Meth Lab in my basement (*Updated!)
Got your attention right? I was looking to do a Mead using honey and some fruit (Cyser) and I got a recipe from a buddy on Beer Advocate that was for a Metheglin. I brewed this up without any cooking, heating or much else. It was quite easy and I made about 2 gallons of the stuff.
I am not going to be publishing the recipe as I told the author I would keep it on the down low. However, here are a few of my notes from that short brew day:
- After prepping all of the ingredients (some spices and ginger) along with cider and honey (that was from a local farm) I basically threw everything together and stirred for a while to aerate the mix.
- Me being the rocket surgeon that I am, I decided to put the cider in the fridge after I bought it and it was cold when I mixed everything. So I put my bucket into a sink with warm water until I got it up to room temp.
- I activated the tried yeast according to the directions and it did not seem to cause any problems. I am going to take a reading at the end of the week and see how I am doing.
- The OG was in the 1.200 range and should pan out to a nice strong drink. They say that it will take upwards of 6months for full maturation, so I get to wait on this.
I am going to bottle this up into 4 growlers when it's all said and done and it should be pretty good. I was put onto a great website called GotMead.com that has a lot of really useful information.
Cheers!
I am not going to be publishing the recipe as I told the author I would keep it on the down low. However, here are a few of my notes from that short brew day:
- After prepping all of the ingredients (some spices and ginger) along with cider and honey (that was from a local farm) I basically threw everything together and stirred for a while to aerate the mix.
- Me being the rocket surgeon that I am, I decided to put the cider in the fridge after I bought it and it was cold when I mixed everything. So I put my bucket into a sink with warm water until I got it up to room temp.
- I activated the tried yeast according to the directions and it did not seem to cause any problems. I am going to take a reading at the end of the week and see how I am doing.
- The OG was in the 1.200 range and should pan out to a nice strong drink. They say that it will take upwards of 6months for full maturation, so I get to wait on this.
I am going to bottle this up into 4 growlers when it's all said and done and it should be pretty good. I was put onto a great website called GotMead.com that has a lot of really useful information.
Cheers!
**Update**
So after the first week I took another gravity reading and there was no activity. I decided to stop of at EJ Wren's (my homebrew supply) and get a couple of extra packs of yeast to try and jump start this and Ed told me that I should get some Pectic Enzyme (like started fluid for your yeast according to him) and some Fermax Yeast Nutrient (like fertilizer for your yeast) to add into the mix.
I re-pitched last night after adding 1tbs of Pectic Enzyme and 2tbs of Fermax. I am still waiting on some results, but I think this might do it.
*one correction to make to the previous entry, the OG was not 1.200's, it was 1.100, I had taken the original reading a few days after I pitched and figured there was some action and tried to figure the difference, I had meant 1.120, but that was wrong as well. Anyhoo, it's a 1.100 for an OG and I am hoping for a lot of activity in the next few days.
** My wife has been asking me to name a brew after her so this will be Christa Meth!
2 comments:
Mmm, mead... I've got a few kilos of honey in my closet and I'm doing a raspberry mead sometime this spring. :)
An OG of 1.200 is a lot of sugar. If it ferments out to completion expect something like 25% abv. That is not very likely to happen unless you add lots of yeast nutrient and a yeast that is capable of fermenting such a strong drink. Which yeast did you use?
I used a champagne yeast that I got from a store I don't usually go to. I am not totally confident in what I got with that stuff, but we will see.
This is what I used:
Yeast I used
I am actually quite clueless about these yeasts and the people at the place I went too were no help, so I just guessed...never again to that place, I like my local brew store.
I will post a follow up with an gravity reading. Thanks.
Travis
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