BOMM style Meads

[troopa]

Hi Guys
Has anyone here tried the BOMM process of making Meads?

https://denardbrewing.com/blog/post/ale-yeast-experiment-belgian-bomm-one-month-mead/

Reading around the webs there a fair few people trying this process with good results.
I have just put down 6KG of honey split across a 12L demi and 3 x 4L demis only using 1kg of honey in each and the 1388 belgian yeast

Im still trying to hunt down fermaid K (Not easy to find) and have potassium carbonate on order for my next batch (For PH buffering) but so far after 12 hours they are bubbling away like mad

Ive made a few JAOs and a couple of straight meads with mixed results and love the ones that made it through without issues.
If this works out well then ill start blending for Braggots, Cysers and make a few Melomels as well.

Troopa

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Sounds interesting

 

[barls]

try barley man for the fermaid k

 

[Airgead]

ibrew have it as well. Its where I get mine.

 

[NickyJ]

Very interesting stuff, thanks for sharing.

 

[MetalDan]

Any updates/feedback from people who have tried making a BOMM? I'm looking at putting one down soon.

Also anyone know of somewhere local in Sydney I can get a packet of 1388? Else I'll look at shipping some in interstate from one of the sponsors.

Cheers

 

[jewwie]

Hey MetalDan, please let me know how you go with yours. I've done a couple of 20 Litre batches, and a 4 Litre batch and so far I am not impressed with the larger batches.

The first batch (20L) I used Fermaid A (instead of Fermaid K) and DAP, following the recipe to the letter. I can drink this but it's far from what I would class a nice drop.

The second batch I used Fermaid O only as per his recipe and this one is worse. IMO, it has far too much Fermaid O and you can taste it in the mead (even though it is 6 months old now). I'm hoping it will age out over the next year or so.

The small batch was a session mead (6.4%) I made with tea and hops and it is delicious but I only added one nutrient addition up front.

For future batches I will be using no more than around 5gms of fermaid O per nutrient addition in a 20L batch (@ SG1100) and skip the last addition at 2/3 break. I don't know when that will be as I've gone back to wine yeasts with much better results.

I got my Wyeast from Brewers Choice (although they had to order it in) in Brisbane - not that helps you :blink: .

Good luck with yours and please post your results for us to see.

 

[MetalDan]

Thanks for the writeup Jewwie. What tastes are you getting from the mead that make you think its the Fermaid O? Also what temps are you fermenting at? Is there anything in the BOMM process you didnt follow, such as the CO2 venting?

 

[jewwie]

Followed everything to the letter. I have a brew fridge which was set at 20C for those batches. It tastes "yeasty", grainy just like the fermaid O smells like when you mix it up to add. It's hard to describe but even after I filtered with a 1 micron filter it was still there and surprisingly not crystal clear. I've bottled it now and expecting sediment to drop over the next few months.

 

[Airgead]

I've never had any luck with any technique that claimed to be able to give you a really good mead in a short time.

You can fiddle with nutrients and fermentation times all you like but they always need some age to come good.

Fruit meads btw need less aging than straight honey. I find 6 months is enough for them. Straight honey 1-2 years minimum.

If you need to age for an extended period then farnarkling with nutrient additions to speed up fermentation is a false economy.It doesn't save any time over the long term. My mead regime is very simple. One addition at the start of fermmentation. Ferment for 3-6 weeks depending on temp. Let it clear for a month or so (and add fruit if that's what I'm doing) then rack once, add oak and bulk age for 6 months or so. Then bottle and age further if it needs it.

Some things just take time. Mead is one of them. I find its worth the wait.