BEERKEEPER
Old Farmall Brewery
Ultimate Mr. Beer Fan
Registered: 01/14/10
Posts: 1983
Loc: nebraska
I brewed a Sweet Mead this afternoon with the wife's uncle.
Basic Sweet Mead (app OG 1.155) 20# Raw Honey 3 gallons artisan well water 1 T yeast nutrient 2 t acid blend Cote de blanc yeast
heat to 200 deg to kill nasties cool to pitching temps pitch and open ferment 5 days to 1.010ish rack to secondary for 3-4 months add finings rack again 1-2 months bottle and celler 6 months.
Bob is a wine maker and so I knew he had the long term storage to do this. It is amazing to me to see what they do different and whats the same.
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Old Farmall Brewery - Beer, Wine, and Smoked Meat products made in house by our legendary craftsmen. All served by our friendly staff of former midget wrestlers. Dogs welcome, old people by appointment, and children by invitation only.
sorry at work, hard to paste link on my phone. It was way higher than the 1.151 the recipe states, finally checked a sample after 2 days of ferment, it is at 1.155 yet. Thinking we may thin it down with a gallon of water and some more nutrient what you think? I wanted sweet, but not undrinkable
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Old Farmall Brewery - Beer, Wine, and Smoked Meat products made in house by our legendary craftsmen. All served by our friendly staff of former midget wrestlers. Dogs welcome, old people by appointment, and children by invitation only.
#250865 - 01/04/1209:18 AMRe: My First Mead!
[Re: BEERKEEPER]
Jacylrin
Token Brewing Chick
Ultimate Mr. Beer Fan
Registered: 12/27/11
Posts: 900
Loc: Northern Virginia
Undrinkable is a matter of opinion (says the woman whose family loves southern-style sweet tea)
;-)
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#250884 - 01/04/1210:38 AMRe: My First Mead!
[Re: Bitter_Bob]
Jon_TWR
I'm the white rabbit.
Brewmeister Dubbel
Registered: 12/17/09
Posts: 12000
Loc: Brooklyn, NY
Another gallon of water might help things, but since the yeast are working, you can always wait and see how far down they get it before adding more water.
It probably won't hurt to add more nutrient, though. Maybe wait 'til you rack it?
#251117 - 01/06/1208:51 AMRe: My First Mead!
[Re: Jacylrin]
BEERKEEPER
Old Farmall Brewery
Ultimate Mr. Beer Fan
Registered: 01/14/10
Posts: 1983
Loc: nebraska
Originally Posted By: Jacylrin
Undrinkable is a matter of opinion (says the woman whose family loves southern-style sweet tea)
;-)
This was way sweet, would have ended as syrup. We added 2 gallons of water and more nutrient last night, thinned down it still had a SG of 1.105 so it will be plenty sweet yet, and I still have 5# of honey to backsweeten if needed, but would be shocked if needed
_________________________
Old Farmall Brewery - Beer, Wine, and Smoked Meat products made in house by our legendary craftsmen. All served by our friendly staff of former midget wrestlers. Dogs welcome, old people by appointment, and children by invitation only.
#252532 - 01/16/1204:44 AMRe: My First Mead!
[Re: BEERKEEPER]
BEERKEEPER
Old Farmall Brewery
Ultimate Mr. Beer Fan
Registered: 01/14/10
Posts: 1983
Loc: nebraska
Racked this to a secondary last night. With the water addition we came up at 6 gallons. Going to give it 2-3 months in the secondary, then will rack 2 more times. Am not going to like this waiting BS but I tasted the hydro sample and it needs some more time.
_________________________
Old Farmall Brewery - Beer, Wine, and Smoked Meat products made in house by our legendary craftsmen. All served by our friendly staff of former midget wrestlers. Dogs welcome, old people by appointment, and children by invitation only.
#253254 - 01/21/1209:30 PMRe: My First Mead!
[Re: BEERKEEPER]
avsfan
Homebrew Novice
Ultimate Mr. Beer Fan
Registered: 12/07/08
Posts: 1022
Loc: Springfield,Oregon
i want to do a mead for a friend's wedding in June. Doesn't have to be drinkable but would it be bottleable if I made it at the ned of Feb?
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#253260 - 01/21/1210:25 PMRe: My First Mead!
[Re: avsfan]
Jon_TWR
I'm the white rabbit.
Brewmeister Dubbel
Registered: 12/17/09
Posts: 12000
Loc: Brooklyn, NY
It depends...you could brew a mead at the end of February that's drinkable by June, but you have to do things a bit differently than is traditional, and also plan to not make an incredibly strong mead.
Start a new thread telling how big of a batch you want to do, and I'll bet we can come up with something that should be drinkable in that time frame.
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