I wanted to do a 2-gallon mead, and was sticking to a traditional mead recipe with the plan to add spices at secondary as the urge struck me. I wanted this mead to be a still, sweet mead. Having left choice/advice of ingredients (read: yeast) up to one of the fellows at the local brew supply shop, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to wind up with a still mead - they advised me to use Windsor.
...Before I go any further, here are all the technicals so far:
8.5 gallons Orange Blossom Honey
Filled to 2 gallons with purified water
1 package Winsor Ale Yeast
2tsp Yeast Nutrient
Pitched 1600hrs, 12April2014.
OG: 1.170
Now for the parts that have me confused.
I haven't encountered overflow before, much less like this:
That amount was even higher a few days ago. You can see some deposits where it used to reach:
Regarding this, here are my questions:
1) Is overflow into the tube normal?
1a) Is that much overflow normal?
2) How am I going to deal with that when it comes time to transfer to a carboy for secondary?
Beyond the overflow, I'm curious about the implications of using Windsor yeast.
1) Will I still be able to get a still mead from this?
1a) If not, would that explain why this is still (lightly) bubbling?
2) Will I have to back-sweeten the mead, or will there be residual sugar leftover from primary?
2b) I f I have to back-sweeten, vaguely how much is recommended for attaining something between semi-sweet and sweet? (I'm not too terribly picky in this case)
I'm operating with respect for the fact that the only dumb questions are the ones left unasked.
--As an extra bit of detail, I've pretty much decided that I want to spice it in secondary with the following:
.5oz Star Anise
3-5 Saffron Threads
1 Madagascar Vanilla Bean
1oz Juniper Berries
.5oz Mace
.5oz Cloves
3oz Dried Turkish Figs (yes, I will be adding potassium sorbate with this).
Am I missing anything critical in that plan?
...Before I go any further, here are all the technicals so far:
8.5 gallons Orange Blossom Honey
Filled to 2 gallons with purified water
1 package Winsor Ale Yeast
2tsp Yeast Nutrient
Pitched 1600hrs, 12April2014.
OG: 1.170
Now for the parts that have me confused.
I haven't encountered overflow before, much less like this:
That amount was even higher a few days ago. You can see some deposits where it used to reach:
Regarding this, here are my questions:
1) Is overflow into the tube normal?
1a) Is that much overflow normal?
2) How am I going to deal with that when it comes time to transfer to a carboy for secondary?
Beyond the overflow, I'm curious about the implications of using Windsor yeast.
1) Will I still be able to get a still mead from this?
1a) If not, would that explain why this is still (lightly) bubbling?
2) Will I have to back-sweeten the mead, or will there be residual sugar leftover from primary?
2b) I f I have to back-sweeten, vaguely how much is recommended for attaining something between semi-sweet and sweet? (I'm not too terribly picky in this case)
I'm operating with respect for the fact that the only dumb questions are the ones left unasked.
--As an extra bit of detail, I've pretty much decided that I want to spice it in secondary with the following:
.5oz Star Anise
3-5 Saffron Threads
1 Madagascar Vanilla Bean
1oz Juniper Berries
.5oz Mace
.5oz Cloves
3oz Dried Turkish Figs (yes, I will be adding potassium sorbate with this).
Am I missing anything critical in that plan?