I've browsed websites, compared techniques, purchased equipment, and gathered my nerve. All that's left is actually making the mead. ;D I've never brewed anything before; I can hardly boil water without incident. I'm hoping to change that, so I guess there's only one thing left to do....
I've got 7 lbs of blackberry blossom honey. Yeast is champagne yeast (Lalvin EC-1118, it seemed popular enough). With only 7 lbs of honey, I know there will be lots of head space in my 5-gallon carboy, but I'm hoping that won't matter too much. On to the questions then.
My first question is how much water to use. I'm shooting for something sweetish and smooth. I'm thinking maybe 2 to 2.5 gallons? That's pretty much a shot in the dark figure.
Second question is about additives. I'll be using some yeast nutrient, but otherwise I wasn't planning on adding anything. Most recipes I've seen call for the addition of a lemon or orange to add acid, but then I've heard that the must should be acidic enough without it. Will I be fine with leaving out the lemon? Even the 17th century recipes use some lemon, so I'm a little worried about that. Many recipes also recommend tannins to give the mead some "bite." I'm not a big fan of bite, my favorite mead I've tasted so far was completely smooth (people can make fun of my unrefined tastes if they like, I'll have a fruity drink in one hand and an obscene gesture in the other 8)). So can I leave the tannins out too?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. This is pretty much a practice run in many respects, but I'm hoping to get something drinkable out of it. Next attempt will probably be the Ancient Orange recipe here.
I've got 7 lbs of blackberry blossom honey. Yeast is champagne yeast (Lalvin EC-1118, it seemed popular enough). With only 7 lbs of honey, I know there will be lots of head space in my 5-gallon carboy, but I'm hoping that won't matter too much. On to the questions then.
My first question is how much water to use. I'm shooting for something sweetish and smooth. I'm thinking maybe 2 to 2.5 gallons? That's pretty much a shot in the dark figure.
Second question is about additives. I'll be using some yeast nutrient, but otherwise I wasn't planning on adding anything. Most recipes I've seen call for the addition of a lemon or orange to add acid, but then I've heard that the must should be acidic enough without it. Will I be fine with leaving out the lemon? Even the 17th century recipes use some lemon, so I'm a little worried about that. Many recipes also recommend tannins to give the mead some "bite." I'm not a big fan of bite, my favorite mead I've tasted so far was completely smooth (people can make fun of my unrefined tastes if they like, I'll have a fruity drink in one hand and an obscene gesture in the other 8)). So can I leave the tannins out too?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. This is pretty much a practice run in many respects, but I'm hoping to get something drinkable out of it. Next attempt will probably be the Ancient Orange recipe here.