When do I find out if I've made a mistake?

[Jketron]

Let me start by saying this is my very first attempt at mead and I obviously didn't do as much research as I should have before attempting, but I've always been a learn through failure type of person. Anyway, I started 2 5gal batches a few weeks ago.

16lbs of clover honey
2 cinnamon sticks
2 tsp of vanilla extract (non imitation)
1 lemon
1 packet of Red Star Champagne yeast
7.5 tsp of yeast nutrient

Fermentation finally slowed down after 3 weeks and in the air lock you can see the pressure from the CO2 backing off which I can only assume means it's being reabsorbed into the drink. I decided I would sample it and see how it's coming along, but when I did it seemed to have almost a burnt rubber taste. Is this normal? I'm already assuming after fermentation is completely finished and I rack it for the first time, I'll need to add additional honey to sweeten it back up.

The second batch is virtually the same recipe as the one listed above, except for additional sugars added through 2lbs of granny smith apples. This batch is still furiously bubbling away so I haven't messed with it at all.

I didn't know anything about specific gravity until after both batches were started so I have no idea what to expect or how to even measure it at this point. I bought a hydrometer, but I heard that without the original gravity, determining potential alcohol content will be difficult.

 

[darigoni]

No, burnt rubber is not "normal"

Where did you get this recipe?

2 tsp of vanilla extract will most likely leave you with nothing, as it will be lost in the fermentation. Most likely the same can be said for the cinnamon sticks. What was the one lemon for? You should have waited until your fermentation was complete, racked into another bucket, separating your mead from the gross lees (dead yeast), adding your vanilla and cinnamon at this point and then occasionally tasting until it was where you wanted it to be.

Did you ferment in a bucket or carboy?

Did you do any aeration/degassing?

Temperature control?

You can use the gotmead Batch Calculator (top of webpage) to get an estimate of your potential ABV.
OG = 1.115 and and ABV = 15%

This is a lot of mead to have to sit on for a long time, as this is most likely going to take a LOT of time to age out the flaws. One of the reason why we encourage small (1 gallon) batches when you are starting out.

Listen to the gotmead podcasts, starting at 9-5-2017. Also, check out the 9 episode Meadology series on YouTube, by the Canadian Sasquatch, paying particular attention to episodes 6, 7 and 8.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEUA9sOZJbckxRlIRaAyUw6jg2Zlrgko7

 

[Jketron]

I didn't think it was lol

I got the recipe from a youtube video claiming the lemon was supposed to add nitrogen for the yeast. As far as the additives, it's still not too late considering I haven't racked it yet. Fermentation of the initial carboy just came to point of no visible bubbles just a day or 2 ago so i'm giving it some time (possibly 2 weeks) to fully ferment.

I used 2 5gal glass carboys for fermentation and will be getting an additional one for racking when i'm ready for that. I dont know anything about degassing so I'm not sure when that process would take place lol and both carboys are kept at 70F.

I under estimated the quantity of yield when I started. Afterwards, I realized my mistake but luckily I have plenty of friends and family who are interested in extra depending on the outcome. This was intended to be christmas presents. I'm more of a craftsman/carpenter than a homebrew person, so I was planning on making custom oak cases for each person with their names carved in them. The mead was simply justifying the case, but if the drink is no good then I feel like the entire project was a waste.

 

[Jketron]

I guess it didn't post my first attempt at replying.

I got the recipe from a youtube video, except for the excess of honey. All measurements were in Metric so I tried to convert them and round to the nearest lb.

The Lemon was supposedly adding nitrogen for the yeast (Not sure why) and I used glass carboys.

The additives aren't much of a problem since I haven't yet racked anything. I was waiting an addition week or 2 to ensure fermentation was completed. Degassing is something I haven't read about at all. I remember the video mentioning something about allowing it to breath for a week but I was concerned of possibly contaminants so I'll need to read up on a good way to aerate. Both carboys were kept within the range of 68-71F and kept out of direct sunlight.

I was planning on giving it away for christmas along with handmade oak cases with everyone's names engraved on them. I'm far better with wood than I am with homebrew (obviously) lol.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Kketron - and welcome. A smell of burnt rubber suggests very stressed yeast. When stressed at this level they produce mercaptans and mercaptans are not easy to remove. You often need copper to bind with the sulfur that is a key compound of mercaptans. Mercaptans often stick around as an irrepairable problem. One thing you might try to do is rack the mead through copper wire wool (your supermarket sells this to scrub pots and pans). Try dropping a clean and sanitized copper penny into a cup of this mead. If it clears the smell you have mercapatans.
You can guess-timate the starting gravity - one pound of honey dissolved in water to make 1 gallon will have a starting gravity of 1.035. Not sure what the total volume is for the 16 lbs (is it 8 lbs in five gallons or 16 lbs in 5 gallons). But simple arithmetic will give you the SG (total quantity of honey in lbs * .035 / total volume of must (in gallons)

 

[mannye]

My first question is what is your timeline for this project? If you can wait, the first thing I suggest you do is go here:

http://gotmead.com/blog/making-mead/mead-newbee-guide/the-newbee-guide-to-making-mead/

and do some reading. It's a very valuable compendium of information. I've been at it a while and I occasionally go back and read through it just to remind myself not get lazy. We love noobs around here because I still remember how excited I was the first time I made mead and I love to help people have the same fun I did. But now this community exists and you can maybe avoid all the mistakes we made (but probably not... Fatbloke and Chevette Girl told me a lot of the same things I'm telling you and I STILL fucked up quite a bit at the beginning!)

After you read all that stuff, I suggest you save some time and money and immediately start a new batch of JAOM. The recipe is foolproof and is here:

http://gotmead.com/blog/recipe/joes-ancient-orange-clove-and-cinnamon-mead/

It's delicious and ready in about 3 months. All you do is rack the clear golden liquid off the lees and drink up. This can be made in 5 gallon batches by simply multiplying the ingredients by 5. Foolproof and delicious.

What to do with your current batch? I don't think you are going to find any fans of Red Star here. I certainly am not one of them. I recently tried again using it to make short meads (low alcohol) and I didn't like the results. Red Star is going to probably eat all your sugar and leave you with a very dry result. BUT... don't throw it away. And you can still use the hydrometer. You will know that your ferment is done when you float it in a vial... here's a video on how to use a hydrometer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRWD8Bcemuw

Don't worry too much about the "how to find how much alcohol" and just concentrate on how to read one. You will want to take a sample of the mead, and when you get a reading of 1.000 or lower, you are done fermenting. I'm betting that your mead will not have any residual sugar because the Red Star is a hungry beast. If by some miracle it does leave some residual sweetness behind, you will know your ferment is really done when it stays at the same level for a week or two. HOWEVER... if you have any residual sugar (a reading of more than 1.000) don't bottle it until you read up on stabilization and understand how to do it. Yeast is a bastard and it can restart a fermentation without warning. This means if you have an airtight mead vessel and the mead inside starts fermenting again.... KA--BOOM. It can explode and at best make a colossal mess and at worst hurt someone.

Finally, don't worry if the first batch tastes dry and like the inside of a rubber tire. Rack it into a clean carboy, put an airlock on it and forget about it for a while. Then in a while, after you've read up on back-sweetening, blending and other post ferment treatments, you can re-visit the first batches and see what's happening with them. Sometimes a terrible mead will age out into a wonderful one. Sometimes.

But mostly, have fun and enjoy making the mistakes. They are the only way to learn how to make good mead. And for crying out loud get that JAOM batch going!

 

[Squatchy]

Adding apples actually dilutes your gravity as most of it is water. So you didn't add anything you diluted it. Lemons are not any source of food. And almost none of what you will find on the web are modern recipes. Most are total shit. Go listen to the podcast here on Gotmead and start on 9/5/17 if you want to learn how to make mead the correct way with modern science. If you do this you can have really good meads in a month. Of course it gets better with age. But you won't make anything else that taste as good in such short order. Manny really loves JOAM's. And that's fine. To each his own. I don't know many at all that ever made more than one or two. Just saying