First Meads (plus Cider With Leftovers)

[DJbrewer]

Hello all,

Thanks to assistance from a few forum members, particular mention goes to Brewer Pete and Airgead (Dave), I finally got some small batches of mead on the go.

As with my first brew (a vider), it was a "suck it and see" approach.

Two 4 L meads were made, basically the same except for some additions.
Made in the 5L glass jars.


Mead 1:

- 1.6 kg Red Gum honey from a farmers market
- 3.2 L water (boiled)
- 1/4 tsp Yeast nutrient, boiled for 10 minutes as instructed on pack (from craft brewer)
- Wyeast Dry Mead 4632 liquid yeast
- honey added to warm water to aid in addition to glass jar


Mead 2:

- As above (Mead 1), plus
- 1 x cinnamon stick (boiled for 10 minutes and water+stick added to demijohn)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 x orange (cut into eighths and skin off- I could not bring myself to put in the skin...)

Each jar was sealed and shaken vigorously for about a minute for aeration.


And then, since I had some Wyeast left over (one package does 23L) I decided to make two ciders:

Cider 1:

- 3 L Berri apple juice
- 800 mL Berri apple/pear
- 69 g white sugar (CSR brand)
- 35 g lactose
- 1/4 tsp Yeast nutrient, boiled for 10 minutes as instructed on pack (from craft brewer)
- Wyeast Dry Mead 4632 liquid yeast

Cider 2:

- As above (Cider 1) plus
- 1 x cinnamon stick (boiled for 10 minutes and water+stick added to demijohn)
- 1 x lemon, skin off and cut into quarters

Quantities of sugar and lactose were based upon my first cider.


Let's see how it goes...

 

[DJbrewer]

well, not much happening in the mead or cider after three days...
of course, it took some effort to get my last ciders started, too.


I decided to move the jars from the coldest part of the house to near a heating vent (central heating), which turns on in the morning and at night for about 1-2 hours each time.

hmmm....

maybe I used too little yeast or not enough nutrient...

will wait another coupel of days and then decide from there if I shoudl add more yeast or nutrient or start again...

 

[pdilley]

If its cold, everything extends timewise, including the lag phase where the yeast are consuming the available oxygen and building up in numbers before switching to fermenting the musts. Indirect heating is ok, just make sure it doesn't get direct heat where the fermenters overheat before the central heating system thinks the room has finally warmed up enough and you'll be fine. Patience and you'll have a room full of lovely smells in time. Once yeast get into full fermentation you can get upwards of a 4C rise in the fermenter above ambient room temperature. Until then resist the urges and just monitor temps of the fermenters instead. With exception of a full SNA treatment, Meads and Ciders are slow as a rule so you are in normal territory.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[DJbrewer]

thanks for the reply. the chance to have a room full of lovely smells is what keep sme going...
i think i am just impatient. maybe mead is not my thing when patience is required... :lol:
i have placed a folded towel across the vent so that the heat is not that high when it hits the jars. perhaps I need to buy some more stick-on thermometers...


even though i have read a bit about basic brewing (mainly on this site), and the slow fermentation times when cold, I still just want it to start...


cheers,
DJbrewer

 

[pdilley]

After brewing Mead or Ciders, put down a beer then you are happy while you wait.

Cheers.
Brewer Pete

 

[DJbrewer]

After brewing Mead or Ciders, put down a beer then you are happy while you wait.

Cheers.
Brewer Pete

yep, good idea.

well, the juice-only cider has started to bubble gently.

whereas a white film has formed on the lemon pieces in the other cider. I assume that is the yeast growing and that that is fine...? last time I made a cider it was in a white fermenter so I could not see anything... no bubbling as yet, though.


thanks for any replies.

 

[DJbrewer]

whereas a white film has formed on the lemon pieces in the other cider. I assume that is the yeast growing and that that is fine...?

nope. mould...
oh well, throw it out and try an apple/blackcurrant brew, i think...

 

[pdilley]

Careful, yeast forms a thin white milky film layer on the sides of the glass and fruit in glass containers, hidden by plastic fermenters. This is normal. Mould will be cottony, spidery thin filaments massed together that soon sporulate a coloured mat of spores, say dark green, etc.

Depends on where you get your fruit from, old fruit or keeping it a fruit bowl that had mouldy fruit in it and not getting the fruit bowl clean of mould spores before new fruit went into the bowl.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[DJbrewer]

Depends on where you get your fruit from, old fruit or keeping it a fruit bowl that had mouldy fruit in it and not getting the fruit bowl clean of mould spores before new fruit went into the bowl.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

all of the above, i think.
i think mould then. i see some dark green...

oh well, not the end of the world. time to try something different...

(so many things to think about in brewing...how did the ancients do it...)

 

[pdilley]

all of the above, i think.
i think mould then. i see some dark green...

oh well, not the end of the world. time to try something different...

(so many things to think about in brewing...how did the ancients do it...)

Not with small batch brewing, no. Not as much on the line per brew. I usually have problems with bramble-berries even when fresh at the markets they go mouldy quick or already have mould filaments on them growing already before buying -- Im usually into frozen for those berries though.

Although fresh, I always scrub my citrus in hand over the sink in detergent before rinsing and slicing and use them straight from the store or backyard tree without letting them sit in the wifes fruit bowl.

Speculation-The ancients probably just picked out the fruit tossing it aside from the vat and kept it fermenting They had to calculate odds of loss and tossing versus replacement costs without the benefit of large markets of fruit yearly flown in around the world. It was a few shots at putting down the brews before end of the harvest season.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[DJbrewer]

Although fresh, I always scrub my citrus in hand over the sink in detergent before rinsing and slicing and use them straight from the store or backyard tree without letting them sit in the wifes fruit bowl.

thanks.
I washed but did not scrub and then through the fruit briefly in the sanitiser (may be unhealthy but i did not die last time...)!
still, as I said, the lemon was a bit old.

thansk for your thoughts/advice.