Back sweeten mead

[John Prince]

Can I back sweeten mead with honey and water? I started the wine over a year ago. It's been bulk aging in a carboy. I thought I would back sweeten and bulk age for one more year then bottle. How much sorbate should I add to 6 gallons?
Thanks,

 

[John Prince]

How about this question... Can I back sweeten then bulk age or should I bottle after I back sweeten?

 

[REDBOATNY]

Sorbate: 1/2 tsp. per gallon along with 1/4 tsp K-meta. Bulk or bottle your choice.

 

[John Prince]

Thanks. I'll bulk age a bit more. I'm lazy.

 

[GreginND]

I usually sweeten a few weeks before I bottle. That is, I will clear and get things stable as much as possible. Then sweeten and add sorb ate and sulfite. I like to let it sit a few more weeks to make sure that it does not start fermenting again. Then I will bottle.

I backsweeten my meads with sugar. Honey may be ok but there are more risks of additional microbial instability and potential cloudiness if using honey. There should be plenty of honey flavor from the initial fermentation. But this is a personal choice. I have had meads backsweetened with honey at the end that turned out fine too. If you boil the honey it will help prevent any microbial problems but I don't like to heat my honey.

 

[John Prince]

What's wrong with heating honey?

 

[Deezil]

Warming honey to dissolve into water is alright by me, but any excessive steam, foam or boiling action is losing delicate aromatics within the hone and changing the overall profile of the honey in question..

I prefer taking some of the wine and warming it on the stove - no water needed; use the "Warm"/"Low" setting on the oven - and dissolve the honey into that, as soon as the honey is dissolved, i remove it all from the heat and allow it to cool closer to room temp with occasional stirring before adding it back to the bulk of the wine

Sweetening with honey will most-times cause a haze of sorts, but that just means it bulk ages for a bit longer before bottling.. No big deal with meads, as they benefit from longer aging anyways.