Search results

Back sweetening is just adding sugar for sweetness after fermentation has finished or you have stabilized the must. With a mead, I would back sweeten with only honey, and preferably the same honey used in the recipe. There are some things to be aware of. For starters, it is easier than you...

Back sweetening is the only, truly reliable way to ensure a sweet mead without stressing the yeast by overloading with sugar up front, or step-feeding (even then might end up dry or stalled). You could try cold-crashing and stabilizing once you have a level of sweetness you like. Another...

5 Gallons Black Irish Braggot 5 Gallons

spider legs

Cheap shot

The fizz is normal, and not anything to worry about. It really just means fermentation is continuing. It will still with time (not under pressure) and with degassing (like shaking, stirring, or swirling the contents). I would never dump anything unless it was undrinkable after substantial...

What kind of pears did you use? And did you add anything else? Spices?

2.5 Blackberry Braggot 1685.5 + 2.5 = 1688

First image is a wildflower spiced mead (Vanilla). Came out nice and clear, but an unfortunate shade of piss. Fermented completely dry, and it needs some sweetening. It isn't bad dry, but its not particularly enjoyable either. I hope I can keep the clarity after making even a small honey...

I would steer clear of watering anything down after running through a fermentation. It will very clearly taste watered-down, and not just the alcohol. My first choice, if I were set on hitting a certain ABV, would be to set my OG to a level just above my minimum desired ABV, ferment dry...

+1 for blending, but if the flavor is off that may not go so well either. If your mead tastes rough, harsh, or any other kind of off, I would age it some more before doing anything with it, or those flavors may just carry over and produce less than satisfactory results. If there are not off...

Is this for sanitary reasons? I am assuming these are the pre-toasted chips, if that is the case. Or is there a benefit to leaching them before using them? I have only used the untoasted chips and toasted them myself immediately before addition, but have never boiled them.

And I don't think you will need to add any more yeast.

12 pounds for a 5 gallon batch is not a lot of honey, so I could easily see it fermenting out in 3 - 4 weeks. More telling is the hydrometer reading. Unless its broken - which should be obvious (you can test in pur-ish water at 60º F and it should ride the 0 line), a very low reading means...

16.7%, 90% apparent attenuation. It is high, but not entirely unheard of. The Campden and sorbate additions would likely prevent fermentation of the additional peaches and brown sugar, but these still make a contribution to the gravity. It is likely that the primary fermented dry, and the...

Honey 35 ppg * 3.3 = 115.5 4 lbs peaches (9% sugar) = 16.2 1/2 cup brown sugar (this is an estimate) = 9.9 1.1416 (seems high, but that's a lot of honey and fruit to a single gallon, so I wouldn't be surprised if it were quite close) A little higher than your spreadsheet value, but you...

Sounds like you have similar inclinations as I have, and in that case, I would recommend something similar to what I am planning for one of my current batches: If you didn't add fruit to the beginning of primary, add the fruit as the primary fermentation begins to slow but before it stops...

Honey is reported to contribute 35 gravity points per pound per gallon (though I have seen some say as high as 40). So you need to add .714 (25/35) pounds per gallon, or 2.32 pounds for the 3.25 gallons you have. This can vary slightly based on the water content of your honey, but it should be...

It is not necessarily inadvisable, but it will produce a particular flavor profile and body character, namely dry and light. The restarting of fermentation with that yeast, at your starting gravity, will consume most if not all of the sugars from the fruit, giving you a dry, sour-tasting...

It sounds like your primary is nearing completion. You could add it now, and more or less consider it to be an addition for secondary. The final flavor profile and sweetness will be influenced at least as much by the yeast strain used as by when and how much fruit you add. What yeast did...