What to do about my first mead?

I made a mead last year. My first. I used some cheap honey from the local bakery, source unknown. I shall consider the effort a success, despite the result. I learned a lot about the fermentation process. However, there are a few points I'd like to make about the mead and see what I can do with it:

The carboy sat in my computer for a while with no cover, then I put a black T-shirt over it.

I let the airlock dry out from sheer stupidity (I've been homebrewing for HOW LONG??) I guess I never thought too much about it because beer never sits long enough for the vodka to dry up!

There was something on top that kind of looked like pellicle. Upon closer inspection, it looked like very old bubbles that never sank.

Aroma was pretty alcoholic, even though I think I started this MANY months ago.

Taste is very dry with still quite a bit of alcohol presence. Not really my favorite kind of mead. It's more like a strong, unrefined dry wine.

With a lack of airlock liquid I kind of expected some oxidation. I did not look for it when tasting though, so I can' say whether it's there or not.

Considering the cost of the honey and the amount of time put into it, I'm hesitant to just throw it out. However, it's pretty dry for my tastes, and I'm not sure I know anyone who would like it, since it's a dry mead.

How should I bottle it if I decide to keep it?

Can I backsweeten without restarting fermentation, and will it be tasty that way?

If you're sure the yeast has petered out, sure you can backsweeten. Have you cold crashed? Did you sulfite/sorbate?

I did not use anything but water, honey, yeast and yeast nutrient. And I don't know for sure if there is any living yeast. I'd rather not risk it, TBH.

I have not cold crashed. In fact, the mead is still somewhat hazy. I've seen some brilliant mead. I have not used gelatin or anything to help it along.

Well, I'd suggest either that you back sweeten it then clear it, or let it clear first.

If there's no off flavours (oxidation often gives a taste reminiscent of sherry), then it'd probably be better to stabilise it (sulphite and sorbate) first, then back sweeten to whatever level you like (use a hydrometer - I make mine about 1.010 to 1.015 a.k.a. medium sweet). I like to use honey, so by adding the back sweetening before it's clear, if the honey did cause a haze, I wouldn't notice it and the haze either drops out naturally, or I add finings if I'm impatient.

If you're gonna use something other than honey to back sweeten, then you can usually clear it first.

Oh, and it's probably worth checking it with a hydrometer to make sure it's finished it's ferment.

Once it's back sweetened and cleared, I like to age my meads for a minimum of 6 months, generally a year plus. So it's up to you whether you want to bulk age it (if you've enough glass to keep it in) or whether you want to get it bottled.

You don't mention what size the batch was, but it might be feasible to have some bottled as dry and some back sweetened.....

regards

fatbloke