Subtitle: (I will come up with cooler names later)
Learning from 2022's Supersweet batch, I'm aiming for a much dryer mead this time.
According to AI calculators, the starting gravity should be 1.15 to hit 13% ABV, based on the 12.5% of the Hungarian Mezbor that I tried and loved. You can read more about the Hungarian Mezbor here.
To achieve this, we used Pure 'N Simple Filtered honey from Barkman Honey, which was quite liquid and easy to pour.
For cleaning, we used a 1-step sodium carbonate non-rinse cleaner.
The amount of honey used was 2600 grams.
The honey pour: Watch on YouTube
For fermentation, we used a 5-gallon modified PET5 pet kibble container with a sealable lid.
After testing the starting gravity and reading it four times, we averaged it out to 1.33, which is .18 over target. So next time, I will just add honey until the target starting gravity is achieved.
For the yeast, we used a frozen preserved Red Star Green Packet Premier Côte des Blancs.
We tested it with a small bowl of water and a pinch of sugar, but it didn't do anything. So, we decided to YOLO and pour it in anyways, then check later.
The next day, we confirmed the air stopper was moving, indicating that fermentation was working.
The yield should be about 25 bottles of 750ml, which I plan to have either custom labeled or wax stamped.
Fun fact: Apparently, honey is self-sterilizing.
Here's a timelapse of the entire process, which mainly involves cleaning, measuring things, debating how much honey to add, and ending up not even measuring the amount of water added 😭.
Watch the timelapse on YouTube.
Finally, here is a photo of the final signed brewing Carboy container and where we left it )
