u/azsnaz

I have a 1.5 gallon keg that's been on 20 psi for the last couple days. When serving should I stay at 20 psi, the psi it's carbonated at, or is it recommended to lower it for serving?

I'm curious about what equipment, or anything related to making mead, that you may have bought but ended up not really using it in the long run.

At what point do you begin to take gravity readings to verify fermentation is over? Is it generally 3-4 before you should check?

I am going to attempt to make a sparkling blueberry mead (my first batch without a kit), and am looking for critique and tips for the basic steps I've put together for myself. The steps below are based off of the two previous kits I've done. I don't know what percentage im shooting for, but I have a hydrometer (that I haven't used yet).

DAY ONE

Add 40oz honey

Add ~half gallon spring water

Add 40oz pectic enzyme treated blueberries and Vanilla Bean (or wait 3-4 weeks for secondary?)

Add Fermaid-O (2g)

Add 71B (5g)

Fill rest of bucket/carboy (depending when adding blueberries) up to one gallon with spring water (if not already full)

DAY TWO

Degas

Add Fermaid-O (1g)

DAY FIVE

Degas

Add Fermaid-O (1g)

3-4 WEEKS LATER

Rack to Secondary

Add peptic Enzyme treated blueberries (and vanilla bean)?

2-5 DAYS LATER

Rack to Primary

Add Erythritol to taste

1 WEEK LATER

Prime and bottle

Let bottles sit for 6 weeks before refrigerating

I am looking for instructions/help with making 1 gallon of a sparkling blueberry mead. I have used a kit a couple of times, but the instructions varied and I want to try my making my own.

Ingredients I have are:

40oz frozen blueberries

40oz orange blossom honey

1 gallon spring water

71B yeast

Fermaid-O

Pectic Enzyme

Erythritol

Priming Sugar

Equipment I have:

2 gallon fermenting bucket

1 gallon carboy

Racking equipment

Flip top bottles

Are there any ingredients you'd add, change, or omit?

Would I just put the (thawed) berries directly in the bucket, and then add the honey and water? Do the berries need to be in a cheese/mesh cloth? What would you do?