# Suggestions for basic mead improvement



## Steves1967 (May 16, 2012)

Check out this website traditionalmead.com this is my good friend Doug Remington. Doug makes mead professionally. I would suggest at a minimum letting your mead ferment fully and then you can taste it. 12 pounds should dry right out. After the gravity has dropped by about a third you may want to ad a bit of diammonium phosphate to help your yeast along. Doug describes all this on his website. Good luck!


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## Gus979 (Oct 11, 2012)

Another question- I'm worried that I slacked off and didn't sanitize my mead primary fermentation bucket enough (I just gave it a quick clean, but now I see that brewers use specific sanitization products.)
Is there a way to tell whether the batch will be bad or not before I've waited a full year for this stuff to be ready?

Also thanks for the suggestions- I read the website and added a 1/4 teaspoon of DAP and the yeast went nuts!


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## Steves1967 (May 16, 2012)

Since you stir mead daily to lower carbonic acid just taste it. I keep a five gallon bucket full of sterilizer around because I brew lots of beer and make wine and mead. I use starsan in five gallons of distilled water.


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## WVMJ (Apr 2, 2012)

You can add some potasium metabisulfite to protect your mead while it is fermenting. As far as adding something simple that will help your mead a little oak will go along way. As far as making a traditional mead goes, if you dont include some larva (a source of protein for the yeast in the olden times) and allow the native yeast to ferment your mead you aint making traditional mead, you are making mead the more modern way, honey, clean water, some nutrients added in place of the larva and cultured yeasts! Good luck with your mead, your next batch maybe add some fruit to make it even better  WVMJ


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## Steves1967 (May 16, 2012)

Sir, metabisulfite is for preserving after fermentation is complete.


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## WVMJ (Apr 2, 2012)

No Sir, in modern winemaking Metabisulfite is used before you even add the yeast to knock down any microbes in your must, especially nice if you have a batch of honey that is high in moisture and you want to get rid of any bugs in it before you pitch your yeast. Also very nice if you want to add fruit and you want to knock down any yeasts that comes on the fruit. You can add it after you rack from secondary to secondary to protect the mead from oxidation while bulk aging and then give it another dose when bottling. You dont have to heat your honey and can keep the flavors it comes with by using KMeta instead! WVMJ


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## Steves1967 (May 16, 2012)

Oh good! Your earlier post was really rambling and did not make much sense to me reading it! Sorry for the confusion


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## WVMJ (Apr 2, 2012)

No Problem Steves, I write slow so some of you folks can read at your own pace. WVMJ


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Steves1967 said:


> I use starsan in five gallons of distilled water.


Isn't that a bit overkill using distilled water? Do breweries use distilled water? I wasn't aware they did, if so.


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

Barry said:


> Isn't that a bit overkill using distilled water? Do breweries use distilled water? I wasn't aware they did, if so.


No. However folks brewing in extremely-hard-water areas might; it can interfere with the chemistry that supports the acids' actions. Breweries in such areas, when they brew beers with less hard-water pedigree, will often have RO systems for blending down the hardness of their water. Distilled water probably won't hurt anything, but unless one is on really extreme water, totally unsuitable well water, for example, it's probably not a mission-critical expense .


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## Steves1967 (May 16, 2012)

The reason for distilled water for my sterilization medium is that it does not get cloudy. It is a personal aesthetic thing, I rinse my tools after use and store them in the sterilizer bucket and five gallons lasts me for months at a time.


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## Steves1967 (May 16, 2012)

For all my other water needs I run the garden hose until it doesn't taste like hose anymore  I live in an area with great water.


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

I have that same 5-gallon bucket! And a spray bottle as well.


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

Are you kidding about the garden hose? That seems on the other end of the scale from distilled water! I keep 4 gallons of cleaner/sterilizer on hand. All water comes from my tap. What sanitizer do you use?


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## Steves1967 (May 16, 2012)

Like I said, I use starsan for sterilizer. I use water from the hose to make beer ( gets boiled ) ot the tap to make mead and fruit wines and wines and mead get metabisulfite prior to yeast addition. Like I say, I run the hose until it doesn't taste like hose


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## Gus979 (Oct 11, 2012)

Makes sense to me- I think the only real rule to the water you use for beer is that if it tastes good to you, the beer will taste good. I like hose water, got a nice iron taste to it


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## Barry (Dec 28, 1999)

There has to be an interesting name for a beer in there somewhere. Summer Hose Shandy, Hot Rubber Stout . .


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## Vance G (Jan 6, 2011)

Going back to your original question. I made a mead very much as you suggested with the ec-1118 instead of 71B. It produced a roughly 20% ABV mead that is now approaching 14 months old and can hardly be called smooth yet. The honey taste is starting to come on and the Alcohol heat is starting to mellow. If one back sweetened it after sorbate and sufite treatment, it would be a great semisweet mead or one could add fruit and sweeten and get pretty instant gratification. But I think I will leave it alone where it is plotting evil in a 6 1/2 gallon carboy. Patience is a required as you already stated. Your mead is lower Specific gravity than mine was and may very well be a fine drink a year from this Christmas.


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