Help. I think i just messed up

Hello folks. I am making my first gallon of mead. I am making Blue Berry and Blue Lotus mead. I followed the instructions from austin home brew and mixed my 4 lbs of honey with 1 gallon of water. I put 2 ounces of blue lotus in a strainer bag added 1.5 tsp of nutrient and sealed everything up with my airlock in place. My instruction said to rack after 9 days which i did. I let it sit for another 5 days as per the instruction and racked again. Here i was told to add stabalizer and rack and sit for another 5 days. I added my blueberries 10 minutes after stirring in stabilizer. This is where i think i may have messed up. I used 3lbs of frozen blue berries and boiled them in water to thaw them out and added the blue berry mix to the must. I used just enough water to cover the berries to boil them. I noticed after adding the blue berries that my 2.5 gallon bucket now is holding almost 2 gallons of must at this point. Did i add to much water. After doing everything i realized i probably pulled a stupid and should have just thawed the berries in the bag and add them instead of adding almost 3/4 of a gallon of water and blueberry juice. Now im affraid i may now just have a very watered down mead that wont age or tast right.

I am no expert and have only made a half dozen batches to-date but not sure that you messed up too badly. We all have to learn and this one will likely in the end be OK. Chalk it up to learning and make the next one even better!

I saw nothing in your post about what yeast you used. Depending upon the yeast and with the quick racking, stabilizing and along with 4lb of honey in a gallon of water it could end up somewhat sweet. Never hurts to taste it at this point, and will be a good indication of how it will do after aging. It will change over time and worth noting the difference from now to a year from now.

Fruit takes up space and once racked off the fruit you will likely have a bit less volume. Yes you did dilute your mead a bit but probably not to the point where it is a big concern. I would rack off the fruit after 20 - 30 days or so and bulk age after. (Others would debate the time on fruit longer or shorter but really your call).

Time is your friend after racking off of the fruit let it go for a bit and taste each few months. It may be a bit "thin" but i suspect you may be pleasantly surprised.

I'm concerned about the SG and subsequent readings. I made a blueberry melomel and it got stuck during primary fermentation due to the high sugar content. Removing the fruit and gradually adding water to get a reading the yeast likes to thrive in would help. The hydrometer is your friend. I agree with CKuhns that time is on your side. Just be patient and taste it every few months to see how it's doing. I've made stuff that I thought was a mistake, but 12 months of aging has a way of changing your opinion.

Sorry. I completely forgot to tell what yeast i used. I used lalvin idc d-45. I followed their recipe up until after the 2nd rack. Which is where they told me to stabilize. Thats when i stabilized and added the blueberries

Ok so my OG on my mead was 1.124 and now I have a SG of 1.055 I like the way it tastes it's been 9 weeks since fermentation there is little to no activity can I bottle? how and when do I know when it's done ? Please help fast ..... thanks BTW I used lavlin d47 3 packs witg energizer and nutrients 22lbs of honey and 4 gallons of water

Hey need help!!
My mead OG was 1.124 and now after 9 weeks it's at 1.055 I used lavlin d 47 and Like the way it tastes and want to bottle and drink it what do I do how do I know it's done used 6.5 carboy 22lbs of honey and 4 gallons of water 3 pcks of the lavlin want to bottle but don't know when it's done if it's safe please help asap thanks in advance

shadowmerc777 said:

Sorry. I completely forgot to tell what yeast i used. I used lalvin idc d-45. I followed their recipe up until after the 2nd rack. Which is where they told me to stabilize. Thats when i stabilized and added the blueberries

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Depends on how you "stabilized" simply adding sulfites will not stabilize, it will slow a ferment to a crawl for a while however, given time that can pick back up. If sorbates were added in conjunction with sulfites then the ferment should be stopped and the ABV you have now is what you're stuck with unless you fortify. If your ABV was high enough at time of stabilization you're good with those blueberries in secondary. Once you stop pulling any more flavor from the blueberries or they generally look done pull em. Typically you don't want to leave anything much longer than 14 days secondary, fruit based anyway. Overall time is your friend here. If its low abv and you have the equipment consider backsweetening and kegging, or dry if you want. Bottle carbing is out at the point assuming sorbates were used. If its a high enough ABV (10%+) then keep racking every time you get 1/4" of lees, adding sorbates every other racking. Once no more lees drop after a month of sitting, bottle and cork. Just my suggestions anyway.

Grimace945 said:

Hey need help!!
My mead OG was 1.124 and now after 9 weeks it's at 1.055 I used lavlin d 47 and Like the way it tastes and want to bottle and drink it what do I do how do I know it's done used 6.5 carboy 22lbs of honey and 4 gallons of water 3 pcks of the lavlin want to bottle but don't know when it's done if it's safe please help asap thanks in advance

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Hey, you might have wanted to start your own thread, perhaps you did and I just didn't see it. The only way to know its done is either to stop the fermentation yourself or to keep checking the OG over time. If it stays the same after 2-4 weeks then its likely done. In this case though, if you like how it tastes, then stop the ferment yourself with sorbates and sulfites in combo. Let it clear and bottle/drink (whatever you want).

UPDATE

I bottled everything on 11/15/15. Everything looked clear. The mead still had a mildly overpowering tartness to it though. On the 20th a friend of mine was renewing their vows and begged for a bottle for the toast at the cutting of the cake. I warned them it would be a little tart still and really needed a few months but the still begged and begged and i gave in and let them have a bottle. I chilled it for a few hours before serving in hopes to mellow it out a little bit. To my surprise it tasted really good. It had a light sweetness complemented with a very mild tart after taste. It did look a little cloudy in the glass but over all. Everyone really liked it. I cant wait to see what it tastes like after it has been properly aged... Yaaay for my first mead attempt and using my own recipe

Atek said:

Depends on how you "stabilized" simply adding sulfites will not stabilize, it will slow a ferment to a crawl for a while however, given time that can pick back up. If sorbates were added in conjunction with sulfites then the ferment should be stopped and the ABV you have now is what you're stuck with unless you fortify. If your ABV was high enough at time of stabilization you're good with those blueberries in secondary. Once you stop pulling any more flavor from the blueberries or they generally look done pull em. Typically you don't want to leave anything much longer than 14 days secondary, fruit based anyway. Overall time is your friend here. If its low abv and you have the equipment consider backsweetening and kegging, or dry if you want. Bottle carbing is out at the point assuming sorbates were used. If its a high enough ABV (10%+) then keep racking every time you get 1/4" of lees, adding sorbates every other racking. Once no more lees drop after a month of sitting, bottle and cork. Just my suggestions anyway.

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This was supposed to say add sulfites every other racking NOT sorbates....