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I find this interesting as I usually "over administer" nutrients. However, I will say that the other factor is temperature .. in my realm, the house is not quite 70F even in summer, so .. When I use heating apparatus, (which I've never done with mead) things ferment more fully.

My meads stall out at 1.010 or thereabouts with some regularity. OG independent. But then I'm using wild yeast (no boil, no filter, no kill) from berries and the honey. Interesting discussion. If I'm aggressive and/or impatient and use commercial yeast they drop down much further, then ...

Aleatoric Meadery, Winery, or Brewing, depending. Is there a word for all three? "Aleatoric" is a word I ran into a year or so ago. Referring to semi-random particles, in that case, but in looking it up, something about the term really grabbed me. An uncouth way to put it would be...

That's a classic situation. It's a nomenclature thing. Lots of people call a 1 gallon batch something you can make in a 1 gallon jug. (or 3, or 5, or 6 carboy, depending). I prefer to call the batch size the intended result volume, and go to great lengths to try to achieve it. IN so doing...

@batman72 - Curious ... it sounds to me like you are not bottling all at once. I'm not "pro" but I do have a few years of successes, and I can say that method is part of that. One thing is to have a couple batches of similar wine going, staggered in timing. That way there is almost always...

I've always added more water to the initial fermenter to compensate for lees loss, and result in a very full carboy. Of late I'm using the kits from Canada that require one to add their own sugar, and I add a bit more than recommended. It doesn't take much. Of note (and relevant to this...

After you determine your ratio, you add the glycerine just before bottling. I like to do it as I vacuum rack, for easier mixing, less stirring. Remember to allow time to give your palate a chance to reset before each tasting. With the oak, know ye that I started out using oak tentatively, and...

Oh .. case against small necked carboys of course is when some idjit thinks he's all clever and stuffs a bunch of random sized toasted oak chunks in there. You do know wood swells when soaked in liquid, right? You have my permission to laugh at my expense. It was (ahem) "interesting" trying...

Clever airlock! I should have specified, however: "Why not 2-gallon GLASS carboys?" Not only is it that I prefer glass, but also the narrow neck for O2 minimization. I do use plastic in some cases for primary, but those don't need O2 protection or airlock. I never do anything over a week...

Really loving oak in primary and secondary both. It's more apparent having tried both, in secondary or bulk aging. In fact I love it in my glass too though ... (best way is to decant some from bottle onto oak chunks ... this gives a very controllable idea of what you might like.) It's nice to...

I clicked on this due to the fact that recently two things of note related occurred. 1. A new local friend presented me with a couple bottles of some very very strong, and very rich, full-bodied mead, and 2. I've been playing with oak and glycerin. For the most part, I've enjoyed my own...

Indeed ... WHY NOT 2-gallon carboys? This is a serious thorn in my side, thank you very much. Anyone else noticed this severe lack of ability to efficiently rack down? Geez. (oops, exposed a pet peeve)

I still carry my glass carboys (3, 5, 6 gal, full) up and down stairs. No bueno doing so after having "samples" one's product, though. One of the biggest gifts was learning from Steve about the milk crate thing. I had a few holding scrap wood, auto parts, misc. Now they are all carboy...

My bottling situation frequently has the source carboy significantly lower than the bottles (like 2-3'). For wine and mead, still, this is fine. For somewhat foamy beer, it is not. As it pulls gas out of the liquid as it transfers, it ends up with the receiving bottle being filled with foam...

I have a strong opinion about this, and after using the Allinone vacuum pump for over 2 years, I can say my opinion is based on working theory, and my results suggest (not prove, but suggest) that I'm correct. In general, a syphon (siphon) as it relies on atmospheric pressure to function, is...