All - I’m new to mead making and I’m following a recipe on a Key Lime session mead. There are two ingredients that I can’t find and one ingredients t that the HBS sold me that I don’t know if I should be using it or not.
I can’t find:
BSG Superfood
and DAP, Diamonium Phosphate
HBS says nobody buys those products and then sold me Fermax which seems to be a mix of DAP and other chemicals.
What are these and what are some commercial alternatives?
For mead staggered nutrient additions (often referred to as SNA), the most common ingredients you will see mentioned are Fermaid K and DAP. Basically, you want a yeast nutrient (like BSG superfood, Fermaid K, Fermax, Fermaid O, etc.), but since honey contains very little nitrogen you also need additional nitrogen supplementation (i.e., DAP). This would be in addition to the amount of DAP that may already be included in the yeast nutrient. Fermax is fine to replace the superfood in your recipe, but you probably still want to use some DAP in addition to it.
I think you’ll be fine with the Fermax. I haven’t used it personally, but everywhere I’m looking has it listed as (essentially) a complete nutrient. I agree with the staggered nutrient addition mentioned by erockrph.
The recommended amount of Fermax is given as 1 - 1.5 tsp per gallon. Do you know what yeast you’re planning to use? Different types of yeast will have different nitrogen requirements, and the yeast you’re going to use could determine whether you want to lean toward the 1 tsp level or the 1.5 tsp level.
I wouldn’t worry about dap, I never use it and have no fermentation issues in countless batches. Fermaid or fermaid o work well. More important to do a staggered addition and degas than what the particular nutrient is.
Also, being summer, make sure to keep fermentation temps down in the sixties.
I haven’t made any mead myself, but when i do, I’d listen to Pete B. He’s done a ton of mead, all styles. He kniws what he’s talking about for sure
I am using Lalvin 71B-1122. Recipe calls for 7.5g BSG Superfood and 2.5g DAP. If using fermax, how does that change what i use? Has anybody on here used it? I apologize for the delay in responding. Not only am I overwhelmed with starting something new (and I brew in my kitchen, limited availability) but the forum here is something I find very hard to use. It took me a while to find your responses, there’s no thread tracking.
Now I am at the point where I MUST make this recipe. My honey has a BBD of 11/07/20.
If the recipe calls for 7.5g Superfood and 2.5g of DAP, how do I stagger the addition properly with Fermax? Recipe says to add 1/3 of the BSG Superfood and DAP at 24, 48 and 72 hours after yeast pitch.
You don’t have to worry about a BBD on honey, it doesn’t go bad, that’s why bees make the nectar into honey. It is the only natural food that doesn’t spoil. If it was a special varietal that was super fresh from the apiary it would be nice to use it fast but regular commercial honey you can use at your leisure.
Confession: I don’t usually measure my nutrient, I use “a little “ each time. For a five gallon batch I would add about a half teaspoon with the yeast and about half a teaspoon per the schedule you mentioned. Don’t worry about making the timing exacting, the yeast isn’t even expecting it and they always act pleasantly surprised. I tend to add a little nutrient a week in if the fermentation still seems active.
Lalvin 71B-1122 is listed as having a low nitrogen requirement. That means you can lean toward the low end with your nutrient additions and you should be fine. What I’m finding is that Fermax is recommended at 1 tsp per gallon of must. Although you mentioned that the mead you’re making is a session mead. So I might even cut that in half. Maybe go with 1/2 tsp per gallon as pete b recommended.
I usually do a staggered nutrient addition in 4 parts. The first part is stirred in before pitching the yeast. The second (approximately) 48 hours later, then space out the third and fourth additions the same way. So basically add a quarter of the total nutrient amount on the first day, and then every 2 days until it’s done. This will also give you a chance to degas your mead when adding the nutrient. Just add it slowly as you stir it in. You may get a good bit of foam and have to watch so it doesn’t spill over.
All that said, depending on how “session” the mead is, I might skip the staggered addition. If the final mead is going to be 6% or under, I would just put the batch together with all the nutrient at once and let it go. Others may have a different opinion on that. Cheers man and good luck!
And +1 to this. The only thing that can happen with honey is it may crystalize. Which just means you need to warm it up to get it back to its liquid state. This generally will only happen with raw honey though.
Joe makes a good point about this being a session mead, I didn’t catch that. Maybe one addition with the yeast and one 48 hours later would be ideal.
welcome to this field!
I have been using Fermaid K and Fermax yeast nutrients for mead with good results.
One of the most important stages on which the quality of the finished drink largely depends. Try to select the most fragrant varieties. Buckwheat honey is great, but you can take another one, for example, lime.
Many beekeepers offer fresh liquid honey in the spring, but if you are not well-versed in beekeeping, it is better to refuse to buy. I usually use a fake one. It is not sweet, but it has a pleasant smell. It will make a great mead. You can try adding some. I like to experiment.
For my anniversary, I ordered an oriental food order; Greek catering brings an exotic blend. Of course, everyone drank my mead.
I’ve used Fermax in about 5-6 batches of mead because it’s what my then-LHBS stocked.
Maybe Fermaid-O would be better — but Fermax seems to be working ok.
doing a session mead right now. i used generic wine yeast nutrient, DAP and small amounts of minerals to mostly RO, ~25% tap water - was active but slow. added a 1/2tsp DAP and wine yeast nutrient at the 36 hour point and it is now visibly fermenting strongly.
i think the TOSNA multiple nutrient additions method works
thank you again guys, it seems to have cleared pretty well on its own after 3 weeks.
i got a packet of kieselsol and chitosan each intended for a ~5/6gal recipe.
any thoughts on using these? i want a very clear mead, but don’t necessarily want to strip aroma or flavour since i used a very nice honey (raw thistle honey - tastes incredibly good, even compared to samples of blueberry and buckwheat honey i bought).
planning to use these clearing agents in primary, move to secondary and give it a taste at that time, decide if i need to add acid or not.
That’s what DualFine and Super-Kleer are. At one point I used them all the time. I would normally space them apart by about 24 hours. No flavor impact issues that I ever noticed. I only stopped using that method because I started kegging and found that I liked refrigeration better. A couple months at refrigerator temp will drop out just about any particles that are going to drop.