# Mead Wooly Bud Honey



## Chookers (31/1/11)

I plan on finally using my 3kg of Woolly Bud Honey.. and my Wyeast 4184 smack pack.

I was thinking 5-6Ltr of water to the 3kg of Honey. I also have yeast nutrients Fermaid A, and Energizer (Diamonium Phosphate)..

I was thinking to heat 2L of water to around 70 deg and dissolve the Honey and then hold it at 70 deg for 10mins, using a method I read in Ken Schrams book.. then mix in the remaining chilled water.

Whats the thoughts on my proposal.. any advice before I start.. 

Cheers


----------



## KudaPucat (1/2/11)

Chookers said:


> I plan on finally using my 3kg of Woolly Bud Honey.. and my Wyeast 4184 smack pack.
> 
> I was thinking 5-6Ltr of water to the 3kg of Honey. I also have yeast nutrients Fermaid A, and Energizer (Diamonium Phosphate)..
> 
> ...



Don't add the DAP up front, it inhibits yeast growth/multipliction. Add it after the lag faze.
Ken doesn't believe in pasteurising anymore I don't think, so heat it, but only to 35-40 (the temos bees keep the honey at is 36 I think, so you wont lose any volatiles. The only purpose in heating is to help the honey dissolve.
Get the fermaid in straight up, and if you want do staggered additions - same with the DAP if you want. It's common practise now, but too much work imho.
If you want a fast ferment, you should also oxygenate until the 1/3 break, then seal it up and agitate it often.

I don't know anything about Wyeast 4184, so check out it's YAN requirements and temp tolerances to see if you have to baby it.

Oh, and when you've got your 3-4 litres of dissolved honey water, add water slowly, taking SG readings to get it where you want it to be before fermenting. All honeys are different and this one may not be as heavy.

Other than that, just do what I do most of the time and bung it all in and wait. The ferment will be slower, and the required aging longer, but "if you can wait, then procrastinate". That's my motto.


----------



## Airgead (1/2/11)

Chookers said:


> I plan on finally using my 3kg of Woolly Bud Honey.. and my Wyeast 4184 smack pack.
> 
> I was thinking 5-6Ltr of water to the 3kg of Honey. I also have yeast nutrients Fermaid A, and Energizer (Diamonium Phosphate)..
> 
> ...



Sounds like a plan.

I wouldn't heat though. Just dissolve the honey in warm water. I picked up a copy of Schramm's book recently and his preferred method is no heat. I have never boiled or heated and never made an off batch.

I bung all my nutrients in at the beginning. Yeast needs the nutrients to replicate so get it in at the start so its there for them when they start. I really can't see how it inhibits yeast growth. I generally get visible fermjentation within 12 hours. 24 at worst. My fermentations generally only take 2-3 weeks with a single addition of nutrient and that's plenty good enough for me. 

I suspect a lot of the talk about 1/3 breaks and staggered additions is coming from the commercial winemaking area and may make a difference if you are fermenting in a 20000l vessel with masses of hydrostatic pressure but on a homebrew scale I just can't see a difference at all. KISS principle applies.

Cheers
Dave


----------



## Chookers (1/2/11)

you guys think my water to honey ratio is ok??

Also whats a good starting S.G..


----------



## Airgead (1/2/11)

Chookers said:


> you guys think my water to honey ratio is ok??
> 
> Also whats a good starting S.G..



Actually.. now that I look at it... I think that's way too high. I thought you were making a bigger batch. Around 1.5-2kg for a batch that size would be normal unless you want something really strong or really sweet. Maybe even 2.5 if you push it. 

1kg of honey in 4l gives about 9% if it ferments out dry. According to beersmith, 5l to 3kg will give you around 18%. Depending on the yeast you use you will either end up with something very sweet or rocket fuel. 2.5kg gives 14% which is a strong wine. 2kg is a more normal 12%.

I usually choose the yeast first. Look at the alcohol tolerance for the yeast and use that to set your SG. If you want dry, aim for a SG that when fermented out dry (to 1.000) gives an alc% under the alc tolerance. If you want semi sweet aim a little over. If you want really sweet, aim way over.

I do a semi sweet as a liqueur base with 71B yeast which has a 12% tolerance. I aim it at a shade over 13% and it finishes out a little sweet. If I used say EC1118 which has a tolerance of 18%, that same recipe would finish bone dry.

Cheers
Dave


----------



## KudaPucat (1/2/11)

There's a fair bit of info regarding DAP inhibiting replication of yeast cells.
Fermaid is fine straight up, so's DAP really, excepts that you get a slower ferment with less yeasty beasties.

Just add DAP on day 2 and all is well.

Regarding a good OG. It depends on 3 things. 
a ) what you want your FG ro be
b ) what you want your ABV to be
c ) what your yeast's alcohol tolerance is.

Wyeast 4184 has an 11% ABV tolerance. (google it to confirm)

so 11/135 = 0.081 drop in SG

If you want it sweet, then an FG of 1.040 is very sweet if dry then 0.980 is very dry (although not many yeasts will go this low - better to assume 1.000)

So your OG range would be 1.081 - 1.121
If you go lower than this (and you can) then you will get a bone dry mead with a lower ABV than your yeast will tolerate.
ie 1.060 will give an ABV of about 8%

does this help?
when I say very sweet, I found 1040 to be 'desert wine only' sweetness
many ppl say 1.006 - 1.010 is 'a little residual sweetness'
but it's all about your tastes.

3kg of honey in 6 litres will give an OG of 1.166 which is , as Airgead said - too high, giveing an FG of 1.080

1.5kg in 6 litres will give an OG of 1.083 which will ferment out dry.

I'd probably go a batch of semi sweet, and a batch of low alcohol dry.
This way you can compare and contrast.
Doing 5 litre batches instead of 6 will give you more leeway.


----------



## Chookers (1/2/11)

I was going to do a big batch put it in my 15L fermenter then rack to my 5L demis when primary fermentation had slowed or finished.. how many Liters of water would be good to add to 3kg.. if Im looking for a wine strength.. 13%.. semi sweet.. Im sick of dry mead, Im looking for medium now..

I was reluctant to heat the honey too much as its not strong flavoured.

On a separate note. I still have 1kg of Rain Forest honey.. I could do a test batch with that.. Im thinking 2.5 L to 1kg honey.. (I know its about the S.G, but if I need to I can add more water if its too high) this would also give me an opportunity to test the 4184 yeast.

I will probably have some 4184 left over then.. put in fridge???  ?


----------



## Airgead (1/2/11)

Chookers said:


> I was going to do a big batch put it in my 15L fermenter then rack to my 5L demis when primary fermentation had slowed or finished.. how many Liters of water would be good to add to 3kg.. if Im looking for a wine strength.. 13%.. semi sweet.. Im sick of dry mead, Im looking for medium now..
> 
> I was reluctant to heat the honey too much as its not strong flavoured.
> 
> ...



Really depends on your yeast. 13% semi sweet you are looking at something like 71B or another low alc yeast. Most yeasts will ferment 14% so 13% would end up dry.

The 4184 apparently has a tolerance of 11% so you would end up 2% over which would be semi-med sweet. Your brewing software should let you calculate the amount of honey to add to get an alc% of 13% for your batch size. You are shooting for an OG of 1.100 according to beersmith for a 13.1% potential.

Cheers
Dave


----------



## Chookers (4/2/11)

I started my test batch yesterday. I ended up using the whole pack of Wyeast 4184, some Goober put it to the back of the fridge and it had partially frozen.. I thought my yeast is dead for sure, but there must be have been some survivors because its fermenting today. 

I used the:

1kg of Rainforest Honey (warmed)
1/4 tsp Yeast nutrients
1/4 tsp Yeast Energizer
Wyeast 4184
And then filled it to the 3Ltr Mark with Water.

I gave the whole lot a good shake up, and fit the airlock. The O.G was 1.090. (I was hoping for 1.100) but 1.090 is ok.

I was going to use the Vintners Harvest yeast sN9, but read that it goes up to 18% alc.. so I guess its like EC-1118 and would turn out dry.


----------



## Airgead (4/2/11)

Chookers said:


> I gave the whole lot a good shake up, and fit the airlock. The O.G was 1.090. (I was hoping for 1.100) but 1.090 is ok.



Every honey is a little different so it can be hard to judge. The great thing about honey though is that you can add a little bit more and bump it up to exactly what you want. Now that you know that 1kg in 3l = 1.090 you should be able to work out exactly how much in 3l will give you the extra 1.010 you are after.

Cheers
Dave


----------



## Chookers (6/2/11)

KudaPucat said:


> Don't add the DAP up front, it inhibits yeast growth/multipliction. Add it after the lag faze.
> Ken doesn't believe in pasteurising anymore I don't think, so heat it, but only to 35-40 (the temos bees keep the honey at is 36 I think, so you wont lose any volatiles. The only purpose in heating is to help the honey dissolve.
> Get the fermaid in straight up, and if you want do staggered additions - same with the DAP if you want. It's common practise now, but too much work imho.
> If you want a fast ferment, you should also oxygenate until the 1/3 break, then seal it up and agitate it often.
> ...




I'll take your advice when I do the batch of Wooly Bud.. I did my rainforest first really just to see if the yeast had survived. It had.. but now Im thinking I should probably use a different yeast like Epernay II, or D47.. or even the riesling yeast


----------

