Going to make mead,,,,, help

[fatbloke]

Well I'd think that you aren't far off there.

As I understand it, you'd only need to be so precise if you were trying to get an exact %ABV.

I'd suggest that despite the 40 point drop, that it might just be easier to bring the gravity down to something below it's current numbers, maybe something like 1080/1090 and repitch a different yeast.

You could indeed do exactly do what you allude to, but there's no guarantee that it'll just restart/continue, as the yeasties will have been stressed but the initial high sugar.

It's worth a try, though I'd just reduce the gravity (with red or white grape juice) and then treat it as a "stuck ferment" (google that and you should find guidance how), using K1V-1116 or similar. That yeast is pretty good and will tolerate about 18% alcohol (good info on lalvin yeasts - google for Lallemand yeast chart).

 

[pwrose]

Well it has been awhile since I updated this so here it is.

The mead finally went all the way to dry, and was rather gassy. But after splash racking it and shaking it several times it stopped producing tons of bubbles. It didn't take very long after that for it to get clear. After adding enough water to bring the SG down to a fermentable point I had well over a gallon. So when I racked it the extra was put in a 1.5 liter bottle and put in the fridge. It was only about 3/4 full, figured I would use that to top it off, and did.
Tonight I decided to bottle it in beer bottles. I did some calculating to backsweeten with honey and boy was I way off, but thats ok because I was prepared for it. I only sweetened half of the gallon to start with and it went from .996 all the way to 1.040, like I said I was way off, LOL. Since I had planned for a screw up I had half a gallon left over that wasn't sweetened, so i started adding some of the dry mead to the sweetened mead and brought the SG down to 1.025. This is what I was gunning for so I took what was left over of the dry mead and put it in bottles and had 3 - 12oz bottles of dry mead. Then I went back and bottled the sweet mead and ended up with 8 - 12oz bottles of the sweet mead.

6 of the bottles will be given away to people who have asked for it already and know that it needs to age. The other 5 bottles will be shelved for a year I guess and I will report back with the results then. Right now it is ok but really needs to age...

...... to be continued

 

[fatbloke]

Well it has been awhile since I updated this so here it is.

The mead finally went all the way to dry, and was rather gassy. But after splash racking it and shaking it several times it stopped producing tons of bubbles. It didn't take very long after that for it to get clear. After adding enough water to bring the SG down to a fermentable point I had well over a gallon. So when I racked it the extra was put in a 1.5 liter bottle and put in the fridge. It was only about 3/4 full, figured I would use that to top it off, and did.
Tonight I decided to bottle it in beer bottles. I did some calculating to backsweeten with honey and boy was I way off, but thats ok because I was prepared for it. I only sweetened half of the gallon to start with and it went from .996 all the way to 1.040, like I said I was way off, LOL. Since I had planned for a screw up I had half a gallon left over that wasn't sweetened, so i started adding some of the dry mead to the sweetened mead and brought the SG down to 1.025. This is what I was gunning for so I took what was left over of the dry mead and put it in bottles and had 3 - 12oz bottles of dry mead. Then I went back and bottled the sweet mead and ended up with 8 - 12oz bottles of the sweet mead.

6 of the bottles will be given away to people who have asked for it already and know that it needs to age. The other 5 bottles will be shelved for a year I guess and I will report back with the results then. Right now it is ok but really needs to age...

...... to be continued

Well done. That's the sort of experimentation that I like.........

A lot of the commercial meads available here seem to measure up at the 1040 level, but they're far too sweet for my taste.

So I tend to make mine between about 1010 and 1020..... and no, I don't just bung a load of honey in and hope for a miracle, I add it a little at a time (about 4oz in a gallon), give it 24 hours to settle, measure and taste.

When it gets close to something I enjoy as is, then I leave it to clear again..... You'll find that back sweetening with honey can often haze the mead.... not too sure why, but I think it's something to do with a protein haze. Then you can either let it clear itself again or you can play with finings etc to clear it quickly (I prefer natural method).

As for the "giveaways", I'd say don't actually give them away until they're ready/clear again - even then, tell the recipients to leave them as long as possible before drinking (six months to a year is a good amount of time).

I suggest that, as there's no point IMO, in giving away something that's not really quite ready, and I'm a great believer in getting as many people interested in meads (drinking and making) as possible - so if there's anything that's not quite right, I either don't give it away yet or I explain about ageing to people........

Again, well done

regards

fatbloke