My first brew plans + equipment setup

[.Ste.]

Hi all,

I recently took an interest in home brewing through youtube and thought I would give it a go as a side hobby. I thought it would be a good idea to get some advice from some more experienced brewers seeing as I am currently absolutely clueless!

I was interested in brewing some mead first due to it looking an easier process to learn, then an IPA, then some more mead to hand out for Christmas, and finally a lager to hand out for Christmas also. So just to lay it out in easier format:
August - Mead (Strawberry, Blueberry, Orange, Ginger)
September - IPA (recipe unsure)
October - Mead (Whichever flavour works out best from the 1st batch)
November - Lager (recipe unsure)

I have a Fermzilla 27L Gen 3.2 Triconical fermenter and 5x5L carboys so i can achieve this and not keep the mead ageing in PET plastic.

I am not sure on what IPA recipe to try first as I am struggling to understand what is best with the fermzilla setup(pressure fermented etc?), same with the lagers. I currently dont have any temperature control but i am hoping by the time I get around to November I have the Ferminator or some other form of temp control. I am also hoping to get the Brewzilla before starting the IPA.

I am hoping to create a progress diary in this thread if anybody is interested in the journey and open to all advice/recommendations!

My current equipment etc:
Vessels:

• Fermzilla 27L Gen 3.2L Tri-conical with pressure kit(spunding valve etc)
• 5x 5L Glass Carboys with airlock

Fermenting Equipment:

• RAPT Pill (Hydrometer and thermometer)
• Nylon hop bags
• Plastic Funnel

Cleaning Equipment:

• Chemipro San
• Five Star PBW Tablets
• Campden Tablets
• Sprayer
• Demijohn Brush

Measuring Equipment:

• Wine Thief
• Automatic Syphon
• Hydrometer and cylinder

Yeast and Additives:

• Mangrove Jacks Mead Yeast(will use different for the IPA + Lager)
• Fermaid O
• Go Ferm
• NAP
• Citric Acid
• Tartaric Acid
• Lactose
• Erythritol
• Potassium Metabisulfite
• Potassium Sorbate
• Kiesosol + Chitosan

Bottling Equipment:

• Bottle Filling Stick
• Carbonation Drops
• Bottles - Not sure if i want to cap or use swing tops yet

Miscellaneous:

• Plastic A5 tags for the demijohns (so i can keep track of the times/dates i have touched the meads)

Future Equipment:

• Brewzilla
• RAPT Belt
• Ferminator

 

[MashBag]

How's it going? What have to made so far?

 

[.Ste.]

How's it going? What have to made so far?

I am hoping to start the first mead brew on Sunday :) Just wanted to check there wasn't anything i could have potentially missed

 

[MashBag]

No chance
I think most of that you don't need to get started.

 

[.Ste.]

No chance
I think most of that you don't need to get started.

Im a bit of an overthinker so just wanted to cross the T's and dot the I's lol. I just ordered a beer filling fun with CO2 purge ready for when i bottle the beers lol. I dont think CO2 purging is necessary for the meads?

 

[MashBag]

There isn't much beer equipment used for meads, TBH it's more akin to wine.

 

[An Ankoù]

Hi all,

I recently took an interest in home brewing through youtube and thought I would give it a go as a side hobby. I thought it would be a good idea to get some advice from some more experienced brewers seeing as I am currently absolutely clueless!

I was interested in brewing some mead first due to it looking an easier process to learn, then an IPA, then some more mead to hand out for Christmas, and finally a lager to hand out for Christmas also. So just to lay it out in easier format:
August - Mead (Strawberry, Blueberry, Orange, Ginger)
September - IPA (recipe unsure)
October - Mead (Whichever flavour works out best from the 1st batch)
November - Lager (recipe unsure)

I have a Fermzilla 27L Gen 3.2 Triconical fermenter and 5x5L carboys so i can achieve this and not keep the mead ageing in PET plastic.

I am not sure on what IPA recipe to try first as I am struggling to understand what is best with the fermzilla setup(pressure fermented etc?), same with the lagers. I currently dont have any temperature control but i am hoping by the time I get around to November I have the Ferminator or some other form of temp control. I am also hoping to get the Brewzilla before starting the IPA.

I am hoping to create a progress diary in this thread if anybody is interested in the journey and open to all advice/recommendations!

My current equipment etc:
Vessels:

• Fermzilla 27L Gen 3.2L Tri-conical with pressure kit(spunding valve etc)
• 5x 5L Glass Carboys with airlock

Fermenting Equipment:

• RAPT Pill (Hydrometer and thermometer)
• Nylon hop bags
• Plastic Funnel

Cleaning Equipment:

• Chemipro San
• Five Star PBW Tablets
• Campden Tablets
• Sprayer
• Demijohn Brush

Measuring Equipment:

• Wine Thief
• Automatic Syphon
• Hydrometer and cylinder

Yeast and Additives:

• Mangrove Jacks Mead Yeast(will use different for the IPA + Lager)
• Fermaid O
• Go Ferm
• NAP
• Citric Acid
• Tartaric Acid
• Lactose
• Erythritol
• Potassium Metabisulfite
• Potassium Sorbate
• Kiesosol + Chitosan

Bottling Equipment:

• Bottle Filling Stick
• Carbonation Drops
• Bottles - Not sure if i want to cap or use swing tops yet

Miscellaneous:

• Plastic A5 tags for the demijohns (so i can keep track of the times/dates i have touched the meads)

Future Equipment:

• Brewzilla
• RAPT Belt
• Ferminator

What's a "side-hobby"? You going a shop there?

If you're a complete beginner then get yourself a decent book on home brewing and read it and come back with questions.
Making (not brewing) mead is quite different to brewing beer.
I should get a book on mead or homemade wines, too, as the concoctions you mention above are not, strictly, mead.
Good luck

 

[dlowe1992]

On the topic of a decent book (assuming you are a newcomer to brewing )...
I started out as a complete beginner last year and 'How to Brew' by John Palmer was a big help..

It's quite nicely laid out in that the first few chapters give enough info to get started, walking you through a first brew if you choose, then the rest of the book offers more detail that you can pick and choose if / when to use..

Link here

 

[An Ankoù]

On the topic of a decent book (assuming you are a newcomer to brewing )...
I started out as a complete beginner last year and 'How to Brew' by John Palmer was a big help..

It's quite nicely laid out in that the first few chapters give enough info to get started, walking you through a first brew if you choose, then the rest of the book offers more detail that you can pick and choose if / when to use..

Link here

I would add Graham Wheeler, Greg Hughes, even Dave Line. They can be had for pennies on Amazon.
There are good books by American writers, too (as well as plenty of tosh) but they tend to work in pounds and ounces,, degrees Fahrenheit, and US gallons, which are quite different to proper gallons Degrees Lovibond instead of EBC. I'd avoid them, to start with, unless you feel comfortable converting units.

 

[MashBag]

2nd vote for avoiding American books. Just an extra load, you don't need.

 

[Paul Quinn]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but you need to add a couple of items to your inventory. Ph is crucial when making meads and Metheglins, so grab some potassium Carbonate to increase alkalinity if necessary, and some form of ph tester, whether strips or digital.

 

[.Ste.]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but you need to add a couple of items to your inventory. Ph is crucial when making meads and Metheglins, so grab some potassium Carbonate to increase alkalinity if necessary, and some form of ph tester, whether strips or digital.

Are hot tub pH test strips ok as i already have some? Not sure if they are sanitary enough for brewing though?

 

[.Ste.]

Just an update:

5th August
Unpacked and set up all of the equipment

Santized everything and mixed up 20L of water with 4 campden tablets and 6.4kg honey. Made sure to shake it all vigorously and mixed it in a carboy about 4L at a time.

Sealed it all up and left it to sit with the campden tablets until the next day

6th August
Sanitized everything needed for today again

Took the first hydromoter reading today on the manual hydrometer
-1.11 Original Gravity

Calibrated and set up the RAPT Pill (wow that was frustrating)

Added the yeast and Go Ferm (mixed together in a slurry)
-15g Mangrove Jacks Mead Yeast
-18.75g Go Ferm

Topped it up to 22L with the extra water/campden tablet i left in a carboy overnight

Dropped the RAPT Pill in and sealed everything up and added the tag with the procedure log

I will be covering it with the Fermzilla box upside down for now until i find a better solution for keeping it out of direct light

TBC
If all goes well with the fermentation I just plan on doing the yeast nutrient plan over the next week and then leaving it in this vessel for a month or so until it goes into the carboys and flavored. I was tempted to pressure ferment it but I cant see much information on that regarding mead so I will just stick to what information i have seen so far.

 

[foxy]

Are you using unadulterated honey?

 

[Paul Quinn]

Are hot tub pH test strips ok as i already have some? Not sure if they are sanitary enough for brewing though?

Not sure the range you are looking for is between 2 and 4.

 

[.Ste.]

Are you using unadulterated honey?

I am using the Rowse Blossom honey. I bought 3x 3.17kg tubs of it for £15 each. I ended up only putting 2 in because i wanted the mead to be around 10% finished. I checked it was real honey but i think it is cleared/pasteurized - not raw. I would have liked to have used some better quality honey but it was getting quite expensive and i still want to purchase a few more things down the line (Brewzilla and Ferminator chamber and i still need to buy the bottling stuff). If i do a smaller batch some time i might use some heather blossom honey or something different, I'll see how this batch turns out first though lol.

 

[Druss]

I use Hilltop Blossom honey as a standard in all my meads nowadays, it's relatively cheap (£2.50 for 720g bottles on Amazon, the big tubs tend to split open in transit so I go for multiple smaller ones) and yields good results.

I've used the super expensive stuff, Manuka and the like, and the fancy 'unfiltered, unheated, raw, single apiary' kinda stuff too. Perhaps I just don't have a terribly sophisticated palate, but the fancy stuff has never given me particularly great results in comparison.

A lot of raw honey has very subtle and delicate flavours/aromas which seem to get lost during fermentation.

Some of the best mead I've ever made was using Acacia honey, it's usually not that pricey and seems to hold on to a lot of the aromatics and light floral notes in the finished product.

 

[.Ste.]

I use Hilltop Blossom honey as a standard in all my meads nowadays, it's relatively cheap (£2.50 for 720g bottles on Amazon, the big tubs tend to split open in transit so I go for multiple smaller ones) and yields good results.

I've used the super expensive stuff, Manuka and the like, and the fancy 'unfiltered, unheated, raw, single apiary' kinda stuff too. Perhaps I just don't have a terribly sophisticated palate, but the fancy stuff has never given me particularly great results in comparison.

A lot of raw honey has very subtle and delicate flavours/aromas which seem to get lost during fermentation.

Some of the best mead I've ever made was using Acacia honey, it's usually not that pricey and seems to hold on to a lot of the aromatics and light floral notes in the finished product.

Thankyou :) I almost went for the hilltop one, i think the Rowse is very similar but i went for the Rowse one because i read a honey review which said it had a more floral taste... just smells like normal honey to me though haha! I was thinking the same about expensive honeys, especially if youre adding fruit etc to the mead it would barely even be noticeable. I bought the Rowse catering tub ones from Universal Product Solutions 3x.17kg tubs for £44.95 including delivery. If i can find a local beekeeper that is willing to sell a large amount for a similar price i might be interested in doing that too but i dont know if its possible.

I wondered if raw honeys might have given some issues with sediment + clarity as well?

 

[.Ste.]

Just an update before i start adding the nutrients

Plan on adding 4.95g of Fermaid O today and also tomorrow. Then the day afterwards 5.5g of Fermaid K and 3g NAP

Currently reading 1.1028 Gravity and 0.91% Alcohol @ 25.7°C

 

[.Ste.]

Update:

7th - Added 4.95g Fermaid O
8th - Added 4.95g Fermaid O
9th - Added 5.5g Fermaid K + 3g DAP

Alcohol percentage currently at 4.7% and seems to be going up, smells a bit like a sweet beer when i open up the vessel at the moment and it seems to have a bit of a fizz to it (I havnt pressurized the chamber). Colour hasnt changed at all compared to the start and a small layer of froth at the top.

I plan on adding 5.5g of Fermaid K and 3g of DAP again in a few days. I think its supposed to be at 1/3 of the sugar break which would be 1.073 gravity but im not far off of that right now so maybe around 1.06.

Ive been giving it a small stir after adding the nutrients (nothing too excessive). But after the last nutrient drop i dont plan on touching it to let it all settle before racking it into the 5L carboys.

Graph posted below