March 2018 WOTM Club

[Jericurl]

Ok, so then, in theory...Adding honey to 1.05 (or 1.06), then bottling once I hit 1.01 will give me plenty of carbonation.
Any suggestions on a nonfermentable sugar that works well with mead?

 

[BernardSmith]

Have yet to try this myself but lactose is non fermentable. Beer brewers often use lactose in stouts (milk stouts). It's sweet but not as sweet as sucrose. I couldn't tell you how much to add but I believe that lactose is 1/6 as sweet as table sugar.

 

[dralarms]

Root beer wine.

10 2ltr bottles of Barq’s root beer
6 16.9 oz bottles (just because I had them)
7 LB sugar. Brie 21.8

Ec-1118 yeast

Started 1/21/18

 

[ceeaton]

Have yet to try this myself but lactose is non fermentable. Beer brewers often use lactose in stouts (milk stouts). It's sweet but not as sweet as sucrose. I couldn't tell you how much to add but I believe that lactose is 1/6 as sweet as table sugar.

Lactose will add the equivalent of 1.035 SG per lb per gallon. It is not as sweet as dextrose (table sugar), but can easily be added in excess. For a milk stout I'd rarely add more than 4 oz for a 5 gallon batch.

@Jericurl, you could always ferment the batch to dry, and add corn sugar just before bottling (I tend to rack into another carboy I've added a simple syrup made with 1/4 to 1/2 cup corn sugar and a cup of water). A 1/2 cup per 5 gallons will carbonate pretty heavily in my opinion. I tend to go with about 1/3 to 1/4 of a cup of corn sugar, as I fancy English type pale ales and bitters, and their carbonation levels are a bit lower than most of the standard beers we get here in the States.

If you want a sweeter end product, try adding a bit of lactose (sometimes sold as milk sugar) like Bernard suggests, then add the corn sugar to carbonate. Just remember your "dry" FG will be higher than normal if you add the lactose when you initially mix up your batch.

 

[BernardSmith]

If you want a sweeter end product, try adding a bit of lactose (sometimes sold as milk sugar)

But what does "bit" mean? If at a certain pH I want to sweeten with say, 4 oz of sugar /gallon how many oz of lactose will give me the same amount of sweetness - a lb? more?

 

[ceeaton]

But what does "bit" mean? If at a certain pH I want to sweeten with say, 4 oz of sugar /gallon how many oz of lactose will give me the same amount of sweetness - a lb? more?

Best I can tell you is that 4 oz in a 5 gallon batch of stout is noticeable. I would think a lb would be way too much, unless you like things very sweet. I didn't take the change in SG into account (doubt I ever tested it after adding, if I did I lost it a few years back when my hard drive crapped out and I lost 200+ sets of notes on previous batches), was following a recipe I got from Zymurgy magazine.

 

[CUZN_J]

Lol. Got a batch of root beer wine just started. I’ll get my notes and recipe together.

That is one I want to try.

 

[dralarms]

That is one I want to try.

I never did get that recipe on here did I? I’ll get it tomorrow

 

[CUZN_J]

I never did get that recipe on here did I? I’ll get it tomorrow

I guess not, but I keep on looking, thanks

 

[dralarms]

I guess not, but I keep on looking, thanks

10 2lr bottles of Barq’s root beer
6. 16.9 oz bottles
7 lbs sugar (21.8 brix)
Rc-212 yeast


Still gassy right now. Current sg is 1.004 (backsweetened to 1.004 from .990

 

[dralarms]

Root beer wine.

10 2ltr bottles of Barq’s root beer
6 16.9 oz bottles (just because I had them)
7 LB sugar. Brie 21.8

Ec-1118 yeast

Started 1/21/18

Well, opened a bottle tonight, it’s just not for me. It might be ok if I had a soda stream bu5 as it is it’s just off tasting.