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JDWebb

JDWebb

NewBee
Registered Member
Dec 26, 2014
365
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Sherman Oaks, CA
www.jamesdwebb.com
I have been reading about Mead for some time now, and am prepared to begin my mead making journey. I have the equipment, fermentation bucket, 5 gallon glass carboy, auto-syphon, hydrometer, airlock, and Star San. I also plan on getting a paint mixer for my drill as I have read the more oxygen you can introduce at the start, the better.

I plan on using around 14 pounds of un-processed wildflower honey from a local apiary, and bottled spring water. The yeast I plan on using is Wyeast 4184. I also have Superfood Plus nutrient, however, I have read where bee pollen may be a better choice. I would be interested in any comments regarding "natural" nutrients vs. un-natural.

Depending on the results closer to bottling, I may add bentonite for clarifying.
 
Based on the batch of bee pollen fed mead I have going now, bee pollen is a lot slower and messier than DAP & Fermaid K. On the other hand, it smells a lot better and buffers pH for you (the "chemical" route for pH buffering if you want it is calcium/potassium carbonate). Bee pollen's also quite a bit pricier - my 1 gallon batch has used most of a $10 bag of pollen.

I'm used to my fermaid K/DAP batches fermenting dry in 3-4 days, while the bee pollen batch is on its third week.

Welcome to the hobby! Have fun, and remember - when in doubt, leave the mead alone for a month and come back! (I'm terrible at this)
 
Please consider using another yeast. The Wyeast sweet mead strain is notoriously finicky and prone to stalling if the nutrient, pH and other factors are not right. Lalvin 71B is a lot easier to work with, and if you are a fan of liquid yeast the BOMM yeast (Wyeast 1388) is a lot more reliable.

Bee Pollen can work as a nutrient, but using enough of it may lead to some bitterness that takes a while to age out.
 
Adding questions to things he has asked. Why use a drill and paint stir? Besides avoiding a sore arm, couldn't you get the same effect from using a whisk? How often is stirring necessary and when should it be done?
 
He's talking about the drill mounted kind they use for paint and wall mud I believe.

I have been looking at bee pollen as well but have been put off by it's costliness compared to my usual of boiled bread yeast. One of these batches will be getting it as I am unafraid of long ferment times (I have gone over the 40 day pitch to finish on one batch), and I want, nay, NEED to do a batch with pollen to test the waters as the pun goes...
 
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Yes. I have a batter powered variable speed drill, it works fine. I've seen YouTubes of people who mash on the gas and wind up with it overflowing the top! Kinda funny actually, because in their panic, they don't let go of the trigger!
 
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