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If it's good for
ancient Druids,
runnin' nekkid through the wuids, Drinkin' strange fermented fluids,
it's good enough for me! - Pete Seeger Carefully document the gravity from pitch to one month out for a plain mead using Lalvin D47 yeast, coordinated with the Northern Brewer Homebrew Forum's Traditional Mead Group Brew on April 21, 2007 (I'll be starting it on April 20), using a local Wild Flower honey from Delta, UT.
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Clean and prep the primaries
- Scrub, rinse and then soak the plastic primary bucket/lid/airlock overnight using warm water and Five Star PBW®.
- Rinse the primary well, then use One Step® and some warm water in each, swish around and drain. Do not rinse again.
- Heat 2 gallons of spring water on stove to 115°F, and remove it from the heat.
- Add 20 lbs of honey to the heated water - mix well.
- Add the warm honey/water mixture to the primary.
- Add 1 gallon of chilled spring water to the primary, and enough spring water to equal 5.1 gallons.
- Add 4.5g Fermaid-K®, 4.5g DAP and 5g K2CO3.
- Check the mixture’s temperature, install an airlock and allow it to cool below 80°F.
- AFTER the honey water mixture is BELOW 80°F, take a SG reading and a temperature reading, and record these values with the date and time.
- Bring 3/4 C tap water to 110°F.
- Mix-in 10g Go-Ferm® until dissolved.
- Sprinkle 2 pkgs dry yeast onto mixture (should be <105°F) - stir lightly to separate any clumps.
- Cover with Saran wrap, and allow to rest 20 min (NOT MORE THAN 30 MINUTES).
- Stir carefully until smooth, add to must and stir-in.
Add additional nutrients as follows:
- Stage 2: At active fermentation add 2.8g Fermaid-K® and 2.8g. Mix thoroughly.
- Stage 3: At mid-fermentation (OG+FG)/2, add 1.8g Fermaid-K® and 1.8g. Mix thoroughly.
April 20, 2007 4:20pm - Pitched. OG is 1.142 at 80°F
April 21 (Day 1) - Decided to lower the SG to 1.130 at 73°F by bringing the total volume up to 5.6 gallons. Stirring made it foam like crazy.
April 22 (Day 2) - Added the second round of nutrients. The SG is 1.122 at 73°F. Stirring made it foam like crazy.
April 23 (Day 3) - Added the third and last round of nutrients. The SG is 1.100 at 73°F. Stirring made it foam a little. Note: This addition is probably about two days early, since 1.060 may be a better mid-point.
April 24 (Day 4) - SG is 1.080 at 74°F. Stirring produced champagne-like bubbles.
April 25 (Day 5) - SG is 1.070 at 75°F. Airlock still bubbling every 1-2 seconds. The taste is delicious.
April 26 (Day 6) - SG is 1.058 at 73°F. The alcohol taste is coming forward since we're now at about 11%.
April 27 (Day 7) - SG is 1.050 at 73°F.
April 28 (Day 8) - SG is 1.042 at 74°F.
April 29 (Day 9) - SG is 1.036 at 79°F. The taste is now slightly medicinal behind the sweet, and I am concerned about the honey's original taste elements, the yeast's nutrient needs, fusel production, oxidation, or even infection being the culprit. I've moved the mead to the basement to help stabilize the temperature. Time will tell.
April 30 (Day 10) - SG is 1.031 at 73°F.
May 2 (Day 12) - SG is 1.026 at 74°F.
May 6 (Day 16) - SG is 1.020 at 70°F. The ABV is now around 14.7%. Eyeballing the diminishing slope of the curve, I'm betting on a FG of around 1.016, putting the final ABV at about 15.2%.
May 10 (Day 20) - SG is 1.018 at 70°F.
May 13 (Day 23) - SG is 1.017 at 70°F.
May 24 (Day 34) - SG is 1.014 at 70°F. The ABV is now around 15.5%!
May 28 (Day 38) - First racking, added 1/4 tsp sulfite.
June 10 (Day 51) - Added 5 bags of Tazo Darjeeling and 10 bags of Tazo Lotus tea.
July 1 (Day 72) - Second racking (after 21 days on the tea), added 2 oz roasted French oak cubes.
July 16 (Day 87) - The clarity is increasing and the color is deepening to amber. The nose is sweet and hints at pears and lotus flowers but still has a medicinal memory. The taste is initially honey-sweet, but fades quickly with a hint of medicinal something-or-other. The alcohol-heat is integrating, and the mouthfeel and oak are coming-up.
August 10 (Day 112) - Third racking (after 40 days on oak) onto 5 lbs chopped bananas and 8 oz chopped dates.August 17 (Day 119) - Wow! The bananas have done wonders. The esters are creeping in and the sweet honey is coming forward. Incredible. I'll need to watch this. I suspect that another week or two will be enough.
August 23 (Day 125) - Rounded and smoother still and inviting on the tongue, I'm hoping for just a bit more nose before I rack off the bananas and dates.
Sept 1 (Day 134) - Added 2 oz of high quality Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.
Sept 17 (Day 150) - Racked off the bananas and dates.
Oct 15 (Day 178) - The mead is slowly clearing. The legs are thick. Swirling in the glass is absolutely required and really brings up the nose. Bananas are evident, as is a faint medicinal-clove. The taste is initially sweet but fades quickly with some oak coming in late.
Oct 31 (Day 194) - Added 6 tablespoons Green & Black's Organic Cocoa Powder.
Nov 21 (Day 215) - For a while I'd thought the cocoa powder might stay in suspension, but the clarity has improved greatly. I can smell the bananas but no chocolate. The taste is initially a little sweet with rich estery banana flavors, but no chocolate. The alcohol is integrating well and the medicinal flavors are pretty much gone. I think I'll try to bring up the chocolate using some Nelsen Massey extract.
Dec 25 (Day 249) - Haven't added more chocolate yet, but now I'm thinking it'll be fine the way it is... rich, caramel and banana nose, lightly sweet with a great smooth mouth-feel. This one is so nice. In two or three years it's going to be a real prize.
Feb 3 (Day 289) - This one is really something. Beautiful yellow gold color. Perfectly clear. The bananas are striking, and rounded by a buttery caramel. No trace of chocolate. I need to rack this and then bottle it.
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