SC - SC Redactions...

[DUNHAM Patricia R]

Ok, so my machine hiccuped, and sent out the message before I was finished
with it.  Here is the rest.

(continued from previous post):
    Open the 7 cans of thawed grape juice concentrate, and pour them in the
bottom of the carboy, with 4 tbs of rosewater, 1/2 cup of nutmeg tea (I make
this by steeping nutgem powder in boiling water, and then straining out the
powder with a coffee filter, so that I don't have as many floaties in my
mead) and a gallon of cold water.  All of this will cushion the glass from
cracking under the hot honey.  With a funnel, pour the hot honey into the
carboy (and be VERY CAREFUL about it because this can be tricky, especially
if your glasses steam up in the process).  Fill with water until you have 5
gallons, and set aside to cool.  
    When it is cool, pitch the yeast. This means, pour in the yeast from the
package, or add the yeast from where you have been allowing it to grow in
liquid culture.  I use Wyeast Sweet Mead Yeast, which works nicely.  When you
pitch the yeast, add the yeast nutrient and energizer, and put the air lock
tightly on the carboy.  Honey does not have quite enough of the things yeast
likes to grow, and so it is much more productive to add nutrient and
energizer, this will speed your process from an average of 6-8 months to
closer to 2 months.  Definitely worth the effort.
    I learned one more thing, it is called the "shaker method"  After you
have pitched the yeast, and it has been in the must (what you call un-brewed
mead) at least 12 hours, take firm hold of the carboy, and shake vigorously.
 This puts lots of  oxygen into the liquid, and allows the yeast to begin
multiplying in preparation for fermentation.
    Now comes the difficult part, waiting for the mead to finish.  There is
nothing left to cook, just wait.  When your mead blips (this is the sound of
carbon dioxide leaving the air-lock) only once in 15 minutes, it is done
enough to bottle.  If you do it any earlier, you are risking having your
bottles explode under the pressure.  I happen to like sparkling pyment, and
so bottle it when it is blipping about 1 time in 10 minutes.  This means
there is still fermentation going, and still a little bit of active yeast.
   I use champagne bottles (hard to find, best to ask friends and restaurants
to save them for you) and wired champagne corks.  Regular bottles will not
hold the pressure, and you will have geysers of mead all over your floor.
    The brewing equipment and yeast, nutrient and energizer are all available
from a local brewing store, or you can probably find a place on line to order
from.  It might be a good idea first to check around and find what kind of
alcohol regulations your state has for home brewing, as everywhere is a
little different.  Here in Oklahoma, I can homebrew with a license that I
obtained free from the ABLE commission.  Check around a little first, you can
probably find information at same brewing store.
    The bottling is another process, and I do not want to make this note
longer.  I can even wait for a couple of weeks until someone more experienced
than I can give all of us a few pointers, or until your mead really is ready
to bottle.  

Good Luck as a Mazer (a brewer is someone who makes beer, a vintner makes
wine.)

Lady Tyrca Ivarsdottir
Barony Namron, Ansteorra
autocrat for the Rapier Championship on January 24th
(no, I'm not cooking, I have someone much better for that!)
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