new patron 4th batch of mead.

[bailey beekeeper]

hello all.
i am a bee keeper in south east louisiana, been making mead for 2 years and just started my 4th batch of mead.
i have over 50 hives and just love both bees and mead!

batch details.
16 lbs of my dark fall honey. ( multi floral source )
1 1/2 tbsp yeast nutrient.
2 tbsp yeast energizer.
3 tbsp acid blend.
1 tsp wine tannin.
1 pack red star champagne yeast.
artesian spring water to fill 5 gallon carboy.

all 4 batches have been this recepie but i am thinking of adding some toasted pecans in the mix.
anyone ever try pecans?
if so any results would be great.
im worried that the oils in the pecans might not be a good idea.

i pitched the yeast today at 3 pm.
thanks for any feedback.
bailey

 

[slowbie]

Here is a thread that suggests racking onto pecans for a maple pecan mead.

Oskaar recommends steeping roasted nuts in some must and then racks onto it in this thread.

Both of these are possible solutions for you. Using the search tool will help you come up with more.

Good luck!

 

[bailey beekeeper]

thanks! i was wondering if primary or seccondary would be best for the pecans.
bailey

 

[akueck]

Welcome!

If you pre-soak the nuts, the oils will rise to the surface and you can skim them off or siphon the liquid from below it.

In the future you might want to skip the acid blend addition. Acid is something often added to wine (for example) to help balance the flavors, but you can do that at the end. There is no additional benefit from up-front acid additions, and you might actually cause the pH to drop too low and the yeast will complain.

 

[bailey beekeeper]

can the acid blend be omitted entirely? i have been using the ec krauss
recipie that calls for it but if thats just their way of selling acid blend
that i dont need i will not use it.
thanks!

this batch is fermenting very well this morning! very active bubbling.
i tried to stir in some oxygen but the resulting foam wont let me get this done today.
16 hours since pitching yeast. hoping this batch ferments faster than my others.
( im out of mead and the batch thats supposed to be clearing is still going very SLOW! )

bailey

 

[fatbloke]

can the acid blend be omitted entirely? i have been using the ec krauss
recipie that calls for it but if thats just their way of selling acid blend
that i dont need i will not use it.
thanks!

this batch is fermenting very well this morning! very active bubbling.
i tried to stir in some oxygen but the resulting foam wont let me get this done today.
16 hours since pitching yeast. hoping this batch ferments faster than my others.
( im out of mead and the batch thats supposed to be clearing is still going very SLOW! )

bailey

Ok, so think on it this way. If you measured the pH of the must i.e. just the honey/water mix. If it's acid/below 6.5 ph (according to some theories) then fine, it should ferment - plus given that production of gluconic acid during the ferment is why, apparently, the pH can be all over the place. Then when it's done, you can add acid to taste.

Or you just carry on doing as you have been - which is my usual method i.e. I measure pH and use a mix of 2 parts malic to 1 part tartaric to keep the pH between 3.5 and 4.5 pH, though it also means that I have to keep an eye on my ferments so that they don't drop down low enough to cause issue with the yeast.....

Either way, I suspect you'll still need to use acid somewhere in your process....

 

[Medsen Fey]

You can make award wining mead without acid additions. The acidity in honey and the acidity produced by yeast can be enough to make a pleasant drink. It depends on the honey of course.

I personally like to wait and taste it to see what I think. If it needs acid because it tastes a little flabby, I add some. I wind up adding acid the majority of the time.

 

[bailey beekeeper]

it,s been 23 hours since pitching the yeast and it is fermenting very well!


i decided to use the toasted pecan idea in the batch that i am waiting to finish. ( it is still in the secondary fermentation and has time to sit on the pecans )

this batch was started last year about this time. i allowed it to finish and then racked and allowed time to age.
i then went to bottle a month ago and found it to be BONE DRY!
i then added about 5 more pounds of honey to back sweeten and the fermentation restarted.
im hoping it will finish soon as it tasted good right after sweetning. ( glad i waited to bottle in case of restarting fermentation! )

you can bet i wont wait so long before starting another batch this time as i am out of all mead right now and am really wanting some but have to wait for the older batch to finish. ( bummer )

bailey