Stepped fermentation

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Do you mean step feeding? This is when you only add part of the total amount of honey at various points, this is usually done when you're making a high ABV mead. Adding too much honey at once can overwhelm the yeast & cause a stuck fermentation, so adding the honey in "steps," is quite useful.

There is also "staggered (or stepped) nutrient additions" or SNA. This is basically doing the same sort of thing as step-feeding with honey, except with SNA you're doing it with nutrients. This is also quite useful when making high ABV meads, but it's also good for virtually any mead, high ABV or not.

You can do one or the other, or both if you like. With step-feeding, you'll need to do the math to determine your ABV, but it's not too complicated. I don't usually do either step-feeding or SNA, simply because I don't see a need for it, but I have tried them both. Unless you're making a high ABV mead or you're trying to ferment as fast as possible, I just don't see a need for either. That being said, there are LOTS of people who swear by either or both techniques. Here's a thread over at gotmead.com that you might find useful:
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/20018-Step-Feeding-question
Regards, GF.
 
You can do one or the other, or both if you like. With step-feeding, you'll need to do the math to determine your ABV, but it's not too complicated. I don't usually do either step-feeding or SNA, simply because I don't see a need for it, but I have tried them both. Unless you're making a high ABV mead or you're trying to ferment as fast as possible, I just don't see a need for either. That being said, there are LOTS of people who swear by either or both techniques. Here's a thread over at gotmead.com that you might find useful:
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/20018-Step-Feeding-question
Regards, GF.
So, you feed your yeast all at once?
 
I'm currently step feeding a mead, not for the high ABV but a semi sweetness since a friend of mine has a sulfite sensitivity.

Step feeding bascially involves letting the mead ferment down to 1.000 SG and then adding honey to get it back up to your desired final gravity (1.016 in my case).

Keep doing it and eventually the yeast will hit their alcohol tolerance and give up.
 
Usually, yes. I haven't really noticed that much difference, other than pushing the ABV. It works for me.
Regards, GF.
That's quite interesting. If you could share the amounts and types of nutrients you use, I would love to give it a go.

Thanks!
 
Thats more like backsweetening not step feeding, when you step feed you expect the yeast to eat the honey, maybe not all the way down to dry but you are feeding them so they can eat it. WVMJ

I'm currently step feeding a mead, not for the high ABV but a semi sweetness since a friend of mine has a sulfite sensitivity.

Step feeding bascially involves letting the mead ferment down to 1.000 SG and then adding honey to get it back up to your desired final gravity (1.016 in my case).

Keep doing it and eventually the yeast will hit their alcohol tolerance and give up.
 
That's quite interesting. If you could share the amounts and types of nutrients you use, I would love to give it a go.

Thanks!

The homebrew shop buys nutrients in bulk & repackages them, so I don't know what brand, but they're pretty standard. Just basic yeast nutrient & DAP. They also sell "yeast energizer," which seems to be basic yeast nutrient with added DAP, but I'm not certain. I'll have to check the labels for the exact ingredients.
Regards, GF.
 
Added honey yesterday and the SG has only dropped from 1.016 to 1.014 in 27 hours.

Hopefully that means the brew is finally hitting the alcohol tolerance of the yeast, 71B-1122.
 
Thanks, gratus fermentatio. I took the plunge and started my first stage a few days ago. We'll see how it goes!
 
I'd like to try stepped fermentation, but I can't find instructions anywhere. Am I calling it the wrong thing?

loveofrose wrote this article. You can do stepped nutirent additions as he explains.

Gotmead.com has a nice article on it too.
 
It finally stopped dropping at 1.014. Here's my blackberry melomel on racking day, racked into a carboy with 1 lb of blackberries on the bottom.

1JrtOwzl.jpg


I'll rack it off them in to a carboy with a vanilla bean in two weeks and after that it'll be the every month in to a new container. Hope its clear by August.
 
Gratis Fermentatio, I checked the link you posted (second post on this thread) but did not see where to calculate ABV when doing step feeding. I suppose its simple if certain assumptions are made. Specifically:

1. You can calculate or guess OG without measuring it (since you havent put all the honey in, you are measuring only a PORTION of the total FINAL ABV. As I understand it, differernt honey varietals have differernt moisture contents, etc, so this would be tough to estimate a truly accurate OG. It could my own human error, but I have had different OGs using same amounts of lbs/gal rations when using different honey types)
2. Adding in honey at different times (ie, after some level of fermentation has taken place) will not affect what the gravity would have been if you had just put it in all at once (in the beginning).
3. Once you rack (assuming the step feeding is going to take longer than a couple weeks), your volume has changed, along with an unknown amount of alcohol and residual sugars. As you add the new honey and that ferments (post racking), you need to correct for new volume (ie, mead lost in racking (subtract from new volume) and new honey poured in (add to new volume)) Finally, it would be tough to determine how much alcohol was lost in the rack.

Obviously this is getting in the weeds on how to get a very accurate ABV, but I'm curious if someone has a method that does work with step feeding? I would rather use that method then guessing and getting somewhat close with the assumptions listed above. Thanks!
 
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Obviously this is getting in the weeds on how to get a very accurate ABV, but I'm curious if someone has a method that does work with step feeding? I would rather use that method then guessing and getting somewhat close with the assumptions listed above. Thanks!

Here's how I figure it; The additions are cumulative. Measure S.G. before and after each addition and add the changes together. So, if the first step adds 20 points, the second adds 20 and the third adds 10 you've increased gravity by 50 points and therefore added 6.5% to whatever it was when you started.
 
Thats what I thought at first glance, however, I dont think that works since the volume is changing. By definition, ABV is the concentration of alcohol per volume, so as the volume changes your fraction's denominator does too (since it is alcohol amount divided by volume of liquid).

So I think you just need to do the math problem of finding similar denominators. Here is an extreme example (not realistic, but the numbers are easy): you ferment a 5 gallon batch, and the points indicate you have made 5%ABV. You then add honey/water until it becomes a 10 gallon batch, and after it ferments the points indicate you have made 10%ABV from that second addition. I believe adding 5+10 to get 15%ABV is inccorect. I think the correct thing to do is determine the equivalent in alcohol of 5 gallons as if it were 10. This would be 2.5% (double the volume=half the concentration). Then you add this 2.5% to 10% to get 12.5%.

This is a nice example with easy numbers--easier to do in theory than in practice. (Hence the questions I listed in the 3 assumptions above)
 
I'd like to try stepped fermentation, but I can't find instructions anywhere. Am I calling it the wrong thing?

SNA Staggered Nutrient Addition

Unless your asking about Step-Feeding to increase ABV in which honey is added at specific points of fermentation. There is a lot of information about this subject and how to calculate ABV when step-feeding on GotMead
 
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