/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.108404]

Hey /diy/ i just finished making my first batch of mead with these supplies. What do you think?

[Godwyn No.108435]

Post an image of this batch and a description of the taste. Also post the process.

My first batch was very, very strong. Tasted like honey, cloves, and a bit of cinnamon.

I used a yeast that they use for making very strong liquor. Got it from a specialty shop, and guaranteed to go up to 35%. I mixed distilled, purified water with the honey in a 1/2 ratio (2lbs honey to 1gal. water) and brought it to a soft simmer, tossing in my spices. I strained it, and let it cool while covered. Poured it into the fermentation chamber. Then, I warmed a cup of the mixture and mixed my Yeast into it, pouring it into the batch as I vigorously stirred. Closed it up with the pressure valve and waited a good six months. I got a few bottles of very nice mead from it.

[Anonymous No.108440]

>>108435

Sounds like you got ripped off. There is no yeast in existence that will get you to 35% abv. The most you can get is high 20's, and then to get it stronger you would have to distill the resulting product to remove water from it.

[Anonymous No.108453]

>>108440

I guess it was actually "35 proof" or roughly 18%.

[Anonymous No.108474]

So mead is basically honey, water, spices, yeast, ~6 months?

[Anonymous No.108481]

>>108474
>So wine is basically grapes, yeast, ~6 months?

[Anonymous No.108485]

please tell me that you were inspired to do it by that MANLY VIKING POST.

[Anonymous No.108487]

>>108481
yes

[Anonymous No.108501]

i think you should have bought an airlock for $1.50. then you'd be safe from bacteria and bullshit and latex flavour.

i made some cider and some wine that way, with the balloon. the wine was fine but the cider made me sick and tasted horrible. because of bacteria. something that probably wouldnt have happened if i had bought a fucking airlock.

and what yeast is that? best not be bakers yeast. bakers yeast will be half the alcohol and would taste like sulfur and ass. wine yeast is like a buck fiddy and you get enough for 60 litres.

[Anonymous No.108502]

>>108435
>guaranteed to go up to 35%

impossible. straight up not at all possible in the slightest. not without a still. just not happening. at all. ever. under any circumstances. just not possible. no

[Anonymous No.108505]

i used presidents choice grape-cranberry juice. left it in the 2L bottle it came in. dumped in a cup of sugar and added a pinch of wine yeast. topped it off with a plastic sandwich bag (foodsafe and flavorless unlike balloon) with a pinhole held by rubber bands. left it for 15 days till the bubbling died down. then i put in the firdge for a couple days so the shit would settle to the bottom. drank it.

should have used an airlock. but whatever. came out fine. tasted pretty good actually.

my next wine was just cheap noname grape drink. the ingredients said it had some fruit (straight up sugar drink and the yeast wont have the nutrients to do their thang). used the same method but it took like 20 days. tasted bad but still drinkable. tossed in a pinch of gelatin and let that settle. gelatin drags the sediment and bad taste to the bottom. tasted pretty good in a crappy sorta way, i enjoyed it.

[Anonymous No.108508]

>>108505
oh and got pretty drunk too, was about 12%. next i'm gonna buy a couple airlocks. and i'll do one bottle of grape-cranberry. and one bottle of cranberry-black cherry(also has grapes)

$1.50 per litre of wine. thats pretty awesome. especially in canada where the cheapest wine in store is about $8 a bottle for 750ml of 8%

[Anonymous No.108510]

>>108502

this, you need to distill to get this content

[Anonymous No.108520]

>>108474
It only takes about 2 weeks for primary fermentation, then it is drinkable (but will taste pretty bad) if you treat it (freeze it overnight in a plastic jug, use campden, whatever) to kill off the yeast and then siphon out the good stuff leaving the sediment behind. You *should* rack it (siphon it into another clean container) and leave it go for secondary fermentation, as this will 1) re-awaken some of the yeast, producing more alcohol 2) taste better, 3) give you another chance to rack it and get rid of more sediment. This will take about another 2 weeks but entirely depends on the sugar content of the must, the yeast being used, temperature, and a number of other factors. You should be using a hydrometer to determine if fermentation has stopped (it'll read just below 1.000 to let you know your wine is done -- since wine has a much higher ABL than beer, it will actually go below 1.0) and let you know it is time to bottle it.

Again, you can drink it at this stage. It'll taste pretty good. But I'll assume you want to bottle it. Throw in some potassium sorbate and posatium metabisulfate (campden) for preservative and to kill of any remaining yeast. You just siphon it into the bottles (preferably using a bottling siphon), leaving very little room for air. Cork it, and leave the bottles stand up-right for 4 days. Now put them on the side. After about 2 weeks like this, it is good to go. Leaving it age for awhile longer won't affect the taste too much.

[Anonymous No.108521]

Can someone describe the taste of mead? I'm considering making some, myself, but have never tried it before, so I'm not sure if I'll like it.

[Anonymous No.108523]

>>108481

ive made drinkable wine in ~48h no need to wait 6 months, the 14 days thingys makes better wine though

[Anonymous No.108535]

Okay I have quite a few very basic questions to ask, but you guys sound like you know about this topic quite a bit.

>>108520
1) When fermenting, does it matter how long you let it sit? You say 2 weeks for primary fermentation; if you let it ferment longer does it affect the taste or alcohol content further? What if I let it sit for 2 months? Do I need to add more yeast and sugar if I let it sit longer?
2) How does one actually let the alcohol "age"? I know that bottling it pretty much stops the aging process, but what if one wants to age it further? Should the mead just keep sitting in the container, fermenting?
3) Are there any sites or books that anyone here recommends about making their own alcoholic beverages, that go into more detail than just "put sugar and yeast in a container and wait"? I'd love to learn more about the whole process.

Sorry for the basic questions. This thread is really interesting and it's making me want to try making my own mead.

[Anonymous No.108536]

>>108520
the whole reason i make wine myself is so i dont have to drink sulfates. seriously, look that shit up, most wine has concentrations of sulfates well above what the fda deems as safe. and the health effects are pretty nasty. not that you'll realize "sulfates killed me" but its a few nails in the fucking coffin. no thanks.

[Anonymous No.108537]

>>108523
48 hours? do tell. takes me at least 10 days.

[Anonymous No.108546]

>When fermenting, does it matter how long you let it sit?
The yeast can only produce so much alcohol. And that amount is determined by the amount of sugar. Also, the yeast (believe it or not) can die to alcohol poisoning once there is too much (which is why you need to use wine-making yeast). You ferment till it is done fermenting -- go by your airlock activity or specific hydrometer (like I said before, it should drop below 1.000 on you hydrometer). If you aren't getting any bubbles in your airlock, wait about another 4-5 days, then consider it done.

Now, about sugar vs. yeast... If you want a sweet wine, you actually want to use *less* sugar. That means less alcohol. Once it is fully done fermenting (as in, you killed the yeast completely; see my above post on how to do that), you can re-add a little bit of sugar. Make sure the yeast is dead before adding sugar!

>How does one actually let the alcohol "age"?
You age it by leaving it in a bottle. Mead is ripe at 6-9 months. It should just be left in a dark room at about 68°F. Even though the yeast is gone, there are a number of different chemical processes going on that will take down the acidity and improve the taste of a wine. Make sure the wine is in contact with your cork!

>Are there any sites or books that anyone here recommends
Sure, there is. But you don't need them. Just look up CraigTube on youtube. The guy will teach you everything you need to know. He's an awesome old dude that knows his shit and isn't the 'purist' type that bitches if you don't crush your own grapes.
You can get your winemaking equipment from midwestsupplies.com. That's the cheapest site I've seen and they have good products.

[Anonymous No.108565]

>>108546
>if you want a sweet wine.
I think for clarity's sake, I'll point out that this poster is referring to a sugary wine. "Sweet" in context of wines refers to something very different.

As far as aging goes, I just wanted to add in that some beverages (wines made with certain fruits, some beers, etc.) are best shortly after fermentation.

[Anonymous No.108627]

>>108565
>>108546
Oh my goodness you all are awesome. That CraigTube dude is boss, too. Thank you very much! Here, have my favorite beverage chart.