Jao The Ultimate Beginners Mead Recipe

[nuggetron]

copied the original post

 

[barls]

right with a rough calculated starting og of 1091. id say your half way through but saying that if the gravity doesnt move id suggest ether warming it up or repitching as it will be bloody sweet

 

[nuggetron]

right with a rough calculated starting og of 1091. id say your half way through but saying that if the gravity doesnt move id suggest ether warming it up or repitching as it will be bloody sweet

re pitch as in more yeast?
cause i did that about a month ago
it is sickly sweet it tastes like a dirty cheap fruity lexia or something

 

[barls]

was it healthy active yeast or just another sprinkle of yeast.

 

[nuggetron]

was it healthy active yeast or just another sprinkle of yeast.

2 packets of bread yeast chucked in some warm water and sugar made sure it was fermenting in the cup then threw it in the brew

 

[barls]

so active. give it some time and it will ferment out eventually

 

[nuggetron]

so active. give it some time and it will ferment out eventually

should i take it out of the fridge?
its had 5 months nearly just getting worried haha

 

[troopa]

Whats the fridge sitting at? 18deg?

 

[nuggetron]

the fridge is on for about 4 hours a day between 11-5 or there abouts on and off just so it doesnt go moldy andas a temp control over summer, its on the highest temp possible not sure what that is

 

[troopa]

if at all possible get a temp controller for your fridge
if you cant or dont want too then take it out of the fridge for a few days a week and see if the yeast wakes back up as i have a feeling it maybe getting too cold and the yeast is hibernating

 

[nuggetron]

awesome thanks man
its outta the fridge and on the concrete ground in the garage i think that might be enough temperature control over winter at least
it is sickly sweet at the moment, undrinkable, was hoping it wasnt that sweet haha

 

[troopa]

If your in Melbourne your garage floor will be sitting somewhere around 12-14 degrees at the moment. Thats a touch on the cold side but certainly better then your fridge id think

 

[nuggetron]

hey guys so i brought some glass bottles with flip tops
they arent exactly air proof, i filled em up with water turned em up side down and water slowly drips out
now if i put my mead in there (or any alcohol for that matter) knowing it isnt air proof or whatever the words are will i be risking contamination from air borne bacteria?
basically should i use these bottles or take em back?

 

[barls]

id take them back mate. if its not water tight its no good. you can just use beer bottles

 

[nuggetron]

id take them back mate. if its not water tight its no good. you can just use beer bottles

i only have plastics at the moment
plus i wanted a clear bottle to see the colour
only go them from the reject shop or whatever so 10 bucks for 5 isnt a big loss
are hbs ones any better?

 

[barls]

where are you mate? i possibly can help with some clear beer bottles. i normally use them for ciders and meads if im not bottling in wine bottles.
i bought some from the reject shop for some cordials i made, ended up throwing half the batch out as they grew mould due to the dodgy tops. i did end up re bending the cages but im still not 100% sure ive got it right. its almost time to make it again as the mandarin tree is full again so we will see.

 

[nuggetron]

where are you mate? i possibly can help with some clear beer bottles. i normally use them for ciders and meads if im not bottling in wine bottles.
i bought some from the reject shop for some cordials i made, ended up throwing half the batch out as they grew mould due to the dodgy tops. i did end up re bending the cages but im still not 100% sure ive got it right. its almost time to make it again as the mandarin tree is full again so we will see.

ahhh another one who got suckered in by the cheap bottles
im out campbelltown way
empty spirit bottles? would they work, not as fancy to give as a gift but the right price

 

[barls]

empty spirit bottles would work but as you said not a s fancy. im over near ryde but work in smeatons grange. if you want i can have a look how many clear bottles i have that can be capped tomorrow.
i normally cork and wax my meads.

 

[nuggetron]

empty spirit bottles would work but as you said not a s fancy. im over near ryde but work in smeatons grange. if you want i can have a look how many clear bottles i have that can be capped tomorrow.
i normally cork and wax my meads.

thanks for the offer man but the mead still has a while to go and its a massive batch and wouldnt wanna take bottles off you
i have a cupboard full of virtually empty spirits so should be able to finish them off before the mead is ready and can just use them
thanks though
good members on this forum

 

[barls]

ive got a few that i need to bottle soon myself when i get around to it. my chocolate one has been in the fermentor for about 12 months now

 

[nuggetron]

my chocolate one has been in the fermentor for about 12 months now

12 months!!!! soooo patient!!!!
i put down a 44 liqueur yesterday and ive checked it like 20 times in 24 hours

 

[barls]

not really, i lost it in behind my sours. only found it the other day.

 

[cam89brewer]

I am about to go ahead with my first mead and the only thing I am unsure about is the fact of bottling something that in not carbonated and the layer of oxygen in the bottle.
How do you go about preventing this or doesn't this cause oxidation and off/stale Flavours?

 

[cam89brewer]

I am about to go ahead with my first mead and the only thing I am unsure about is the fact of bottling something that in not carbonated and the layer of oxygen in the bottle.
How do you go about preventing this or doesn't this cause oxidation and off/stale Flavours?

I am guessing this is one of those times where everyone thinks I should do more research? But I cant find anything.

 

[glenwal]

I am guessing this is one of those times where everyone thinks I should do more research? But I cant find anything.

Does this help?

 

[cam89brewer]

Does this help?

Yes thanks heaps for that! I suppose it must be pretty easy to miss something when there are 30+ pages to go through. :lol:

 

[FuzzyDropbear]

Hi Pete, thanks for the recipe, I've only really had a tiny sample of mead but was quite intrigued by it so thought I would give it a whirl. Put it down on Tuesday night and amazed at how simple it was (I know what I'll be doing next time I can't get to sleep). Talking to the guys at the homebrew shop, they gave me plenty of ideas on what can be done with meads so if all goes well then JAO might end up becoming a permanent feature next to the beers.

It's currently bubbling away in the living room but I'll move it into my fermentation freezer alongside the cider I have brewing as the temps a bit more stable in there. Might keep it a bit happier during some of these chilly Ballarat days.

Cheers. :beer:

 

[FuzzyDropbear]

Hi guys, the recipe says that after a couple of days when the foaming subsides that you should add some extra water, just wondering how much I should be looking to add and what the purpose of the extra water is?

I was thinking of just adding a couple of hundred mL to bring it up to 4L, or is more required?

Cheers.

 

[nuggetron]

what final gravity should we be aiming for? using the original posted recipe

 

[Jeff_beazley]

Firstly - thanks for the recipe!

I've just finished putting together 2 demijohns (one with less honey) however it's been about 6 hours and the honey is still very much undissolved at the bottom.

Is this normal? Will it eventually dissolve?

Thanks in advance.

Jeff