First mead for me

So I want to brew something similar to jaom…but about 3 gallons…I have yeast nutrient and energizer and honey and oranges and lalvin d47 yeast. What type of water should I use…distilled or tap? Do I have to heat anything up? I got a schedule for degassing and nutrient and energizer that I’m comfy with…just never made mead before…and I’m sure the process is much different from beer brewing :blush:

I use tap water but if yours is no good use spring. As far as heating I never have but some say to pasturize the honey by heating it 150 or so. I soak the fruit in spirits then add 2lbs of honey and a gallon of water and shake it up good with some yeast and nutrient all in a 1 1/2 mason jar. I cover with some foil and rack to a jug after a week and add a bit more nutrient then put an airlock in.

So if i peel the oranges and section them…do I need to treat them in anyway…or can i just throw them in the honey/water mixture? They will probably get a little beat up when i used my mix-stir anyways…but will they bring any nasties?

I’ve never used citrus so I’m not sure about the juice. If I were doing it I would soak the peel in vodka and sugar for a month shaking often for the first week then pour off the sugar and vodka for a nice schnapps. Then pour the honey and water on the peel and ferment like I mentioned above. Or just cover the peel with vodka for a day and then pour the honey and water in that. Might want to try it a couple ways and report back. Like I said im not sure if the juice would affect fermentation , might want to add it after

So I’m two weeks in and gravity is at 1.040…is this normal? Airlock activity and temp of 64 degrees has been steady the whole time…small krausen every time I open her up to degas…

Did you rack it yet?

Probably rack it today…but i thought it might be lower than that…the oranges are still floating.

I never used orange so I don’t know if they drop. Most fruit will drop. I’ll give the fermenter a twist here and there to help it along. When you rack it add some suppliment.

Oh did you add the juice. If so maybe some more yeast. I’m just guessing but the citrus will lower the pH that will affect the yeast

What was the OG

Is it ok to add some Safale WB-06 after racking? OG looks like it was 1.090 plus whatever the sectioned oranges added…

It won’t hurt but champagne would be better

The oranges will have lowered the OG. Yes they contain some sugar but at a lower concentration than you honey must, giving a net decrease in sugar concentration. But unless you added a lot, it won’t have much impact.

I agree with brewcat, champagne yeast is what you want to get the fermentation to finish strong in a mead. WB-06 will stop early due to the alcohol levels. And keep an eye on the pH. If it drops too low, the yeast will take months to finish.

So I sort of forgot about this…opened it up today…she is clear and gravity is at 0.994…so i’m going to keg it and hope for the best :slight_smile:

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I have pear meed going that wouldn’t clear. Racked and in 2 days it was Chrystal clear.