# Stringy Bark - Us05



## pdilley (10/5/09)

Put down the 15kg of Stringy Bark in the 60 litre fermenter yesterday.

The plan is to perform primary ferment in the 60 litre fermenter and bring the time for primary fermentation down to 2 to 3 weeks. After fermentation is complete, rack into multiple 5 litre glass demijohns where experimentation in spices and fruits as additions will be performed. Preform aging in 5 litre bulk lots until bottling.

Was aiming for OG of 1.100
Brix reading during dilution reached 23.23 Degrees Brix which is 1.09757 Gravity Points.

6.1 grams of Yeast Nutrient added along with 6.1 grams of DAP.

I used my 1 meter long new paint stirrer from Bunnings on the end of my cordless drill and beat the snot out of the Honey must. Cleaned and sanitised before use, of course.

I will be following the 1/3rd sugar break and 3 nutrient additions method. 2nd Nutrient addition will be performed after a fall of about 2 to 3 Degrees Brix on the refractometer.


To follow along on the fermentation I have the following running calculations:

9th, May
----------
Starting Brix (OB): 23.2

10th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 23.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.096
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.8


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## Pumpy (10/5/09)

Pete ,

I was listening to this podcast on the Jamil show about Mead its well worth a listen 


"In the second to last episode of The Jamil Show, Jamil and Jon are almost done with every style in the BJCP Style Guidelines and come one step close with this coverage of Mead. Author of The Compete Mead Maker and mead expert Ken Schramm also joins the program and ads his expertise on this ancient fermented beverage".

I may give mead a try one day .

I was amazed how high in alchohol meads are about 14%

http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/The-Jam...l-Show-12-01-08

Pumpy


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## pdilley (10/5/09)

Cheers for that Pumpy.

Already listened to all the Jamil shows on Mead  even the Basic Brew Radio and Basic Brew Video shows, and even stormthecastle, and hightest.

I ordered and have read Ken Schramms The Compleat Meadmaker cover to cover. Wasn't as exciting as I thought as its a tiny bit out of date and after listening to all those podcasts taught me almost everything covered in the book.

I even have two GotMead Ancient Orange mead recipes brewing away in the cupboard for the past 2 months. (Clove, Orange, Raisins, Stringy Bark).

I have another 14kg of IronBark honey left. I will be doing that in another giant primary fermentation batch but because its so clear and clean, I'm using Lalvin D-47 Wine yeast on that batch.

Do try Mead, its my favourite all time fermented drink. SG's are higher so its an ever so tiny modification to techniques with Beers, closer to putting down a high gravity Barley Wine. By do try, fermented, not that sickly sweet goo sold commercially in the bottle shops.

If you find any more shows let me know! - I'm always hungry for anything Mead 

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## Pumpy (10/5/09)

Hey Pete,


How long does it take to ferment out the mead is 12 weeks a realistic time ?

Have you a special source for your Honey ?

What do you have to look for in a good honey for mead? .

How much does it cost for mead in Bulk .?

is mead a dry Finish ?

Pumpy


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## pdilley (10/5/09)

Pumpy said:


> How long does it take to ferment out the mead is 12 weeks a realistic time ?



Primary Fermentation can take up to 9 months or longer. Using 1/3rd sugar break and nutrient additions you can bring the fermentation time down to 2 to 3 weeks. My Ancient Orange is a very old school without nutrient additions and its still slowly plopping away in the cupboard.

Mead brings home very quickly that the job of a brewer is not to "make beer" or "make wine" or "make mead". The job of the brewer is to "make an environment for yeast to thrive in". Once you make the environment perfect for yeast your main job is done and your fermentation time drops. Extreme in Mead because honey is a virtual wasteland of nutrition, pH and buffering for yeast and is a high gravity environment putting a lot of hydrostatic pressure on the yeast cells. You don't like it down at the deep end of the pool with your ears hurting, neither do the yeast.



Pumpy said:


> Have you a special source for your Honey ?



Farm, one of the larger honey farms supplying the bulk packers for NSW. I'm lucky that its a 26 minute drive away from my location.



Pumpy said:


> What do you have to look for in a good honey for mead? .



Aroma, flavour . Anything you think smells really really nice or has a really nice taste will be a good candidate for Mead. If you have a skunky honey you will not be able to make anything better than a skunky Mead. The quality of ingredients is the limiting factor, but the better quality you put in the better quality you get out at the end. You can never increase the quality over the original ingredients.

That cuts out pasteurised blends shoved into the supermarket for joe average consumer. And cuts out cooking honey.

Raw rule of thumb is lighter honeys make better mead than darker ones. Contrary to that rule from America, you get some Dark honeys that have very light delicate and non offensive or strong flavours and you can get light honeys that are just strong, nasty and foul! Ask any bee keeper and he will tell you that from the same bee hive you'll get different colour honey throughout the season, usually progressively darker as the season goes on.

The Compleat Meadmaker has data on Eucalyptus honey, but thats the problem, it was performed in the US and its just "eucalyptus honey" not a break down of all the various eucalyptus varieties on offer in Australia. The common opinion of Eucalyptus over in America is they make medicinal tasting mead. I'd take that advice with a grain of salt. They probably have a highly pasteurized honey shipped over there and left in the warehouse for quite a while before clearing the shops.

Iron Bark is used by bee keeper / mead makers. I'm using Stringy Bark as well. The Iron Bark I have is clear almost water like. The Stringy Bark I have is darker.

Honey is a degrading quality ingredient, the fresher the better, the more it sits the more it is not as preferred for Mead Making, though it still goes great on toast and in food products.

Honey is also full of more than a hundred flavours, each at different levels or even not in other honeys. There is also technically no "Variety" of honey. Iron Bark may be made by hives where more of the flowers are Iron Bark that are collected by the Bees but other flowers and nectars are also collected and go into the honey. Location, time of season, its a very varied world out there in honey land! Another reason not to go for bulk statements about quality of a particular honey for Mead from someone 1/2 way around the world in another country.



Pumpy said:


> How much does it cost for mead in Bulk .?



Honey in Bulk?

Depends on your supplier. If you deal with a large farm, they deal with primary producer rates to packers. If you get some small guy packing his backyard honey into tiny jars and tying bits of fancy cloth around the jars you'll pay premium for it. $15 and higher per kilo.

Farms supplying bulk to us are really supplying small one offs (a bucket or two) when they are used to filling up gigantic HDPE cubes that go on trucks. Again the price will fluctuate on variety of honey and the farms location to how much of a specific variety they have left to shift. To a mead maker, expect about $5 per kilo for the quantities we buy. In the supermarket you'll be paying about $10-12 per kilo for that same honey but not as fresh and you don't know if its been pasteurized.

Farms to bulk packers in large volumes are going to be lower in per kilo cost, near $3.20 or so.

That said, if you get into it, you'll be wanting your own bee hives in the back yard next. With 100-120 kilos of honey made a season you will have an absolute bounty load of honey to make mead with if you do not care about a specific varietal and are ok with having wildflower honey as your base for making Mead. At $5 per kilo our price, you can easily see a big savings in running your own hives. Two of those will save you more than your Rudd money each year in honey for Mead. If you spent your Rudd money kitting yourself out with Bee Hives and gear you'll make it back the first year and every year after is a perpetual Rudd money giveaway in liquid gold instead of plastic cash.




Pumpy said:


> is mead a dry Finish ?



Not necessarily. However it is easiest that way. For the utmost in consistency you program in your desired ABV and ferment out dry. Then stabilise and back sweeten as necessary at the end. You can try and target a finish in the sweet range, but until you really know your strain of yeast and your honeys and technique you have quite a bit of variability that could put you into overly sickly sweet if attenuation does not go to plan.

The easiest method of all is to bulk ferment then rack to smaller vessels to do your flavouring. Putting expensive fruit and ingredients in the primary only means it will get torn up by the yeast and expelled through the airlock as aroma and your bang per dollar of ingredient goes out the airlock with it. Bulk aging helps as well. Thats why I'm racking to 5 litres as the smallest for bulk aging, I have 25 litre and 34 litre glass demijohns specifically set aside for bulk aging Mead once I really get going!


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


PS Forgot to add a picture of what that big ol' paint stirrer looks like I use to make Meads with in bulk. Shoves into my cordless drill for a very frothy foamy oxygenation session with my honey must.






You can buy a drill unit just for stirring, but after GMC went under locally, the prices of Tools at Bunnings has jumped through the roof lately.


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## Pumpy (10/5/09)

Wow thats some good information Brewer Pete

Love the patent mead Areator perhaps could use that for beer too.

Pumpy


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## Pollux (10/5/09)

I use that same stirrer as my mash paddle for BIAB.......Never attached it to the drill though, would eat the bag I'd say...


I might have to look into this mead concept once I run out of beer bottles to fill.


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## Pumpy (10/5/09)

I suppose you can keg mead , everything I bottle seems to have a funny taste?ha Ha 

Pumpy


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## oldbugman (10/5/09)

Brewer Pete said:


> You can buy a drill unit just for stirring, but after GMC went under locally, the prices of Tools at Bunnings has jumped through the roof lately.



Didnt GMC go under cos of bunnings?!? 

I thought they dropped them from their range which resulted in them going belly up.


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## pdilley (10/5/09)

Funny you guys mention beer aeration.

I actually pulled it out and sanitised it for the APA I put down from yesterdays BIAB session. Just emptying the cube made one hell of a lot of foam that I didn't put the drill into it. In retrospect it was probably the natural detergents in the wort making it frothy. Should have a good head on that beer when its done. Probably could have beaten the snot out of it just for laughs.

Mead is more versatile than wine for additions of all sorts of ingredients. You can serve it still, or sparkling. Keg should be fine, you can make a nice dry champagne from Mead. You can brew low ABV to high ABV. I think a wine range of 12%-14% is a good range to be in.

Mead goes good sparkling, in the bottle with a crown seal, will age for many years which is great for beer brewers as you don't necessarily have to jump into wine bottles, floor corkers, corks and the like if you do not want to.

When you make the environment perfect for the yeast you will see your yeast performance data skew out the window. You'll get 1 and even 2 % higher ABV out of strains when fed Nutrients + DAP, the occasional rare strain will kick and underperform, but only by a percentage point. All of this is a moot point if you just program in a target of say 12% ABV and ferment out dry using a yeast that imparts a characteristic or set of characteristics you enjoy.

Oh, and the Mead aerator is fun to use as well! Boys and toys! 



EDIT: Bunnings post snuck in there. I am not sure what the story was on the local GMC demise, I just remember a lot of prices jumping by $200 or more on the remaining brands Bunnings sells since they are no longer there. Maybe that was the plan all along? Maybe pressure to keep prices low forced all the suppliers of those other brands to put the heat on Bunnings to drop GMC as they didn't like the smaller profits they were making with GMC on the scene selling low.


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## Pumpy (10/5/09)

Do meads have to be so strong can you make them around 5% so you can quaff them ?


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## pdilley (10/5/09)

There is a style of Mead being sold in the States with ABV low, although 7% range seems to be stuck in my memory.

I have not made a low ABV Mead yet, except for JAO, but that is quaffed youngish and really doesn't improve with age any. Which is why you brew a wine ABV range so you can age them and let the characters come out that are overpowered or hiding until after a year or two. 

That said, its your Mead  if you like the taste of a low ABV Mead fair enough, but you'll be running through a lot of it. Normally Mead packs a nice kick. But like sake, it sneaks up on you.

Mead was the primary fermented drink for people until it became so expensive for honey and hence Mead that people looked at alternatives. Wine from grapes, and grain based drinks were looked down upon as inferior in quality but soon only the very well off people could afford it. Beeswax was what kept Mead alive through the dark period of its decline from the common table, all those clergy men needed candles and the superior burning quality of Beeswax meant the clergy either managed Bees or kept Beekeepers in their back pocket. After the wax was harvested, they had all that honey laying around so you had to do something with it. Bless the Friars  Now Mead is on a come back worldwide. But it is still rather expensive to brew compared to other beverages. Probably why a wine ABV range is used. You want to enjoy it but if you quaff it you might end up running through your wallet faster than you wished.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


PS. When you are done with the spices and fruits you have the malts and hops to go into Meads as well. I'm currently reading about a Chocolate Mead brew experiment going on. Lavender also sounds nice so long as you have just a hint of lavender on the bouquet, too much and it might smell like fancy soap.


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## etbandit (10/5/09)

Nice coverage on mead BP.

Im planning to make a mead for the first time using Leatherwood honey. I'll need to read The Compleat Meadmaker before I delve into it though, but was wondering if you've made a leatherwood mead and what your thoughts are on this honey.

Also, how much water did you add to 15kg of strinybark to get an OG of 1.100, and what the total final volume was?

Cheers.


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## Pumpy (11/5/09)

Pete ,

Do ypu make Braggott is that like beer and mead ?


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## Pumpy (11/5/09)

Nothing like answering my own question but found this on Braggott on another site 

The American Homebrewer's Association style guideline for Braggot 

defines it as a sub-category of mead:

"Meads made with both honey and malt providing flavor and fermentable extract. Originally, and alternatively, a mixture of mead and ale. 

Aroma: 
Aroma of both honey and malt should be apparent and in balance. Hop aroma may be present but is not required. 

Appearance: 
Straw to dark brown depending on the type of malt and honey used. Some head retention is expected. Clear, although some chill haze may be present at low temperatures. 

Flavor: 
There should be some balance between the beer aspect and the mead aspect of a braggot, especially with regard to maltiness and bitterness versus honey character. Malt character ranges from light pale malt-type flavors to rich caramel flavors, depending on the malt used. Hop bitterness and flavor may be present but are not required. 

Mouthfeel: 
Body may vary from light to medium. Smooth mouthfeel without astringency. Carbonation may vary from light to very lively. 

Comments: 
The fermentable sugars should come from a balance of malt and honey, otherwise the beverage might better be entered as a Specialty Beer with the addition of honey. As a rule of thumb, the fermentables should consist of no less than 1/3 malt and no more than 2/3 honey. Hopped examples of this style should exhibit the hops distinctly and should have at least 15 IBUs. 

Vital Statistics 
Effective OG: 1.060-1.120+ 

IBUs: 0-50 FG: 1.004-1.025"


I started brewing braggot 6 years ago as a result of an article in Zymurgy (the American Homebrewer's Association magazine) describing the style in historical terms. Generally, the English brewers of 200-300 years ago would brew their best beer with the first runnings of the mash. Being practical and not wanting anything to go to waste they would try to use the 2nd runnings of the mash. Unfortunately there was insufficient sugar so honey was added to get the sugar level high enough to get sufficient alcohol.

In my experience braggots are easier to brew than meads.
* The malt ingredients provide the necessary nutrients lacking in the honey alone, yet the honey provides excellent sugars readily available for the yeast making for a healthy fermentation.
* I find braggots tend to be somewhat high alcohol (for the above reason) and somewhat thin bodied, boring products as they don't have sufficient malt or honey character, sort of a melange of both.

My first braggots did not have hops, which I believe may have been an error, I've got some new hopped versions in secondary conditioning now. My previous experiments have included:
* rose petal braggot - second runnings of a red ale with orange blossom honey, rose petals added in secondary. This resulted in a high alcohol, fragrant, almost sipping product akin to a port. A little of this braggot went a long way.
* chocolate braggot - second runnings of an imperial stout combined with orange blossom honey which was probably the best braggot I've brewed. The roasted malts came through the aroma and taste providing a chocolate or mocha character. Because there was sufficient malt (2nd running of an imperial stout could adequately yield a 4-5% beer!) I was able to add enough orange blossom honey so the honey was also evident in the nose and on the palette.
* Cocopandon braggot - second runnings of a pale ale and orange blossom honey but added an asian tropical fruit syrup (which has coconut, jasmine, mango....). I thought it had fermented out and put it into the bottle a little too hastily and ended up being a sparkling braggot. This made for a lovely, light pink , bubbly product most often served in Champagne flutes. Quite festive.

I encourage anyone to attempt brewing a braggot as it is easy and can yield interesting results.


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## pdilley (11/5/09)

To follow along on the fermentation I have the following running calculations:

9th, May
----------
Starting Brix (OB): 23.2

10th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 23.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.096
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.8

11th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.9
Temperature: 19.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.094
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.4

Today we started with small white spots of yeast floating on top of the Honey Must in the morning.
At the reading time we have now got foamy layer on top with thick yeasty large spots.

Gentlemen start your engines!

I added in 4.7g additional DAP and 4.7g additional Bintani Yeast Nutrient last night and beat the snot out of the must with the drill with paint stirrer until the battery drained out on me. I miscalculated my original 1st nutrient addition for this volume. The 1st Nutrient Addition in the schedule should have been 10.8g of DAP and 10.8g of Bintani Yeast Nutrient.

One more fall in Degrees of Brix and I'll add the 2nd of the three nutrient additions to the Honey Must.

The 3rd and last will be before the 1/2 sugar break.



Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## pdilley (11/5/09)

Pumpy said:


> Nothing like answering my own question but found this on Braggott on another site
> 
> I encourage anyone to attempt brewing a braggot as it is easy and can yield interesting results.



Braggots can be an easy first step for a beer brewer but as you say, might not be impressive as not enough beer taste for a trained beer palate and not enough Mead palate for a Mead aficionado.

That said, all it takes is a refractometer and a digital scale with .1 gram resolution and you've got Mead making mastered as far as fermentation and nutrient addition tools go.

If you get the .1 resolution digital pocket scales (mine is the 1KG pocket scales at .1 resolution) from dealextreme.com and the 0-32 Brix Refractometer from eBay from easylifeproduct seller you are looking at the same cost as buying a commercial BIAB bag to get into the Mead side of things, so not a high entry cost for a beer brewer already kitted out. It would be a higher entry cost if you buy these items at the LHBS though...


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## flattop (11/5/09)

I bought a couple of tubs of honey in the last bulk buy, they are still in the pantry whilst i start to get it together to make mead.
I was looking at the ancient orange from got mead website... the 6-9 months fermenting time puts me off a little, it's a long time to tie up a fermenter and the relatively low finishing quantity is also a concern, it's basically and expensive brew. Perhaps as you say, buy in bulk and save but i would need to like the recipe and then be able to find a supplier ....

BP perhaps you would post some recipe's for braggot?


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## pdilley (11/5/09)

flattop said:


> I bought a couple of tubs of honey in the last bulk buy, they are still in the pantry whilst i start to get it together to make mead.
> I was looking at the ancient orange from got mead website... the 6-9 months fermenting time puts me off a little, it's a long time to tie up a fermenter and the relatively low finishing quantity is also a concern, it's basically and expensive brew. Perhaps as you say, buy in bulk and save but i would need to like the recipe and then be able to find a supplier ....
> 
> BP perhaps you would post some recipe's for braggot?



Sounds like a call out for the "Braggot" recipe of Braggot recipes, I'll have to dig it out and post it, you'll definitely love the name of it 


Look for it in a little while.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## pdilley (11/5/09)

flattop said:


> I bought a couple of tubs of honey in the last bulk buy, they are still in the pantry whilst i start to get it together to make mead.
> I was looking at the ancient orange from got mead website... the 6-9 months fermenting time puts me off a little.



Don't be put of by JAO, do two 5 litre batches of it and just stick em in the cupboard and forget about them. Depending on temperatures, you could be looking at 2-3 months instead of 6-9 months.

Most people enjoy the taste and the rude fact it uses bakers yeast and love it so much they switch to 19+ litre batches of it. So keep in mind there are a lot of JAO fans out there that want lots of it instead of the smaller first test batches.

I did my JAO with Defiance Bakers Yeast from Melbourne so you should be able to source that. I can not tell you the finish of it yet as its still brewing. Up here its Tandaco as the brand of yeast being sold. Seeing as I have over 25+ sachets of Defiance I went with that to use it up.

If JAO is good, I might ferment out 23-25 litres of it and use up quite a bit of the Defiance sachets.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## Stuffa (11/5/09)

Brewer Pete you have certainly got me interested in having a go at a mead. Will leave it till next summer as it's a bit cold down here in Tassie at the moment. What do you reckon about using Leather wood Honey? Or do you think it would be a bit overpowering in a mead. Have made a few Porters with Leatherwood, very nice.


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## Pumpy (11/5/09)

Brewer Pete , you certainly have posted some and inspiring and good information on meads 

I going to have to make some Orange Blossom mead 

How do you know the honey is genuine Orange Blossom ?

Pumpy


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## flattop (11/5/09)

I only bought 3k of Orange blossom and the same of one other variety, i wouldn't like to mix them so i will have to either buy more honey or make a smaller batch...
The bread yeast i can get easily, in fact i have a container of bread yeast in the freezer (for making bread frozen yeast works fine), but i will probably buy fresh yeast for the mead.


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## pdilley (11/5/09)

Stuffa said:


> Brewer Pete you have certainly got me interested in having a go at a mead. Will leave it till next summer as it's a bit cold down here in Tassie at the moment. What do you reckon about using Leather wood Honey? Or do you think it would be a bit overpowering in a mead. Have made a few Porters with Leatherwood, very nice.



I have not had a Leatherwood honey yet to be able to comment on it. I will keep an eye out for it. Apply the standard rule, if it tastes good and smells good, its a Mead candidate.

Fermentation temperature control applies to good Meads as it does with good beers. I have not experienced a summer in Tasmania, but I wouldn't want to brew in a Canberra summer unless I have a temperature controlled brewing fridge ready to go.




Pumpy said:


> Brewer Pete , you certainly have posted some and inspiring and good information on meads
> 
> I going to have to get some Orange Blossom mead
> 
> How do you know it is genuine ?



Pumpy, I always assume you mean honey when you ask about varietals + the word mead 

Orange Blossom if you have had some you will know the flavour. But as with all honey its so complex its hard to describe. If you buy small quanties from multiple suppliers and they all taste very agreeable to each other you know you have a good reasonable expectation you are dealing with the varietal listed on the jar. You'll also probably find one you prefer more than the other in taste or aroma than the others. You should be able to detect a slight citrus aroma and slight fruity taste mixed in with the other honey flavours.

I have two Stringy Bark JAOs so don't get hung up on one particular varietal. I missed the orange blossom honey at the Farm, so I got the Stringy Bark to play with and put my name on the list for Iron Bark which was due to be harvested a month after my first visit. 5 weeks later I had my Iron Bark.

I may start two Iron Bark JAOs just to have a comparison base, but my Iron Bark already came in a kilo under order as there was less collection this season and the bigger buyers got preferential treatment.

US-05 is an exceptional Ale yeast to brew out Meads with. Adds a hint of banana and clove taste to your mead to improve the fruity taste and leaves a sparkle hint on the tongue. European ale yeasts are out, along with a lot of other beer yeasts. Good old US-05 seems to take the cake. Outside of the ale yeasts you have the wine yeasts which a lot of people use for Meads. Lalvin D-47 is very popular with Mead brewers. I've seen 71B-1122 yeast used in fruit Braggots.

Other yeasts I see used are Montrachet (CraftBrewer is one of the few I've found with this, also the yeast needed to make German Apfelwein tasting cider from straight apple juice), Champagne , Premier Cuvee, Blanc. I find the BrewCraft stocked stores don't seem to sell anything except house product. I have SN11 from Vintners Harvest but this is basically a champagne yeast. I just have not got around to trying SN11, but I would prefer using CL23 and CY17 first based on what I've read of their data sheets. With honey must amendments you can run all these yeasts with no worries about stuck fermentations issues that would normally mark them down on a fruit wine datasheet as less desirable for Meads.

There is only one piece of equipment left to get if you really want to be a Compleat Meadmaker, that would be a pH meter and to also customise the pH level before pitching in the yeast. pH will drop as fermentation happens but starting near 3.9 to 4 should be a good mark to aim for. Once you are at this level of brewing there isn't anything out there that is fermentable that you wont be able to turn into a perfect yeast environment and get the fermentations time down to beer levels.

I'm not adjust pH on this brew yet as I don't have a pH meter. Thats saved for the next acquisition.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## pdilley (11/5/09)

flattop said:


> I only bought 3k of Orange blossom and the same of one other variety, i wouldn't like to mix them so i will have to either buy more honey or make a smaller batch...
> The bread yeast i can get easily, in fact i have a container of bread yeast in the freezer (for making bread frozen yeast works fine), but i will probably buy fresh yeast for the mead.



5 litre fermenters of JAOs use about 1.6kg of honey, it finishes sweet, so you could scrape by doing two of those. Actual liquid volume totals out to 3.82 litres of honey must when you stop adding water to the demijohn and then add your 8 orange slices, raisins and clove.

I can post the JAO recipe here. I have one thats been passed around many times and is quite full of "attitude" which made me chuckle as it seems to be directed at people that can not follow directions, like those who think you absolutely need to get rid of the bread yeast and put in an ale yeast instead which ruins the whole balance of the recipe.

Next time I make a JAO I will take a Refractometer Brix reading and get you exact gravity points so you can determine approximate ABV potential.

Just running the numbers through my head.

1.6 / 1.425 = 1.12 litres.
3.82 - 1.12 = 2.69 litres.
You are looking at a Starting Gravity around 1.124, very very sweet sack mead 
For comparison I am using a 1.100 Starting Gravity target and will get about 12-13%
JAO is relying on reaching the alcohol limits of the yeast and have them flocculate while keeping residual sugars high.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## pdilley (11/5/09)

Oh and flattop, go to the American Store in Bentleigh since you are in Melbourne. If you can score a packet or two of fleischmann's brand yeast from America you have scored big. That is the exact strain of yeast JAO is formulated for with Orange Blossom honey.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## pdilley (12/5/09)

Following on with the fermentation:


9th, May
----------
Starting Brix (OB): 23.2

10th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 23.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.096
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.8

11th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.9
Temperature: 19.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.094
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.4

12th, May
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Time: 5:07PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.3
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.089
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 21.3


23.2 - 21.3 = 1.89

Gentlemen we are getting very close to 2nd Nutrient and DAP addition time! I'll take a reading later tonight and see if it pushed over the 2 Degrees Brix point. However, because it is fermenting cool and slow, and we have a window of 2 to 3 Degrees Brix, I might go easy on myself and just take a reading tomorrow morning or tomorrow after work.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (12/5/09)

I just have to add these temperatures I am posting are Refractometer reading temperatures after the must has come up to temperature of the Refractometer. The actual fermentation is happening a lot cooler, locked away in the dark, in the coldest part of the house.


Cheers,
Peter


----------



## pdilley (13/5/09)

9th, May
----------
Starting Brix (OB): 23.2

10th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 23.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.096
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.8

11th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.9
Temperature: 19.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.094
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.4

12th, May
----------
Time: 5:07PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.3
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.089
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 21.3

13th, May
----------
Time: 3:15PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 21.5
Temperature: 19 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.084
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 20.1


23.2 - 20.1 = 3.1 
--------------------
2nd Nutrient addition now going in.
Adding 6.3 grams of DAP
Adding 6.3 grams of Bintani Yeast Nutrient


Rich and creamy krausen, lost of thick live top forming clumps of yeast.


*Gentlemen, Active Fermentation has now commenced.*


----------



## pdilley (13/5/09)

Just looked in on the fermenter before bed. All I can say is wow, never seen such a thick lovely krausen like this before. Super healthy fermentation has taken off, a pillowy foamy dream with no abiliy to see a single sign of the liquid must through all that luxurantly thick krausen and loaded with masses of yeast. Rock on you meady yeasts!

Best active fermentation I have got to date!


----------



## pdilley (14/5/09)

Ok first some data showing the Fermentation just kicking off into high gear even though temps are really low, and then a little Honey Porn!

Following along with the fermentation:

9th, May
----------
Starting Brix (OB): 23.2

10th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 23.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.096
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.8

11th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.9
Temperature: 19.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.094
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.4

12th, May
----------
Time: 5:07PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.3
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.089
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 21.3

13th, May
----------
Time: 3:15PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 21.5
Temperature: 19 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.084
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 20.1

14th, May
----------
Time: 4:52PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 20.5
Temperature: 18.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.077
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 18.5

We are already hitting about 3.11% ABV and climbing.


----------



## pdilley (14/5/09)

HONEY PORN TIME
----------------------


I got the camera batteries charged but not in time to get the krausen that formed after the 2nd Nutrient addition went in. 

This is one day after the 2nd Nutrient Addition:




Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (15/5/09)

Following the ferment:

9th, May
----------
Starting Brix (OB): 23.2

10th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 23.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.096
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.8

11th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.9
Temperature: 19.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.094
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.4

12th, May
----------
Time: 5:07PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.3
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.089
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 21.3

13th, May
----------
Time: 3:15PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 21.5
Temperature: 19 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.084
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 20.1

14th, May
----------
Time: 4:52PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 20.5
Temperature: 18.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.077
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 18.5

15th, May
----------
Time: 4:52PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 19.6
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.070
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 17.0



it looks like I will be adding the 3rd and last Nutrient Addition in another 2 or 3 days of fermentation if it keeps up at this rate!



Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## flattop (15/5/09)

There's an American store in Bentleigh? i pass through there every few weeks i must try to find it....
I won't get time for Mead this weekend, i have motorbike lessons and i need to clean the garden up... it's been on my to do list for weeks


----------



## pdilley (15/5/09)

From the Jasper Road intersection side go East down Bentleigh Road, cross over the railroad tracks. It was either the 1st or 2nd street turn right and its about 3rd or 4th store on the left.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## flattop (15/5/09)

Will try to remember to look for it next time i'm down that way... off Center rd is it? Jasper runs North South if i'm correct...


----------



## pdilley (15/5/09)

Oh buggar!

They shut down the Bentleigh store and have moved to Moorabin.

Here is the website now (bloody high Bentleigh rents I guess, shut down quite a few shops on Centre Road due to rent being too high to stay in business!): USA Foods in Melbourne

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


EDIT: Best to just ring them on the phone and see if they got it before you ride over.


----------



## flattop (15/5/09)

Better for me i go to Moorabbin more often... i know Cochranes rd well


----------



## pdilley (17/5/09)

Following the ferment:

9th, May
----------
Starting Brix (OB): 23.2

10th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 23.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.096
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.8

11th, May
----------
Time: 4:32PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.9
Temperature: 19.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.094
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 22.4

12th, May
----------
Time: 5:07PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 22.3
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.089
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 21.3

13th, May
----------
Time: 3:15PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 21.5
Temperature: 19 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.084
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 20.1

14th, May
----------
Time: 4:52PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 20.5
Temperature: 18.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.077
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 18.5

15th, May
----------
Time: 4:52PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 19.6
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.070
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 17.0

16th May
----------
No Reading Today as I thought I was coming down with a cold so played it safe leaving the Mead be.
Turned out to just be a touch of a sore throat that went away the next day.

17th, May
----------
Time: 4:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 17.8
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.057
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 14.0



Perfect predictability, looks like tomorrow we will hit our 1/2 sugar break and I will add the last of the yeast energizer and yeast nutrient additions.

Sample size is only 1 mL drawn in the pipette but with only 2-3 drops for a reading, the remainder gives a small squirt on the tongue sample and the Mead is definitely starting to pick up some lovely alcohol components est: 5.7% ABV and climbing.

It is hard to believe it is only 7 to 8 days into the fermentation. This beats waiting 9 months for a primary fermentation to complete!

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## flattop (17/5/09)

I haven't started yet, work commitments have kept me away from my LHBS so no Demijohns... I probably will gear up for another AG brew in 2 weekends so i will try to pick up that and the oranges then.... finally maybe i will get around to getting the mead on tap, i want to drink it (mature) over summer so i need to pull my finger out.


----------



## pdilley (17/5/09)

You'll get there!

Follow my bee's, they'll lead the way
to the Mead Hall where many shall stay,
and rejoice and while away the day,
and some never to return.



Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (18/5/09)

Following on with the fermentation:

10th May to 16th May See Previous Postings
----------

17th, May
----------
Time: 4:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 17.8
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.057
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 14.0

18th, May
----------
Time: 8:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 16.9
Temperature: 16.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.051
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 12.5

Ok, the 3rd and last Nutrient Addition went in as we are just about right on our 1/2 sugar break.
4.07g DAP, 4.07g Bintani Yeast Nutrient added to the primary fermenter.

From here on out its leave it alone as the Stringy Bark US-05 Mead cruises on in to the finish line in 1st place.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (22/5/09)

Following on with the fermentation:

10th May to 16th May See Previous Postings
----------

17th, May
----------
Time: 4:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 17.8
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.057
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 14.0

18th, May
----------
Time: 8:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 16.9
Temperature: 16.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.051
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 12.5

19th, May
----------
Time: 7:30PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 16.2
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.046
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 11.4

20th, May
----------
Time: 6:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 15.6
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.042
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 10.4

21st, May
----------
Time: 8:30PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 15.2
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.039
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 9.7

22nd, May
----------
Time: 8:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 14.5
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.034
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 8.6


As we get nearer to the end of fermentation you can see the larger effect ethanol has on the refraction of light through the Refractometer tool. Observed reading of 14.5 degrees BRIX when the real reading would be 8.6 degrees BRIX if the ethanol was removed from the sample.

This is the greatest problem new comers from Beer brewing who use the Hydrometer have when trying to use a Refractometer. The Refractometer approaches but will never reach zero at the end of a fermentation because of the effect of ethanol on bending light.

As you can see fermentation is happening perfectly fine and progressing as expected with us now 2/3rd through fermentation, just need to cruise on in to the finish line now.

ABV is currently 8.4% and climbing, go go US-05 go! 

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## brettprevans (25/5/09)

for us poor bastards who cant afford a refractometer, any suggestions on how to work out sugar break? just guess im expecting.


----------



## pdilley (25/5/09)

citymorgue2 said:


> for us poor bastards who cant afford a refractometer, any suggestions on how to work out sugar break? just guess im expecting.



$26 AUD and then about $12 shipping from Hong Kong for the same exact one that can be charged up to $160 in Vic?

Get it from AussieHomeBrewer Refractometer Post


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


PS. You can use hydrometer to measure you just will be losing a lot more of your expensive Mead to the larger sample size of a hydro since you take daily readings.


----------



## pdilley (25/5/09)

I missed a reading due to relatives coming over and a long night including some local market bought Mead (Pyement) which I can not recommend as it was pretty bad so I'll leave the label nameless.

Stringy Bark leaves some medicinal tastes known to Eucalyptus honeys so I'll be blending it with fruits and spices in my small batch experimentation, put some on long term aging to see how it may improve as a pure Mead and clear the fermenter to get the bucket of Iron Bark honey fermenting out. I should end up with 80+ litres of Mead to play with over the next year.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (26/5/09)

Following the fermentation:

22nd, May
----------
Time: 8:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 14.5
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.034
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 8.6

23rd, May
----------
Time: 10:50PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 14.0
Temperature: 17.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.031
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 7.8

24th, May
----------
Visiting relatives, no reading

25th, May
----------
Visiting relatives, no reading

26th, May
----------
Time: 8:25PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 12.8
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.023
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 5.8


Coming up to the end. Visiting relatives so no weekend readings, sorry about that.
Still tastes pretty damn good even with the slight medicinal taste, most likely the residual pollens, saps, and plant bits of Stringy Bark in the honey.
Compared to the market stuff its excellent, market mead was choking with oak in it that there was no flavour and quite watered down. This still has lots of honey flavour, residual sweetness, and no hot fusel alcohols all this with no aging; its quite drinkable! I'm sold on 1/3rd Sugar Break and Standard Nutrient Additions method of fermenting Mead.

The must still has a decent layer of krausen.

EDIT: 9.8% ABV and climbing. If we reach 1.006 we'll hit our 12% mark, lets see where she stops.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (27/5/09)

Following the fermentation:

22nd, May
----------
Time: 8:20PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 14.5
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.034
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 8.6

23rd, May
----------
Time: 10:50PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 14.0
Temperature: 17.5 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.031
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 7.8

24th, May
----------
Visiting relatives, no reading

25th, May
----------
Visiting relatives, no reading

26th, May
----------
Time: 8:25PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 12.8
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.023
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 5.8

27th, May
----------
Time: 8:05PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 12.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.019
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 4.8



Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (29/5/09)

Following the fermentation:

26th, May
----------
Time: 8:25PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 12.8
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.023
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 5.8

27th, May
----------
Time: 8:05PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 12.2
Temperature: 18 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.019
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 4.8

28th, May
----------
Time: 9:23PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 11.8
Temperature: 17 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.016
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 4.1

29th, May
----------
Time: 7:30PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 11.8
Temperature: 16 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.016
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 4.1


Ok Gentlemen, I do believe we have reached the end of the primary fermentation in a record 18 days. The next reading or two will confirm it.

Plenty of big honey aroma and flavour in the Mead with a very clean fermentation with no hot fusel alcohols quite drinkable and tasty as it is straight from primary fermentation. The medicinal quality of the Stringy Bark is not offensive, nor is it the most lovely thing in the world--somewhat akin to like how hops are to beer.

Time will tell how this plays out. I'll rack to all the glass secondaries for some aging. Already I can see this will be a candidate to blend to make braggot.

We just hit a hair shy of 11% Alcohol by Volume depending on whose formula you wish to use.

All in all we have a winner in the process. I'll get Iron Bark Honey going next, perhaps this Sunday if all goes well with tomorrows refractometer reading.


*Fermentation Statistics for Stringy Bark - US05 are as follows:
Original Gravity:	1.098
Final Gravity:	1.016
Initial Gravity (Brix):	23.31 B RDS
Final Gravity (Brix):	4.08 B RDS
Real Extract:	7.55 B RDS
Apparent Attenuation:	82.5%
Real Attenuation:	67.6%
Alcohol By Volume (ABV):	10.9%
Alcohol By Weight (ABW):	8.5%
Joules per 350mL:	940*

Lesaffre lists no Attenuation nor Flocculation data for US-05 (formerly US-56) on their data sheet so we have to be happy with the fermentation results.


Iron Bark Honey will be using Lalvin ICV-D47, stay tuned for the next turbo clean Mead fermentation with Standard Nutrient Addition (1/3rd Sugar Break) method.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## flattop (29/5/09)

You're dedicated, i'll give u that... 
I passed up on a Demijohn at the LHBS as my grain bill was climbing but i think i will collect one in the next 2 weeks so my mead is ready for summer


----------



## pdilley (29/5/09)

flattop said:


> You're dedicated, i'll give u that...
> I passed up on a Demijohn at the LHBS as my grain bill was climbing but i think i will collect one in the next 2 weeks so my mead is ready for summer



Cheers for that, I'll have to recalculate out all my SNAs for the 5 litre demijohns. I'll then run a few TJAOs (Turbo JAOs) and see how it effects the JAO recipe as the long time with the exposure to pith gives bittering balance to that recipe and 18 days might just not give enough time to steep. Now that I have a .1 gram resolution digital scale I'm now able to work out small SNAs for small fermentation vessels.

It doesn't hurt that I have an APA already fermented out two weeks ago but still in the primary as part of Basic Brewing Radio's great 'longer time in the primary' experiment.

Have to put the Iron Bark through the 60 litre fermenter next as it doesn't do me much good sitting around. Its best fresh, and although it seems to last forever, honey slowly breaks down over time, creating its own hydrogen peroxide in the process! and I want to capture the essence in the fresh Iron Bark as much as possible in the resulting Mead. This is only important for aging it to drink it straight with no mixing.

By the heart of Winter I'll have so much Mead coming out my ears I might not remember much until after Spring comes around 

I might ending up putting 34 Litres of Mead in one of my two 34 Litre glass demijohns and the remainder in 5 Litres to keep more 5 Litres handy for all the small batch brewing recipes I'm itching to try out so I won't know until racking which way my Winter brewing will go.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## sanmerah (29/5/09)

BP a great thread well done. I'm glad I'm not alone in my passion for mead. 

23 ltr Glass secondary: Orangeblossom & Grape & clove & Cinnamon (with Oak coming later) experiment
5ltr: Orangeblossom (OB)
5ltr: OB & New Zealand Manuca
5ltr: OB & New Zealand Clover
5ltr: Blue Gum
5ltr: Mixed bag of my first fruit honey experiments (hoping that a few years may help)

All of the above using US-05 (Safale) American Ale yeast. OG 1.100 hoping for approx 12%abv 

I followed the hightest spreadsheet for nutrient additions but also used Potassium Bicarbonate for buffering. My digital scales arrived recently so was using approximations for my additions of DAP and Nutrient based on analogue kitchen equipment. 

Can I ask where did you get your yeast nutrient from in Australia? I seem to have missed it in the thread. I did contact the makers of Fermaid K and they could supply it to me in 5kg bags that a local winery in Adelaide uses (slightly more than I needed). 
Also how much yeast did you pitch for your 60ltr ferment. Did you fire up a starter? 

Thanks


----------



## pdilley (30/5/09)

Hey AB,

Fermaid-K is difficult to get locally, very expensive if ordered in overseas, and limited shelf life. Not trusting the treatment it would get on international post and figuring it will end up in some hot warehouse I went with a local alternative. I used Bintani Yeast Nutrient; my LHBS operator got the ingedients and amounts for me and they match Fermaid-K enough to use it 1:1 in place of.

Impossible to find so far is GoFerm so I did a standard yeast hydration in boiled tap water that was cooled to ~102F. I used ~8 grams US-05 for every 23-25 litres of honey must rehydrated to 30 minutes; no stirring during hydration; no feeding. I pitched this directly into the fermenter and added 1st Stage SNA and beat the living snot out of it with my electric drill + paint stirrer until out of batteries. (GMC so that wasnt too long to wait).

If not an oak nutter go easy on the oak with mead; my local markets oaked mead pyment and oaked mead were aweful that I pitched both bottles down the sink. Im not a fan of oaked chardies either where you can not taste anything but oak. Wish the guy let me know both were oaked on the label before buying.

Orange Blossom is a great honey to start making mead. Blue gum I believe is the same as Iron Bark but im making my way through the eucalyptus varieties as no one has published any data on them used for meads so Ill need first hand experience and its easier to taste and determine what would go nice blended with actual resulting mead than reading words and trying to do the same. I'll pick up ~30-40kilos next time the farm has supplies in.

With my Kenyan Top Bar beehive plans it will still be another year before the colonies are established and going strong to start harvesing my own backyard wild flower honey to brew out into meads.

Ill have to post my plans if I can get them digitised.

Best luck with the mead, sounds like you are right on track for some great mead in no time at all, don't let any nay sayers steer you wrong, you'll be fine.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (30/5/09)

I'd be damned, US-05 still has quite the bit of spunk left in it, which is good as it has higher protein count per cell than yeast does under the normal fermentation methods employed.

Looks like we got another drop.

30th, May
----------
Time: 10:00PM
Observed Refractometer Reading (AB): 10.8
Temperature: 15 Degrees C
Adjusted SG (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 1.009
Adjusted Brix (Ethanol Effect & Temperature): 2.4

We are now punching 12% ABV range. Excellent, its where I was hoping to reach with US-05.

*Original Gravity:	1.098
Final Gravity:	1.009
Initial Gravity (Brix):	23.31 B RDS
Final Gravity (Brix):	2.31 B RDS
Real Extract:	6.1 B
Apparent Attenuation:	90.1%
Real Attenuation:	73.8%
Alcohol By Volume (ABV):	11.9%
Alcohol By Weight (ABW):	9.3%
Joules per 350mL:	1,304
*



Chuffed,
Brewer Pete


----------



## sanmerah (30/5/09)

Brewer Pete said:


> Hey AB,
> 
> Fermaid-K is difficult to get locally, very expensive if ordered in overseas, and limited shelf life. Not trusting the treatment it would get on international post and figuring it will end up in some hot warehouse I went with a local alternative. I used Bintani Yeast Nutrient; my LHBS operator got the ingedients and amounts for me and they match Fermaid-K enough to use it 1:1 in place of.
> 
> ...



Thanks for that - I think I'm going to use a starter for my next batch. a home beehive .. if only ;-)


----------



## pdilley (3/6/09)

adelaidebrewer said:


> a home beehive .. if only ;-)




http://www.youtube.com/user/BeeGuardian

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## pdilley (12/7/09)

Got the camera downloaded onto the computer and had some Mead photos in there.

Picked the most impressive shot, the 34-L secondary fermenter, took the top basket cover off so you get a good look.

Mead racked and ready for the bulk aging and clearing phase before bottling.




Its now in the darkest, coolest part of the house having a nice long gentle aging.


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


----------



## Wolfy (12/7/09)

Brewer Pete said:


> Picked the most impressive shot, the 34-L secondary fermenter, took the top basket cover off so you get a good look.


Looks just like the bunch of Demijohns we scored from Freecycle, they were even filled with Mead when we picked them up. :lol: 
Seems it had been 'aging' outside under the gumtrees for about 2 years, but the airlock seals were broken so it got tipped down the driveway.


----------



## pdilley (12/7/09)

Wolfy said:


> Looks just like the bunch of Demijohns we scored from Freecycle, they were even filled with Mead when we picked them up. :lol:
> Seems it had been 'aging' outside under the gumtrees for about 2 years, but the airlock seals were broken so it got tipped down the driveway.



Good score on the demijohns. Sad to hear about the Mead though


----------



## pdilley (13/8/09)

Just a quick note. After seeing how well JAO meads did in the brew fridge. I've calibrated my second fish tank heater and sanitised it and placed it directly into the 34 Litre demijohn to have a warm bulk aging. I swear there is a colour difference for the mead aging when its cold and when its warm.

Temperature is around 22C, my second heater is a bit dodge on the reading on the unit itself to set it so I simply calibrated it to something between 20-25 and left it for a few days to confirm it was holding temperature.

We will see how it goes. Demijohn is isolated from the ground by the plastic basket. There is already some renewed action from the warming phase which quickly died down so it looks simply to be CO2 in solution being released as the cold mead could hold more CO2 in solution. Once temperature was reached the gas release stopped.

I'll check in from month to month and have a look at what its doing. Now that CO2 action has subsided I can keep an eye out for cheap children's doonas being sold and wrap the demijohn to keep the heat in and reduce the amount of time the heater switches on.



Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## pdilley (14/11/09)

First Racking.


Got my new racking gear and in 2 seconds I had a perfect siphon that continued right to the end and transferred all 34 litres into a second 34 litre glass demijohn. Added about 1.5 litres of water to top up to the neck of the second demijohn and its now ageing away again.


Then I got out my new cleaning wand and attached it to the hose faucet outside and in less than a minute I had a sparkling clean 34 litre glass demijohn. It is so clean it looks brand new! Cleaner than it was in the store when I bought it.

I am so chuffed! - My glass demijohns now clean up faster and easier than my plastic beer fermenters which now take the most amount of work to scrub clean. The wand is heaven sent, anyone and everyone should get one if they work with glass fermenters!



Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## moovet (26/4/10)

Brewer Pete said:


> First Racking.
> 
> 
> Got my new racking gear and in 2 seconds I had a perfect siphon that continued right to the end and transferred all 34 litres into a second 34 litre glass demijohn. Added about 1.5 litres of water to top up to the neck of the second demijohn and its now ageing away again.
> ...


Pete,

What siphon/racking setup did you get and where from? I am also interested in the cleaning wand as well.

Cheers,


Moovet


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## pdilley (26/4/10)

Siphon:
http://morebeer.com/search/102287/beerwine...Siphon_Starters

the R550 and R552, just stick on the demijohns and gently blow, couldn't be easier to start and no moving parts to break...


Wand:
http://store.homebrewheaven.com/carboy-wand-p242.aspx

did not get it from here but graphic is animated, just take off the seppo faucet fitting and put on one from Bunnings...

Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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## moovet (27/4/10)

Brewer Pete said:


> Siphon:
> http://morebeer.com/search/102287/beerwine...Siphon_Starters
> 
> the R550 and R552, just stick on the demijohns and gently blow, couldn't be easier to start and no moving parts to break...
> ...



Cheers Pete. Have ordered the siphon as the one I bought is crap. Haven't successfully used it to siphon anything so far which has been pretty frustrating. That wife pleaser mead should be coming up for racking soon (been 3 weeks) so will wait till the siphon arrives before racking it.

I read you had a thread about where to buy good refractometers cheaply but couldn't find the thread. Could you please pass that on as well?

Cheers,

M


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## pdilley (28/4/10)

Read the last two pages (currently) of the Refractometer thread here:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...=222&st=100


Cheers,
Brewer Pete


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