newbie/learner with dumb Q?

[motts]

Hiya, I didn't want to poach anyone else's thread. I'm just trying to learn to make my own mead - as I've had enough of lining everyone else's pockets! Similar probs to many others I think - after I racked my mead the bubbling stopped over a couple of weeks, as did the foam on the top. I used the hydrometer (for the first time) today, and it was reading 4 .... the mead is as clear as mud, but it tastes nice - albiet very young, it's only about a month old at the moment. Problem is, it's very hot here in New Zealand at the moment, although the temp where I have the carboy's is a max of 24 degrees C - so I'm hoping the yeast hasn't died on me. There is a nice creamy layer on the bottom...but nothings happening. Should I panic or just leave it and see what happens? Sorry, this has probably been asked a 100 times before

 

[akueck]

Hi motts and welcome to GotMead!

If you can give us the recipe and process, we'll have better answers for you.

What does "4" mean on your hydrometer? Which scale is that on? Brix? Do you know where you started?

Depending on where you started, the yeast you used, etc etc you might be done. Nothing to do now but guess, let us know about that recipe & process.

 

[chams]

Hi, I'm a fairly new mead maker myself, although I have made several wines.
If you have a hydrometer, it would be wise to take a measurement before you pitch your yeast. Then you can calculate your finishing sugar levels and therefore your ABV (alcohol percentage).

At any rate, take an hydrometer reading now. This will tell you if you have remaining sugars.
What yeast did you use? Different yeast strains have different alcohol tolerences, among other qualities.

Answers to these questions can help the very knowledgeable people here besides me answer your questions.

The newbie guide helped me get on my way. It's here:
http://www.gotmead.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=14

 

[motts]

cheers for the quick replies - after a bit of browsing I think I put this in the wrong section anyway! I 'attempted' to make Trojinak, using 'bush honey', I boiled the water, then added the honey, let it cool and added the activated yeast -10 here in NZ we don't have much choice in yeasts, the only one I can get is an all rounder for wines and meads. I added nutrient and energizer too - it all seemed to be going well in the beginning. The hydrometer I've got is my grandad's so it's an oldie. The measurements are between zero and 60 which I assume is '6' - I was a dumby and didn't test it out in the beginning. So now I'm panicking that I've ruined it, I tested it and it read 40 or I assume '4' - and no, I've never brewed anything in my life, so you can't get much more of a newbie I'm afraid (just sick of paying $25 for 750ml of mead!).....

 

[akueck]

0 to 60. Hmm, that's an odd scale. Too wide for Brix. What does it say if you drop it in plain water? How about apple juice?

How much honey & water did you use? We can guess the starting point if we know that. How much nutrient & when did you add it?

Definitely take a look at the NewBee guide (link at left). Also check out recipes for quick & easy meads. There is a section for quick mead on the main site (under the recipe section). Also search on the forum for JAO, there are thousands of posts worth of information on that one recipe alone.

 

[Chevette Girl]

Don't sweat it. Judging from the amount of time, your yeast has probably done about all it wants to do. Some fermentations are only really active for a couple days or a week or two before most of the bubbling and foaming dies down, just because it's mead doesn't mean it has to bubble along for months.

But if you could let us know your recipe, (especially the amount of honey and water), we can show you how to run it though the mead calculator to get a rough idea how potent the stuff should be.

Higher temperatures won't generally cause your mead to stop altogether (usually it stresses the yeast into making really hot tasting fusel alcohols) but if you're worried about it, sit your carboy in a tub, put a t-shirt or something over the carboy and keep it wet, the evaporation should soak some heat out of it.

And I was going to ask what your hydrometer read in water too, but Akueck beat me to it

 

[gray]

zero to sixty... maybe a tannin hydrometer?

 

[motts]

rito - got no apple juice sorry, but in Raspberry Iced Tea it reads 20 (2?) and in water it's zero. I only made a 1 gallon batch as it was my first attempt, and I didn't want to risk ruining a huge batch - it was 1 part honey to two parts water. I put the nutrient and energizer in straight after the yeast, just before I put the airlock on. I wish I'd found this site earlier - I read the 'storm the castle' website, and copied their 'basic' recipie. I have another 1 gallon batch of clover honey with the same recipie brewing, it's 7 days younger than the first batch, and still happilly bubbling away, about every 20 seconds....8)

 

[gray]

addition to my last reply... a Baumé hydrometer (which the tannin hydrometer seems to be) uses degrees Bé. 40 degrees Bé is 1.384 SG (at 60 degrees fahrenheit)

quick calculator here

 

[motts]

zero to sixty... maybe a tannin hydrometer?

sounds like that could be the one (I didn't even know what they were for until I googled it!) Grandad left me a bucket of brewing gear when he died, so it's been tricky trying to work out what some of these things are for!

 

[motts]

addition to my last reply... a Baumé hydrometer (which the tannin hydrometer seems to be) uses degrees Bé. 40 degrees Bé is 1.384 SG (at 60 degrees fahrenheit)

quick calculator here

sounds pretty confusing - perhaps I might invest in a normal one

 

[Chevette Girl]

addition to my last reply... a Baumé hydrometer (which the tannin hydrometer seems to be) uses degrees Bé. 40 degrees Bé is 1.384 SG (at 60 degrees fahrenheit)

quick calculator here

Good link, Gray!

1 part honey to 2 parts water is approximately what my JAO's work out to so the starting SG should be in the neighbourhood of 1.125, which would be around 16-17 Bé if that's what the scale actually is, unless it's a beer scale and only goes up to 6.0 (around 1.143 or ~5%).

That's another thought, could you mix up enough honey with water 1:2 like your recipes to get a reading? If your hydrometer floats too high to get a reading, maybe it is set up for beer and goes from 6.0 down to 0?

and 2 is very different from 20 in Baumé... 20 is a SG of 1.160 which is pretty syrupy, and 2 would be 1.014, so it was either an artificially-sweetened raspberry iced tea or we've guessed altogether wrong with the hydrometer... ;D

Well motts, at least if you have _a_ reading, you can compare it to another reading in a week and see if there's been any change, even if we're not sure what they actually mean . Does it still taste really sweet?

 

[Chevette Girl]

sounds pretty confusing - perhaps I might invest in a normal one

hehe, but we were having so much fun trying to figure your archaic equipment out!

It certainly wouldn't be a dumb idea though, they're well worth the investment and several people will advise you to get two, as they are kind of fragile and tend to break at the exact most inconvenient moment

 

[gray]

hehe, but we were having so much fun trying to figure your archaic equipment out!

Absolutely! I love researching things (geek, I know).

It certainly wouldn't be a dumb idea though, they're well worth the investment and several people will advise you to get two, as they are kind of fragile and tend to break at the exact most inconvenient moment

Definitely agree with this. I myself only have one even though I consider getting another every single time I'm at the homebrew shop. And, because I only have one, I'm constantly working in fear of shattering it. Not that I ever let that fear convince me to buy a backup one ;D


And, to not neglect the amazing tool that we have here in the Mead Calculator, you can also work in Baume right here at gotmead.com. Although the calculator and the link I provided earlier seem to differ on converted values... I may be fudging up with our calculator though.

 

[motts]

aw gawd - this is so confusing!!! Think I'll shelve the ancient hydrometer and get a new one - and some more honey so I can work out what it's supposed to be. The 'funny' mead isn't syrupy at all, it's very light, but very high in alcohol!! (what a bugga, haha) Oh, the iced tea is a 'lipton' store bought one, so I'd say it's got a fair bit of sugar in it....

 

[Medsen Fey]

Does the hydrometer have any further explanation of the markings (temperature that it is calibrated for, or any other letters)? If you'll take 20 grams of sugar and dissolve it in 180 grams of water, you'll have solution of 10 Brix (1.040 for gravity). If you'll place the hydrometer in this and tell us what it reads, we should be able to identify what scale you have.

I think it would be very cool to be able to use my Grandfather's equipment. I would cherish that opportunity.

 

[tweak'e]

hi motts

good to see another kiwi on here.
a big thing is what yeast was used?


the temps here are often ok for quite a lot of yeasts (except for the places that have been hitting the 30's), its just not all that good for flavor and certainly not good for long term storage. try and find a nice cool place for it to sit.

at a guess your mead has finished and i would rack it off into a carboy and let it age.

i've just bottled a burnt manuka/bush mead and its just like mud !

 

[kudapucat]

Like Mud? is that an apt descriptor or an exaggerated superlative?
Also Manuka? Urrgh! That stuff tastes like medicine! but YMMV to each their own.
I find too many things are described as 'tasting like mud' (like Carp, rabbit etc) which is colloquial for bad. But honestly, how does it taste?

 

[tweak'e]

well with mine you can't see through the bottle. can't even shine a torch through. tho it does look a dark goldy color on the edges. i'll try to get pics.
mind you the honey was totaly pitch black to start with.

taste, its certainly hot. tho thats kinda expected when useing a fast yeast (5 day ferment). but thats my test run, have another batch with different yeast so hoefully that won't be as hot.

i've heard a few comments that manuka makes a yuck mead. however plenty of comments from home brew that it is nice. i'm wondering if the yuck comes from a certain very flash looking commerical mead maker who'se manuka mead is absolutly revolting. (got given a bottle and my test run tastes better!)
i hope the bad taste is not honey related as i have 60kg of free manuka/bush to brew and 150kg+ of the burnt manuka to brew!

 

[motts]

Does the hydrometer have any further explanation of the markings (temperature that it is calibrated for, or any other letters)? If you'll take 20 grams of sugar and dissolve it in 180 grams of water, you'll have solution of 10 Brix (1.040 for gravity). If you'll place the hydrometer in this and tell us what it reads, we should be able to identify what scale you have.

I think it would be very cool to be able to use my Grandfather's equipment. I would cherish that opportunity.

rito - done that, 180g water and 20g sugar, it reads either 35 or 3.5? Maybe this is of some use - the hydrometer has 'diabetes' written on the side? 'H" at 20 (2?) and 'S" at 30 (3?) and the temp at 60 degrees F. ????? Perhaps it's for diabetics and reads sugar content??? BTW, I've ordered a proper 'nowdays' hydrometer too ;D