Rhubarb Mead

[kiljoy]

Hey guys! I've recently scored 6 gallons of honey from my beekeeper cousin. I had also scored about 2 lbs. of frozen Rhubarb. I took a long hiatus from winemaking and haven't made a mead in years. I've decided to combine the two into a Rhubarb Mead. Now, I've seen multiple recipes that call for precipitated chalk for the rhubarb wine and yeast energizer for meads etc. I like to keep things as basic as possible, so I'm just going to combine then with some k1-v1116 yeast I have laying around and see what happens. I'm just looking for any helpful advice on whether I'll need the energizer or chalk or anything else you can think of. I'm a bit out of practice. Also the ABV? K1 seems to go to 18%, so I'll have to go dry and back sweeten., What's a good target? I was thinking 12% like a regular wine. FYI, I ended up asking an AI assistant to generate me a rhubarb mead recipe and am using that as a base

 

[winemaker81]

Welcome back!

Honey has no nutrient for the yeast, so it's a good idea to add nutrient to provide a good environment for growth and to avoid stressing the yeast. Energizer? I haven't used it in years.

I haven't made rhubarb in many moons, so I can't advise on that. Others should be able to provide feedback.

I'd add a bit of powdered tannin, say 1/4 tsp per gallon, which gives the wine a bit more structure and backbone, but won't noticeably alter the taste.

IMO 12% is a good target. Anything between 11% and 13% should be fine.