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Mead Lovers Digest #1642
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1642, 17 August 2013
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #1642 17 August 2013
Mead Discussion Forum
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1641, 14 August 2013 ("Shaggyman")
Re: new topic (Chazzone)
Re: New topic - Carl Weiss (Vuarra)
yeast nutrients (Micah Millspaw)
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1641, 14 August 2013
From: "Shaggyman" <shaggyman@fairpoint.net>
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 17:43:26 -0500
Carl, I'd go this way:
Forget any nutrients, tea, raisins, etc. They all taste funny and usually
aren't needed.
Off flavors can and often do result putting DAP or other nutrients in the
mead.
Using raw, unfiltered honey and especially if adding fruit or juice, I have
not resorted to adding any nutrients for over ten years now, and many
batches are ready to drink inside of a month. (Granted, I use a filtration
system to clear, but that also takes out any stray yeast cells which may
remain after clarifying.)
I just let them ferment to dry, then backsweeten to the level I want.
Start with a lower gravity- 1.100 and about 2/3 or you target volume. Too
high a gravity can retard fermentation.
Use a yeast like Lalvin RC-212 or a Champagne yeast, rehydrated and in a
starter before pitching.
Then add in a fruit juice like blueberry, blackberry, etc- but make sure
your juice has no preservatives.
It is worth the time and money to take a close look at your water.
I usually buy Reverse Osmosis filtered water from the grocery store.
Some tapwater retains chlorine or chloramines which retard fermentation.
Use an electric drill with a plastic paint mixer to *thoroughly* aerate your
water before mixing anything into it. Like a full minute at the fastest
speed the drill has.
Yeast need oxygen (and plenty of it) in the initial stages of fermentation,
and Failure to provide as much dissolved O2 in the must may lead to a slow
or stuck batch.
Lane O AKA: The Great And Powerful Shaggyman
I'm a Pyrotechnician.
If you see me running- try to keep up!
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Subject: Re: new topic
From: Chazzone <chazzone@sbcglobal.net>
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 19:04:01 -0400
Carl,
I don't have much experience with small batches, so maybe size
matters...
I've made a lot of mead, and it was a rare batch that wasn't drinkable
all the way through the process.
It's hard to really diagnose what's going on without seeing, but
here's what I do...
The bulk of my production has been melomel and metheglin. The only
yeast nutrient that I ever use is bee pollen. Ambient temp for
fermentation is a constant 65 degrees F., and I can usually count on
primary fermentation to be done in 10 days or less, and secondary
could be as little as another 2 weeks.
My cyser has an O.G. very close to yours. If I was starting with new
yeast, I'd make a half liter starter with water and some honey and
leave it on the magna stirrer while I was making the batch, so it was
fired up and ready to go when pitched.
I'd reckon that your high initial O.G. is a challenge for the yeast,
so a good strong starter is a "must"...
If you don't want a sparkling mead, don't bottle until it is done. If
you want to serve your mead before it is done, then just draw some off
the carboy and serve. There might be some effervescence, but the
process of racking would probably release most of the CO2.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I hope you see something that
is different from your process, that can help you along.
- -zz
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Subject: Re: New topic - Carl Weiss
From: Vuarra <vuarra@yahoo.ca>
Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 18:51:54 -0700 (PDT)
1) Excess carbonation.
This looks to be caused by an incomplete fermentation, as you are already
racking, which helps remove the gas. That is a huge SG, and it will take
a while to get to a point where the yeast will not be able to find sugar to
use. I personally would use about half the fermentables to get a quicker
finish. Otherwise, you'll just have to let nature take its course.
I've made a high gravity mead, and it took 18 months to ferment, including
the nutrient.
2) Bitterness.
You are using about as much nutrient as I would use in a 5 gallon batch.
I would use just the one addition at pitching, and see where that takes you.
Vuarra
Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur. (That which is said in Latin
sounds profound.)
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Subject: yeast nutrients
From: Micah Millspaw <MMillspaw@Silgancontainers.com>
Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 14:41:13 +0000
>Subject: new topic
>From: Carl Weiss <carl_weiss@hotmail.com<mailto:carl_weiss@hotmail.com>>
>Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 01:34:18 +0000
> I recently started using an energizer and nutrient due to low yields.
>This has increased my sugar consumption and decreased primary fermentation
times. However, even at half the recommended doses their is a very
>noticeable bitter flavor. Was this caused by the rapid fermentation or
am I tasting left over nutrients?
What type of nutrients or engerizer are you using? What is the off flavor
you are getting? There are a number of yeast nutrients that have ammonia
or urea in them. While yeast like to consume those compounds, most humans
not so much. Over time the off flavours will fade, but as you want to have
the mead to drink sooner, I would try to find yeast nutrients that do not
have those unpleasant compounds.
Pollen is a good naturally occurring yeast nutrient. I like to use a Difco -
- bacto nutrient. Neither of those option will produce strong off flavours.
Micah Millspaw
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1642
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