First mead...

5# Clover honey
~5 gallons water
Lalvin D54 (I think)

Done as per instruction from a lhbs ie... mix and let sit.
OG :~1.40
Current:~1.05
Age: 3 weeks

It looks nice, sample was frail and dry... I know I will need to back sweeten but I also want to make it stronger. It currently tastes like clover honey water with a sprinkling of alcohol... Thinking about a pound or two of brown sugar... Amy thoughts?

I'm a bit confused about you're gravity readings / recipe. 5# of honey in 5 gallons of water won't get you close to 1.400. However 5# in one gallon sounds more accurate for 1.400.

A starting gravity that high may lend itself to stalls down the road if not carefully watched/ fed. The last thing you need to be adding is any more sugar if it is indeed a 1 gallon batch.

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Alternatively.

If it was 5# for 5 Gallons, and you mean your starting gravity to be 1.040 than I am wondering how it jumped up 10 points. Unless the honey wasn't all the way dissolved AND your fermentation hasn't begun yet, in which case you'll want to pitch new yeast.

You used 5# of honey for 5 gallons of water? Also is that 1.040-1.005?? Thats very little honey for a mead. I use 3-4# per gallon of water. Sounds like you just have diluted mead compare to mine. You can add more sugar to it but it might not taste good because of the increase alcohol and no flavor backing/masking strength of it if you add brown sugar. Let me know if i read that wrong

Yea an OG of 1.040 sounds about right. Just feed in some more honey. If you have not racked off the lees "settled yeast cake" then mix that up and add another 10lb of honey. That will take you from your 5% to about 15% abv and it should not be frail by any means.

You can also just add a bit more honey to 7.5% abvs worth or so and make a nice hydromel. Which will be ready to drink sooner. Just an option.

my mistake the OG was 1.040 with CG (current Gravity) of 1.005... Should read notes and not post with mobile device when exhausted.
I have not racked off the lees as yet but was thinking about doing that tomorrow. Sadly my budget does not include the funds to buy more honey but I may be able to get a friend to donate to that cause since this experiment was originally his idea.

honreth said:

my mistake the OG was 1.040 with CG (current Gravity) of 1.005... Should read notes and not post with mobile device when exhausted.
I have not racked off the lees as yet but was thinking about doing that tomorrow. Sadly my budget does not include the funds to buy more honey but I may be able to get a friend to donate to that cause since this experiment was originally his idea.

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Well it'd likely need it cos otherwise its like drinking pissy weak, watered down mead lacking body, flavour etc......

Yup, with the new information. It needs more honey! If you can get the abv to 7.5 - 8.5% then it will start to have a little body and character with backsweetening.

fatbloke said:

Well it'd likely need it cos otherwise its like drinking pissy weak, watered down mead lacking body, flavour etc......

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Thats description kinda reminds me of Rogues mead which unfortunatly was the first mead I had tried,cept it had a bit of tea flavor.

finally going to get my fresh honey tomorrow. I'll be happy when I get home Friday morning and get it mixed in.

Okay... sorry for not posting this earlier. Thanks to everyone's helpful comments and 10# more honey, my mead has fermented back down to 1.012... silly me didn't take a reading after adding fresh wildflower honey. Stole a taste from hydro tube (don't we all?) And suffered a severe joygasm at the taste.... now if only my sake would do this good.......

honreth said:

Okay... sorry for not posting this earlier. Thanks to everyone's helpful comments and 10# more honey, my mead has fermented back down to 1.012... silly me didn't take a reading after adding fresh wildflower honey. Stole a taste from hydro tube (don't we all?) And suffered a severe joygasm at the taste.... now if only my sake would do this good.......

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LOL at "joygasm". Good to hear!