First Mead sanity check.

[DomR]

Happy New year to all. Well, I had a boat load of honey so my wife wants a sweet mead. While I have made wines for almost twenty years I have never made a mead. Looking over recipes on line and not knowing who to trust I put together this pyment recipe and would like any experienced mead maker to let me know what they think. Mixed it this morning and ended up with 6 gallons with a SG 1.160. Definitely gonna be strong and sweet, but that's how she wanted it. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

17.5# raw honey
3 Gal. White grape juice
9 tsp. yeast nutrient
2 tsp. citric acid
1.5 tsp yeast energizer
red star champagne yeast

 

[Jovimaple]

I haven't made mead yet, but good luck and let us know how it turns out!

 

[Rice_Guy]

Honey is not a constant material. Do you have original gravity, pH and maybe TA?

Looking at the three gallons of grape it ought to be OK ,,, BUT,,, if your IG is seriously high you will have a hard time fermenting.
Remember to mix in air / oxygen. I like step feeding with Fermaid O at 1/3 fermentation. I will put tannin in everything, at the minimum Blanc soft, and for more flavor a chestnut tannin.

 

[DomR]

The OG of the must is 1.160 but I don't have PH or TA. What would you consider too high.

 

[Rice_Guy]

WOW,,, 1.160 gives a potential alcohol of 20%. This will be hard on the yeast. To get it started I would do a starter and slowly add the must. Ex rehydrate the yeast with a few T of must > wait an hour > add similar volume of the must > wait an hour > add a similar volume must > etc

There is a preservative effect from high sugar. I wouldn’t do over 15% ABV

 

[DomR]

Yea, I was worried there could be a problem. Looks like I better get started. Thanks for the reply

 

[Rice_Guy]

The food system is made by folks like you pushing the envelope. I have been there above “normal” rules , with a tech services VP buying a processing plant and then telling his team that there is safety factor when equipment suppliers sell something. Now figure out how to get 50% above design capacity.

Yea, I was worried there could be a problem. Looks like I better get started.

If it works well save some of the yeast to sell to Lallemand. FYI there are some yeast in the corn alcohol fuel industry that make it to 22% ABV. Everything has to be just right to run that kind of plant.

 

[Jim Welch]

I’ve only made a couple batches of mead and fermented both dry but in my research before starting i found there are folks who want a sweet mead and intentionally start with a gravity/potentialvalcohol beyond what the yeast can handle so they end up with residual sugar for the sweetness. Seemed a bit of a gamble to me due to the stress on yeast of the high osmotic pressure from a very high OG so I fermented dry and will back sweeten after aging. 1.160 is very high, is the red star champagne yeast the same as EC1118? If you do this again I’d look into step feeding.

 

[rhodesengr]

WOW,,, 1.160 gives a potential alcohol of 20%. This will be hard on the yeast. To get it started I would do a starter and slowly add the must. Ex rehydrate the yeast with a few T of must > wait an hour > add similar volume of the must > wait an hour > add a similar volume must > etc

There is a preservative effect from high sugar. I wouldn’t do over 15% ABV

actually, SG of 1.160 is a brix between 36-and 37 with an alcohol potential of 25%. That is probably WAAAY to concentrated. Most of the guidance here is to fully ferment the wine and then back-sweeten to taste when you bottle. EC1118 is rated to an alcohol potential of 18%. I am shooting for more like 15% with my current batches. I think you should add some water and get the SG down to 1.110-to 1.120. I think you are going to have problems starting as high as 1.160

 

[winemaker81]

actually, SG of 1.160 is a brix between 36-and 37 with an alcohol potential of 25%. That is probably WAAAY to concentrated. Most of the guidance here is to fully ferment the wine and then back-sweeten to taste when you bottle. EC1118 is rated to an alcohol potential of 18%. I am shooting for more like 15% with my current batches. I think you should add some water and get the SG down to 1.110-to 1.120. I think you are going to have problems starting as high as 1.160

Also note that a strain's ABV rating is under laboratory conditions. It's a ballpark figure, so individual batches can be under and over achievers. Depending on the published rating is not a good idea.

I agree -- start with an OG that hits a desired ABV target, ferment dry, then backsweeten.

Professionals have hundreds or thousands of barrels and tanks, they can blend to hit targets. We home winemakers do not have that luxury.

 

[DomR]

Just an update. I made a yeast starter of 25% must 75% water and hourly added must for 12 hours. It was nice and foamy so I pitched it and now it looks like its taking off. I'll nurse it with some nutrient so it doesn't get stuck. Keep fingers crossed.

Thanks for the advice and A special thanks to Rice_Guy for the for the below articles on a similar high OG mead. This will let me know what to expect for a final SG.