Made my first mead last night! Now I have some questions / concerns.

[capoeirista13]

OK so last night I made my first mead ever using 10 lbs Blueberry Honey, 2 lbs Blueberries, 1 tsp Irish Moss, 5 tsp Yeast Nutrient, 2 5g packs of Lalvin D-47 yeast, and 4 gallons of water overall.

I wanted to start last week but realized that I couldn't due to some complications, so I froze the 2 lbs of blueberries that I bought after I had rinsed them off with water. Will this have any noticeable ill-effect on the mead?

So the day before I started I cleaned out a few pots w/ detergent and a LOT of scalding hot water, then boiled 3 gal. of water in them. I then put the boiling water into the fridge, it took somewhere around 11 hours to really cool down, and actually made the rest of the stuff in my fridge warmer, a lesson learned. The water was not in any kind of airtight vessel, but in the pots I cooked the water in, with the lids on, is this OK?

Before I got started I cleaned all of my equipment (big spoon, little spoon, thermometer, hydrometer, pots, primary fermenter, probably other stuff I am forgetting) with detergent / water. But for the pot where I was making the must, and the primary fermenter, I also scrubbed them down with Baking Soda and then rinsed them out with a lot of hot water.

So then I started my mead-making with the directions from The Compleat Meadmaker, which I found to be a GREAT resource, just like this forum (thanks for all the help you guys have given me so far! :notworthy That is, I boiled about a 1.125 gallons of water (added a little bit extra b/c some evaporated while boiling the initial 3 gallons used for chilling). When the water had 'boiled vigorously' for about 10 minutes I turned the heat off and poured in a lot of the honey, and then put some hot water in the honey jar and swished it around to get the dregs of the honey out. At the same time I added the Irish Moss and Yeast Nutrient. I stirred this mixture for about 10 minutes on a low heat to keep it above 150o F.

So I am curious is this the boiling method of the Pasteurizing method?

Also, I read in many many places that 'scum will rise to the top' and that said scum should be scraped off. However, during this entire process, nothing came to the top of the mixture but a small amount of white froth which I discounted as bubbles from the stirring. I did not scrape these bubbles away, thinking they were merely bubbles. Were these bubbles the scum, did I do something wrong?

After 10 minutes I poured the 3 gallons of refrigerated water into the primary, and on top of that I poured the must (tried to splash it around as much as possible without losing any), which I stirred for about another 10 minutes. At this point I heated up some water (microwaved for 15 seconds) in a small bowl, and when it was warm but not hot I added the yeast and stirred lightly to make sure it didn't clump together until it was a uniform solution of yeast and warm water. Then when the mixture in the primary was warm, but not hot, I added the blueberries, then shortly afterwards I added the yeast. The yeast were in their original water hydration bowl for only a few minutes, maybe around 2-3 minutes. Is this enough time?

After that I stirred some more for a few minutes and closed the lid tightly, pressing down hard making sure it was clicking, which I assume means it became airtight. At this point I put in the rubber stopper, and put the airlock into that. I pushed the airlock down as far as I could as gently as I could because I felt like it would break. It seemed airtight to me. Then I filled the airlock with roughly a shot of vodka and transported the primary from my kitchen to my basement. I went to check on it about 30 minutes later and half of my vodka was gone! There was some residue on the inside of the lock which leads me to believe that it evaporated. I also read that vodka evaporates faster than water, especially when you give it a quick temperature change like I did (warm kitchen to cool basement). Does this sound right?

This was all done and completed by around 1:15 AM, at which point I went to sleep. I woke up and checked on it before I went to work this morning around 7:20 AM and it was bubbling in the airlock.

So I was wondering how long should I leave it in the primary?

What are the effects of leaving it in the primary with the fruit for more or less time?

Should I open up the primary to stir it throughout the coming week?

Also how the heck do you use a hydrometer? I just stuck it in the primary after I finished stirring for the final time (after I added the yeast) and it was floating at the number 80, which was right next to the number 11, which was also equivalent to the number 20 on the other side of the hydrometer, and I don't know what any of this means. Helps please ????

 

[Tyred]

Sounds like the wort is fermenting nicely. Lots of questions tho and I won't be able to answer them all sadly. But I'll do what I can.

Questions answered or not answered in order of appearance of question marks.

Cooling water in the fridge. Probably not best without an airtight container as when the hot water cools it will suck air in around the lid. It might contaminate the water, then again it may not. Airtight will be safer.

Pasteurizing - Never done it this way. No comment.

Bubbles/scum - Same as above. I don't heat my wort as I believe that it will drive off aromatics.

Hydration of yeast - 3-4 minutes is very sort time. From memory around 10 minutes in room temperature water.

Vodka will evaporate when temperature rises, not drops. What is more likely is that it got 'sucked' back into the fermenter.

Amount of time for fruit in primary - 4 weeks (?) I've been using 4 weeks for primary, 3 months secondary, 6 months (when I remember) bottle.

Amount of time for fruit in primary - Unsure. Possibly less aromatics, less colour.

Opening to stir - Maybe early on, but personally I would recommend against it. Once there is a cover of CO2 over the wort I would rather not touch it.

Hydrometer use - I'll have to find mine to see what you are talking about. I'll see if I can find it later.

 

[Brad Dahlhofer]

OK so last night I made my first mead ever using 10 lbs Blueberry Honey, 2 lbs Blueberries, 1 tsp Irish Moss, 5 tsp Yeast Nutrient, 2 5g packs of Lalvin D-47 yeast, and 4 gallons of water overall.

I wanted to start last week but realized that I couldn't due to some complications, so I froze the 2 lbs of blueberries that I bought after I had rinsed them off with water. Will this have any noticeable ill-effect on the mead?

So the day before I started I cleaned out a few pots w/ detergent and a LOT of scalding hot water, then boiled 3 gal. of water in them. I then put the boiling water into the fridge, it took somewhere around 11 hours to really cool down, and actually made the rest of the stuff in my fridge warmer, a lesson learned. The water was not in any kind of airtight vessel, but in the pots I cooked the water in, with the lids on, is this OK?

Before I got started I cleaned all of my equipment (big spoon, little spoon, thermometer, hydrometer, pots, primary fermenter, probably other stuff I am forgetting) with detergent / water. But for the pot where I was making the must, and the primary fermenter, I also scrubbed them down with Baking Soda and then rinsed them out with a lot of hot water.

So then I started my mead-making with the directions from The Compleat Meadmaker, which I found to be a GREAT resource, just like this forum (thanks for all the help you guys have given me so far! :notworthy That is, I boiled about a 1.125 gallons of water (added a little bit extra b/c some evaporated while boiling the initial 3 gallons used for chilling). When the water had 'boiled vigorously' for about 10 minutes I turned the heat off and poured in a lot of the honey, and then put some hot water in the honey jar and swished it around to get the dregs of the honey out. At the same time I added the Irish Moss and Yeast Nutrient. I stirred this mixture for about 10 minutes on a low heat to keep it above 150o F.

So I am curious is this the boiling method of the Pasteurizing method?

This is called the pasteurizing method. But I'm confused as to how you gathered that this is the method recommended in the Compleat Meadmaker. Ken mentions that this is an acceptable method, but goes to great lengths to explain that as long as things are kept sanitary, there should be no need to heat or boil the honey prior to fermentation. I think you'll find that your mead making days go a lot quicker if you avoid this step. One thing CAN be said for pre-boiling your water. If you're in a municipality that adds chlorine to the water, the boiling will evaporate it out. This won't work with chloromines though.

Also, I read in many many places that 'scum will rise to the top' and that said scum should be scraped off. However, during this entire process, nothing came to the top of the mixture but a small amount of white froth which I discounted as bubbles from the stirring. I did not scrape these bubbles away, thinking they were merely bubbles. Were these bubbles the scum, did I do something wrong?

Nope, as I said above, there is no need to heat the honey. When using the no-heat method, this step is completely eliminated anyway.

After 10 minutes I poured the 3 gallons of refrigerated water into the primary, and on top of that I poured the must (tried to splash it around as much as possible without losing any), which I stirred for about another 10 minutes. At this point I heated up some water (microwaved for 15 seconds) in a small bowl, and when it was warm but not hot I added the yeast and stirred lightly to make sure it didn't clump together until it was a uniform solution of yeast and warm water. Then when the mixture in the primary was warm, but not hot, I added the blueberries, then shortly afterwards I added the yeast. The yeast were in their original water hydration bowl for only a few minutes, maybe around 2-3 minutes. Is this enough time?

As per the mfg. instructions, yeast should be re hydrated for about 15 minutes in water that is 102 deg F. Ideally though, you should use GoFerm yeast rehydration nutrient when preparing yeast for mead musts. Add the GoFerm in quantities of 1.25 times the weight of the yeast to water that is 110 deg F. When the mixture has dropped to 102 F, add the yeast, but do not mix. Wait 15 minutes, then mix the yeast. Pitch when the must and yeast starter are within 10 deg F of each other. The must should be cooler than 80 deg F.

After that I stirred some more for a few minutes and closed the lid tightly, pressing down hard making sure it was clicking, which I assume means it became airtight. At this point I put in the rubber stopper, and put the airlock into that. I pushed the airlock down as far as I could as gently as I could because I felt like it would break. It seemed airtight to me. Then I filled the airlock with roughly a shot of vodka and transported the primary from my kitchen to my basement. I went to check on it about 30 minutes later and half of my vodka was gone! There was some residue on the inside of the lock which leads me to believe that it evaporated. I also read that vodka evaporates faster than water, especially when you give it a quick temperature change like I did (warm kitchen to cool basement). Does this sound right?

It sounds like your must was still significantly warmer than the ambient temps in your basement. When it cooled down, a vacuum was created in the airspace and sucked in the vodka.

This was all done and completed by around 1:15 AM, at which point I went to sleep. I woke up and checked on it before I went to work this morning around 7:20 AM and it was bubbling in the airlock.

So I was wondering how long should I leave it in the primary?

Leave it in the primary until it is done fermenting. You'll know this by checking the specific gravity of the must from time to time.

What are the effects of leaving it in the primary with the fruit for more or less time?

More or less sugar/tannin extraction.

Should I open up the primary to stir it throughout the coming week?

Yes. It's good to aerate the must as long as the yeast is still in an aerobic state. During aerobic fermentation, the yeast continue to multiply (which is a good thing). Continue aerating once/twice a day until approx. 1/3 of all the sugar you expect the yeast to consume has been attenuated. This calc is pretty simple. Take the Original Gravity - Expected Final Gravity (this is based on the yeasts alcohol tolerance) = Total Gravity to be Consumed. Take 1/3 of that number and subtract it from the Original Gravity and that's your 1/3 sugar break. You'll see many posts regarding this number scattered among the postings of this board. Also, don't forget to feed your yeast the nutrients they need.

Also how the heck do you use a hydrometer? I just stuck it in the primary after I finished stirring for the final time (after I added the yeast) and it was floating at the number 80, which was right next to the number 11, which was also equivalent to the number 20 on the other side of the hydrometer, and I don't know what any of this means. Helps please ????

The hydrometer section you should be most concerned with is the part that has readings of 0.9xx - 1.1xx. That is where you read the Specific Gravity. The other part you'll need to check is the Potential Alcohol. If your must has a starting gravity (SG) of X.XXX, you can turn the hydrometer to see what the potential alcohol level is at that SG. Then, you can find your expected final gravity by subtracting the yeasts alcohol tolerance from the Potential Alcohol. Look for the number you get on the hydrometer (under Potential Alcohol), and then note the SG at that number. That's your expected Final Gravity. If the number is too high, or too low. Adjust your Original Gravity (add more honey or water) until you get to a number that will give you the desired final gravity. If this seems complicated, don't worry. It gets easy after a while. Just don't give up, be patient. And give yourself time to figure out the numbers before you start mixing the honey and water together. In the (slightly modified) words of Charlie Papazien, "relax, don't worry, have a mead!"

 

[capoeirista13]

Ah, the mead was a bit along by the time I saw this post, but it seems to be coming along nicely. Still, I was not sure of some of the things I asked here until I saw your answers. Thank you for such a complete and thorough response it helped me to understand the process a bit more and, I am hoping, it will help me on my next mead as well.