Mead newbie

Here’s the plan. Racked 5 gallons wine and saved the Cote de blank yeast plan on getting 2 pounds of honey and adding 1 gallon of water. I have a jar of pears that was soaking on vodka an sugar. I drank the liquid ( sorry was that wrong?) And plan on adding that. Should I just pitch everything or should I drop the primary on the pears in a secondary?

I don’t think you’d be all that happy with the results from reusing a wine yeast cake. The alcohol and low pH environment are pretty rough on the yeast and they’re pretty much shot after fermenting wine. But cote des blanc is a great choice for a dry mead.

I’m lazy and would probably just toss all of it in primary, since mead usually doesn’t ferment as vigorously as beer. And don’t forget to add some yeast nutrient. You might want to read about staggered nutrient additions, but it’s basically adding yeast nutrient in three stages during fermentation to keep the yeast healthy. Pear mead sounds delicious, though!

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Glad to hear that I’ll get some fresh yeast

Pear sounds delicious.

Should I pitch the whole pack to a 1 gallon

It’s an overpitch, but I don’t think it’ll hurt anything. Not much sense in having a half packet of wine yeast sitting around, unless you’re going to make some cider with it.

I could do some cider or do another Mead after I rack the first one. What’s your racking schedule?

I like to wait until primary fermentation is done, rack to a glass jug, wait for it to clear, hit it with some super-kleer KC for a few days, and then rack it to a bottling bucket or to another jug for extended aging. Primary usually takes awhile, maybe 3-4 weeks or so.

What is the best orange blossom, clover, or wild flower ?

I’ve only used wildflower, as that’s what is locally produced here. I doubt I’d be able to tell the difference between them, though. I’m sure there are some that can, I’m just not one of those.

If you haven’t already, take a look at “Joe’s ancient orange mead.” It’s about as simple of a recipe as you can get, although it’s a bit too sweet for me.

What just happened. I made the Mead about a month ago about a week ago at .040 I racked it to a jug. Nice airlock activity for a day or so then nothing so I checked it today .032. so I sprinkled some Cate de blanc on top right out of the fridge I should have warmed it but I wasn’t thinking. Anyway a volcano which has subsided. What the heck was that about?

Yeah, done that. But with yeast nutrient. If you can’t get it going, you might want to try some REHYDRATED ec-1118. That stuff is pretty bombproof.