Hey all
Apologies in advance for uninformed questions. I've been brewing beer for a little while and have a few simple meads/cysers under my belt but I'd like to get more into it.
Last weekend I went to the local farmer's market and got 5 pounds of unpasteurized, very lightly (or un-) processed stuff. When I took it home and got a good look I was shocked by how dark and full-o-particles it is. Very flavorful. I'd like to highlight the honey but my girlfriend would like a fruit one, preferably peach. I don't know enough about mead to tell if mixing this very flavorful, almost spicy, honey with peaches would be something I want to do. Any thoughts?
Also, I've been taking my meads down dry. I like drier stuff but I'm 6 months into this mead thing and don't yet have one drinkable. Which is fine, but this time I'd like to make it semi-sweet...at this point I'm doing 1 gallon batches--any way to come to semi-sweet without having to buy a whole smack pack or vial? (aside from backsweetening, which I'm also considering). On the topic, how do these semi-sweet yeasts work? Do they leave it semi-sweet because of low alcohol tolerance or poor attenuation? In other words do I have to jack the OG up beyond a certain level for them to finish in range?
Thanks for paying attention this long, and I'd appreciate any help you could give a noob. Cheers
Apologies in advance for uninformed questions. I've been brewing beer for a little while and have a few simple meads/cysers under my belt but I'd like to get more into it.
Last weekend I went to the local farmer's market and got 5 pounds of unpasteurized, very lightly (or un-) processed stuff. When I took it home and got a good look I was shocked by how dark and full-o-particles it is. Very flavorful. I'd like to highlight the honey but my girlfriend would like a fruit one, preferably peach. I don't know enough about mead to tell if mixing this very flavorful, almost spicy, honey with peaches would be something I want to do. Any thoughts?
Also, I've been taking my meads down dry. I like drier stuff but I'm 6 months into this mead thing and don't yet have one drinkable. Which is fine, but this time I'd like to make it semi-sweet...at this point I'm doing 1 gallon batches--any way to come to semi-sweet without having to buy a whole smack pack or vial? (aside from backsweetening, which I'm also considering). On the topic, how do these semi-sweet yeasts work? Do they leave it semi-sweet because of low alcohol tolerance or poor attenuation? In other words do I have to jack the OG up beyond a certain level for them to finish in range?
Thanks for paying attention this long, and I'd appreciate any help you could give a noob. Cheers