Questions on my first mead

3 weeks ago I put together a pyment using the northern brewer kit and some locally sourced honey. The original gravity was 1.113. Yesterday I racked it to the secondary and the gravity was 1.018. It tasted really good. Upon reading the instructions linked above, I noticed that you might want to use finning or some potassium sorbate. Today I noticed that it has started fermenting again and I am wondering if I let it go is it going to get really dry? I would like to preserve some of the sweetness as it ages. Should I use some potassium sorbate to stop the fermentation close to 1.010 and let it finish aging? ...or will this yeast (lavlin 71B-1122) stop before it gets too dry? I do have a seperate gallon in another container since it would not all fit in my secondary. Maybe I could let it go and then mix it in with the other when I bottle. Any suggestions?

With grape juice in the mix, it is possible that the pyment will go dry with 71B even though it usually poops out at about 14% ABV. My guess is that it will probably stop before it goes dry, and if you want it sweeter, you can add a bit more honey at that time.

Thanks for the info. I'll let it go and see how it does.

Heller,

A suggestion, if I may... After ferment is complete, if it's too dry you can add a cup of honey and mix it in well, then give it a taste. Add just a little at a time so it doesn't become too sweet--which can happen very quickly! Deceptively quick! Not sweet enough, not sweet enough, to way too damn sweet! in the blink of an eye.

For future batches you put together, you'll be doing yourself a huge favor by following the SNA protocol listed in the sticky's here. Using staggered nutrient additions has taken my total ferment time from several months to less than 1 month. Often 2-3 weeks from start to finish. This allows me to have a full 5-6 gallon batch completely fermented and fined to a crystal clear condition within a couple months.

The mead still has to age after this, but instead of taking the better part of a year to let it work off and clear, then age for several more months, I can have a good drinkable mead in 8-9 months.

If I were you, I would not stop the fermentation. My thought is it should be allowed to work off completely, then as mentioned, backsweeten it if you want to.

Good luck in all you brew!!!

Thanks for the advice. I did use 3 seperate nutrient additions, but I will take a look at the SNA protocol.

I bottled my pyment this weekend. Came out at about 13% by volume, about 1.015 FG. It tastes really good. It is still pretty sweet with a touch of dryness to it. The oak gives it a smell you wouldn't expect but I couldn't pick out the flavor. I have a few bottles that were fermented without oak because I had a little more than would fit in my secondary so I fermented it in a growler. Only think I would do different is maybe add some insinglass or something similar to try to clear it up. Next batch of honey I get I may try my hand at a braggot. Not sure if that would be better sweet or dry.

hellerbrewing said:

I bottled my pyment this weekend. The oak gives it a smell you wouldn't expect but I couldn't pick out the flavor.

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Was it vanilla, or vanilla-like? Perhaps it was simply that it was a pyment, and not the oak (although oak can lend vanilla-like flavors/aromas). My muscadine pyment has a very strong vanilla nose, even though no vanilla was used (and no oak either, although I've considered that for future batches...)

Didn't really hit me as a vanilla scent. I think my initial thought, for only a second, was that the batch was bad. After taking a few more whifs and tasting it, I decided it was not the case. After I cleaned out the carboy and was picking the oak cubes out of the sink, I noticed the smell was much stronger coming directly from the cubes. I wouldn't say it is bad smell, nor is it that strong. I would also not say that it an overly pleasant smell like vanilla. I just remember noticing it when I was getting a small sample to taste during bottling. I'll have to investigate further when I open the first bottle.