3 Gallons of Mead

So, I brewed some mead today. No special reason, except that off-brand "Kirkland" honey at Costco was $13 per 5-gallons. I'm cheap, and I'm not expecting to make an award winning mead with stuff, especially as it's my first venture with mead.

 Mead:
10# Kirkland Clover Honey
2.25 gallons water
1 tsp. Yeast Energize
1.5 tsp. LD Carlson Yeast Nutrient

Red Star Premier Gran Cuvée Wine Yeast 

Expected OG / FG: ??

Brewed 2/2/14.
 

Put a little bit of Campden in 2.25 gallons cold water to de-chlorinate it. Began heating up the water.


Poured the honey directly into the brewpot as the water was being heated. Stirred to mix in the honey, so that it didn't sink to the bottom and get scorched. Each 5# bottle of honey was about a 1/2 gallon, so I probably got around 3.25-2.5 gallons of "wort".

Immediately after pitching, w/ Star-San foam.

Heated to 180F. The "wort" smelled good - like honey. It developed some bubbles and a little bit of dark stuff on the top. I didn't skim anything off of it. Just stirred a bit.

Turned off the heat at 190F, then let air-cool, although eventually I did put the kettle in a tub of cool water.

Fermentation has started, but no Krausen.

Rehydrated yeast as per instructions, and pitched after aerating 70F "wort".

Measured the OG at 27 Brix, or 1.115 Gravity. So I'm looking at a brew of approximately 16% - 17% ABV.

2/5/14 - Airlock activity at about one bubble every 2 seconds, but unlike beer, no krausen or foaming on the surface. I can see some activity in the liquid however. The appearance of the mead has not changed substantially. It still looks like a murky, yellowish liquid.

Late march - added 3 lbs of mixed berries - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries to ~2 gallons, and racked the un-fruited portion to a 1-gallon jug.

6/7/14 or thereabouts - Bottled the un-fruited portion in screw-cap wine bottles, and racked the fruited portion to a tertiary fermenter.