Someone let another Newbee in...

[laurie_gator]

Hello everyone!

I am really glad I found this group! This seems like a great bunch of folks with a ton of experience. Just what a new mead brewer needs!

First, I have a couple of questions:

1. I noticed in the archives that there aren't many fans of using RO water for their mead. Unfortunately, I live out in the middle of the desert and the water out here tastes like crap. Even with a water filter on it, it still tastes awful. We put an RO filter system on the house to make the stuff drinkable. Other than the missing minerals, how will this affect the taste of the mead?

2. I was wondering if the SCA recipes all require cooking or if it was just the recipe that I used for my first batch? Are there a lot of SCA folks in the group?

3. Is Iodophor safe for septic systems? I got a small bottle of Star San with my kit and took a look at the ingredients and thought that it may not be the best sanitizer to be dumping down the drain...

I am currently reading "The Compleat Meadmaker" and trying to absorb as much from this forum as I can. So far, I have found a few of the boo-boos I have made with the first batch but nothing that couldn't be fixed (other than cooking it). I am writing this as I am waiting for my stirrer, airlock and stopper to sterlize so I can aerate the batch today.

Here is the recipe that I used (a 2.5 month quick mead recipe from my class):

6 peeled oranges (valencia)
2 cinnamon sticks
7.5 lbs orange blossom honey
80g Wyeast for sweet mead
RO water (to fill 3 gallons)

I cooked the mixture on the stove (using 1.5 gallons of water) at 180 degrees for 45 mins. I cooled the mixture to 90 degrees. I added a gallon of water to the 3 gallon glass carboy, strained the mixture through cheesecloth and a strainer into the carboy and added water up to the top "line" on the carboy (left about 3 - 4 inches clearance up to the neck of the carboy). I measured out 80g of the yeasties and put those into the carboy, added some water to rinse out the sterilized cup then put the airlock on it and put it into the shower in the guest bathroom (that we never use...). The guest bathroom is the only spot in the house that doesn't have sunlight coming in and is the coolest spot in the house. After making the concoction, I found this site and read a lot.

The next day, I went back to the local brew store and picked up some fermaidK and a lees stirrer. I added the fermaid after I did a 5 minute aeration last night and switched out the airlock. I am about to do another aeration on it this morning and another one this evening. No, I didn't take a hydrometer reading because silly me, I didn't get a cylinder big enough to hold the hydrometer nor did I remember the wine thief when I was at the brew store... I plan to wait until the fermentation slows down to start to take readings to see when I need to move the brew over to the other glass carboy.

So now that I have a little time on my hands, I am doing more research to figure out what my big mistakes were from this batch and try to make the next batch correctly. So far, I have the cooking, the wyeast, no initial hydrometer reading and not enough aeration on the second day. That is what I love about doing this is that I can learn from batch to batch and apply the learnings on each new batch :BangHead: I got into this hobby through SCA, I took a class on beginning meadmaking and thought "Hey, this is cool!" I am a bartender from way back when and love to make wacky drinks and sangrias so brewing my own mead seemed like a very logical next step. Dad brewed wine when we were kids and I remember the glass carboy with the balloon under the stairs in the basement many times. (Yes, there will be a special batch of mead brewed in honor of him bearing the name "Rotten Old Tennis Shoe" sometime in the future).

Thanks again for the forum and the great information. I am going to have a blast.
Laurie

 

[sandman]

Hi Laurie!! Welcome to GotMead?!! You'll find no end of great information around the site to help you in your meadmaking. Signing on as a Patron right out of the gate was probably your best bet to get to the choicest information straight away.

I don't see anything REALLY wrong with using RO water in your meads. Our water out here in the PHX is fairly nasty as well. I get the water for my meads via my RO system. I know distilled is a no-no though. Natural spring water might be worth trying at some point, but I've had good results so far just going with my RO system.

If you're still at the "What do I try now" stage, I'd suggest something simple like a batch of JAO. It's about as foolproof as you can get while you're still learning the intricacies of some of the more complicated recipes and techniques.

I've never cooked any of my musts to date and I doubt I will. I've read too many positive opinions for the no-heat method to go any other route. I've warmed my must to assist in dissolving the honey, but never to the point that it could really be considered hot.

 

[Medsen Fey]

Welcome to GotMead? laurie_gator!

In answer to your question about the septic system, iodophor should be okay. In the amounts that we use it for sanitizing, and given the relatively low concentrations, it will rapidly be diluted and inactivated in a septic tank.

Good Meading!
Medsen

 

[wayneb]

Welcome to "GotMead?" Laurie!! Addressing your questions in order:

1) Reverse Osmosis water does remove many desirable minerals along with all the funky flavored gunk. Still, I agree with Sandman; if your water tastes like GACKK right out of the tap, then RO water is better than tap water, and also better than distilled. To help your yeast along in their fermentation odyssey, you might want to add back some of the minerals that the RO treatment removes, but that could be accomplished with a small addition of brewing salts. Not much, and certainly not the levels that they recommend for beer. I'd start with about a 1/4 teaspoon, and see how that works for you. NOTE: In general, the minerals in brewing salts are NOT required for mead musts made with common tap or well water. It is only in the special case where you are working with water virtually devoid of other minerals that I'd suggest this addition.

2) There are a lot of SCA'ers in the forum! There are even more past-SCA members, like me, who have decided that so-called "period" recipes really arent -- period, that is. And unless you can find the kind of raw honey common in the middle ages and despite the challenges inherent with it you still want to use it -- i.e. a skep hive that you've decided to hurl into your brew pot, bees and all -- or a section of hollowed out log that you've found that contains both live bees and a honeycomb, the boiling is entirely unnecessary.

3) Both Iodophor and Star-San are perfectly safe for septic systems when used in standard dilution, after they get further diluted in the typical septic system. I have been using Star San for several years with our septic system, and it is perfectly fine! In fact, I prefer the Star-San because it is naturally biodegradable, and in the vastly diluted form that it enters your septic tank, it actually provides nutrients (potassium and phosphorous) that are useful by the microorganisms that allow your system to work. It is only when Star San is relatively concentrated (and at a relatively low pH) that it has appreciable antimicrobial action. Iodophor, on the other hand, can stain porous surfaces if accidentally spilled on them in the concentrated, undiluted form. That's why I use Star-San.

As far as your first batch is concerned, I think you've already pegged the things that you might want to do different next time. The good news is that you will still likely get a very drinkable mead from the batch that you have going, "mistakes" notwithstanding! Good luck with it, and let us all know how it comes out.

:cheers:

 

[Oskaar]

Just a coupla quick addons to Wayne's post.

1. With RO H2O add about 5g of Epsom Salts and about 2g of DAP to the must prior to pitching. Check your pH as well before you hit it with the yeast. Use Lallemand yeast for your first few batches and rehydrate as per spec. Follow with good aeration and nutrient dosing. Remember to spindle fold and mutilate wherever possible . . . Two wrongs don't make a right . . . . three do.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[laurie_gator]

Thank you for all of the great info...

Oskaar - the epsom salt and DAP amount is per gallon, right?

Sandman, I am down south of you between Maricopa and Casa Grande...

Another question, if I am going to increase a recipe from 1 gallon to 3 gallons, do I increase all ingredients by 3x or are there ingredients that are not proportionally increased? I am wondering for future batches. I found some great recipes that are in 1 gallon batches that may be wonderful at 1 gallon and I may want to increase to 3, 5 or 6 gallons. I may also want to take a 3 or 5 gallon recipe down to a 1 gallon recipe to experiment with one or more of the recipe variables.

While I am waiting and learning, I am going to try the JAO. I got 4 gallon sized glass jugs and I am going to try 2 gallons with Orange Blossom Honey and 2 gallons with Desert Blossom Honey to see how the different types of honey affect the taste with all other ingredients being the same. I figured I can re-use the 1 gallon jugs later to experiment with smaller batch recipes. There is a possibility my son will be home this weekend from the Navy (he is currently stationed in San Diego) and it would be fun to get him in on this fun. I am sure he will be able to use the JAO at some point in his military career, LOL!!!

 

[Oskaar]

....snip....Oskaar - the epsom salt and DAP amount is per gallon, right?....snip....

That's actually total addition for a five gallon batch into the must prior to pitch.

Another question, if I am going to increase a recipe from 1 gallon to 3 gallons, do I increase all ingredients by 3x or are there ingredients that are not proportionally increased? I am wondering for future batches. I found some great recipes that are in 1 gallon batches that may be wonderful at 1 gallon and I may want to increase to 3, 5 or 6 gallons. I may also want to take a 3 or 5 gallon recipe down to a 1 gallon recipe to experiment with one or more of the recipe variables.

Yeah, pretty much. The only thing I would not increase proportionally are spices. Look for total influence from the spices as opposed to per gallon additions. Spices vary widely in their strength especially if you're buying them from a super market or grocery rather than from a spice merchant. [/quote]

While I am waiting and learning, I am going to try the JAO. I got 4 gallon sized glass jugs and I am going to try 2 gallons with Orange Blossom Honey and 2 gallons with Desert Blossom Honey to see how the different types of honey affect the taste with all other ingredients being the same. I figured I can re-use the 1 gallon jugs later to experiment with smaller batch recipes. There is a possibility my son will be home this weekend from the Navy (he is currently stationed in San Diego) and it would be fun to get him in on this fun. I am sure he will be able to use the JAO at some point in his military career, LOL!!!

If he's down in Dego (lol) tell him to pop across the border and bring you back some shrimp, limoncitos and tortillas from ole Meh-HEE-koh. Nothing like some real tortillas, barbecued shrimp with some fresh limoncito squeezed over the top! Mmmmm, now thats eatin!

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[Medsen Fey]

In answer to your question about the septic system, iodophor should be okay.

This is the reply from the manufacturer of BTF Iodophor in case you want it from the source:

Thank you for using our product. Iodophor will not harm the septic
tank. Just make sure that you dilute it with water when disposing of
it. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely
Sharon Schmalzriedt
Office Manager
National Chemicals, Inc.
800-533-0027