Mead Lovers Digest #1643

Published in

· 7 months ago

Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1643, 20 August 2013 
From: mead-request@talisman.com 

Mead Lover's Digest #1643                                  20 August 2013 

                      Mead Discussion Forum 

Contents: 
  Re: new topic ("David Houseman") 

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Subject: Re: new topic 
From: "David Houseman" <david.houseman@verizon.net> 
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 19:25:09 -0400 

Carl, 

I'll toss in my two cents and suggest that there are some problems with this 
being a been that you can serve young.   At that gravity (1.135) it's a big 
mead that will likely need extended aging.   For me primary might be a month 
or two, then I'd age this for 6 to 12 months or longer (depending on taste 
as we go along) before kegging or bottling.    You are on the right approach 
to staggered nutrient additions; mind is 1/4 tsp/gal at pitching, then 1/4 
tsp/gal in 24 hours, then again in 48 hours.   I rehydrate the dry yeast 
(71B) in a solution of the initial nutrients and water at 100oF.   I aerate 
the must to oxygenate well; I use O2.    At the end of fermentation you will 
have 1 volume of CO2 in solution.   You need to gently agitate the mead so 
as not to introduce O2 but to get as much CO2 out of solution as possible. 
I suspect you are still getting a good deal of fermentation even after you 
think its done.   Wait a lot longer before bottling. 

The best meads I've made for relatively quick consumption had an OG of about 
1.070 (hydromel), used orange blossom homey and used 71B yeast.   At the 
lower gravity it was very good in 3 months and two rackings. 

Could be that you are using too much nutrient and energizer; what you 
pitched should have be consumed.  But then it may be that the gravity was 
just too high for the yeast to have been able to make use of what was 
pitched or still was at bottling.   I've never had a problem tasting the 
yeast nutrients, but then I have let fermentation go to completion. 

Dave Houseman 

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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1643 
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