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Try making an acclimated starter and use a yeast with a higher alcohol tolerance like EC-1118 or K1-V116. Make your starter as usual, but before you pitch it add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup of your mead. Make sure that starts fermenting (give it a few hours) then add another cup of your mead...

To stabilize your mead, rack onto 1/4 tsp metabisulfite for a 5 gallon batch(yours is pretty close) and 1/2 tsp potassium sorbate per gallon (so 2.5 tsp) in a clean and sanitized fermenter. This prevents any additional fermentation from happening after you add more honey to sweeten. You can...

2 concerns... 1) most melomel recipes call for 3lbs of fruit per gallon, split between primary and secondary, so your mead may end up a bit light on the cherry flavor. 2) OJ is acidic, so it would lower the pH even further, you want a base(like potassium bicarbonate), to raise the pH.

I doubt you ruined it. You may not know "exactly" how strong the wine is, but it should ferment out just fine.

This was a great read! Thanks to both of you for the interview!

I wouldn't bother boiling the zest; I'd ether make an extract with vodka/everclear, or I'd put it in a spice bag and let it steep during secondary. Taste every now and then and when it gets to where you want just remove the zest. *hint* Add some sanitized marbles to keep in submerged and tie...

I've never made a kit(mostly meads and country wines), but wouldn't boiling the water remove the dissolved O2? Yeast need oxygen during the initial growth ("lag") phase. Unless you're planning in aerating, I wouldn't boil the water...

The carbonation could be skewing your readings, try going is gentle swirl or a gentle stir with a sanitized spoon. It could also be that the sugars weren't thoroughly mixed when you took you initial gravity reading. Do NOT shake vigorously unless you want to paint your walls in your wine...also...

Start watching craigslist for carboys. Lowes/Home Depot for 5 gal buckets (or ask the bakery dept at your grocery store)...having multiple projects going helps eliminate th urge to "meddle" with a batch...I can't find juice in glass gallon jars around my area, but you might be luckier than...

You should be fine. If you start seeing any sediment in the jars I'd transfer off of them after 60 days or so, but otherwise I don't foresee any problems as long as you added kmeta when you racked, 1/4 tsp for 5 gallons or 1 crushed campden tablet per gallon.

Looks good. I definitely recommend getting a hydrometer. The "watch for the bubble" method is extremely inexact. Also, for future batches involving fruit, a mesh bag like a grain bag or a paint strainer bag would make life a lot easier. 5 gal size 2 packs are less than $5 at Home Depot/Lowes...

All of this is good advise, but my main question is he strong of a beverage do you want? 12# of honey in a 5 gal batch will yield a SG 0f 1.090, which is roughly 11.7-12% PABV. 12# in 3 gal yields 1.134 or 17.6% PABV. Your yeast'a rated tolerance is 18%, so you're still most likely going to need...

Is this a 5 gallon batch? My worry is that you may have added too much honey upfront. If there is too much sugar, the yeast could have a hard time starting or die from the toxic environment. Now, 24 lbs gives you a potential ABV of 23%, which is far above 71b's rated level, so it should...

3 cans should be fine, I prefer using 4 cans for more body and less sugar needed. I'd rack to another jug the day before or at least a few hours before you're ready to bottle to give any wispy yeast a chance to settle back out. It's not necessary, but depending on the yeast, it can help prevent...

Pretty sure the 9 lbs of sugar was added to primary to increase alcohol %, then the agave syrup and 2 additional cups were added for sweetness after it was stabilized.

Couple of points. 1) use another can of grape juice concentrate or two to I cease flavor and sugar content. This will allow you to cut back on the table sugR you will need to add. 2) don't boil the water, unless your using well water. Water contains dissolved O2 that boiling will drive out of...

Can't say as to how close to becoming vinegar, since I've tried to make vinegar and it won't turn, lol. But, to add sweetness, stabilize with kmeta and sorbate. Give it a few days then add your sweetener. Sweetening brings some of the apple flavor foward again, sweetening with frozen apple juice...

Even juice from the same company can have variations, especially from year to year. Different source for apples as prices change, weather patterns influence fruit sugar content, etc...I wouldn't worry about it, add a blow--off tube if your still worried. And remember, RDWHAHB!

Go to Lowe's/Home Depot and invest in one of their 5 gal buckets...make a fairly good an cheap alternative(like $4-5), to the buckets from the LHBS, as long as you don't do larger than 5 gal batches...$20 for the 10-12 gal Brute is your next size up, a very good investment if you want to do any...

My advise is: Rack your mead into smaller containers, leaving about 1-2 inches of headspace( 2 1 gal jugs, for instance). Attach a brake bleeder, like a MityVac, to a small bung and pull a vacuum until no more bubbles form, might take a couple of sessions. Don't build the pressure above 22-25...