Adding spices after fermentation

[victoryss364]

I've tried my first batch of mead and was wanting "spice" it up a bit. I was thinking of adding a little apple cider and maybe some cinnamon and allspice to give it a little more flavor. Fermentation has stopped and the sg is 1.000. I was wandering if I could put the spices in now and if so how much and for how long.

 

[Deezil]

If you want an apple flavor, i'd suggest a concentrate because it wont water down the ABV & yeast characteristics..

The spices is kinda up to you - i dont have a lot of experience in them - but from what i've read, a few cinnamon sticks per 5 gallons works then just taste it every week or two until its where you want it

I'd recommend putting any spices into a bag of some sort just to make it easier to remove them later

 

[winemaker_3352]

Yup - that's what I do. Put the spices in a tea bag - then you can remove easily. They will impart flavor quick and can over power the wine...

 

[seth8530]

Beware of cloves......

 

[victoryss364]

Thanks. But you wouldn't use the cider? I'm not really worried about the apple flavor just wanted to bump the sg up a little.

 

[fatbloke]

Thanks. But you wouldn't use the cider? I'm not really worried about the apple flavor just wanted to bump the sg up a little.

Well, not only would the concentrate give a more "appley" flavour, but the reduced water content would be less likely to dilute both the alcohol content and remove some of the "body" from the batch.

It's a bit like the opposite, where you end up with a batch that stopped/stalled/halted, that is very sweet and almost "viscous" in appearance. You add some vodka/everclear/whateveraslongasitshigh%booze, too dry it out some. One of the side effects of doing this is that it reduces the body/viscosity of the batch as well - not forgetting that it can also make the batch taste "alcohol hot", so it would then need extended ageing for the added alcohol to "mellow" into the batch some......

 

[victoryss364]

That makes sense. Guess I'll get some juice from concentrate and just enjoy the cider. Either way I get another 1 gallon carboy out of the deal.

 

[fatbloke]

I "thought" we were on about concentrate, not juice from concentrate!

If you wanted to use juice from concentrate, you might as well use the cider...

 

[victoryss364]

Like the little bottles you get from the health food stores right? Not Welch's

 

[fatbloke]

Like the little bottles you get from the health food stores right? Not Welch's

Was thinking like the stuff that comes from.the home brew stores.....