Greetings!
I've been lurking for about 3 weeks (just about 1 week before I started my first new batch in a long time) but just joined the site yesterday. Really like the site so far, all the users seem to be reasonable people!
A bit about me: I started off roughly 18 years ago as mainly a beer brewer, with the occasional batch of mead thrown in to shake things up a bit. My beers always turned out pretty good, I even got an AHA award or two along the way! My meads were also quite satisfying, though I never could bring myself to part with a bottle or two for judging purposes.
I drifted away from all things brewing about 10 years ago (a time that roughly coincides with the birth of my daughter; hmmm, I wonder if there's a connection?)
I recently had my interest in mead rekindled by the fortuitous discovery of a fairly low cost supplier of honey. My first batch in many a year was a very basic 'pure' mead. I have never been all that hung up on the details of brewing, but I'll try to get the specifics of the recipe here:
5 lbs clover honey
6 liters spring water (bottled)
1 and 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient
1 and 1/2 tsp of yeast energizer
1/2 packet of Lavlin EC-1118 yeast
I put the water and the honey in my old brewpot and brought it up to 160 degrees F and held there for 15 minutes to pastuerize the must. From there, I put the whole shebang into my 2 gallon plastic bucket fermenter and put it in an ice water bath to bring the temp down to pitching temperature. When the must was down to ~72 degrees, I rehydrated the yeast in 2 cups of 100 degree water for 15 minutes before pitching. The end result was very close to, if not exactly 2 gallons of must. I didn't take a gravity reading before fermentation; because as I said before, I don't sweat the details. I fermented in the primary for 2 weeks, and then racked to secondary. Primary and secondary fermentation temperatures have been in the 70-72 F range. I put the bulk of the mead into a couple of clear containers, plus one full Grolsch swing-top bottle for evaluation purposes. I cracked the top on the Grolsch bottle after six hours and there was no 'pop' that would indicate pressure, so I'm judging fermentation to be done. However, the mead is still cloudy as all get out, so (drumroll please) I'll ask the question that I hinted at in my subject line: How soon can I expect this formulation to clear? And is there anything I can do at this point to encourage it to clear more quickly?
I'd like for a pint bottle or two to be cleared up for my wife's birthday, which is in mid-March. I realize that it will still be pretty 'raw' at that time, but my wife is a real fan and I don't want to disappoint!
Thanks in advance for any and all help and guidance.
PM
I've been lurking for about 3 weeks (just about 1 week before I started my first new batch in a long time) but just joined the site yesterday. Really like the site so far, all the users seem to be reasonable people!
A bit about me: I started off roughly 18 years ago as mainly a beer brewer, with the occasional batch of mead thrown in to shake things up a bit. My beers always turned out pretty good, I even got an AHA award or two along the way! My meads were also quite satisfying, though I never could bring myself to part with a bottle or two for judging purposes.
I drifted away from all things brewing about 10 years ago (a time that roughly coincides with the birth of my daughter; hmmm, I wonder if there's a connection?)I recently had my interest in mead rekindled by the fortuitous discovery of a fairly low cost supplier of honey. My first batch in many a year was a very basic 'pure' mead. I have never been all that hung up on the details of brewing, but I'll try to get the specifics of the recipe here:
5 lbs clover honey
6 liters spring water (bottled)
1 and 1/2 tsp of yeast nutrient
1 and 1/2 tsp of yeast energizer
1/2 packet of Lavlin EC-1118 yeast
I put the water and the honey in my old brewpot and brought it up to 160 degrees F and held there for 15 minutes to pastuerize the must. From there, I put the whole shebang into my 2 gallon plastic bucket fermenter and put it in an ice water bath to bring the temp down to pitching temperature. When the must was down to ~72 degrees, I rehydrated the yeast in 2 cups of 100 degree water for 15 minutes before pitching. The end result was very close to, if not exactly 2 gallons of must. I didn't take a gravity reading before fermentation; because as I said before, I don't sweat the details. I fermented in the primary for 2 weeks, and then racked to secondary. Primary and secondary fermentation temperatures have been in the 70-72 F range. I put the bulk of the mead into a couple of clear containers, plus one full Grolsch swing-top bottle for evaluation purposes. I cracked the top on the Grolsch bottle after six hours and there was no 'pop' that would indicate pressure, so I'm judging fermentation to be done. However, the mead is still cloudy as all get out, so (drumroll please) I'll ask the question that I hinted at in my subject line: How soon can I expect this formulation to clear? And is there anything I can do at this point to encourage it to clear more quickly?
I'd like for a pint bottle or two to be cleared up for my wife's birthday, which is in mid-March. I realize that it will still be pretty 'raw' at that time, but my wife is a real fan and I don't want to disappoint!
Thanks in advance for any and all help and guidance.
PM
