Using Google Bard To Create Mead Recipes

If you’ve make mead before you probably see a few problems with the response. First, 15 pounds of honey in 5 gallons of must is going to result in an original gravity around 1.103 and with a yeast that has a typical alcohol tolerance of 14% ABV or higher that is going to miss the request for 8.5% ABV by a lot. Second, an ounce of yeast! Third, 5 gallons of water plus the honey is going to be more than a 5 gallon batch. I wouldn’t heat all the water like requested, I might use a little warm water to extract the honey. Finally, the recipe doesn’t include yeast rehydration nutrients or staggered nutrient additions. Let’s try again with a better request.

Next Refinement

The new request “Provide a recipe for 5 gallons a traditional mead with an ABV of 8.5% using staggered nutrient additions and a yeast hydration nutrient“.

Sure, here is a recipe for 5 gallons a traditional mead with an ABV of 8.5% using staggered nutrient additions and a yeast hydration nutrient:

Ingredients:

• 5 gallons water
• 25 pounds honey
• 1 ounce Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
• Fermaid O
• DAP
• Yeast hydration nutrient

Instructions:

1. Heat the water to 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Dissolve the honey in the water.
3. Hydrate the yeast by adding 1/2 cup of the warm water to the yeast and letting it sit for 15 minutes.
4. Add the yeast to the water and let stand for 15 minutes more.
5. Add the yeast mixture to the honey and water mixture and mix well.
6. Transfer to a fermenter and let ferment for 2-3 weeks.
7. After fermentation is complete, rack the mead to a secondary fermenter.
8. Let the mead age for 6-12 months.
9. Bottle the mead and enjoy!

Staggered nutrient additions:

• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 24 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of DAP 48 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 72 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O on the 7th day after pitching the yeast or when fermentation has reached 1/3 sugar break (SG = 1.069), whichever comes first.

This recipe will make approximately 5 gallons of mead with an alcohol content of 8.5%. The staggered nutrient additions will help to keep the yeast healthy and prevent off-flavors. The aging process will mellow the flavors and improve the mead.

Tips:

• Use high-quality water.
• Make sure the honey is pure and unadulterated.
• Use a yeast that is specifically designed for mead making.
• Use a fermenter that is large enough to accommodate the entire batch of mead.
• Use a secondary fermenter that is air-tight.
• Age the mead in a cool, dark place.

Yeast hydration nutrient:

Yeast hydration nutrient is a nutrient that is added to the yeast before it is pitched into the mead. This nutrient helps to hydrate the yeast and make it more active. There are many different types of yeast hydration nutrients available, so it is important to choose one that is specifically designed for mead making.

That didn’t quite work out like I expected. We went up to 25 pounds of honey. In a 5 gallon batch that is going to push the original gravity to around 1.172 which means almost every normal yeast will not be able to complete fermentation to the dry level – the ABV is going to be determined by the yeast’s alcohol tolerance so probably in the 14-18% range. The staggered nutrient additions (Fermaid O) follow the TOSNA schedule but the amount seem low for such a high gravity mead. Not sure why the rehydration nutrient needs to sit in the rehydration water for 15 minutes before adding the yeast.

More Refinement

Let’s try to improve the request a little more as so far the rehydration nutrient isn’t showing up very well. “Provide a recipe for 5 gallons a traditional mead with an ABV of 8.5% using staggered nutrient additions and Go Ferm as a yeast hydration nutrient“

Sure. Here is a recipe for 5 gallons a traditional mead with an ABV of 8.5% using staggered nutrient additions and Go Ferm as a yeast hydration nutrient:

Ingredients:

• 5 gallons water
• 18 pounds honey
• 1 ounce Lalvin D-47 yeast
• Go-Ferm

Instructions:

1. Heat the water to 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Dissolve the honey in the water.
3. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of Go-Ferm and 1/2 cup of warm water. Let stand for 15 minutes, or until foamy.
4. Add the yeast to the Go-Ferm mixture and let stand for 15 minutes more.
5. Add the yeast mixture to the honey-water mixture and mix well.
6. Transfer to a fermenter and let ferment for 2-3 weeks.
7. After fermentation is complete, rack the mead to a secondary fermenter.
8. Let the mead age for 6-12 months.
9. Bottle the mead and enjoy!

Staggered nutrient additions:

• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 24 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 48 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 72 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O on the 7th day after pitching the yeast or when fermentation has reached 1/3 sugar break (SG = 1.069), whichever comes first.

This recipe will make approximately 5 gallons of mead with an alcohol content of 8.5%. The staggered nutrient additions will help to keep the yeast healthy and prevent off-flavors. The aging process will mellow the flavors and improve the mead.

Tips:

• Use high-quality water.
• Make sure the honey is pure and unadulterated.
• Use a yeast that is specifically designed for mead making.
• Use a fermenter that is large enough to accommodate the entire batch of mead.
• Use a secondary fermenter that is air-tight.
• Age the mead in a cool, dark place.

Better but still needs improvements.This time the honey amount drops to 18 pounds but in 5 gallons of mead that will be around 1.124 so it will still miss the 8.5% ABV mark. The yeast choice changed to D47 so a slightly more favorable yeast but the yeast quantity is still pretty high at 1 ounce. The Fermaid O amount still seems low.

Still More Refinement

Bard doesn’t seem to be able to figure out how to hit the ABV target so let’s try just specifying a original gravity. “Provide a recipe for 5 gallons a traditional mead with an original gravity of 1.0625 and a final gravity of 0.998 using staggered nutrient additions and Go Ferm as a yeast hydration nutrient“

Sure! Here is a recipe for a traditional mead with an original gravity of 1.0625 and a final gravity of 0.998 using staggered nutrient additions and Go Ferm as a yeast hydration nutrient:

Ingredients:

• 5 gallons water
• 15 pounds honey
• 1 ounce Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
• Go-Ferm
• Fermaid O
• DAP

Instructions:

1. Heat the water to 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Dissolve the honey in the water.
3. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 teaspoon of Go-Ferm and 1/2 cup of warm water. Let stand for 15 minutes, or until foamy.
4. Hydrate the yeast with the Go-Ferm mixture.
5. Add the hydrated yeast and Fermaid O to the water mixture and mix well.
6. Transfer to a fermenter and let ferment for 2-3 weeks.
7. After fermentation is complete, rack the mead to a secondary fermenter.
8. Let the mead age for 6-12 months.
9. Bottle the mead and enjoy!

Staggered nutrient additions:

• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 24 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 48 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 72 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O on the 7th day after pitching the yeast or when fermentation has reached 1/3 sugar break (SG = 1.069), whichever comes first.

This recipe will make approximately 5 gallons of mead with an alcohol content of 12%. The staggered nutrient additions will help to keep the yeast healthy and prevent off-flavors. The aging process will mellow the flavors and improve the mead.

My calculations using the requested SG numbers should hit about 8.5% ABV not the 12% Bard suggests. The amount of honey Bard suggests is again way too much for the request SG value. The yeast choice went back to EC-1118 for some reason. As with the earlier requests the batch size will actually come in higher than the request 5 gallons.

Something Slightly Different

Ok, we learned a few of Bard’s limitation so let’s try something slightly different. “Provide a recipe for a chardonnay pyment mead using staggered nutrient additions, go ferm protect evolution. Target a starting specific gravity of 1.110. Use tupelo blossom honey. Use chardonnay grape juice with an original gravity of 1.095“

Sure, here is a recipe for a chardonnay pyment mead using staggered nutrient additions, go ferm protect evolution, target a starting specific gravity of 1.110, tupelo blossom honey, and chardonnay grape juice with an original gravity of 1.095:

Ingredients:

• 5 gallons chardonnay grape juice (original gravity of 1.095)
• 15 pounds tupelo blossom honey
• 1 ounce Lalvin EC-1118 yeast
• Go-Ferm Protect Evolution

Instructions:

1. Heat the chardonnay grape juice to 140-150 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Dissolve the honey in the juice.
3. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of Go-Ferm Protect Evolution and 1/2 cup of warm water. Let stand for 15 minutes, or until foamy.
4. Hydrate the yeast with the Go-Ferm Protect Evolution mixture.
5. Add the hydrated yeast and Fermaid O to the juice mixture and mix well.
6. Transfer to a fermenter and let ferment for 2-3 weeks.
7. After fermentation is complete, rack the mead to a secondary fermenter.
8. Let the mead age for 6-12 months.
9. Bottle the mead and enjoy!

Staggered nutrient additions:

• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 24 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 48 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O 72 hours after pitching the yeast.
• Add 5 grams of Fermaid O on the 7th day after pitching the yeast or when fermentation has reached 1/3 sugar break (SG = 1.069), whichever comes first.

This recipe will make approximately 5 gallons of mead with an alcohol content of 12%. The staggered nutrient additions will help to keep the yeast healthy and prevent off-flavors. The aging process will mellow the flavors and improve the mead.

The target specific gravity of 1.110 will result in a mead with an alcohol content of approximately 13%. The tupelo blossom honey will add complexity and sweetness to the mead. The chardonnay grape juice will provide the base for the mead. The Lalvin EC-1118 yeast is a good choice for this recipe because it is a strong fermenter that will produce a dry mead.

Ok, that really missed the mark. It still suffers from oust of the earlier flaws. Plus using 5 gallons of juice with an OG of 1.095 plus 15 pounds of honey is going to produce a starting gravity way beyond what was asked for; way worse that the 5 gallons of water used in the earlier traditional meads. The response also has two difference estimates for the ABV. I sure wouldn’t heat the grape juice.

The AI training probably didn’t include enough about mead formulations to guide it to hitting ABV targets. It also doesn’t seem to be able to handle basic calculations related to blending honey with liquids or the basics of blending different specific gravity liquids