Suggestions for adding some body to mead

[David Violante]

@dmw_chef Great - thank you for sending that over again. I did not see it until just now. OK... yeast is rehydrating with GoFerm, I've sparged the must with oxygen. The SG is 1.100 and the pH is 3.6.

 

[dmw_chef]

Sounds like you've got a mead in the making my friend. Can't wait to learn how it turns out.

 

[David Violante]

Update... I rechecked the SG before adding the yeast and it was actually closer to 1.110. It has been fermenting pretty well and I followed the schedule for nutrient additions. It has been fermenting at around 72 and is today down to 1.030 and still going. I added an airlock and will keep watching.

 

[Raptor99]

dmw_chef thanks for your explanation. I am planning on starting my first batch of mead soon and this answers a lot of my questions. I've been wondering if yeast energizer (North Mountain brand) would be sufficient. It looks like I need to order some Fermaid O.

 

[dmw_chef]

'Energizer' is typically considered to be roughly equivalent to fermaid K, but we don't really know for sure. The fermaid products are basically the only nutrients out there (besides DAP) that have rigorously verified YAN values published. Package doses are never sufficient, they presume you're making wine with 100-200 YAN must, a honey must will have like 30 if you're lucky.

 

[David Violante]

OK - so it looks like it has finished. It is at 0.998, not much outward CO2 production that I can see and the temperature dropped from 73 to 68. FermCalc says it's at ~15% ABV. I racked it off the gross lees and after an hour there were more. I'll rack it off those again later today and add sulfite. It tastes FAR better than my previous mead. I attribute this to using more honey at the start, and using more nutrients and spacing them out. Thank you for all the help everyone. I'm most likely going to mix the two and end up with a nice (better) summer mead.

 

[dmw_chef]

Nothing wrong with letting it sit on the fine lees for awhile. I personally wouldn't rack again until you're done with the oak.

 

[David Violante]

So... it looks like it cleared pretty well! The headspace is down because I just sampled it. I’ll move it into some smaller containers. It’s very smooth, full of flavor. I’m not sure it’s going to make it to many smaller containers....

 

[dmw_chef]

Looks great; just bentonite in primary or did you otherwise fine?

 

[David Violante]

Just bentonite in primary.

This clearing is after one rack when fermentation ended, and then again after two weeks (there was a lot of lees again on the bottom of the container). I’ve had it in a 65F ‘cellar’ since fermentation ended. I racked the second time in fear of a previous H2S experience that I didn’t want to go through again. I think that was because of lack of nutrients though.

I don’t think it’s going to make it too long.... thank you for the great mentoring!

 

[David Violante]

I don’t think it’s going to make it too long.... thank you for the great mentoring!

@WineMaker, @BernardSmith, @Aleatoric and everyone here, that goes for all of you as well.... This really turned out so well!

 

[Ty520]

But you are absolutely measuring the gravity. The difference is that what you are aiming for is a very specific specific gravity and not the gravity that is the result of random amounts of honey and water. So... if you REALLY want to add 5 lbs of honey you might need /want to make 2 gallons of mead... Or 4.5 gallons or ?? because what you REALLY REALLY want is to begin with say, a gravity of 1.090 - OR 1.100 or whatever... but the SG you select , you select for a reason and not because you've pulled that number from a hat. That said, a gravity of around 1.090 results in a well balanced wine - where flavor and alcohol are nicely balanced and where you can relatively easily balance tannin and acidity and mouthfeel with that ABV and that richness of flavor... A mead or wine that is at 18% ABV may result in the alcohol over-powering the flavors and the sweetness and flavors ... etc

In my opinion, high alcohol, high sweetness and more intense flavors and richness can work well to balance each other out when all are present simultaneously

 

[winemaker81]

In my opinion, high alcohol, high sweetness and more intense flavors and richness can work well to balance each other out when all are present simultaneously

A good example is port.

However, especially for beginners, I lean toward Bernard's POV. Make 1 or 2 gallon batches, first targeting a table wine ABV, e.g., 11% - 13%. If higher ABV is desired, increase the OG in successive batches. This gradual process provides experience, and if a batch does not turn out as desired, there's only 5 or 10 bottles to deal with, not 25 to 30.

 

[Ty520]

A good example is port.

However, especially for beginners, I lean toward Bernard's POV. Make 1 or 2 gallon batches, first targeting a table wine ABV, e.g., 11% - 13%. If higher ABV is desired, increase the OG in successive batches. This gradual process provides experience, and if a batch does not turn out as desired, there's only 5 or 10 bottles to deal with, not 25 to 30.

Oh i agree, just pointing out that you can achieve a palatable,balanced wine on the other end of the abv and sweetness spectrum. Also, some people may not like dry mead, and might think back sweetening is their only option, but back sweetening results in a very different final product.

But yes,learning by doing via small batches is the best way to go