Batch #3 - Maple Mead (Acerglyn) To Start This Weekend

The thing about brewing is it takes a lot of time from beginning to end. That means you will probably find yourself starting a new batch before you've bottled the previous one.

After buying and beginning reading "The Compleat Meadmaker" by Ken Schramm, and taking the lessons learned with my low nutrient, slow ferments (and eventual stalled ferment at 1.058 SG on the second batch) I am still going ahead with batch #3. But batch #3 will be a whole different story. For starters, following what I've learned, I am making the following changes to my process:

2 packets of yeast instead of just 1
2 tsp yeast nutrient (Di-Ammonium Phosphate)
2 tsp yeast energizer (yeast hulls)
(or 5 g of Lalvin Fermaid K in place of nutrient and energizer... depending on which I can get at a good price at Wine Kitz tomorrow)

Starting in a plastic fermenting bucket rather than directly in a carboy


With these changes I think this batch will ferment much faster and reach a higher alcohol content.
Mead needs a lot of help in the nutrient department, and the fermenting bucket will be easier to oxygenate at the beginning. Giving the yeast all the extra help should make this go much better than the first 2 batches.
Tasty as that first batch was, it never made it to the alcohol content I wanted and ended up much sweeter than I wanted. (and I like my mead sweet)