Staggered additions worth the effort?

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Liquisky

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I was reading the thread about making a starter and didn't want to hijack it so I'll start a new thread.

I've been making meads for the past year and since I'm very busy I haven’t been making starter or using the staggered nutrient additions. I've been rehydrating, adding the additional nutrients and energizer at the beginning and I have not had any trouble getting meads to go completely dry.

What exactly would the staggered nutrients do to help my meads? I'm making melomels and spiced meads with potential ABV of ~ 15%. Would the staggered additions likely help my meads? Has anyone noticed better taste to the meads by adding the nutrients in steps or is it done only to avoid a potential stuck fermentation?
 
my lhbs owner and a mead making friend have been exploring this for the last year or so and they have found that it seems (to them) to make better mead, ready to drink slightly sooner.
 
I've been making mead for the past 29 years (first batch started in Winter, 1979, bottled in early '80). About 3 or 4 years ago I started experimenting with staggered nutrient additions, as well as tailoring the amount of total Yeast Available Nitrogen in those additions to different times in the fermentation cycle, and to put it succinctly, there's no going back.

Primary fermentations, which used to take upwards of a month, are now done for me in an average of a week - often less. I get far fewer issues with sulfides, and in general my meads are ready to drink a bit sooner.

It is the only way to go, IMHO.
 
Ditto what Wayne said. My primaries are almost always done in a week using the staggered additions and early aeration. Fast fermentations produce cleaner flavors.
 
I guess I'll have to give it a try my next batch (will make a base to add fruit to tomorrow or Saturday) and see how things work out.
Thanks for the replies.
 
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