Super Sweet Sparkling Mead - Page 2

nealf · 03-25-2010, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TipsyDragon

sorbate doesn't kill yeast. it prevents fermentation from starting. if fermentation is already going sorbate will do nothing. adding more yeast after adding sorbate is a waist of time because no new fermentation will occur.

This is correct, thanks for setting me straight.

TipsyDragon · 03-25-2010, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nealf

This is correct, thanks for setting me straight.

any time

Buckshott00 · 03-25-2010, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jezter6

Kegging's easy. Put it in a keg on gas for a few weeks, and voila - it's carbonated.

If you're looking to bottle carbonated mead from the keg back into bottles, then you'll need some sort of apparatus to bottle from the keg. There's plenty of resources in the kegging/bottling area.

Look at "We don't need no stinking beer gun" or search around for the BMBF (Biermuncher Bottle Filler).

If you're bottling, you'll have to decide on either 12oz beer bottles, or champagne bottles with cork & cage, as a wine bottle can either explode, or just pop the cork and ruin a bottle.

Thanks, I'm trying to use flip top bottles. I have another thread on here trying to find virgin ones for cheap online, right now I'm getting them full of sparkling juices or wines and washing them.

Buckshott00 · 03-25-2010, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TipsyDragon

i didn't carbonate this batch. once the mead is clear enough to read through you can bottle it with some honey or corn sugar. if your using corks i would suggest looking into champagne cages to hold the corks on.

You're talking about adding additional honey when you bottle right? On a scale from flat pop to alka-seltzer where does that rate on a effervesence scale?

TipsyDragon · 03-25-2010, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buckshott00

You're talking about adding additional honey when you bottle right? On a scale from flat pop to alka-seltzer where does that rate on a effervesence scale?

it depends how much honey you add. the more you add the more effervescence you will get. but be warned if you add to much the bottles may explode on you. there are plenty of carbonation calculators out there and i've seen some that give you amounts for different sugars like honey, corn sugar, table sugar, and DME.

chef201atc · 03-25-2010, 06:47 PM

The problem with adding honey in an attempt carbonate a sweet mead is that, in order for the mead to finish sweet you have to have had enough sugar (honey) in it during fermentation to overwhelm the yeast. Since the yeast will have died out prior to all the sugar being eaten (leaving a sweet mead) there will be no viable yeast left to eat any added honey at bottling time – therefore, no carbonation.

On the other hand, if you have less honey during fermentation, thereby leaving yeast to eat added honey during bottling and cause carbonation, the mead will be dry because the yeast will have eating all the sugar during fermentation.

I think the only sure-fire way to have a sweet, carbonated mead is with force carbonation, as other have already stated.

1Brotherbill · 03-26-2010, 02:50 AM

I'm thinking the best way to get what you want is to use a non fermentable sugar to bring the sweetness factor. However, it won't be the all honey no fillers idea that you want. Something like Lactose or Splenda added will allow you to have a sweet sparkling mead. It all depends on what you want for taste and how much you want to spend on your mead. Kegging systems can run around 200 or 300 or 500 hundred dollars for initial setup. One pound of lactose is about six bucks. So I would go with that first. You might get lucky and have a sweet mead that everyone loves.

If you are going to keg the mead you will find that the mead out of the tap is going to seem better then the stuff in the bottle. Just because you will loose some of the head pressure when you fill the bottles.