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Question from a complete newbee

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Bec

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 25, 2014
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Out of pure curiosity and with no prior mead making experience, I have done the following:

Boiled about 1/3 of a cup of honey with 750ml of water for 5 minutes.
Activated an old pack of dry bread yeast (about a flat tablespoon) with a little warm water and sugar until it was frothy.
Put the cooled honey/water combo and yeast into a sterilised 750ml wine bottle and then put a balloon with pin pricks in it over the top to seal the bottle.

The yeast seems to be working as there is a lot of bubble action even hours later and the balloon is full of air (not fully inflated - just standing upright full of air) and if I push the air out through the pin holes it keeps filling up with air again.

If I just leave it as is for about two months without touching it or doing anything will I end up with alcoholic drinkable mead?

I know this is rudimentary but I'm genuinely curious as to whether a one step method this simple would actually work.

At this very early stage it smells a bit like sweet beer.


Thanks in advance for any advice and insight.
 
You will end up with a dry hydromel in the 5% range. As far as drinkable timeframe, I really couldn't guess. It will probably be very thin tasting. I usually use 2-3x the honey you used.

Better brewing through science!
 
It's no too late to make something a little more drinkable... just add more honey. If you have to remove a volume of must in order to get it in there don't worry...at least another 2/3 to a full cup of honey as iloverose suggested will help. In addition if you throw three raisins in there and a couple of thin slivers of orange, just a wedge or two small enough to fit through the neck of the bottle, you will have a rudimentary JAOM. Which will have a better chance of being drinkable in two months. You will also have an indicator to let you know it's done. When the fruit drops to the bottom in 8 to 10 weeks, it's done.
 
Thanks guys. It's still bubbling away like crazy some 17 hours later.

I had a feeling I might need to use more honey. I'm going to do a second bottle with a lot more honey and the fruit as well as some fresher yeast.

Again, thank you.
 
Check out the JAOM recipe. You will love it.


Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now. G
 
mannye said:
It's no too late to make something a little more drinkable... just add more honey. If you have to remove a volume of must in order to get it in there don't worry...at least another 2/3 to a full cup of honey as iloverose suggested will help. In addition if you throw three raisins in there and a couple of thin slivers of orange, just a wedge or two small enough to fit through the neck of the bottle, you will have a rudimentary JAOM. Which will have a better chance of being drinkable in two months. You will also have an indicator to let you know it's done. When the fruit drops to the bottom in 8 to 10 weeks, it's done.
Click to expand...

Have just done a second bottle.

Recycled/sterilised 750ml wine bottle.
500g honey boiled with 150ml water for ten minutes.
1 pack (about a tablespoon) of dry bread yeast with 100ml warm water until frothy.
Once the honey/water combo was cooled I siphoned it into the bottle with the yeast, 2 x slivers of orange (including peel) and 5 sultanas (did't have any raisins).
Capped off with a balloon with pin pricks in it.
It didn't start bubbling at first and I thought it may be because of the thicker mix of honey, so I sat it in a sink of warm water for a couple of minutes and all of a sudden there was major bubbling and the balloon is inflating!

It it looks ok in two months I'm going to try a bit.
 
Also, can someone please explain to me in laymans terms what a sugar break is? I've searched only to find a lot of references to it but no explanations as to what it actually is/means. Thanks.
 
If your original gravity is 1.120 you divide the points above 1.000 into 3 so the 1/3 sugar break will be a gravity of 1.080 and the 2/3 sugar break will be a gravity of 1.040.
 
Thanks, but I'm asking what a sugar break actually is. Not how to calculate it.
 
Well as far as I know it's just a reading. Not an actual break like one who is accustomed to all grain brewing would be looking for. It's when 1/3 and. 2/3 of the fermentable sugar in your mead has been gobbled up which you determine from doing math on your readings.

Unless of course, I've been doing it wrong. Which is entirely possible. To be frank, I often just go with "it's been 48 hours...time to feed the mead!" And it's worked ok. But I also do the measuring thing often.


Sent from my galafreyan transdimensional communicator 100 years from now. G
 
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