are as follows:
1. How do we know when it's done? We tried using a hydrometer and wrote down the beginning readings but now the thing just sinks to the bottom of the tube so obviously we're doing something wrong.
2. The person who gave us the recipe said we should let it bubble until it's clear with sediment on the bottom but ours is still very cloudy (honey colored). Is this letting it get clear good advice or did he steer us wrong there?
3. Did we use too much yeast after all and will that mess things up?
4. How important is keeping it in darkness? We have one batch in a closet but the other two are just sitting on the counter. If we are supposed to keep it dark then why?
