Low Gravity Meads

**jfkriege** · 02-16-2010, 04:40 AM

I was wondering if people have had any luck with lower gravity meads and mead variants. Any recipes or thoughts would be welcomed.

I was thinking about a cyser that started about 1.050 in order to get something going and let SWMBO try it out before I invest in a large batch of honey. I was thinking about taking that and stabilizing and lightly back-sweetening and carbonating. Sound alright?

**summersolstice** · 02-16-2010, 11:21 AM

While I've never done what you're proposing, the process sounds like it should work fine and quite a few people have experimented with hydromels (low grav meads). Good luck!

LightningInABottle · 02-16-2010, 11:53 AM

My next cider will be made with 1lb of OB honey per gallon of cider. Perdicted OG will be around 1.076. I plan on using US-05. This is going in the bucket within the next week as my current cider is almost finished. I will keep you updated.

MedsenFey · 02-16-2010, 01:21 PM

I've actually got a batch of cider clearing now that I'm going to prime and carbonate with honey. I wanted to keep the ABV low enough to be able to enjoy a glass full without getting walloped. If I use a honey with strong character it should come through in the aroma/flavor.

**jezter6** · 02-16-2010, 01:40 PM

Check out Homebrewer_99's "Lemonade Mead" in the Recipe Database. It's a very light and refreshing mead that I've sampled from HB99's private collection, and made one of my own.

malkore · 02-16-2010, 10:34 PM

Another option is a 1 gallon batch. Still only an investment of 3lbs of honey ($10 or so), and it would give you a more accurate representation of the 'usual' meads you'll encounter in the hobby.

**jfkriege** · 02-17-2010, 04:14 AM

I appreciate all of the feedback, and will have to try out the lemonade mead some time later this year. It sounds like a really great summer mead.

I ended up going with 1.6kg honey into 1 gallon of apple juice and enough water to make up 3 gallons. It wound up being a 1.060 OG and tastes quite nice. I pitched the D-47 as the yeast, and gave it a nice blast of O2 and some nutrients. It is in a corny with a bent dip tube and an airlock sitting at 60F right now and will hopefully be bubbling by morning.

Joshua

Yan · 02-19-2010, 09:04 PM

I'm making a hopped, smaller sort of mead (1.055 or something) fermented with ale yeast and using a bit of caramelized honey. I'll have to post how it turns out. I also made one with a similar gravity using ginger and wine yeast, made to be sort of like an alcoholic ginger beer, but I'm waiting for it to clear.

**jfkriege** · 03-02-2010, 04:52 AM

I said I would report back.

I took a gravity reading on the cyser/hydromel that i put together and it is now at 0.996, down from 1.060 OG. It is clean, with no sulphur (I usually get a bit of sulphur when I have apples in there), and was really tasty. I also tried it after it was back sweetened with a little honey and it was even better. I think I will leave it for another few weeks, and then stabilize, back sweeten slightly and carbonate. I am really excited to see how this one turns out.

Bush_84 · 03-02-2010, 11:33 AM

Just wanted to mention something quick. I assume you know this, but if you stabilize then sweeten you will have to force carb with a keg. Again I assume you know this as you have more posts than I do, but just wanted to throw it out there.

I personally plan on making a Raspberry Hydromel myself soon.