My first homebrew - some mead!

pie_man_25 · #1 06-02-2011, 10:22 AM

Hey TB,

I'm making some mead at the moment, I got some honey from a grocery store, and boiled it (without caramelizing it) into some water along with half an orange, some raisins and some cinnamon. I'm using a couple of large (710 ml) bottles of heineken as fermentors, with some sterilized ballons as airlocks/caps. after pouring the "Must" (unfermented mead) into the bottles, squeezed the orange slices and the raisins into the bottle, to help raise the acidity, as well as to provide some nutrients for the yeast.

I'm not entirely sure how well it turned out, but I sterilized everything with a bleach/water solution, and boiled the must, and there seems to be foam at the top, some bubbles and stuff moving around in the bottle, and it seems that the balloons are very very slowly inflating, so it seems that all is well.

no pics as of yet, I was just really excited and I wanted to express that to a bunch of strangers over the internet

CrispyDelicious · #2 06-02-2011, 10:33 AM

Brofist. I did my first homebrew this past weekend. A porter with an OG of 1.080

I'm making an IPA recipe for my next batch (for my father actually).

Making your own booze is fun.

MakiSupaStar · #3 06-02-2011, 10:43 AM

mmm. IPA.

Relic · #4 06-02-2011, 10:45 AM

Man, I would really really like to get into home brewing as a hobby...I don't even know where to start though. This all sounds way too complicated

MakiSupaStar · #5 06-02-2011, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

Man, I would really really like to get into home brewing as a hobby...I don't even know where to start though. This all sounds way too complicated

Me too.

CrispyDelicious · #6 06-02-2011, 10:50 AM

Having just done it for my first time, I can say that at first it seems like a lot of work, but once you make a single batch, you realize how incredibly easy it is. I mean, it's not like it's a modern science

Relic · #7 06-02-2011, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

Me too.

I'm telling ya. There's so much that goes into it.
I'm a) too lazy, b) too scatterbrained to get it all right. Meh, it's easier just to go to the local shop and buy something tasty

pie_man_25 · #8 06-02-2011, 10:58 AM

The fastest,easiest, and cheapest way to make some mead

This is very similar to the recipe I used to make my mead - I scaled it down of course to make 1.5 L though. It's been incredibly easy so far - 1) honey, water, orange and raisin, 2) put into big jug with airlock, 3)??? 4) PROFIT!

Also, I've come up with a name for this batch: Ron JereMead!

pie_man_25 · #9 06-02-2011, 11:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

Brofist. I did my first homebrew this past weekend. A porter with an OG of 1.080

I'm making an IPA recipe for my next batch (for my father actually).

Making your own booze is fun.

nice, I don't know anything about gravity, but I'm down with Porters and IPAs

Smokin' Toaster · #10 06-02-2011, 11:09 AM

Homebrewing is like everything else - it's seems mysterious and difficult until you learn what you have to do and try it. I've been brewing for about 9 years and I've had to toss one 10 gallon batch because I got careless with my sanitation procedures. It's not rocket science, but I was doing other tasks as I brewed and got distracted. It's a very rewarding hobby, but brewing an all-grain, 10 gallon batch is about a 5 to 8 hour process, and things have to happen at certain times and certain temperatures. And sanitation is key.

I like to brew a number of different styles that are not typically available in stores, Kölsch (a type of beer famous to Cologne - Köln in German being one of them. I've also got a bit of a reputation for a Peach Wheat I brew for the Emerald Coast Beer Festival every year in Pensacola Florida. Emerald Coast Beer Festival

About the bleach - I'd lose it. Bleach is nasty, toxic stuff. Go to a homebrew shop or online homebrew outlet and get some Iodophor. It's an iodine based sanitizer, non-toxic, and you don't have to rinse. You use a very diluted solution (2 tablespoons per 5 gallons of water) , and the residue leaves no detectable flavor. Also, such small amounts are left that it doesn't affect my wife who is allergic to iodine.

Learning to home brew is certainly no more difficult than learning to play bass.

Interesting footnote: I live in Alabama, and homebrewing is a felony here. So, I'm your resident talkbass felon. And I regularly and repeatedly commit this felony.

Prosit!!!

CrispyDelicious · #11 06-02-2011, 11:10 AM

Gravity is the density of the liquid compared to water. Higher Original Gravity = more fermentables and tasties in your brew. Generally a high OG means a full body and increased alcohol content once it ferments. The IPA I'm planning is going to start around 1.075, and it all goes well, should end up with an ABV of about 7%. Omnomnomnom.

CrispyDelicious · #12 06-02-2011, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smokin' Toaster

Interesting footnote: I live in Alabama, and homebrewing is a felony here. So, I'm your resident talkbass felon. And I regularly and repeatedly commit this felony.

So you can carry handguns but not make your own beer?

Let's not go there

Prost! (I'm dutch)

Smokin' Toaster · #13 06-02-2011, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

So you can carry handguns but not make your own beer?

As much as I love the great state of Alabama, we have some really backwards beer laws. The State run ABC store will sell you a liter of 180 proof Everclear, but you can't buy any container of beer larger than 16 oz. That eliminates a lot of microbrews and imports. The brewpub law is archaic, and we just got the 6% ABV cap lifted a year or two ago.

Kinda strange in the state with the city where Mardi Gras originated in the Western Hemisphere, and hometown to Jimmy Buffett (Mobile) , isn't it?

hbarcat · #14 06-02-2011, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Relic

Man, I would really really like to get into home brewing as a hobby...I don't even know where to start though. This all sounds way too complicated

Get this book.

Complete Joy of Homebrewing - HomeBrewing.com

hbarcat · #15 06-02-2011, 11:37 AM

A

Quote:

Originally Posted by pie_man_25

Hey TB,

I'm making some mead at the moment, I got some honey from a grocery store, and boiled it (without caramelizing it) into some water along with half an orange, some raisins and some cinnamon. I'm using a couple of large (710 ml) bottles of heineken as fermentors, with some sterilized ballons as airlocks/caps. after pouring the "Must" (unfermented mead) into the bottles, squeezed the orange slices and the raisins into the bottle, to help raise the acidity, as well as to provide some nutrients for the yeast.

What yeast did you use?
What temperature are you fermenting at?

FYI, You can buy a package of "acid blend" and also "yeast nutrient" from a homebrew supply store for a couple of bucks and they will last you many batches of mead.

The addition of a little acid blend will properly balance your acidity and adding yeast nutrient will greatly speed up the fermentaion process.

Phalex · #16 06-02-2011, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrispyDelicious

Brofist. I did my first homebrew this past weekend. A porter with an OG of 1.080

I'm making an IPA recipe for my next batch (for my father actually).

Making your own booze is fun.

1.08? That's a big one! Big beers get better over time. Leave it in the primary for a month to 6 weeks before you even think about bottling it. It'll probably be good after a month in the bottle, but save a few for about a year. They should be spectacular!

I'm doing my second batch of Braggot. The first one turned out really good!

I used
6 lb DME
7.5 lb of clover honey
2 cans of frozen concord grape juice
2 cans of frozen apple juice
1lb of crystal malt for flavor
Maybe 12 oz of strong green tea for tannins
5tsp yeast nutrient
and 15G of EC-118 yeast.

The OG was over 1.1, and it finished about 1.025 or so. It's a little sweet, and it packs a wallop!

I think this may be the house blend from here on out.

CrispyDelicious · #17 06-02-2011, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phalex

The OG was over 1.1, and it finished about 1.025 or so. It's a little sweet, and it packs a wallop!

I think this may be the house blend from here on out.

Oh lawd. That sounds dangerous! And tasty.

And yeah, I'm giving the porter 2 weeks in the primary before I rack it to a carboy to condition. I plan on doing a 5 gallon batch every 2 weeks for the next couple months, racking the previous batch to a secondary, then bottling 2 weeks later. In 10 days I rack the porter and start the IPA (for my father), then 2 weeks after that I'm doing a wit (for my mom and sister), and then maybe a nut brown.. and then.. and then...

Well at that point I'll be in school making the stuff anyway

Smokin' Toaster · #18 06-02-2011, 12:03 PM

Most mead Connoisseur's insist on aging, usually 5 or more years. I've got two 5 gallon batches going, one that is a dry mead I made with Champaigne yeast, and it's almost 3 years old. The other was made with Yeast 4184 sweet mead yeast, and it's about 2 years old. I'm happy to report both are good and getting better.

pie_man_25 · #19 06-02-2011, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hbarcat

A

What yeast did you use?
What temperature are you fermenting at?

FYI, You can buy a package of "acid blend" and also "yeast nutrient" from a homebrew supply store for a couple of bucks and they will last you many batches of mead.

The addition of a little acid blend will properly balance your acidity and adding yeast nutrient will greatly speed up the fermentaion process.

I'm using Lalvin 71B-1122, there is a "brew on premise" place that specializes in wines and sells some kits for wine, he just handed me the yeast - I figured it would be better than bread yeast. As for the temperature, I guess room temperature - 20 Celsius.

I knew about the yeast nutrient, but I'm not quite sure where in town to get it - of course I'm sure there is at least one place that will sell some. I just wanted to keep this batch as simplistic as possible and use as little by way of "specialy equipment" as possible. If I like this enough, I'll be willing to spend some money.

Philonius · #20 06-02-2011, 12:44 PM

I've got about a half rack still of mead that's *DANG* like 15 years old now. Brewed w/ honey from our own bees (used to keep hives w/ my darling wife) and cherries from the backyard. The bees and that backyard are gone, but man; smooth stuff.

Brewing is pretty easy, mostly a PITA to clean all the sticky stuff off the kitchen floor after bottling. Then I switched to Cornelius kegs, and life was better. I don't do it anymore, mostly because drinking that much beer makes me fat and lazy.

Some folks like that, I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings here.