italianxmna89

Recipes 

First batch is a one gallon batch

Primary

1 gallon Spring water
2lb Clove Honey
1 cut orange for yeast nute
25 raisings for yeast nute
5g fleschmans yeast

After initial fermentation it was a nice clear yellow. i racked it and let it sit for a while. Then my friends and i decided to add rasberries to it so we got about 2lb of rasberries, crushed them, and added it along with ~1 lb of honey since it tasted extremely dry.

It began to re-ferment and finished its thing so i racked it again to leave out all the junk at the bottom. While racking it this time i added potassium sorbate to the mix to halt fermentation because there is still almost no sweetness in it at all and that what we're going for. It tastes very strong and very dry. Does the sweetness come back or will i need to backsweeten it after letting the potassium sorbate do its thing?

Also i have a second batch in primary that is almost done fermenting now. Same as the above primary but with 3lb of honey. If i wanted to make this a sweet peach mead would i add potassium sorbate when its done then rack it with peaches or do i rack it with peach then add potassium sorbate after it ferments again as i did with the rasberry batch..


Lastly, i plan on starting a cyser using a gallon apple cider and 3lb of honey. Should i stick with the fleishmans yeast or change it up? also would i need nutes for the yeast or would the apple cider work in leiu of that?

fatbloke

Recipes 

Well your first recipe is pretty close to JAO (Joe's ancient orange), but a little light on the honey (JAO recipe is with 3.5lb per gallon). So I'd guess that there was still enough oompf left in the yeast.

If you've added sorbate, you will also need to add some sulphite i.e. campden tablet crushed per gallon or the equivalent amount of potassium sulphite. Otherwise you can get the "geranium problem" (it stinks like geraniums and you can't get rid of that).

Yeast nutrients/energiser are the norm for meads though, not just some fruit. Have a read of the FAQ and probably the NewBee guide at Gotmead, that will give you enough info to be getting on with (even if you've already had experience with beers etc).

p.s. Oh and if your first batch still tastes too dry, then mix a little water with honey 50/50, then once you've got it sulphited as well, add it a little at a time, followed by a gentle stir, followed by a gravity test. I like my meads medium, so about 1.010 to no more than 1.020

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