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good to know theres a forum just for mead

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james93711 said:
made my second batch, used about a cup of light brown and regular sugar and boiled it with apple juice came out pretty caramely and apples and a vanilla bean in the primary. smells kinda like a vanilla chi tea. im gonna aerate like you guys told me to, should only aerate it during the first week or so? i got some yeast nutrient and i used alittle, i put some in my hand and tasted it and it taste like crap... dont think im using that stuff anymore, is that stuff even necessary?
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up to the 1/3 break aeration is normal however definitely not past the 1/2 sugar break.

Yeast nutrient isn't for your tastes but the yeasties. The yeast will eat up most of the nutrients you put in (if you dose it properly) so the taste won't transfer.

Is it necessary?... no
Recommended... absolutely

without it your fermentations will be slower, increasing the risk of spoilage organisms taking foot.

Your fermentation also suffers an increased chance of stalling out early without nutrients

Further, without the nutrients the yeast can become stressed and produce off flavors and sulfur like smells.

A "show" is a mead brewed without any extra flavorings or nutrients, people do it all the time, but they're extremely tricky.

A traditional is done with nutrients but no other things mixed in (honey & water only)

It is often said that the only reason for doing a show mead is to "show that you can" This is because it takes a crazy good pallet on the range of Chef Ramsey to tell the difference. Even then it's debated frequently if he could tell the difference between a trad and a show mead.

If you want a ferment to go nice and smooth, nutrients and HIGHLY recommended.
 
i got enough nutrient for 2 batches and i've used about 2/3 of the nutrient on both batches so i think i'm doing alright. it taste pretty salty, only used about a tbs in each one maybe a little less. sugar break, what does that mean? is that when fermentation starts, the bubble? i dont plan on exposing too much o2 to the batch so ill just aerate it for probably the first 4-5 days.
 
Don't go by days, in 4 or 5 days the ferment could potentially be over - 1/3 break means when 1/3 of the fermentation has happened.

So if your starting gravity was 1.099, then your 1/3 break would be 1.066, the 2/3 break (which isn't really that important) is 1.033 - so forth and so on.

EDIT: HA! and yes, the nutrients are for the yeast, unless you use too much they don't end up in the final product and will in no way influence taste or aroma.
 
ok my watermelon batch taste like crap outta the primary, i just racked it today, but it does mellow out over time right? i only took a couple sips and i could feel it so i know itll get me where i wanna go. i put three 24oz of arizona watermelon juice in it to make it a bit more sweet.

just hope its not a total waste, it taste like a boilermaker with vodka and cheap wine.

still no hydrometer for the other batch but it just started bubbling today and it smells great ;D so im keeping my hopes high for that one. any weird smells i should watch out for? what should my ending reading be when ever my hydrometer gets here? i dont care about strong alcohol content just a pleasant taste, thanks all
 
I think MOST meads taste like crap out of primary, lol. I prefer not to take my first taste (after fermentation) till at least a month so the initial OMG ALCOHOL flavor is at least beginning to mute.

As for your ending reading, it depends on your OG, your yeast tolerance, and the temperature. If your yeast has a high enough tolerance to go completely dry, your reading can be anywhere from .995 to 1.000. If you have enough sugars for 18% conversions but only a 14% yeast tolerance, you're going to be quite a bit higher. (Too lazy to get my hydrometer and to the math right now) Not having an OG means you can't look for a number very well, and even then just looking for even that 1.000 can mess you up. It can obviously still go lower, and sometimes at that .995 it can still show signs of fermentation anyway.

When it seems like it's down, check the SG. Wait a week. Check the SG again. If it hasn't changed and all visible signs of fermentation are done, THEN you can call primary over. Some people even wait a second week and do it again. Everything else can fool you.
 
I don't honestly even taste my meads for the first year anymore (unless I'm really excited about that particular mead and want to watch it change over time). I did enough of that earlier on when I was making mead to learn a lot about aging, and now it just seems like a hassle that does nothing helpful for me...
 
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