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Looking at a ABV of 12-13% got some raw honey at a good price R85 per kg I got about 9kg of it.
Going to use about 5.5kg of the honey to 18liters of water this should get me to about 12% Ferment it in the primary (Bone dry). Split it into 3 x 5L carboys. one for the Trad. 1 for Mel and the other for Cyster. (Mel and Cyster done in secondary) That will leave me with hopefully 1l for top-ups.
Looking at a ABV of 12-13% got some raw honey at a good price R85 per kg I got about 9kg of it.
Going to use about 5.5kg of the honey to 18liters of water this should get me to about 12% Ferment it in the primary (Bone dry). Split it into 3 x 5L carboys. one for the Trad. 1 for Mel and the other for Cyster. (Mel and Cyster done in secondary) That will leave me with hopefully 1l for top-ups.
I would strongly recommend you dial down the ABV, specially if you're going to ferment it to stronger with the cyser and melomel. To me, the "golden ABV" for mead is around the 11% mark. Anything more tastes too hot, too fast, and will require some aging to get drinkable.
Your method is solid - I would just turn it down to maybe 8% ABV for the "blank", and then split, and then add a little more on the arse-end of the traditional to boost it to around 11% ABV. The rest will get there with the fruit sugars. Too strong is also not fun, and trust me, 11% goes a long way. I'm bottling the other half of my last 25l batch tomorrow, probably.
What yeast are you planning, and how familiar are you with the mead making practices of temp control, feeding, etc. etc.? I'll be more than willing to help you with some hints and tips to make sure your first mead doesn't taste like jet fuel. Been there, done that, and it's a huge waste of honey.
What yeast are you planning, and how familiar are you with the mead making practices of temp control, feeding, etc. etc.? I'll be more than willing to help you with some hints and tips to make sure your first mead doesn't taste like jet fuel. Been there, done that, and it's a huge waste of honey.
Thanks for the much appreciated information Toxxyc. I will be using the ICV-D-47 but do have the EC-1118 if it crashes on me. Will be feeding it Fermaid O. This will be the first time I use the organic version as I normally use the K. and will be feeding it in stages. To be honest I'm more of a country wine guy, so this will be a virgin mead for me. I have my notes at home. The normal procedure I use to make country wine that I have modified for mead. If you don't mind me posting it to see if it is any good?
Thanks for the much appreciated information Toxxyc. I will be using the ICV-D-47 but do have the EC-1118 if it crashes on me. Will be feeding it Fermaid O. This will be the first time I use the organic version as I normally use the K. and will be feeding it in stages. To be honest I'm more of a country wine guy, so this will be a virgin mead for me. I have my notes at home. The normal procedure I use to make country wine that I have modified for mead. If you don't mind me posting it to see if it is any good?
Jump onto my thread here so we can avoid cluttering up this one! I'm no expert, but mead has become a bit of an interest for me lately, and I've learned A LOT lately. I'll help you with mead, and you can help me with country wine. I need to find a good juice source... Anyway, my thread is below. I've made more than 50l of this mead in the past few weeks, and I dare say it's DAMN good.
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