Month: december 2013

Weighing the hive – food status

30. december 2013
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In the past months I have weighed my bee hive 3 times after I did the final feeding. Last time I weighed the hive was the 26th of December. I am just using my suit case weight which makes it quite easy to do the weighing. It is actually quite interesting to see how much food the bees uses during the winter time. So far it look like this I am assuming that the initial weight loss is from the fact that the bees were still leaving the hive but coming back with only little pollen or nectar. Hence, they use much more food than they can collect. Then the […]

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Mead characterization – by the numbers

17. december 2013
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I found a guideline for how to judge fermented beverages callled the Beer Judge Certification Program or BJCP. This “BJCP Style Guideline” (rev 2008) states the following limits for characterization of mead: For FG  0.990 – 1.010 “dry mead”  1.010 – 1.025 “semisweet mead”  1.025 – 1.050 “sweet mead” For OG and ABV  Hydromel:  1.035 – 1.080  3.5% – 7.5%  Standard mead:  1.080 – 1.120  7.5% – 14%  Sack mead:  1.120 – 1.170  14% – 18% Just for fun, Ken Schramm has the following definitions for sweetness in his book (2003):  0.990 – 1.006 “dry mead”  1.006 – 1.015 “medium mead”  1.012 – 1.020 “sweet mead”  1.020 – N.A.  “dessert […]

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Recipe 3: Melomel of elderberries with star anise (continued 3) – first racking

17. december 2013
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Sunday I decided to rack my most recent mead for the first time. The mead had been fermenting for 2 weeks, and already it had almost stopped bubbling. This is by far the quickest fermentation I have done so far. So I can only say that addition of nutrition in a staggered is HIGHLY recommended. The fermentation started to slow down in the beginning of the first week, and I think that if I had added some more MAP/MAC it would have continued fermenting at a higher rate and then stopped more abruptly. Next time :o) Opening the fermenter the surface was now almost clear – no foam at all […]

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Recipe 1: Cyser with rosehip (continued 7) – Final racking before bottling

7. december 2013
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Just did the final racking of the cyser today. It is still very acidic with an aftertaste of sweet honey. I am still worrying if acetic acid is present, but it does not really taste like that. I even diluted a balsamico just to be sure. I will have to rely on my wife’s taste buds tomorrow. Her skill in detailed tasting is incredible. The color of the mead is beautiful – deep brown – and it is crystal clear. I ended up with about 17 L of a 20 L batch which is not bad considering how many times it has been racked. The picture does not really do […]

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More good reading…..

5. december 2013
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There is so much info on the web, but here are the 11 best web pages that have really caught my attention. It is here I have found the most useful ideas and best explanations. 1) www.schrammsmead.com Ken Schramm has started his own meadery and since he is author of the great book “the compleat Meadmaker” it is just fun to follow him. 2) beerandwinejournal.com  Under the mead section you will find good articles on for example “Staggered Nutrition Addition” (see HERE) and “Potassium and pH” (see HERE ). Looking for the name Chris Colby in future texts will probably pay off. 3) nanaimowinemakers.org  Follow the link “winemaking information” and there is a […]

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Recipe 3: Melomel of elderberries with star anise (continued 2) -addition of yeast nutrients

3. december 2013
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It is day 3 since I started recipe 3 and it is time to do the third addition of yeast nutrition. I have tried to get DAP (di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate) but no luck. So I came up with an alternative which in effect results in exactly the same addition.  I did get my hands on MAP (mono-ammonium di-hydrogen phosphate) and I could of cause spike with twice as much (on mole basis) to add the same amount of ammonium ions. But that would also mean adding a large amount of phosphate which I am not so keen on. So as an alternative, I figured I would mix MAP with ammonium […]

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Recipe 3: Melomel of elderberries with star anise (continued) -Happybubbling, but…

1. december 2013
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Day two and now must is happily bubbling. But as I removed the bag covering it fermenter to protect it from light I found that the airlock was flooded. This is one of these things I could probably have predicted…. The surface of the must is about 4 cm from the lid but the rubber plug that is used for the airlock sticks about 2.5 cm into the fermeneter and this is apparently too close to the surface. Well off with the lid and another 3.0 g of Fermaid K was added – that is now 5.0 g in total. I stirred the must and hoped that I could stir […]

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Recipe 3: Melomel of elderberries with star anise

1. december 2013
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The very last honey of my first season as bee keeper has been used for this recipe. This is a bit of an experiment, so I reduced the volume to 8.5 L – just in case :o) I will try the two concepts that I recently read about on the Beer and Wine Journal (www.beerandwinejournal.com and search “mead”). These were staggered nutrition addition and potassium addition. The article is written by Chris Colby with input from Ken Schramm so it should definitely be worth a try. So here we go…….. Ingredients 2.2 L of home made elderberry juice1.7 g of star aniseWater to 8.5 L7.0 g of Fermaid K yeast […]

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