Hello all, I'm looking to get into the mead making world. Ive done some research and want to give it a shot! Ive created a list of ingredients/measurements and have instructions that I pulled from BatchBuildr as well as a few other sites. Here's what I'm planning on doing, would love any feedback or recommendations.
Ingredients:
Water
4.88lb Honey
25g Juniper berries
1x5g pack Lalvin EC-1118
6.25g Go-Ferm
5.8g Fermaid
Strawberry Juice/Honey mixture for back-sweetening
Instructions:
1. Clean and sanitize everything that will come into contact with your must.
2. Dissolve honey in small amount of water and add juniper berries(leave room to add additional water to reach batch volume).
3. Add water to your batch volume minus volume for rehydration.
4. Aerate the must with a drill stirrer or shake/stir vigorously for 15 minutes.
5. Rehydrate, temper and pitch yeast per Go-Ferm rehydration instructions below.
6. Record specific gravity and temperature for future reference.
7. Apply airlock. Ferment per your yeast temperature specs. Low 60 deg F is sufficient for most wine yeasts.
8. Degas twice per day for first week of fermentation.
9. Dose nutrients per nutrient protocol instructions below.
10. Rack when yeast is done fermenting, as evidenced by no drop in SG for two full weeks. Also rack within 3 weeks of sediment layer forming on the bottom of an aging vessel to avoid sur lie or autolysis flavors.
11. When mead clears, bottle and enjoy. After 2-3 months, mead should be ready to drink.
Go-Ferm Rehydration Procedure
For 1 packet(s) yeast, dissolve 6.25g of Go-Ferm Protect in 125mL hot water (the hotter the better). The warmer the water, the easier it will be to dissolve the Go-Ferm.
When the water reaches 104 deg F (40 deg C), pour in your yeast. Give the slurry a quick swirl. After 15 minutes, begin tempering yeast by adding 63mL must to the yeast slurry every 5 minutes.When yeast slurry temperature is within 10 deg F of must temperature, pitch yeast into fermenter.
Fermaid O (TOSNA) Nutrient Protocol
The total amount of Fermaid O that will be added to your must is 5.8g. The nutrients will be divided into 4 staggered nutrient additions. To avoid mead eruption accidents, degas must and dissolve yeast nutrient doses in 1 cup must prior to adding to the fermenter.
At 24, 48, and 72 hours after you pitch your yeast, add 1.5g of Fermaid O to your must.
When the must reaches the 1/3 sugar break (1/3 of all available sugars are consumed, i.e. 1.120 starting gravity reaches 1.080 or 21 Brix reaches 14 Brix), but no later than 7 days after yeast pitch, add the last dose of 1.3g of Fermaid O.
Back-sweetening:
1. Add 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon of mead/cider and and stir to halt fermentation.
2. After at least 24 hours, additional sugar (im thinking of using a mixture of fresh strawberry juice and honey) can be added to the mead without the risk of fermentation.
3. Add the sugar* of your choosing in small increments, thoroughly stirring, and then testing until the desired sweetness is obtained.
Ingredients:
Water
4.88lb Honey
25g Juniper berries
1x5g pack Lalvin EC-1118
6.25g Go-Ferm
5.8g Fermaid
Strawberry Juice/Honey mixture for back-sweetening
Instructions:
1. Clean and sanitize everything that will come into contact with your must.
2. Dissolve honey in small amount of water and add juniper berries(leave room to add additional water to reach batch volume).
3. Add water to your batch volume minus volume for rehydration.
4. Aerate the must with a drill stirrer or shake/stir vigorously for 15 minutes.
5. Rehydrate, temper and pitch yeast per Go-Ferm rehydration instructions below.
6. Record specific gravity and temperature for future reference.
7. Apply airlock. Ferment per your yeast temperature specs. Low 60 deg F is sufficient for most wine yeasts.
8. Degas twice per day for first week of fermentation.
9. Dose nutrients per nutrient protocol instructions below.
10. Rack when yeast is done fermenting, as evidenced by no drop in SG for two full weeks. Also rack within 3 weeks of sediment layer forming on the bottom of an aging vessel to avoid sur lie or autolysis flavors.
11. When mead clears, bottle and enjoy. After 2-3 months, mead should be ready to drink.
Go-Ferm Rehydration Procedure
For 1 packet(s) yeast, dissolve 6.25g of Go-Ferm Protect in 125mL hot water (the hotter the better). The warmer the water, the easier it will be to dissolve the Go-Ferm.
When the water reaches 104 deg F (40 deg C), pour in your yeast. Give the slurry a quick swirl. After 15 minutes, begin tempering yeast by adding 63mL must to the yeast slurry every 5 minutes.When yeast slurry temperature is within 10 deg F of must temperature, pitch yeast into fermenter.
Fermaid O (TOSNA) Nutrient Protocol
The total amount of Fermaid O that will be added to your must is 5.8g. The nutrients will be divided into 4 staggered nutrient additions. To avoid mead eruption accidents, degas must and dissolve yeast nutrient doses in 1 cup must prior to adding to the fermenter.
At 24, 48, and 72 hours after you pitch your yeast, add 1.5g of Fermaid O to your must.
When the must reaches the 1/3 sugar break (1/3 of all available sugars are consumed, i.e. 1.120 starting gravity reaches 1.080 or 21 Brix reaches 14 Brix), but no later than 7 days after yeast pitch, add the last dose of 1.3g of Fermaid O.
Back-sweetening:
1. Add 1/2 teaspoon of potassium sorbate per gallon of mead/cider and and stir to halt fermentation.
2. After at least 24 hours, additional sugar (im thinking of using a mixture of fresh strawberry juice and honey) can be added to the mead without the risk of fermentation.
3. Add the sugar* of your choosing in small increments, thoroughly stirring, and then testing until the desired sweetness is obtained.
