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They are marketed to folks who want to sneak booze on a cruise.
Https://www.amazon.com/Make-Mead-Like-Viking-Wild-Fermented/dp/1603585982
I haven't read it but I know the author goes into detail about brewing from wild yeast present in the honey and the environment. Probably how vikings did it.
One of the reasons I like mead is because I like to pretend that I'm a viking haha.
You can buy new cap seals for pretty cheap from your homebrew shop, or just get them in bulk online: https://www.amazon.com/25-pack-Washers-Bottle-Gaskets-Grolsch/dp/B00JDVE5EO
Here is the link to the potion bottles. So a warning. This is the first time i am using these bottles and they are great and all but the corks that come with are S**t they float up on there own and ive already lost one bottle thanks to it "yes im sad����" so get some other corks whem usimg these guyses bottles. I am going to a brewing store tomorow to pick up some other corks ��
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00ABYD0KC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_QsVwDb0DZ7HH1
My husband got me a 1 gallon starter set off Amazon one Christmas. Had a 1 gallon carboy, yeast, nutrients, 2 gallon bucket, auto siphon….. best gift ever. Got me started!
Editing to add link:
Home Brew Ohio One Gallon Mead Starter Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074Q5Z6XX/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_936G31CPT3W5CP69C89E
I used a puree that I bought off amazon ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076BLYZNT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ) and filled about 1/5th of my 1 gallon carboy with it, used 3lbs of regular Costco honey, filled the rest with water. I used EC1118 yeast and some pectic enzymes to help cut down on the lease that purees tend to make. It ended up being super super clear. I only let it ferment for about 2 months, and I ended up backsweetening just a little bit with about 6oz of honey.
Even though the brew is only 2 months old, it is immaculate and I can't wait to try it again in another three months or so.
1) It usually only smells for a couple days, if that, depending on a bunch of different factors. My last batch made my house (first floor, anyway) smell a bit yeasty for a couple days. Sometimes, you might have a batch that emits sulfur smells (Google for "rhino farts," although that's apfelwein, a type of German apple wine, not mead), but that usually points to a lack of nutrients and is dependent on the yeast strain. Add yeast nutrient and look at the manufacturers' data sheets when selecting a yeast strain.
2) It's actually not that difficult to get right. The three main things are sanitation, sanitation, and sanitation. Did I mention sanitation? That's about 75% of it, right there. Humanity has been fermenting beverages for thousands of years, well before anyone knew about microbes and well before Pasteur was born. With proper and careful cleaning and sanitizing, you nearly eliminate the risk of your beverage getting infected. John Palmer, author of How to Brew, says in his book that brewing is about 75% sanitation, and while brewing is not meadmaking, it's just as applicable to wine- and meadmaking as it is to brewing.
3) Gotmead.com has a "NewBee" guide. There's good, applicable beginner material at winemaking.jackkeller.net (and for some of the wines where nearly all of the sugar is added, you could use honey instead, after you convert the amount). A lot of people start with a recipe called Joe's Ancient Orange Mead, and there's a document called "The Bee's Lees" which has recipes (Google knows about both of these). Also, if you want a real book, The Compleat Meadmaker is often highly recommended.
I'm going for the throat on the yeast on this comment. Lallemand Voss, it's available on amazon and should be available in your area. The most heat tolerant and most forgiving you could possibly get currently. Only caveat is it requires more nitrogen than others, which we can easily do. Wine yeasts are not going to tolerant summer heat in a no AC house the same way.
The amazon link is more expensive than other places (local stores by me sell it around $5-6 a pack) but it is still worth it. You can do around 5 gallon of mead with that package. 2g per gallon is fine and there's 11g in there, it'll go far.
The short of why is wine yeasts have ideal temperature in the low 60F/16C. They start to make off-flavors that take longer to age out and go away once it's done. We are talking on the order of 3-9 months typically. The linked Voss does not make any of those off-flavors up to 95F/30C.
we used EC-1118 yeast and had an SG of 1.045. We aimed for an FG of 1.000 (ended up being closer to 0.996). Then we put a carbonation drop similar to these in each beer bottle before bottling! That's about it, we only opened our first "tester" bottle 2 weeks after bottling (this pic is 2.5 weeks after bottling)
These make your bottles look awesome as gifts and are super cheap
OK, I've decided to upload all the documents I have on mead to Google Docs. There's a bunch, but I feel like everyone should be able to have this info on hand!
Here is the link:
If there are anymore that people would like to add, please let me know! I will download the file and upload to the folder right away!
Sounds like a good read. Definitely interested in picking this up sometime.
On a side note, not sure if you did it intentionally but, putting keywords in URLs back to Amazon usually sends up a red flag to Amazon that you're trying to artificially boost your search rankings. Thought I'd point it out since it's your dad's book - you should edit your link in your post to remove the extra stuff.
I’ve had great luck with the Northern Brewer 187ml bottles off of Amazon. We cap them
187 ml Clear Champagne Bottles, 24 per case https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089WIAP8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_2T8ZBbGTM8HT7
Not a silly question. They are rubber airlock grommets. Here's an example, amazon Canada
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07WDCF9K6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_iHqDFb65FCDT8
They require a 1/2" bit and I highly recommend this guy for a precision hole that won't burr. As compared to just a regular drill bit.
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0000AV6YS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_FIqDFbX4PH32Q
For your last question:
Mead is technically regulated as wine by the TTB, but there's a little more to it than even that. Look at the most recent American Mead Maker for more information. But yes, in practice, mead tends to hit the craft beer crowd better best because of the interesting ingredients and large variation.
It would make more sense using the yeast varieties present in raw honey instead of those in your kitchen. You also often have lactobacillus in sourdough starters so I personally don't see any good reason of using it. If you decide to try it don't be disappointed if the result go sour (pun intended).
Also, this book: https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Mead-Funky-Spontaneous-Fermentations/dp/151363061X
>Filtration
Filters for liquids are rather expensive and therefore far down the line of equipment that people pick up. EG
>coffee filter
Nooooo.... This just increases the surface area and significantly aerates the mead. Oxidation city.
>siphoning
Yeah, nearly mandatory. A racking cane and tubing costs less than the honey for a batch, and you’ll use it for dozens of batches before needing to replace it. Spend the $9 on a cane, clamp, and tubing, or $13 for autosiphon and tubing instead of ruining $13 worth of ingredients each gallon you make.
Cold crash the fruit down, siphon over top of it.
Certainly. It's a little fiddly to set up, especially the first time. You have to be ready for some leakage/spray in places. But, if you plan a bit, and tighten it real well, it isn't too bad.
This particular batch was black when I started. This was from just going to the stage 2 filters. (Stage 3 tends to leak/spray more because it is so much finer.)
Does that help?
Buon Vino Mini Jet Filter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0064OG4PQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_SpoMCbRMDQPXD
so, this might help you out some.
i went to a mead roundtable with the 2005,2007 and 2009 mead makers of the year. it was quite fascinating and i learned quite a bit. they referenced this sheet, and ken schrumm's book quite a bit and Northern Brewer was nice enough to send out this PDF to us. The 3 guys were big fans of 71b rather than d47.
i wish i had taken better notes but i was too busy sampling everything they had brought. 2 other things that struck me were that they all used no-heat methods for honey. dump and stir to disolve. also, use acids post fermentation if your mead comes out flattish.
*edit - they were also big advocates of using potassium sorbate and then back sweetening to your desired level with honey. that could help your dry issue. it will also bring out some flavors of honey, fruit if you are using it, and aromas lost during fermentation/aging.
What would be the difficulties involved with using something like this
That model in particular states a max capacity of 3000ml which is less than a gallon, which presents an obvious difficulty but surely larger models exist?
You might benefit by reading about Staggered Nutrient Addition.
Just clover.
http://www.costco.com/Annas-Gourmet-Honey-All-Natural-Clover-Honey-40-lb.-Pail.product.11753380.html
You don't need a membership. I have one, but their store is accessible by anyone. Non members get charged 5% extra online, which is only 8 bucks.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/16441 If 1669 is close enough to medieval for you, then Sir Kenelm Digby is here to rescue you. :-) The recipes are relatively straightforward, and an experienced mazer can help you with unfamiliar terminology. For modern styles, use https://bjcp.org/docs/2015_Guidelines_Mead.pdf as your reference.
It's a lot harder to say much more without knowing your level of experience with chemistry and the specific goals of the project.
I definitely don't! I need to bottle stuff ASAP to get more space.
But I was looking at all those and doing mental math on price and volume. The results are interesting.
There are 40-50 carboys in that picture. Let's call it an even 50 at (at most) $20 each, bought in bulk.
So that's $1000, for 250-300 gallons of fermentation tank volume (I can't tell if those are fivers or sixers) that won't have significant heat issues, and the volume will remain manageable.
Downside - lots of work and fiddling compared to even a 50 gallon fermentation tank. And I wonder how often they break, especially if they were sourced from a company in China via Alibaba.
After doing some minor detective work, here's what I have for you.
You probably used about 14 lbs of honey if your gravity reading was, as I suspect, 1.101 (24° Bx).
Potential Alcohol for that reading is about 14% ABV.
Wyeast Sweet Mead claims to tolerate alcohol up to 11%. That said, I hear that Wyeast might lose steam partway through or power up to 15% alcohol, sugars and nutrient allowing.
My guess is that if fermentation doesn't stall out early, you end up with around 11-13% ABV mead. That's a final gravity of 1.010 -1.026. That should leave you with enough sweetness.
If it ferments drier than you'd like, you can stabilize and backsweeten with additional honey, if you so desire. Look up potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulfite - their use is well-documented. How to backsweeten is similarly well-documented.
Fermentation times vary wildly and depend on several factors. Temperature is probably the biggest, followed by nitrogen and micronutrient availability. Batch size can have a small affect as well. My fastest was a melomel in four days in a warm summer basement. My slowest was a high(ish) gravity low-nutrient traditional that took nearly two months to come to a complete stop.
I keep my notes available for anyone to read. Some of them are from very early in my learning process, so they may come across as naive in places.
Here ya go:
https://www.notion.so/Methode-Champenoise-with-Mead-300c7e1c2af1416ca7617097684b3197
It's definitely not the best tutorial on it, but it's what I did for this. Feel free to comment on how this document might be improved.
I strongly suggest this company's matte vinyl for Inkjet printer. Water proof and amazing quality. Couldn't believe how well they work!
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B001W9LJ94?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Bottles are the best option for long term storage. Mason Jars don’t seal well enough and would have a lot of headspace leading to oxidation and likely off flavors.
If it’s the size of bottles that you don’t like, just get smaller ones. You don’t need to use 750ml bottles. I like to do 8oz bottles when I make a Coffeemel.
It wasn't expensive at all. Like 20 bucks. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DI3426O but it looks to be discontinued.
Something like this might work: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Food-Vacuum-Sealer-Machine-Handheld-Vacuum-Rechargeable-Storage-Bag/368899987?athcpid=368899987&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVAV&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=0f46a198-007-179f...
the goal is to just put things at negative pretture.
Mine is pretty weak, but it works well enough for me.
Oh, and I've used it on a 6 gal carboy.
Whatever is cheapest on amazon that does +-.something small
I had the same concern and researched a bit before I used it. This ad for PTFE says that it's food safe: https://www.amazon.com/44080-Slic-Tite-Thread-Premium-Grade/dp/B01FXXV048
Plus I think it's used in lines that carry food items. But I don't know if I ever found something for the one I bought.
Those harnesses are ok.. Someone sells these clamps on amazon that are fantastic. Looks like they are unavailable atm. It makes managing things way easier.
I have 2 of them. Started with one and immediately bought another..
Check out some champagne splits.
If you balk at the Amazon price + shipping, ask your local homebrew shop to quote you a per-price case if they'll do a special order. They get supplies delivered on a pallet - probably a flat rate - so the weight, which kills us on bottle shipping - doesn't really matter that much.
> I'm hoping that wax seal keeps out the air
It won't. Those corks probably also won't last more than a few years, even under proper storage conditions. Drink this batch up and make some more. I get the sentiment but, no first time brew is worth saving for 25 years - you'll get better as brew more and future batches will certainly be worth aging for longer periods.
Edit: Also, just buy synthetic unless you're crazy about the aesthetics/presentation of using real cork. 100 Nomacorcs are only $20 on Amazon (if you're in the US).
Amazon has a 12 pack of the smaller bottles like this for $30 (USD).
Home Brewing Glass Beer Bottle with Easy Wire Swing Cap & Airtight Rubber Seal -Amber- 16oz - Case of 12 - by Tiabo https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072B8HSH8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YAUyBbB7AE584
Our supermarkets in Germany often sell the same traditional mead made by a large manufacturer for 4€ a 750 ml bottle. The same can be bought at amazon and if you drink much they even sell 10 Liter of it in plastic containers for 45€ with prime 🤪
Original Wikinger Met Honigwein Kanister (1 x 10 l) https://www.amazon.de/dp/B00DC1FAAO
It was a double lever wing. This one here; Ferrari Portugese Double Lever... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000FRWJNE?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
It takes a little bit of pressure, but I’m your typical American slightly overweight, beer gut, haven’t really worked out American 25 year old male, and honestly as long as it’s a surface about weight height, and a slow pressure motion, I have no problem corking bottles. Used it for all sorts of wines and mead.
> could never hold my hands steady enough when near the lees when racking out of the bucket and always sucked up some yeast
PPD Inkjet Matt Creative Vinyl... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B001W9LJ94?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
And yup, Inkjet, the paper is made for it and works amazing. Does not run or smear when wet. Works amazing.
FermK, some boiled bakers yeast and goferm will ferment so much better than raisins and should cost ~ 3 dollars a batch or so.
https://www.amazon.com/CellarScience-AD345B-Fermaid-K-80/dp/B074DB7H5Z
Indeed, sanitized spoon will work well. Shaking will too, actually, and cause aeration which pushing out co2 (which can be toxic to yeast) and let oxygen in (which is good for them during the majority of the fermentation).
Never rely on the airlock bubbling. It's nice to use when you noticed things are slowing down, but even when it's not bubbling, there is still fermentation taking place, just not enough co2 being produced to exit the airlock. Each fermentation is different per recipe, so it could be 2 - 3 weeks, or it could be longer given the amount of sugars, yeast used, nutrients, pH level, ect... Many factors. For all you know, the yeast could still be going steadily when you rack over, so picking up a hydrometer will save you a lot of guess work.
Oh, yes, sorry! 3lbs per gallon! I'm trying to find the document, but somewhere there is a list showing how much fruit is recommended per gallon, as it varies with each one.
Check this guy out for some information on fruit in meads. Will help a lot!
The bitterness drops off with age, I don't intend to drink it in the near future. I would need to know how such math works to know the amount of thujone, I'll look into it.
That bit about ethanol is odd, I have drank alot of absinthe in my life, alot, and I've never heard of it.
Absinthe does, however, have a different drunk to it than other alcohols. Alcohol may be alcohol, but it's the other stuff in the drink that makes the drunk different and the hangover worse.
Another experimental batch that I have recently bottled used both sage and wormwood. Curious... The recipe was from the 17th century, you would think if people died from or hated it, it wouldn't make it to the cookbook.
Added: I found this interesting tid bit. It seems that wormwood has 31.5mg of thujone per 100 grams. So, the three tablespoons worth that I put in (which is less than 100g I'm sure) would have less than the lethal amount guaranteed.
Maybe you are one of the people that have the genes that perceive high ABV as sweetness. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/learn-about-alcohol-content-in-wine-highest-to-lowest-abv-wines#what-does-alcohol-by-volume-abv-mean
Alcohol itself tastes somewhat sweet to me. Definitely not bitter.
And check out this folder from the sidebar.
It's a little out of season for great melomels - that's the prime reason I'm not doing any at the moment. I've got a lot of cider finishing up, and there's some metheglin and traditionals on my calendar. I might try a 1 gallon bochet for the heck of it.
Raspberries make a beautiful mead and you can get decent ones (relative to other out of season fruit) at the supermarket this time of year. The Driscoll's organic label in particular seems to hold up well. If you have access to $$$ and a Wegmans, Whole Foods, or similar, you can probably find other acceptable fruit, but it's both cheaper and tastier in-season, especially if you can pick it yourself and be really choosy about the fruit you use.
Another option is to use frozen whole fruit or frozen fruit concentrate. Again, that's something of a plan B, but you have to work with what you've got.
You can always look through my notes for recipe ideas. Keep in mind that some of those meads were made before I knew much about what I was doing...
A microplane zester is worth it. Amazon has them for about $10.
It might not be a big deal for some brews that only need a little citrus. However, if you want to have bold Orange flavor and need like 6-8 oranges then using a potato peeler may not release enough flavor or might dig too deep into the peel. Plus it is easier to use when doing a lot of citrus.
I have an Orange mead that got a slight bitter note because I didn’t have a proper zester. Most people don’t notice much, but it’s still something I rectified for the next batch.
Yes it’s a pain trying to fish zest out, especially with a microplane zester. Not to mention that small pieces of zest can be transferred through your siphon. The best option is to use a brew bag. The best part is they are reusable and will help keep the mess of fruit easier to clean up.
Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation. It is a yeast book that is understandable to the entry level reader without much of a science background. It mainly talks from a beer perspective but it over 80%+ applicable to mead as well.
I would make this a 2nd tier item after Schramm's book. Read that first and understand mead but also keep in mind some details have become dated in that. Mainly nutrient schedules and some other schemes like yeast rehydration.
Read Yeast when you've got the basics down and you're ready to up your yeast game.
I am also curious about this. As a beer brewer, I already have a reverse osmosis system for getting my brew water and the various salts. For beer, I always make a custom water profile in BeerSmith for the particular beer I’m brewing.
When doing a mead, it’s more convenient for me to build my own water profile from a RO base than to buy jugs of spring water. However, as you said, there’s not nearly as much info out there for building mead water profiles as there are for beer water profiles.
I found this somewhat helpful from HBA: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Influence-of-Water-Chemistry-on-Mead-AHA-Research-Education-Fund.pdf
In the end, I just used the “Yellow Balanced” target profile on BeerSmith as a best guess. TBD how it turns out.
There’s also this book which focuses on brewing water for beer. Might be worth reading to see what might be transferable to mead making.
Water: A Comprehensive Guide for Brewers (Brewing Elements) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381993/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_NVM29K3877PX89XCFBD8
I've seen firsthand proof that DualFine is an amazing clarifier. Also use an Auto Siphon like this one for Best result. In the end its up to you but these are really effective tools.
Yes. You can buy a concentrate and it will be much cheaper.
Here's a link for a bulk order of the dried cherries.
Fermaid O is basically just dead yeast hulls. It's nutritious but not nearly as effective as fermaid K or DAP. You have to work a bit harder when making organic meads because they tend to stall more often and ferment much slower due to the lower amount of nutrients involved.
This is what i got. It works very well, just go go full throttle with it otherwise you will have a mess.
You'll be fine. But if you want to be completely sure, you can get a can of something like this.
It's a non-oxidizing gas that is heavier than air, so you can fire it down the center of the bung and then place the airlock in. It will create a buffer between the must and any air left in the carboy.
I got it on Amazon. Not exactly preferable, but I wanted to give it a try and didn’t feel like hunting.
This one while more expensive fully breaks down for cleaning and is much nicer to use in my experience. I highly recommend it.
A light body red will work if a rosè isn't available, however...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BS7AFJK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_imm_5RZAWBXDXJFTW8QRY8RA
or even
These are concentrates, so expect to have to dilute them some how. My suggestion would to to use rose water in place of regular water.
A white or a rosè with raspberry blossom honey would come out really well I think.
Do you have room to get an old fridge in your garage?
Get something cheap and then put a temperature regulator on it. Like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Max-1200W-Temperature-Controller-Greenhouse/dp/B01HXM5UAC
It should keep your mead at the correct temperature?
It should be safe to dump in the carboy. It can be a little hard to mix when you add the water, so sometimes I just end up pouring in the muddy liquid that forms on top into the carboy and then scooping the dense clay that's left behind into the trash. You might have to do it more than once that way, but even the muddy liquid seems to have enough particulate matter to clarify your mead. Plus you don't have to deal with the denser clay causing splashes.
As for stirring and O2, what I've found is useful is to use one of these degassing wands to stir. Unfortunately they only really work for larger carboys, but as long as you keep the green cord things under the mead and don't go too fast with your drill, you can stir without worrying about O2. Plus, you can use it for its intended purpose: to degas mead. This releases CO2 that's become trapped in solution towards the end of fermentation, which is bad for yeast and can even cause a stall.
I've tried to come up with some homemade versions that would fit in a 1-gallon carboy, but so far I haven't gotten anything to work. Maybe something with a food-safe rod and some zip-ties that could be replaced between uses 🤔
I guess the main point for stirring and not introducing O2 is that you're much safer if you have a way to stir UNDERNEATH the top of the mead.
They just work. They aren't lifting the carboy by the neck and risking disaster. They make lifting the carboy pleasant. I changed over to exclusively better bottle carboys and I still use these exclusively.
There are already some good recommendations for siphons that'll work on 3/5/6 gallon carboys, but if you're doing 1 gallon batches, you should grab a mini auto-siphon, as the full size ones don't fit in gallon jugs very well.
Here you are. aeration stone
Thank you so much, and that's a great idea to make a large batch and then divide it up for experimentation! I currently have a 1 gallon blackberry melomel in secondary that I plan to bottle condition, and I hope to try out some other fun recipes soon!
I bought these printer friendly wine labels from Avery because they have a nice textured finish. I've used other printable labels that have a higher gloss, but I didn't think that would accomplish the look I was going for as well. Print and then just cut to size, so it's super easy to do yourself!
I haven't done any curbside with AHS, but I've used their online ordering and had it delivered, and that worked out well if you aren't in a rush to get your supplies (though I always am, since it seems like new recipes are a spur of the moment thing for me that I need to start ASAP, haha)
Long sleeve shirts are necessary, it's why I rarely do bochets in the summer.
I also like wearing oven mitts like these: https://www.amazon.com/iDoCare-Resistant-Certified-Grilling-Fireplace/dp/B018UKHDLA (Not that seller, and definitely not from amazon.)
And a long handled wood spoon, like 18 inches long, so you've gotta buy it special. I think plastic would melt, and metal of course is metal.
Between the three of those, I'm pretty safe from the honey. At least until I start sweating through the glove and my sweat starts to steam.
Note for others. Honey doesn't start to boil until like 250F, and it gets hotter as you boil it. It is far worse than boiling water.
The filtration is done in an environment without oxygen. For example, this filter pumps the liquid through porous pads that are enclosed, so there is no way for oxygen to enter the mead.
https://www.amazon.com/Buon-Vino-Mini-Jet-Filter/dp/B0064OG4PQ/ref=asc_df_B0064OG4PQ/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312070574797&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14447789575478663893&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9020287&hvtargid=pla-524145355134&psc=1
I used this filter, which basically pumps your mead through filterpads for you. You can use it to coarse filter and get rid of large(ish) chunk of things like lees you accidentally stirred up, or use the finest filter to filter out yeasts and bacteria itself. The finest filter you can get for this machine filters at .5 micron, which is pretty close to sterile and takes out enough yeast to stabilize your brew.
The up side of using filter is you don't have to wait for everything to settle to the bottom, you can make your brew look prettier (especially if you forgot to add pectin enzymes), you don't have to rely on whimpy arms to lift a 5 gallon carboy to the counter to try to rack to a new carboy, and you can stabilize easily and not worry about bottle bombs later. The down side, and this is a pretty big down side, is that if you do use it to stabilize, it will take out some of the complexity in the taste. In this case, it worked out for me because I didn't actually want it to be so oaky, but I do notice the batches I made after I got the filter have a more mellow taste.
I bought this and use the extra for additives in gin or cooking
The Spice Way Juniper Berries - Whole berries, pure, no additives, Non-GMO, no preservatives, | 4 oz | great for cooking and for spicing tea, syrup, meat, beef, turkey, soups and more. resealable bag https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082C4LN5B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabt1_MlISFbVDSMQ3X?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Wine Bottles with Screw Caps,... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SCHB4DM?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
I did one of these and one of the clears cause they were out of the greens. You could probably find cheaper sources but there’s no brewstore in Nashville anymore so you’d have to go online. Some sites give you free shipping if you go over $50 and I did the math and it just wasn’t going to make economical sense for me so I went with these. Maybe your situation is different.
hahaha agreed, also I feel it's a rite of passage we all have to experience. OP, you can dump some liquid out, sanitize your stopper and air lock and they'll be fine. In the future the 3 piece type air lock is a LOT easier to clean.
You can get a siphoning pump and some tubing pretty inexpensively too.Here's a $15 one at Amazon. Then you get yourself a bottling wand and you're all set and you'll never regret you bought it. I swear!
This horn is $20 on Amazon. I don't know if it's the best since I, admittedly, did almost no research, but it's certainly fairly affordable!
Here's the thief I got from Amazon. Great reviews and it's worked excellently for me as well. Makes the job tons easier!
E.C. Kraus Glass Wine Thief https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00838SVV6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_3pxNybA6RRT9K
You can get the kit without the honey for $17 less. That means they're charging almost $6/lb for their honey. If you can get good honey cheaper locally, I'd buy this kit - trying to buy the individual components on Amazon would cost more like $45-50 so it's a decent deal.
I was originally going to get the concentrate as linked in the original post, but then I found a few on Amazon that are decently prized. Here is a Cabernet Sauvignon, for instance.
If you have Prime, you can get a dozen 1L amber grolsch bottles for $43 ($20+ cheaper than a dozen from Macy's after discounts and shipping).
If clear bottles are you thing, buying a dozen 1L clear grolschs from Amazon is basically the same price as Macy's "sale" every day.
Test jar and people wile hate me for this but sign up for amazon prime and place your order. Once you receive it cancle prime. Free shipping
Oh no, it's no bother at all. If there's not any in stores, you might be able to try Amazon. This is almost 1 US gallon for $36 USD: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CYWMP7M/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_oxlQBb0JGFWF7
I believe 1 US quart usually costs between $3.50 and $9.00 in a grocery store, depending on brand.
Much appreciated!
The bottles were ordered through Amazon, but they appear to currently be unavailable. You may be able to find them through another supplier.
As much as I enjoy the brewing process, I think that naming may be my favorite part of it all.
I used this on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06X6LSVV4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
They send you a template that outlines where the wine Labels will be printed on the page, and my girlfriend designed it with Photoshop, saved it on a pdf then printed the label with an inkjet.
It seems pretty good, although the spigot doesn't really give a good stream. That's a pretty low concern to me, though.
I started a 2 gallon pyment today. I used red juice concentrate and about 3lbs of wildflower honey to get the SG to 1.120. I used D47 yeast rehydrated with goferm. The must smelled like raisins or prunes and tasted like full bodied grape juice. It should be interesting.
If you want to get into brewing historical mead and beers, I highly recommend this book. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381667/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_M6EyFbWB2YJ3Q It tells all about gruit and also medieval wedding beer which is yarrow ale. Also white methaglyn, broom ale etc
First, thank you. Second the paper I used was this.
PPD Inkjet Matt Creative Vinyl... https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B001W9LJ94?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
It's AMAZING. Inkjet printed on vinyl and it does NOT run or come off even when wet.
And to get the labels off. Goo gone my friend. It's gods gift for sticky label removal. Little tiny bit will do you.
You can find it on Amazon under the name "Superkleer" : https://www.amazon.com/Liquor-Quik-Super-Kleer-KC-Finings/dp/B01KW2H1X4/
Amazon has these charred wood spirals for enhancing whiskey. I love em. Used one in a bochet.
2 Pack - Barrel Aged in a Bottle Oak Infusion Spiral. Barrel Age Your Whiskey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R2JFLJ2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_UqXpEbB7WN1CG
I got this one which has proven to work with sub 1.000 gravity readings https://www.amazon.com/Ajax-Scientific-Borosilicate-Measuring-Cylinder/dp/B00EPQ565O/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_5?keywords=ajax+scientific+borosilicate+glass+100&qid=1551615971&s=gateway&sr=8-5-fkmrnull
So one of the most effective ways you can do apples (to get the most flavor) as an add-on vs as the man component of your mead starts by doing your secondary in a container with a large opening vs doing a carboy. You crush the apples (you can use a blender if you don't have a juicer) then to pasteurize (and help break down the cell walls) you heat your slurry to 175 degrees for 15 minutes, but don't boil.
Then you put the mix into THESE bags inside of your bucket before siphoning your mead in around them. The goal is to ensure the solids stay contained while still keeping them accessible for the yeast to turn their contained sugar into booze, any liquor produced will run out of the bags.
You will probably need 2 bags full of apple slurry in order to get a moderately strong apple flavor in your mead, approximately 3 pounds of apples per gallon of mead.
Let it sit on the apples for 30 days, then take off and squeeze the bags to separate the liquid from the solids.
There's a meadmaking style called Bray's One Month Mead (BOMM), which uses Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale yeast. While not a wine yeast, Belgian ale strains tend to do well at temperatures outside the norm. Supposedly you can get a drinkable mead within a month using this method, but I'd still give it a bit longer. Someone else already mentioned Lalvin 71B, which has also worked well for me in a similar warm weather state. You'd still want to do the swamp cooler method of putting your bucket/carboy in a tub of water with a towel over it to get some evaporative cooling going. Even better if you've got a small fan to blow on it.
Now, if you're willing to dedicate that fridge full time to fermentation, you can get this thermostat for fairly cheap to regulate the temperature.
Siphon tube. No pour pot at all. I use stuff like this as it is food grade, good to 500 degrees, and it washes up easily as it's not a super small diameter.
Also, to stir a bucket or your stock pot...use a stick blender, I personally use one of THESE but you can use almost any of them, the longer the immersible portion the better.
there's no easy way that I've found yet. I usually use a ladle, but I do have a bucket with a honey gate
You can avoid trying to strain off the trub if you use a raking cane or, as is my preference, an Auto-Siphon. Seriously, AutoSiphons have saved me so much heartache and lost product over the past few months.
I mix it in at room temp with a drill and this. That way I don't have to wait for the temp to come down to pitching temperatures and it gets oxygen into the must. It wouldn't be fun trying to mix it manually at room temp
EDIT: apparently i dont read closely enough, as /u/dokwilson also mentions the pb2 idea. great minds and all that
So along with cocoa powder. you can look for a product called PB2. it is essentially dehydrated peanut butter. it could help with the texture issue mentioned by /u/anchasta. here is a link to the product on amazon (not a refferal link) for informational purposes. depending on where you live you can probably find it at target, walmart, whole foods or trader joe's etc
they also have a pb/chocolate blend might be worth looking into.
Never used a conical fermenter, but I'm massively interested in them now.
Thank you for bringing this up!
Here's a cheap suggestion