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Any mead makers out there? I've got this batch going 3 weeks in and was interested in hearing others experiences with mead making. I plan on making it a sparkling mead and do a little in bottle fermenation just like beer brews.

I've just taken a super simple mead recipe and spiced it up with some more whole spices (cayenne, cinnamon, clove, all spice, nutmeg), GOOD lalvin yeast, the best citrus i could find, some energizer, some yeast nutrient, and 19 pounds of nebraska "corn silk" honey.

We did "whiskey thief" some of it and try it. Because I "stepped" in the honey, the alcohol content is quite high and will only get higher, it is sitting at about 19% alcohol right now and it didn't taste like jet fuel (although it smelled like bad vodka). The taste is sweet, citrus, spicy of cayenne, and cinnamon rich. Cloves haven't came thru yet, but I imagine they will.

19%? With all due respect, please review your specific gravity computations again. Yeast starts to lose its effect from its own alcohol poisoning at @ 11%, and by 15% the yeast is usually dead, unless you're using special hybridized cultured yeast bred for up to 21% alcohol, which you're probably not using, as it is not necessarily stable, and is expensive. And most beer yeasts give it up at @6%, which is why most beers are at @4-5%.

Most meads like you're making end up @ 9%, which compared to the average 4-5% beer, does have a sting (pun intended).

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"19%?"


Aye, yes popes, 19%. This is not a specific gravity miscalculation . The yeast I used is lalvin EC-1118 Champagne yeast. Most of the material I read on it says it is supposed to top out at about 17-20% I also used a double load of ID Carlson yeast energizer and wyeast nutrient blend.

The reason I noted it doesn't taste like jet fuel is because forcing the yeast to stay active and alive past their "wants", so to speak, yields some off notes and colors in the flavor from what i have been reading. This is likened to a shaving creme taste, etc. The step feeding process also pushes them past their point of comfort and i expect to top out in the low 20's. I expect to have to age this mead for quite a while (especially since I'm a beer guy) for at least six months afterwards (which is really not all that long in the non beer world) to get rid of any of these characteristics that pop up at the end (if they do).

The reason for using the champagne yeast is because it is one of the few yeasts that could survive my ph content with my oranges, which was really the whole part of the recipe that I wanted to focus on.

I guess it depends on what you consider expensive? EC 1118 was only $1.10 a package and I used two packages. That is DOUBLE the price of my favorite beer yeast.


Wes "more than willing to submit a bottle to popes for tasting... err... abv calculating " Pendergrass

Thank you for clarifying (pun intended). A lot of home brewers confuse the beginning and ending specific gravity differential as the alcohol percentage. Obviously, you know the difference. I do admit to having been away from home brewing a few years, so that is one yeast I am not familiar with. It is too bad I can't help you with your QC of your brew in person! Cheers!

i'm sorry, i just have to ask...this was bugging me for a little while

how do you know what jet fuel tastes like?

Tuba Guy wrote:i'm sorry, i just have to ask...this was bugging me for a little while

how do you know what jet fuel tastes like?

although i do know what gasoline taste like.... i do not know what jet fuel taste like....


This specific process of brewing yields ketones in the brew. Ketones are the main ingredient in acetone and other strippers/cleaners. A ketone is used HEAVY in jet fuels and commercial fuels as a cleaner (such as your gas stations with "cleaners"), it is called methyl ethyle ketone.


They all have similar structures/smells/tastes. The ketones in beer/mead/wine are a side effect of anaeorobic respiration of yeast. They are COMPLETELY safe for human consumption (unlike the other ketones), but that taste is unforgettable.

And, if overindulged, the ketones are the chemicals that contribute to the hellacious hangovers.

I actually figured out a surefire hangover prevention (for me, at least). I can't post it publicly, but if you're interested, pm me