o.g. adj. for temperature

Is the adjustment of a gravity reading for temp. on a mead similar or different than beer ? I believe beer is SUPPOSED to be 60' for an accurate gravity read, but is adjusted for the actual temp at time of reading. My mead is about 73' and the last reading was about 1.008. There is still solid activity in the airlock but I dont want the result to be too dry. Also do I understand correctly that with airlock activity i would consider solid, that there is still enough suspended yeast to achieve a nice sparkle in the final product with the addition of bottling sugar? I 'm planning on bottling tommorrow but am willing to wait. thanks for your input people.

If your mead is still actively fermenting, you are nowhere near bottling. Wait till it is truely finshed fermenting and really starts clearing. If you try and add more sugar now and bottle you will have the nicest smelling shards of glass all over the place. What was your starting gravity and what yeast did you use? Relax and be patient. Let it do its magic.

THis is a basic mead with clover honey.(12lbs) and liquid yeast. I started last august. It moved alond nicely and I racked in Dec,08. It cont. nicely and I planned on racking again this march. In mid Feb., I realized I had a stuck Ferm. ( O.G. 1.027+/-) After some questions/answer from LHBS and here I racked again and added nutrient and dry champagne yeast. I roused the yeast and it would settle and then repeat about once or twice a week. That was in early march '09. After two weeks of this the yeast apparently acclamated and ferm. took off again. Last week I was at 1.008+/- not adj. for temp. of mead @ 73'. I dont remember the starting gravity, but am guess it was close to normal for basic dry mead with 12lbs. honey/5 gal batch. So I gather I should just let this baby cook untill it ferms out and then let it set? It seemed pretty clear at last reading but am I supposed to be able to see through carboy? I thought target grav was 1.010-1.000. If it goes to zero will it be too dry, or will ther still be a hint of residual sweetness? Am eager, but I've come this far and am willing to wait to avoid failure and humiliation! Thnx,

So, if my math is right (and maybe if not Hightest will correct me) you should have had a starting grav of about 1.085ish. Most champagne yeasts will work until 15-17% and take your mead all the way down to 0.990 and about 13% ABV where the yeasties will run out of sugar and go dormant. Let it clear after that then you can decide if you want to stabilize and backsweeten or if you want to add some fermentables at bottling and carbonate it. Another option is racking it on top of fruit or other flavors when you go to secondary. Either way, time and patience will really pay off for you.

thanks for getting back to me, sorry for the delay i my response... been working. So if my math is right, even though I've racked this a total of three times, technically it's still a primary fermentation? After the ferm. stops and the yeast goes dormant should I rack to get it off of the yeast cake? What do you mean, stabilize and backsweeten? I like the idea of carbing the final product. I started out to make a dry basic mead, im a patient person but I also want to drink this while Im still young! So I could rack on top of a fruit nectar like pear or apricot? Would I need to add more nutrient at that time? So many questions... thanks for the help.

Whoa - stop the madness. Racked 3 times? I usually don't rack till I've taken at least 3 consecutive gravity reading that match and it is starting to clear on its own. That could be one of the primary reasons that yours is slowing down so much. Every time you rack before you're done will decimate your yeast count and send most of the rest left over into shock. Every time they would have to start the process over rebuilding their population but without the needed nutrients and and possibly oxygen. Racking to secondary over fruit gives great fruit charachter. I usually use fruit in primary and in secondary because the fermentation of the fruit will change it. Some add it only to primary or to secondary, Thats something you can experiment with and find which you like better. Either way, fruit in secondary will not need more nutrient.

Have patience. The yeasies are pro's and really know their job. If you're having trouble waiting visit Liquidsolutions.com and try this. It'll keep you busy for a while. Also take some time and visit the Mead Sticky by Hightest. Lots of great info. And look for Ken Schramm's book 'The Compleat Meadmaker'.