Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1642, 17 August 2013 Date: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 09:27:59 -0600 (MDT) From: mead-request@talisman.com Mead Lover's Digest #1642 17 August 2013 Mead Discussion Forum Contents: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1641, 14 August 2013 ("Shaggyman") Re: new topic (Chazzone) Re: New topic - Carl Weiss (Vuarra) yeast nutrients (Micah Millspaw) NOTE: Digest appears whenever there is enough material to send one. Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com. Use mead-request@talisman.com for [un]subscribe and admin requests. Digest archives and FAQ are available at www.talisman.com/mead#Archives A searchable archive is at http://www.gotmead.com/mldarchives.html Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #1641, 14 August 2013 From: "Shaggyman" Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 17:43:26 -0500 Carl, I'd go this way: Forget any nutrients, tea, raisins, etc. They all taste funny and usually aren't needed. Off flavors can and often do result putting DAP or other nutrients in the mead. Using raw, unfiltered honey and especially if adding fruit or juice, I have not resorted to adding any nutrients for over ten years now, and many batches are ready to drink inside of a month. (Granted, I use a filtration system to clear, but that also takes out any stray yeast cells which may remain after clarifying.) I just let them ferment to dry, then backsweeten to the level I want. Start with a lower gravity- 1.100 and about 2/3 or you target volume. Too high a gravity can retard fermentation. Use a yeast like Lalvin RC-212 or a Champagne yeast, rehydrated and in a starter before pitching. Then add in a fruit juice like blueberry, blackberry, etc- but make sure your juice has no preservatives. It is worth the time and money to take a close look at your water. I usually buy Reverse Osmosis filtered water from the grocery store. Some tapwater retains chlorine or chloramines which retard fermentation. Use an electric drill with a plastic paint mixer to *thoroughly* aerate your water before mixing anything into it. Like a full minute at the fastest speed the drill has. Yeast need oxygen (and plenty of it) in the initial stages of fermentation, and Failure to provide as much dissolved O2 in the must may lead to a slow or stuck batch. Lane O AKA: The Great And Powerful Shaggyman I'm a Pyrotechnician. If you see me running- try to keep up! ------------------------------ Subject: Re: new topic From: Chazzone Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 19:04:01 -0400 Carl, I don't have much experience with small batches, so maybe size matters... I've made a lot of mead, and it was a rare batch that wasn't drinkable all the way through the process. It's hard to really diagnose what's going on without seeing, but here's what I do... The bulk of my production has been melomel and metheglin. The only yeast nutrient that I ever use is bee pollen. Ambient temp for fermentation is a constant 65 degrees F., and I can usually count on primary fermentation to be done in 10 days or less, and secondary could be as little as another 2 weeks. My cyser has an O.G. very close to yours. If I was starting with new yeast, I'd make a half liter starter with water and some honey and leave it on the magna stirrer while I was making the batch, so it was fired up and ready to go when pitched. I'd reckon that your high initial O.G. is a challenge for the yeast, so a good strong starter is a "must"... If you don't want a sparkling mead, don't bottle until it is done. If you want to serve your mead before it is done, then just draw some off the carboy and serve. There might be some effervescence, but the process of racking would probably release most of the CO2. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. I hope you see something that is different from your process, that can help you along. - -zz ------------------------------ Subject: Re: New topic - Carl Weiss From: Vuarra Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 18:51:54 -0700 (PDT) 1) Excess carbonation. This looks to be caused by an incomplete fermentation, as you are already racking, which helps remove the gas. That is a huge SG, and it will take a while to get to a point where the yeast will not be able to find sugar to use. I personally would use about half the fermentables to get a quicker finish. Otherwise, you'll just have to let nature take its course. I've made a high gravity mead, and it took 18 months to ferment, including the nutrient. 2) Bitterness. You are using about as much nutrient as I would use in a 5 gallon batch. I would use just the one addition at pitching, and see where that takes you. Vuarra Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur. (That which is said in Latin sounds profound.) ------------------------------ Subject: yeast nutrients From: Micah Millspaw Date: Fri, 16 Aug 2013 14:41:13 +0000 >Subject: new topic >From: Carl Weiss > >Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 01:34:18 +0000 > I recently started using an energizer and nutrient due to low yields. >This has increased my sugar consumption and decreased primary fermentation times. However, even at half the recommended doses their is a very >noticeable bitter flavor. Was this caused by the rapid fermentation or am I tasting left over nutrients? What type of nutrients or engerizer are you using? What is the off flavor you are getting? There are a number of yeast nutrients that have ammonia or urea in them. While yeast like to consume those compounds, most humans not so much. Over time the off flavours will fade, but as you want to have the mead to drink sooner, I would try to find yeast nutrients that do not have those unpleasant compounds. Pollen is a good naturally occurring yeast nutrient. I like to use a Difco - - bacto nutrient. Neither of those option will produce strong off flavours. Micah Millspaw ------------------------------ End of Mead Lover's Digest #1642 *******************************