Five months to make a mead

eulipion2 · 10-19-2010, 04:02 PM

So yesterday my soon-to-be SWMBO said to me that she wants a semi-sweet sparkling mead for the toast at our wedding in March. Now, I know five months isn't a lot of time, but my last mead (still blueberry melomel) was done fermenting in about two. That said, it had/has some hot alcohols and I need to backsweeten it, which is why my signature still says it's in tertiary.

I plan to force carbonate and bottle in champagne bottles because if I'm already pushing it just making the mead, what are the chances that it'd be properly bottle-conditioned too?

I'm looking at Ken Schramm's Semi-Sweet Show Mead recipe from "The Compleat Meadmaker," then carbonating it. Could anyone offer tips on how to get a mead ready in five months?

Or would I be better off backsweetening my melomel and force-carbing that?

Thanks in advance!

HexKrak · 10-19-2010, 04:12 PM

I think you can pull it off BUT... Have a backup plan.

eulipion2 · 10-19-2010, 04:20 PM

Yeah, I think if I can keep my ferment temps down I can avoid the hot alcohols, but I'm wondering if that will slow the ferment too much. Thanks for the vote of confidence!

avidhomebrewer · 10-20-2010, 01:45 AM

I think 5 months is enough time, depending upon how strong you want to make it.

**biochemedic** · 10-20-2010, 09:28 AM

I wouldn't have believed a mead could be ready that quickly a year ago, but I've really been giving staggered nutrient additions a try, and I now believe it's possible. (Especially a sweet mead, which can hide some minor flaws/lack of aging behind the sweetness.) Basically, you can cut the primary fermentation to 2 weeks or less...my last batch OG ~ 1.1teens was completely done and tastes really, really good already (less than 2 months old). Now again, the FG is in the ~1.0teens, so it's semi sweet.

Bottom line is if you start yesterday, do SNA and keep your ferment temp to around 70, I think you will be OK.

BTW, I don't have kegging equipment, so you have a huge advantage in being able to have a sweet sparkling option...

eulipion2 · 10-20-2010, 07:52 PM

biochemedic, I love me some SNA's. Can't do an SNA without the N's, so I guess I'll give in a go as soon as my N's arrive from Midwest! I need to refurbish my kegs and figure out which posts go with which kegs (does it matter?). Then I need to figure out a way to keep the keg cold enough to allow the CO2 to dissolve. I'm probably thinking too hard, but I'm really looking forward to this brew!

indigi · 10-20-2010, 09:48 PM

I'd say you might want to pitch a larger amount of yeast than usual. Maybe even do a starter. That'd help reduce off-flavors from stressed yeast reproduction and ferment it faster than normal.

**biochemedic** · 10-20-2010, 10:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by indigi

I'd say you might want to pitch a larger amount of yeast than usual. Maybe even do a starter. That'd help reduce off-flavors from stressed yeast reproduction and ferment it faster than normal.

Yeah, this is good idea too...if you're going to use a dry yeast, use at least 2 or 3 packets, and be sure to hydrate the yeast properly.

I'd also think about keeping the OG on the low side...maybe just over 1.100 so you're not having too much of a workload...if you go dry you can stabilize and backsweeten prior to force carbing...

killian · 10-21-2010, 09:30 AM

SNA, stir to degas. What kind of N did you order?

eulipion2 · 10-21-2010, 02:40 PM

I ordered some Go-Ferm hydration nutrient, and DAP and FermaidK. That said, I may forgo the Go-Ferm and use liquid yeast, say maybe three vials of "Sweet Mead" yeast. With proper nutrition and oxygen I'd bet the yeast could still take it to a nice semi-sweet if not all the way dry.

EDIT: The soon-to-be SWMBO likes her mead on the sweeter side, so if it tanks early it's really no big deal. I'd like semi-sweet to give more mass appeal.