Any experienced mead brewers here please?

[purelymead]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and brewing so forgive me if I appear novice. I want to brew a sweet mead but I'm slightly baffled by yeast energisers and nutrients, are these the same thing or do they compliment each other? Are they compatible with all yeasts or not? And how do i mix them together? Any info will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Welcome to the forum :

A few members make mead, i am sure you will get an answer shortly.

 

[Wraeccan]

I'm no expert but...
They aren't the same thing. Both complement each other and both are useful in making mead.
Honey lacks many nutrients and is hard to ferment so the addition of both is advisable.
It's better to mix the doses with a bit of the must and add back than to add straight to the whole lot.
It's also best to do it over 2 to 3 stages.
Finally, don't add too much of the energiser. It's very useful, but the diammonium phosphate is toxic to the yeast if too much is used.

I've done around 8 or so gallons of mead over the past few years. It's probably the most difficult thing I make but is also one of the most rewarding.

Good luck!

 

[purelymead]

Thanks for your response. When you say 2 or 3 stages, do you mean whilst mixing or a bit every day? Would you advise i mix them together (in a cup of must) before adding them to my batch or separately? How did your first batch turn out?
Many thanks

 

[TartanSpecial]

Hi Purelymead, I'm no expert either ..but did one 21ltr batch earlier in the year and it turned out well. I used the recommended quantity of goferm while re-hydrating the yeast (Lalvin 71b 1122) then added 8 grams of fermaidk staggered... 3 grams each at 24 and 48 hrs and the rest after 5 days (if I remember correctly). After reading various American articles I also added 6 grams of potassium carbonate. 7.7kg of spanish orange blossom honey gave me a 21ltr batch of medium sweet mead.
I've just bought 9 ltrs of Welchs purple grape juice and am about to brew a 19ltr batch of concord pyment, again using (+8.5lb) or orange blossom honey. ...that is after my vanilla porter has finished fermenting.

 

[BeerCat]

I am not an expert but the 3 batches i have done all got stuck and had to make new starters and repitch. I can see now why people add a jar of jam as thats seems to ferment a lot easier. Best of luck

 

[cheapbrew]

Welcome :hat:

 

[TartanSpecial]

I found the base recipe in this attachment a useful guide. Its fairly recent and Gordon Strong is well known.

http://www.bjcp.org/mead/VarietalMeadComparison.pdf

 

[jmh7117]

Hi Purelymead, I'm no expert either ..but did one 21ltr batch earlier in the year and it turned out well. I used the recommended quantity of goferm while re-hydrating the yeast (Lalvin 71b 1122) then added 8 grams of fermaidk staggered... 3 grams each at 24 and 48 hrs and the rest after 5 days (if I remember correctly). After reading various American articles I also added 6 grams of potassium carbonate. 7.7kg of spanish orange blossom honey gave me a 21ltr batch of medium sweet mead.
I've just bought 9 ltrs of Welchs purple grape juice and am about to brew a 19ltr batch of concord pyment, again using (+8.5lb) or orange blossom honey. ...that is after my vanilla porter has finished fermenting.

Sorry to divert from original thread but....
Vanilla porter OOOOOHHHH! That sounds nice.

 

[TartanSpecial]

Sorry to divert from original thread but....
Vanilla porter OOOOOHHHH! That sounds nice.

I hope so... has chateau cafe light in it and I cold steeped the dark crystal and chocolate malts to aim for smoothness, and 3 Madagascar vanilla pods are currently steeping in vodka to add before bottling.

 

[TartanSpecial]

Any info will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

You might like to look at this beersmith podcast interview about making mead. I found it quite useful.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvrkrTy2wgo[/ame]