I have never brewed anything but I do love mead. I recently purchased two half gallon glass carboys(the largest glass my local brew shop supplies and I don't like the idea of plastic.) And I was planning on using one for a bochet with coffee beans and one for Joe's ancient orange. The yeast I bought is Safale us-05 a dry ale yeast that claims a low to medium final gravity. My main question would be in the bochet would I need to add anything to feed the yeast? And any other advice is also greatly appreciated! Also hello im josh from south Carolina.
Virgin
- Thread starter SCviking
- Start date
-
Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
-
We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
First off WELCOME!
When I started brewing I did not add any nutrients what so ever, and my meads turned out fine. However, they took forever to ferment and even longer to be drinkable. After a hiatus I recently started again, but changed one thing, and that was the use of DAP and nutritional yeast flakes (I cannot find fermaid K or the like here). I have to say the results are amazing. For a pyment with 1.5 kg of grapes (which came off of parents young grape vine) it went from 1.08 to 1.014 in about 4 days! In addition I tasted it during racking, and it doesn't seem as harsh as the non-nutrient fed yeast of the past. We will see how it ends, but I expect a smoother mead already.
I have not done a bochet (next on my list) but from the 4 day results I have thus far (and the wisdom you find floating around here) I would do a staggered nutrient addition (which is the plan for when I do mine).
That goes to say, just do the JOAM as the recipe states and you'll have a fine mead to drink!
Good luck and happy brewing,
Young
When I started brewing I did not add any nutrients what so ever, and my meads turned out fine. However, they took forever to ferment and even longer to be drinkable. After a hiatus I recently started again, but changed one thing, and that was the use of DAP and nutritional yeast flakes (I cannot find fermaid K or the like here). I have to say the results are amazing. For a pyment with 1.5 kg of grapes (which came off of parents young grape vine) it went from 1.08 to 1.014 in about 4 days! In addition I tasted it during racking, and it doesn't seem as harsh as the non-nutrient fed yeast of the past. We will see how it ends, but I expect a smoother mead already.
I have not done a bochet (next on my list) but from the 4 day results I have thus far (and the wisdom you find floating around here) I would do a staggered nutrient addition (which is the plan for when I do mine).
That goes to say, just do the JOAM as the recipe states and you'll have a fine mead to drink!
Good luck and happy brewing,
Young
Hey Josh, welcome to the forum. And if you haven't read the Newbee guide yet, it's highly recommended.
Don't assume that because your yeast says it's a dry yeast that it'll actually go dry, sweet vs dry has a lot more to do with how much sugar or honey's in your must than whether your yeast is "sweet" or "dry". And don't forget, mead's a bit different from beers etc in that there's not as much unfermentable stuff in a mead must when compared to a beer wort, although burning the honey does caramelize some sugars into a non-fermentable form. Should work fine for your bochet if you don't aim too high with your initial gravity. Just make sure you use bread yeast for the JAO's, using wine or beer yeasts does not make it better since they usually have a higher tolerance than bread yeast and you need the residual sweetness in a JAO.
Don't assume that because your yeast says it's a dry yeast that it'll actually go dry, sweet vs dry has a lot more to do with how much sugar or honey's in your must than whether your yeast is "sweet" or "dry". And don't forget, mead's a bit different from beers etc in that there's not as much unfermentable stuff in a mead must when compared to a beer wort, although burning the honey does caramelize some sugars into a non-fermentable form. Should work fine for your bochet if you don't aim too high with your initial gravity. Just make sure you use bread yeast for the JAO's, using wine or beer yeasts does not make it better since they usually have a higher tolerance than bread yeast and you need the residual sweetness in a JAO.
thank you so much for the fast replies
I actually read the newbie guide about three times today lol trying to make sure I don't screw up too badly. That's actually why I posted was to see if the yeast I have would work fine, so ill use it for the bochet and pick up some bread yeast for the JAO.
Again much appreciated for the fast replies.
I actually read the newbie guide about three times today lol trying to make sure I don't screw up too badly. That's actually why I posted was to see if the yeast I have would work fine, so ill use it for the bochet and pick up some bread yeast for the JAO.
Again much appreciated for the fast replies.
So the JAO is fermenting magnificently, I actually had to lower the level a bit, but my coffee bochet is only pushing about 4 bubbles a minute. Is this normal?
Bubbles mean little. Small leaks can reduce them, lag phase can delay them, aperture inconsistencies can produce different size and frequency. Vessel size makes a difference. Yeast strain, temperature... So many things.
Counting bubbles is a gauge to show how this particular mead has changed since yesterday, but it's unrelatable to any real values or other meads.
Be patient, and if you're really worried after a week, take another hydrometer reading.
Counting bubbles is a gauge to show how this particular mead has changed since yesterday, but it's unrelatable to any real values or other meads.
Be patient, and if you're really worried after a week, take another hydrometer reading.
JAO is often very vigorous once it gets going. Other batches using wine yeasts are usually a little more mellow... 
