Session mead q's

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AzOr

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Hello all,
I have a few q's about a session mead aka hydromel.
In my fermentor now is a 3%ish orange blossom mead. My plan is to chemically stabilize, backsweeten and keg. Possibly use my beer gun and bottle a few.

Q1- do I follow the same dosage for stabilizing, even though there is less yeast and "stuff" in the mead?
Q2- should I do a second round of chemical stabilization once I backsweeten with additional honey? :confused:

Thanks for reading!
 
Although I cannot say for SURE, I expect dosing for stabilization would be the same regardless of gravity. There aren't exactly less yeast. If my understanding is correct, the dosage is based on creating a certain PPM of sulfites and sorbate the the yeast cannot operate normally in. Like if a room was filling in the Enterprise with anesthetizing gas, the same concentration would be needed to knock out 1 or 50 intruders. Yes yes, lung capacity, etc etc, but in a very simple calculation.

Why would you do a second round of stabilizing? You mean after backsweetening? I am not sure why you would. Risking some off flavours with over chemical-izing.

How is it at 3%? I've done a mead as low as 5%, it was a bit thin, but I think even a hint of sweetness would have improved it dramatically.
 
Perfect analogy. Strange visual but I got the point.
I can't remember how much honey I put in. It wasn't much, I think less than a lb/gallon. It taste super bland and almost sour. The plan is to backsweeten w maybe another 2 lbs of honey (5gal batch). I may dry hop or add citric acid. I want it to be almost like a soda. I figure it will be a good summer drink.
 
Lol, glad it helped. It was all I could come up with when I thought of 'knocking out'.

2 lbs in 5 gal would get you a FG of 1.013, which would be sweet, but not like.. Cola sweet. I think it would be nice, dry hopped too. Couldn't guess with acid additions.
I make a somewhat similar mead at 1.065ish OG and crash when it's at 1.02-15 or so. It also struggles with the low-ABV-mead problems. Raisins add a little mouthfeel.. I try to rouse the yeast a little when pouring for a little extra flavour and dimension. Along with some carbing it's quite drinkable, but far from beer if that's the comparison.
 
I've made several hydro-melomels, maybe 6 - 7% abv,...bottle carbed and whatever fruit flavor goes a long way with making it really enjoyable....enjoying a white grape pyment, at the moment, my wife's fave so far. Of course, I neglected to write it down....LOL ... Have to wing it again next time
 
A white grape pyment hydromel sounds delicious! Care to share the basics of your recipe? Do you use the canned concentrate from brew shops, or do you use store bought white grape juice?

I'm working on a ob honey w orange zest and ginger.
 
I used (off the top of my head or the back of my mind) for a 5 gallon batch, perhaps 6 lbs honey, 5 or 6 quarts of Santa Cruz brand organic preservative free white grape juice (our local Kroger has a decent organic section), 1116 yeast, yeast nutrient, approx 3 lbs of washed/sanitized (w/StarSan) white grapes at the end of primary, let the grapes ferment out, racked to secondary for a few weeks, and bottle carbed in the conventional manner in 12 oz beer bottles.....I gotta do another batch of this STAT, just have to pick something to bottle, as I need a fermentor - It's a great sitting-on-the-back-deck-on-a-sunny-afternoon mead, won't whoop yer butt and make you go to sleep, yet very tasty :cool: Might "feel" a lil thin as a still mead, but is right nice bottle carbed.
 
bottle carbed in the conventional manner in 12 oz beer bottles.

For me, the "conventional manner" means bottle conditioning with sugar or glucose tabs (I use both), but how long did you wait until cracking one open?

I'll sometimes use a PET bottle or two for judging the carb levels in my glass and I usually wait about two to three weeks before test drinking a sample. I've learned the heavier gravity beers need more time to finish, so it may work the same way for a higher gravity must.
 
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