Thread: Got Mead?

Originally Posted by Vulcan500rider

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My batch of regular mead is fine, but the blueberry and the raspberry batches needed about 3L of breathing room to not foam up and clog the airway.
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The first few days are the most vigorous fermenting, and fruit meads tend to foam an awful lot - I think it has to do with the pectin on the fruit, but don't quote me on that.

I have done two things in the past to get over this, and abandoned one because the other one is so much easier.

1) Instead of an airlock, plug a vinyl hose in the bung and run that to a bucket with a bit of water, making sure the end of the hose is submerged. This is kind of a huge airlock with room for the overflow and froth. This I no longer do, mostly because then I have a hose and a bucket to wash.

2) My current method is to start the brew in a six gallon bucket and not even put the lid on it. Cover it with a clean towel, and the fermentation will provide it's own insulating layer of CO2.

After the first few vigorous days of fermentation, you can rack it to a bottle/carboy/clean bucket and airlock it properly for the rest of the fermentation.

Originally Posted by Nightblade

Now,I've had mead and really liked it,but I've never been drunk on the stuff.I have heard it's a bad hangover,is this true??

No, if it's home made it isn't. The commercial stuff has sulfites, which are used to stop the fermentation and keep the finished brew sterile, and that may hurt the next day.

The same is true for home made wine and commercial wine.

Tip for beginners: some recipes call for adding "Campden tablets" at the end of the ferment. Those are nothing but sulfur dioxide, and it will stop the fermentation alright, and most life forms as well. It's best to let the fermentation stop on its own, when either the alcohol level does the yeast in or when the sugars are depleted. This prevents hangovers when overindulging on delicious, delicious mead...

I have a batch of Strawberry mead conditioning/aging in my house right now (I put in on.... Jan 6 2010?)! Mead is fantastic stuff - although to the earlier question about hangovers.... The worst hangover I've ever had has been from a batch of mead. This particular batch has followed me through several moves even.

Here is a picture of it sitting next to my version of a Belgian Abbey Ale/Blonde and some apple cider, both of which should be ready soon.



(edit - the mead is the one in the back)

Ben

Originally Posted by Snake

No, if it's home made it isn't. The commercial stuff has sulfites, which are used to stop the fermentation and keep the finished brew sterile, and that may hurt the next day.

The same is true for home made wine and commercial wine.

Tip for beginners: some recipes call for adding "Campden tablets" at the end of the ferment. Those are nothing but Chloride Sulfite, and it will stop the fermentation alright, and most life forms as well. It's best to let the fermentation stop on its own, when either the alcohol level does the yeast in or when the sugars are depleted. This prevents hangovers when overindulging on delicious, delicious mead...

He's right - sulfites are bad stuff, but I think the sugar content also causes me problems hangover wise.

You'll also notice I have the vinyl hose on one of my fermenters haha... I usually use this instead of an open bucket, but mostly because I don't really use buckets... Not sure why, but I generally use my carboys instead.

Ben

Originally Posted by Snake

The first few days are the most vigorous fermenting, and fruit meads tend to foam an awful lot - I think it has to do with the pectin on the fruit, but don't quote me on that.

I have done two things in the past to get over this, and abandoned one because the other one is so much easier.

1) Instead of an airlock, plug a vinyl hose in the bung and run that to a bucket with a bit of water, making sure the end of the hose is submerged. This is kind of a huge airlock with room for the overflow and froth. This I no longer do, mostly because then I have a hose and a bucket to wash.

2) My current method is to start the brew in a six gallon bucket and not even put the lid on it. Cover it with a clean towel, and the fermentation will provide it's own insulating layer of CO2.

After the first few vigorous days of fermentation, you can rack it to a bottle/carboy/clean bucket and airlock it properly for the rest of the fermentation.

Hell of an idea! If I end up liking my end-product, I think I'm going to upgrade to a slightly less mickey-mouse setup, including pail and carboys. Working with the plastic jugs is a huge PITA! Thanks for the tip!

Hello folks,

Not sure of others experiences, but the sulfites that I use are sodium metabisulfite for sanitizing and potassium metabisulfite for preservation and anti-oxidation. Sterilization requires an autoclave or very toxic chemicals.

My experience has been that when I rack the wine to clear the lees (sediment) it is usually good to add the equal of a Campden tablet per gallon to counter the oxygen that is infused by the transfer and to guard against air borne bacteria that could contaminate and turn the wine to vinegar. Mead may be different. Not much clearing to do.

A fermentation can become "stuck" and the yeast stop working for many reasons, but sulfites in proper amounts will not kill them entirely and they will revive and resume their activity when the conditions are right. If you ever have a bottle explode you will believe. Sulfite will dissipate.

Yeast die at high levels of alcohol and commercial outfits filter the yeast out with .5 micron filters in sweet wines. I usually ferment mine out to dryness with all the sugar gone, but mead is going to be a high alcohol sweet wine. I doubt that you will keep it around long enough to worry about oxidation.

I still have some of my Cabernet Sauv from 2007, but i'm working on it.


Bill

Originally Posted by Vulcan500rider

I just started my first batch(es) last night, based loosely on the recipe. I decided to make three batches, however, and made them in 10L jugs, rather than 4L. Good bloody thing, too! As a heads-up for anyone who adds a lot of fruit to theirs, leave LOTS of room. My batch of regular mead is fine, but the blueberry and the raspberry batches needed about 3L of breathing room to not foam up and clog the airway.

Naturally, as this was my first go at this, I DIDN'T leave that much room--though I was smart enough to leave at least 2L of room, so the cleanup was slightly less horrible than it could have been. Also, do make sure that you keep an eye on the mead for at least the first 12 hours, as that was the only reason I caught it before the balloon burst, which would have been spectacular!

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to rack the mead, and wait 6 months for it to mature...

Best of luck, all!

I would invest in a racking cane (maybe even one with an auto-siphon on it).

I couldn't find mine a couple weeks ago (still packed from the move) and it was a huge PITA to rack out of a 6 gallon carboy without one.

Ben

Because we all do things slightly different, and conditions vary (my wine and beer changed character after I moved) everyone's experience is different.

I find, in my experience, that campden tablets don't completely dissipate and may impart off flavors to wines and meads. Again, this is just my experience, YMMV.

Unless you are working in a highly contaminated environment, I prefer to use no chemicals when making my drink, and that I recognize to be a personal choice. I had my share, early on, of contamination. Paying attention to cleanliness solved that; the nasties do not live in the air or in the dust in your basement. They need the moisture and the nutrients that are left over in poorly sanitized vessels, be it your plastic bucket, your glass carboy or your final bottle.

I sanitize with a spoonful of plain bleach per five gallons after and before use, with lots of rinsing to get rid of the bleach after a 10 or 15 minute standing soak (that is, you leave the vessel wet from the bleach solution). I have never had a problem after I started doing this.

One more time, this is just my method based on my opinions an experiences.

Next weekend I'll be sanitizing bottles and bottling a Pinot Noir that has been sitting in a carboy. I'll let you know how I made out!

Cheers, y'all!

I also have been using bleach mostly for convenience.

I'd like to get my hands on some star-san - the stuff sounds good. Aledgedly no rinse, and it can be reused multiple times.

you need to make the 5gal if you make just 1 gal after racking it 2or 3 times you may get 2 bottles 6mo is a long time to wait for 2 bottles The state of Tennessee has a law of only having 215 gals of wine at 1 time I may need to drink a bottle just so I wont be over the 215 gals