Questions about Mead

[slothfacekilla]

Hello all,

My name is Cesar and I was turned on to this club from a cool guy I met at "The Bruery". I wish I could remember his name. Either way, this is my first time posting and my first time making a Mead. I had a few questions about making mead that I need clarified.

1) I used 5 gallons of water in total for my Mead batch. I came out with a yield of almost 6! Does the honey add to the overall liquid yield?

2)The brew shop that I went to pick up my yeast unfortunately didnt have any lactic acid (like the recipie called for) so I didnt add it. After the wort had cooled down I tried it I realized that I really did need the acid because it was overbearingly sweet. Can I add acid to any of the fermentations, bottling, or am I screwed?

3) The recipe that I read didnt mention a specific gravity. Is there one that I should shoot for?

and lastly....

4) Seeing how ive never tried mead before I want to try it in its natural state. But I also had ideas of adding pomegranate, cinnamon, dry hopping ( which may take care of the acidity issue) , and other spices all in different "mini batches" by seperating the whole five gallons in growlers with air locks & different flavoring in each. Should I have flavored during the boil? Or am I still ok to experiment as I am.

Sorry for the long post but Im really curious and I like to go crazy with my beer.

Thank & Cheers!

[brew captain]

Hey Cesar,

First of all welcome to the board!

Here are my answers to your questions:

1) yes, the honey adds to your volume and this needs to be factored.
2) that sweetness is mostly going to go away once the honey is fermented, acid or no acid addition.
3) every recipe has a different target gravity / ABV%, there are programs available online that help to calculate this.
4) generally it is recommended to get a batch or two of "regular" mead under your belt before spicing things up.

Please note that we are fortunate to have a true mead superhero in our membership. His board name is Oskaar and any time a post comes up about mead we usually get more information than know what to do with from him. He attends most of the club meetings and events and is always willing to blow your mind with his knowledge. I usually glaze over after five minutes due to information overload, but then again I am not the sharpest tack in the box...

Hopefully he will chime in here, but you could also do some "research" by reviewing his mead related posts in our archives.

Cheers!

[Rezzin]

You could also try checking out GotMead.com. Like BC mentioned, Oskaar is the mead King around here (and most everywhere) and he pretty much is gotmead.com as well! Take a peak over there or wait till he chimes in - you'll see what we mean!