Hi!
I have never posted on a forum before, i did read the rules, but if i violate any common sense courtesies of the forum world, that were not explicitly stated, please feel free to correct me. And I apologize in advance.
A little over a month ago, I decided to dive into wine making to pick up a family tradition set by my grandparents. During the initial search for info, I fell into this forum. Given my freakish love for honey, I decided to take the mead route instead. I have been lurking ever since trying to soak up as much of the info that you guys have so kindly shared with the world. Thank you!
I have scoured the forums and listened to the modern mead making podcasts with Mr Squatchy, along with the other great contributors from back in 2017. Also, I have started reading the flavor bible as recommended (I'll get to the other recommendations after). I have different oaks on their way to make tea to understand the differences (french and american at different toast levels, lite - med - med+, hungarian was difficult for me to find).
I am going to focus on trads as suggested. I am posting my planned process here as suggested, for some welcome insight to avoid disasters from an ignorant newbie (me) instead of asking for help after i screwed it up, if you have time of course. I apologize for the detail, I'm not experienced enough to understand which details really matter yet, so they all seem important.
---‐----
Semi-sweet trads (3 different 1 gal batches to experiment with different honeys flavor profiles, to start to understand the impact it has on the final product. Clover, wildflower, orange blossom) Will be pitching one after another, not at the exact same time, i will screw that up somehow if i try. Figured the repetition will also help me solidify the process.
Starsan sanitation, will be mixing fresh batch and only keeping sealed spray bottle for spraying down tools and carboy neck when interacting with the must. Given the fact I can't seal the tub and manufacturer suggests only keeping an hour if unable to seal, I figured that's the safest route.
Starting OG 1.070 to target 10% abv
Mix honey with gallon of generic filtered drinking water from Walmart, in 1.5 gal big mouth primary. Take pH reading for records, will not adjust. Get temp to 66F for pitch.
Heat 82.5 ml (20x goferm g) of distilled water to 110, mix with 4.13g (1.25x yeast) of goferm. Cool to 104, sprinkle 3.3g of D47 yeast (10g/3).
Aerate must with O2 and sintered stone for about 25 seconds at 1L/m flow. (120s for 5 gallon/5 = 24 round to 25...).
Add 20mg (1/4 of starter weight) of must every 5 minutes, til doubled then add 40mg of must every 5 minutes and so on until starter matches must temp. Then pitch and stir. Will not cover. (Will be in sanitized chest freezer for temp control, so not worried about contamination from random particles dropping in it. Will set to 62 and start bringing temp down through lag phase)
At confirmation of end of lag phase (needle pricks on surface, obvious activity, or sg drop). Stir/rouse with degasser whip. Repeat aeration process, add first fermaid O in sample must, and add feeding. Amount added per TOSNA calculation.
Repeat degas/rouse, aeration, and feeding two more times 24 hr intervals.
Last feed at 1/3 break or 7 days and cover/airlock.
Continue to rouse/degas daily.
After 3 days of no sg change at about 1.000 or under. Rouse and rack everything onto sulfite/sorbate in 1 gal carboy.
Switch to rousing every other day.
After 1 month, settle for 48hrs and rack off rough lees. Test ph for records (I do not know if it's important. Figured keeping a record will let me know if it is over time, dont plan to test ph during fermentation unless troubleshooting an issue)
Let age several months rousing twice a week.
Play with flavors.. this part i am not sure what to expect but here is my loose plan until i develop a better expectation through experience.
Small stepped adjustments based on taste over the course of days on each flavor with sweetness first, then acid, then tannins (oak). Then readjusting previous steps as the current ones shift the total profile. No rush here just want to experiment with different aspects, and not screw it up too badly.
Will take samples and test which acid tastes better, opportunity to explore the impacts I've read/heard about on here. (I only have tartaric and malic powder, will use zest for citric).
Will use oak spirals, 1/3 spiral per gal. Do not know which kind/toast yet, won't decide til i taste at this point. taste every 3 days or so to decide when to pull (this often cause i have no idea what to expect), just slightly stronger than target to allow for mellowing of flavor.
Let age for a few more weeks/month(s)? to see how flavors settle. Adjust as needed.
Fine with Bentonite stir well for 2 days, wait a few days for it to clear, then add sparkalloid. Let clear. Rack and filter before bottling.
Any feedback is welcome and thanks again for sharing so much info here!
I have never posted on a forum before, i did read the rules, but if i violate any common sense courtesies of the forum world, that were not explicitly stated, please feel free to correct me. And I apologize in advance.
A little over a month ago, I decided to dive into wine making to pick up a family tradition set by my grandparents. During the initial search for info, I fell into this forum. Given my freakish love for honey, I decided to take the mead route instead. I have been lurking ever since trying to soak up as much of the info that you guys have so kindly shared with the world. Thank you!
I have scoured the forums and listened to the modern mead making podcasts with Mr Squatchy, along with the other great contributors from back in 2017. Also, I have started reading the flavor bible as recommended (I'll get to the other recommendations after). I have different oaks on their way to make tea to understand the differences (french and american at different toast levels, lite - med - med+, hungarian was difficult for me to find).
I am going to focus on trads as suggested. I am posting my planned process here as suggested, for some welcome insight to avoid disasters from an ignorant newbie (me) instead of asking for help after i screwed it up, if you have time of course. I apologize for the detail, I'm not experienced enough to understand which details really matter yet, so they all seem important.
---‐----
Semi-sweet trads (3 different 1 gal batches to experiment with different honeys flavor profiles, to start to understand the impact it has on the final product. Clover, wildflower, orange blossom) Will be pitching one after another, not at the exact same time, i will screw that up somehow if i try. Figured the repetition will also help me solidify the process.
Starsan sanitation, will be mixing fresh batch and only keeping sealed spray bottle for spraying down tools and carboy neck when interacting with the must. Given the fact I can't seal the tub and manufacturer suggests only keeping an hour if unable to seal, I figured that's the safest route.
Starting OG 1.070 to target 10% abv
Mix honey with gallon of generic filtered drinking water from Walmart, in 1.5 gal big mouth primary. Take pH reading for records, will not adjust. Get temp to 66F for pitch.
Heat 82.5 ml (20x goferm g) of distilled water to 110, mix with 4.13g (1.25x yeast) of goferm. Cool to 104, sprinkle 3.3g of D47 yeast (10g/3).
Aerate must with O2 and sintered stone for about 25 seconds at 1L/m flow. (120s for 5 gallon/5 = 24 round to 25...).
Add 20mg (1/4 of starter weight) of must every 5 minutes, til doubled then add 40mg of must every 5 minutes and so on until starter matches must temp. Then pitch and stir. Will not cover. (Will be in sanitized chest freezer for temp control, so not worried about contamination from random particles dropping in it. Will set to 62 and start bringing temp down through lag phase)
At confirmation of end of lag phase (needle pricks on surface, obvious activity, or sg drop). Stir/rouse with degasser whip. Repeat aeration process, add first fermaid O in sample must, and add feeding. Amount added per TOSNA calculation.
Repeat degas/rouse, aeration, and feeding two more times 24 hr intervals.
Last feed at 1/3 break or 7 days and cover/airlock.
Continue to rouse/degas daily.
After 3 days of no sg change at about 1.000 or under. Rouse and rack everything onto sulfite/sorbate in 1 gal carboy.
Switch to rousing every other day.
After 1 month, settle for 48hrs and rack off rough lees. Test ph for records (I do not know if it's important. Figured keeping a record will let me know if it is over time, dont plan to test ph during fermentation unless troubleshooting an issue)
Let age several months rousing twice a week.
Play with flavors.. this part i am not sure what to expect but here is my loose plan until i develop a better expectation through experience.
Small stepped adjustments based on taste over the course of days on each flavor with sweetness first, then acid, then tannins (oak). Then readjusting previous steps as the current ones shift the total profile. No rush here just want to experiment with different aspects, and not screw it up too badly.
Will take samples and test which acid tastes better, opportunity to explore the impacts I've read/heard about on here. (I only have tartaric and malic powder, will use zest for citric).
Will use oak spirals, 1/3 spiral per gal. Do not know which kind/toast yet, won't decide til i taste at this point. taste every 3 days or so to decide when to pull (this often cause i have no idea what to expect), just slightly stronger than target to allow for mellowing of flavor.
Let age for a few more weeks/month(s)? to see how flavors settle. Adjust as needed.
Fine with Bentonite stir well for 2 days, wait a few days for it to clear, then add sparkalloid. Let clear. Rack and filter before bottling.
Any feedback is welcome and thanks again for sharing so much info here!
