I got the recipe off of the American Homebrew Association (I think) and it was called Fall Spice Metheglin. For some reason, although I've been wanting to make a metheglin for awhile, this recipe struck a chord with me. Maybe it was the unofficial end of summer with the Labor Day weekend, but it seemed like the right recipe to make now.
Although there were a few minor changes, I basically stuck to the recipe:
- 2 lbs honey (I used Great Value clover honey)
- 3/4 tsp Bentonite (recipe did not call for it)
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/2 tsp ginger (recipe called for ground ginger, but I used fresh)
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 2/3 c fresh squeezed orange juice (recipe said juice from 1 large orange, but also 1-1/2 c of juice. My large orange gave me only 1/2 c of juice, so I squeezed 2 small tangerines and it gave me about 2/3 c altogether)
- 1 tsp pectic enzyme
- 1 tsp acid blend
- 1 tsp Montrachet yeast (recipe called for the whole packet, but I add only 2g or 1 tsp per gallon)
- 1 tsp yeast nutrient
- 1/2 tsp yeast energizer (recipe doesn't call for this, perhaps because of the other additions, but I'm adding some anyway)
- 1/4 tsp wine tannin (recipe called for grape tannin, not sure if that's the same thing)
- 1 campden tablet
As I noted, I made a couple of changes, and though I've started not adding acid blend at the outset based upon what I've read from Ken Schramm and Denard Brewing, as the recipe called for it I figured I'd follow the instructions. Also, since my juice addition was somewhat less than what was called for, I thought it might help.
But also as I've begun doing with all my recipes, I'm following my step-by-step checklist and it helps me to standardize the process.
I warmed up my honey to thin it out, and then added 1 c spring water to the fermenter and 3/4 tsp Bentonite which I shook vigorously to incorporate. With the honey liquified, I added it to the fermenter and then added 4 c of spring water that I heated up for 45 seconds in my electric kettle. The temp of the water only got to 95F though, so 1 minute will be my standard in the future.
I again shook the fermenter vigorously to mix the honey and water together and then began adding the spices. I followed that with my orange juice and then topped it up with the rest of the spring water, leaving enough room for the yeast that will be pitched tomorrow.
That's another first for me, not pitching yeast the same day, but since we also added 1 crushed campden tablet, it's necessary. I took a hydrometer reading and got 1.090. The temperature of the must was 81.7F, so adjusting for the temperature I'd have an SG of 1.091. Of course, I'll take the temp again before pitching the yeast to get the correct SG, but I wanted to get an idea of the potential ABV, which will be right around 12%.
I also took a pH reading just to see what it was. I just bought a digital pH meter so I first took one using a strip and estimated it came in between 3.2 to 3.6, and figured it would be close to 3.5. After calibrating the pH meter, I took another reading and it came out at 3.34, within the range, but a little lower than I thought. Still it's all good and the must ought to provide a healthy environment for the yeast.
UPDATE (9/4/17): I made a yeast starter by heating 1 cup of water to about 107F (maybe hotter) in my electric kettle then poured off 50 ml of it into a mixing bowl and added 1-1/4 tsp of Fermax yeast nutrient. I let the temperature come down to between 100F - 104F (it was 103F) and I added 1 tsp of yeast and let stand for 20 minutes before pitching.
I'm following the yeast starter protocol that says to use GoFerm nutrient to the starter then add the yeast, but since I don't have GoFerm I used Fermax.
The formula for determining how much nutrient and water to use is nutrient in the amount of 1.25x the amount of yeast and then 20x the weight with water. So for 2g of yeast, I used 2.5g of Fermax (2 x 1.25 = 2.5) in 50 ml of water as 1ml = 1g (2.5 x 20 = 50). That translated into 1 tsp of yeast, 1-1/4 tsp Fermax, and 50ml water.
I took the must temperature and it was 70.4F and so tempered the starter with the must until it was within 10F of the must (it got to 77.8F) at which time I pitched the yeast into the must.
I forgot to add yeast nutrient and energizer at pitching, but added 1/2 tsp energizer and 1 tsp nutrient several hours later. Since the yeast was pitched with Fermax, I'm not too concerned it will be a problem.
UPDATE (9/5/17): I began degassing the mead, and it was already enjoying a rigorous ferment. While in the morning I did a basic shake of the one gallon fermenter, which seemed to work, in the afternoon I used a whip I made.
The whip was actually the handle of a large flat stirrer. While one end was large and wide, like a spatula, the other end had a small flat square that could be used to hang the utensil up. First I tried using that flat end as a stirrer, and though it worked, was not really efficient. So what I did was drilled 2 small holes on either side of the small flat end and tied two short pieces of thick fishing line to each hole (weed wacker line would be better, but fishing line is what I had on hand).
With that in place, I proceeded to cut of the big spatula end and while I originally intended to use a ceiling hangar bolt as the rod to insert into my drill, that surprisingly bent. So instead I drilled out a hole with a 3/8" drill bit and left the drill bit in place and used that as the road. I was then able to insert it into the container and get much better degassing action than if I had just used the paddle. I degassed for approximately 5 minutes.
UPDATE (9/6/2017): The ferment is going full boil and the spices are actually swirling around in the fermenter. The color of the must is a cream-like color.
UPDATE (9/4/17): I made a yeast starter by heating 1 cup of water to about 107F (maybe hotter) in my electric kettle then poured off 50 ml of it into a mixing bowl and added 1-1/4 tsp of Fermax yeast nutrient. I let the temperature come down to between 100F - 104F (it was 103F) and I added 1 tsp of yeast and let stand for 20 minutes before pitching.
I'm following the yeast starter protocol that says to use GoFerm nutrient to the starter then add the yeast, but since I don't have GoFerm I used Fermax.
The formula for determining how much nutrient and water to use is nutrient in the amount of 1.25x the amount of yeast and then 20x the weight with water. So for 2g of yeast, I used 2.5g of Fermax (2 x 1.25 = 2.5) in 50 ml of water as 1ml = 1g (2.5 x 20 = 50). That translated into 1 tsp of yeast, 1-1/4 tsp Fermax, and 50ml water.
I took the must temperature and it was 70.4F and so tempered the starter with the must until it was within 10F of the must (it got to 77.8F) at which time I pitched the yeast into the must.
I forgot to add yeast nutrient and energizer at pitching, but added 1/2 tsp energizer and 1 tsp nutrient several hours later. Since the yeast was pitched with Fermax, I'm not too concerned it will be a problem.
UPDATE (9/5/17): I began degassing the mead, and it was already enjoying a rigorous ferment. While in the morning I did a basic shake of the one gallon fermenter, which seemed to work, in the afternoon I used a whip I made.
The whip was actually the handle of a large flat stirrer. While one end was large and wide, like a spatula, the other end had a small flat square that could be used to hang the utensil up. First I tried using that flat end as a stirrer, and though it worked, was not really efficient. So what I did was drilled 2 small holes on either side of the small flat end and tied two short pieces of thick fishing line to each hole (weed wacker line would be better, but fishing line is what I had on hand).
With that in place, I proceeded to cut of the big spatula end and while I originally intended to use a ceiling hangar bolt as the rod to insert into my drill, that surprisingly bent. So instead I drilled out a hole with a 3/8" drill bit and left the drill bit in place and used that as the road. I was then able to insert it into the container and get much better degassing action than if I had just used the paddle. I degassed for approximately 5 minutes.
UPDATE (9/6/2017): The ferment is going full boil and the spices are actually swirling around in the fermenter. The color of the must is a cream-like color.
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