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In part 3 of his mead series, Kyle Byerly covers fermentation, aging, bottling, and potential problems you could encounter in your early mead-making adventures.
Kyle ByerlyJul 22, 2015 - 7 min read
In part 1 and part 2 of this series, we looked at the honey and the process of mead making, respectively. Here we cover fermentation, aging, bottling, and potential problems you could encounter in your early mead-making adventures.
Fermentation
Unlike with most beers, during mead fermentation, you still have work to do. You’ll get best results if you stir the mead during the first third to half of the fermentation. The best way to stir is with a stir-stick, such as The Stainless Steel Mix-Stir, that you can attach to a drill for more effective stirring. Stir slowly for the first couple of seconds, let the mead foam, and then gradually stir a little harder. (You’ll have a mead-volcano if you stir too hard.) Stop when the mead has pretty much finished foaming (usually within 30–90 seconds).
Stirring twice a day is generally sufficient (if you have a fast fermentation, you might want to stir three or four times a day). Stirring does a couple of things: It blows off carbon dioxide, which lowers potential yeast stress, and it adds oxygen to your mead when the yeast can use it best. It also gives you a chance to smell for hydrogen sulfide and check the fermentation progress. Also, when you’re doing staggered nutrient additions, it makes it easy to add your nutrients.
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