1st mead

[avm221]

ok i made my first meed

1.3 lbs Mixed honey
1.47lbs Blackberry honey
1 gal Filtered water
1/4tsp Yeast nutrient
1pack Lalvin yeast
1.7 lbs Mixed berries (in secondary) frozen
1tsp Sorbistat (use when fermentation is done)
1.6 lbs Strawberries frozen

date made:1-18-14
OG: 1.060
Secondary gravity reading 2/1: 1.024 (4.7 ABV)
2/15 1.010 (6.6 ABV)
im expecting a final ABV around 9%

so as aposed to topping off to 1 gal i added one gal of water so my ABV is a little lower then expected so i have closer to 1.5 gal with the extra juice that came out of the fruit too. so here are my questions
1) should i add 1-2lbs of honey to up the ABV and flavor? or just let finish out this way
2) once it is in secondary fermentation how long should i let it sit? i have heard a few months?
3) if adding more honey should i add more yeast?
4) any suggestions or any other ideas?

i tried it at 6.6abv and it was good lots of fruit came through which is what i wanted

 

[ivyscout]

Let me qualify this by saying that I'm a total noob also working on my first mead. That being said, I wouldn't try adding more honey. In think it would bee better to take a scientific approach and keep this batch as-is and consider making ingredient changes in your next batch. That's the beauty of making small batches, plenty of room to experiment with recipes and process. And let me know how it turns out. My wife is interested in me trying a low gravity melomel as a future batch.

 

[IJesusChrist]

At the one-month mark, if its at 1.01 this is a really slow fermentation, eh?

If it is still a steady bubble - more than once every 30 seconds you may want to add 1/2 tsp of nutrient again.

Don't add any more yeast - the yeast is there.

You may want to check the pH. It is likely you've reached a very low pH and thus stalled the yeast.

My recommendation is to add some sodium bicarb, after checking the pH if you can. With a 1.5 gallon you should be safe with 1tsp. I would go more, but people seem to be wary of using a lot of bicarb. In addition, some nutrient, 1/2 tsp or less. You want a pH anywhere from 3-4 (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Higher pH can cause some flavors to be lost that you'd like to keep.

(or potassium bicarb? I don't know the difference in fermentation, I'm just a chemist damnit!)

 

[avm221]

Once the yeast is done at 1.01 Should I let it sit and and age for a few months in secondary? I need to get a way to check Ph, I have been brewing beer and I have never needed to do that.

Once the yeast is fone should it sit to go right to bottles?

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[IJesusChrist]

Once the yeast is done if you want to bottle it right away you need something to stop fermentation, especially if you're going to back-sweeten.

K-meta for potassium bisulfite is what is needed.

 

[avm221]

I got some potassium bisulfite so I can back sweeten. I just want to wait for it to clear out better

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[Arpolis]

Personaly I say do not worry about PH or nutrient additions. A gravity of 1.010 is not bad. And if you like it already then that is a plus. Just let this sit and clear. Once you have plenty sediment formed at the bottom then rack into a new container. Then rack every 30 days till no sediment drops. If it stays at 1.01 then great. That means you should not have to back sweeten.

It may be a stuck ferment but that is only an issue if you get the gravity stuck at like 1.030 or higher where it is too sweet to stand. Next time up your yeast nutrients to a minimum 1 tsp and split it over 3 additions. I like adding the nutrient once a day for the first 3 days. Some others like to have the nutrients added later in the ferment process so it would be more like day 1, 4 and 7 depending on the yeast you use. Look around at staggered nutrient additions and that will help in the future.

 

[avm221]

I did stagger my nutriant additions. Im thinking it might have hot a little to cold, but its starting to clear out, so I should rack it, then do that every 30days for 3-4 months?

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[Arpolis]

Yup! Or at least until it no longer drops sediment.