westcoaster

Caramel mead on the left in a clear bottle

Regular mead on the right in a yellow green tinted bottle (tried to find some in a clear bottle with no success...

Shorts

Nice! Thank you for the inspiration. I have the fixings for a batch of Cherry mead. Well all the fixings except for the clover honey. I'm gonna grab that next trip out. I would like to experiment with the different honeys.

I'm surprised how fast these little yeast guys do their work. Checking the batch today I could tell the shade has lightened up from when I started.


BTW, I like all those insulators in the background. Dad's got a ton of those and I remember stubbing my toes on them all the time. My parents used them as door stops in when we lived in trailer.

Shorts

Tonight I started batch #2. It's a cherry melomel I believe is the word. In just under 2hrs the balloon was already inflated and full of bubbles. I gently tried to add a few more holes to the ones already there but I ended up popping the balloon. It sent a splash of cherry honey froth all over the place and all over me. Not cool. The upside is I got to taste the flavor. I think that one is gonna be yummy!

I need to get some carboys and airlocks. This balloon thing is annoying. The first night of fizzing and bubbling makes a real mess. Batch #1 had a little flood in the cabinet which is why I pulled it out to the counter and wrapped with towels. I'm afraid the scent will attract critters too. Those seem to be out in full force with the summer coming on.

Anyway, just wanted to update. My batch #1 is settled in nicely. I'll be unwrapping that in a couple weeks to have a look. I'm trying really hard not to disturb it.


Batch #2 loaded



I'll add more water later after the fizzing goes down.

capt.Ron

You can just go to Home Depot and get a clean bucket and lid and some 3/8" clear tubing. Drill a small enough hole in the lid so the tubing fit's tight. Place the other end into a small bucket or large bowl of bleach water. The bowl of water is your airlock.
Ya really want to do it that way in the beginning before placing an actual airlock on. I'm assuming the mead creates lots of foam in the fermentation process??
Guess I'm going to have to try making some mead as well.
Made lots of beer but have gotten lazy.

Shorts

^^ That's a good idea. Yeah, fermentation process lasts about 3wks from what I understand. This first 24hrs seem to be the most aggressive.

capt.Ron

Yea same as beer.
What kind of yeast did you use?
Where did you purchase it?

Shorts

I just used Fleishmans from the grocery store. I might order better stuff as I progress.

Bark

Sigh!!!! You are making me wish I hadnt given it up. Yes, I have gotten a sampling of what they make but have made it clear that they dont owe me anything. I was done with it. However, I gave them over 200 Grolsch bottles that I had gotten from others. Sort of wish I still had them because they are great for storing beer. Oh well, at least I still have my liver.

Shorts

I wouldn't worry too much about a liver. Should be able to find one on craigslist. I think they're in the 'general' category.

You did have a lot of good bottles. That's what I don't have yet. So I better start looking.

capt.Ron

Rinsed and sanitized 2 liters work great!!
Less bottling. I believe it only takes 9 two liter bottles to bottle up a 5 gal batch. A step up fro there is to get some Cornelius kegs. (Those stainless steel canisters that the syrup goes on for fountain drinks.


Now if ya just want bottles you can go to a bar and get them as well. I used to have a massive collection of those ceramic flip tops as well as the regular bottle cap type.
Not sure what part of DFW you're in but my favorite beer bar is "The Gingerman" on Boll St in Dallas just off of McKinney. The "flying Saucer" in FW also serve lots of bottle beer that's not screw off.
Oh for good yeast there's a place in Arlington called Jekyll & Hyde's"
Can't remember the address.
The owner can talk you through making pretty much anything to help you refine you process.
Oh if you know anyone who owns a restaurant or Donuts shop you can get some nice food grade buckets from them.
A buddy of mine ran a donuts shop and the icing and fillers came in these 5 gal plastic buckets that were nearly clear. You could actually see your brew clearing through these.
I think pickles come in similar buckets as well.

Shorts

I appreciate the guidance I was hoping to find local supply shops. I'm up in Grapevine and there are local wineries. So there has to be some kind of supply support right?

I definitely need to keep my batch size manageable. Though I am strong for my build I don't have two hands to wrap my arms around large containers to carry them. If they have a handle or something grabable I can muscle it to carry, but agitating the mix would be difficult. I guess I'd have to go to a large stir stick or power drill type method (or build some kind of power shaker ). I think a 100lb is my limit to move stuff, 40-50lbs if I need to lift it above shoulder height. I know that sounds weird but these are the things I have to think about when doing stuff with only one hand

capt.Ron

Ya might try this place for your supplies.
I don't know anything about the place. Just found it via Google.

Shorts

Last night I checked #1 with the hydrometer, SG: 1006. No clue what starting was as I didn't have the hydrometer then. But 1.006 was getting me into the dry category. And fermentation was extremely slow according to the airlock I stuck on it. It wasn't done, but really slow. (higher than 1 bubble per min.). It tasted awfully hot and orange-juicy. Think of a bad screw driver.

I decided to rack it. I added almost 4c of sugar water to get rid of the air gap as well as back sweeten a little bit (I was out of honey). I checked the SG again, 1.018. Ok, that's fine. I figured fermentation would start up a bit. Sure enough, it did, though very very slow.

Should I cold crash it to totally stop fermentation? Or let it go? I don't have any sorbate tablets or anything. Would the flavor best be left to go on its own or should I halt it? I don't want this dry.

This will be setting for a while. Hopefully the aging will mellow out the alcohol heat and the sweetness comes through. I'm also somewhat concerned about temperature. I totally forgot to measure the must when I had it out, but we only keep the air temp inside on the thermostat at 76 daytime/74 night. I'm wondering if the yeasts didn't like the warmth which is why fermentation came to a slow grind.

Shorts

capt.Ron, just wanted to let you know I ran down to Foreman's in Colleyville for a few supplies. It's a general store which reminded me of ours on Main st. So being the case, I'm going to run to ours and see if they might have supplies as well. The difference being my store is only a 5min drive and Foreman's being about 30min with traffic.

Ok, just thought I'd let you know.


This #1 Batch is coming along nice. It's cleared up and the color is pretty compared to the cloudy orange bleehhhhh. This weekend I'll be checking and racking #2 and #3 from fermentation. Still deciding on racking or leaving #1 on the lees. I