Backsweetening questions

[mummasan]

I have five gallons of mead that went from 1090 to 995. The mead tastes good but way too dry, so I want to backsweeten it.

1. How much potassium sorbate should I add?

2. I couldn't find sulfite, but my LHBS has potassium meta bisulfite - is that the same as sulfite?

3. How much honey should I add to get my mead to 1010 or 1015?

4. What is the process? Do I put the sorbate and sulfite in before the honey? If so how long should I wait to add the honey?

This is my first mead, that's why I have so many questions.

 

[Golddiggie]

How old is the mead?
Which yeast did you use?

Look at this thread and this one for some guidance... I will say that many people find that they are better off aging the mead for several months BEFORE they go to back sweeten it. If you back sweeten to taste now, 8-12 months later it will be far too sweet.

Personally, I plan my meads so that I won't need to back sweeten them. I make the OG high enough that I'll have at least SOME sweetness left when the yeast is done. Even though that means my mead will be in the 14-18% ABV range.

I'm actually planning a batch that will use Eau De Vie yeast (which goes up to 21%) and plan to NOT let it finish dry... I'll probably add more honey in steps, so that I don't stress the yeast too much at the start.

 

[fatbloke]

I have five gallons of mead that went from 1090 to 995. The mead tastes good but way too dry, so I want to backsweeten it.

1. How much potassium sorbate should I add?

Instructions are usually quoted on the pack at X amount per gallon

2. I couldn't find sulfite, but my LHBS has potassium meta bisulfite - is that the same as sulfite?

Yes. I depends where you are, because over here the LHBS tend to stock Sodium metabisulphite, whereas in the US the common substance is the Potassium metabisulphite (also seems that it's the sulphite of choice for commercial winemakers as well, but it's more expensive here....)

3. How much honey should I add to get my mead to 1010 or 1015?

Added to taste, or to a specific gravity. I'd mix it 50/50 with water, then start with about 1/2 lb - take a gravity reading, and then a little taste. That way you know roughly what the level of sweetness you like is likely to be - and don't panic if the mead gets another haze when you've back sweetened as that can be removed either with more ageing or with finings.

4. What is the process? Do I put the sorbate and sulfite in before the honey? If so how long should I wait to add the honey?

This is my first mead, that's why I have so many questions.

That's exactly how it's done. The idea being to prevent any yeast cells still present from starting to re-ferment any additional sugars that are added (which is rather dependant on what yeast was originally used of course). So you'd add the sulphite and sorbate, make sure that it's stirred in nice and gently so as not to add much, in any, in the way of oxygen/air. Then you can either start adding the honey to back sweeten.

If you're intending to try and carbonate a batch, then you'd need to bottle prime i.e. add some priming sugar or honey directly into the bottle, but you'd have to make sure that you use champagne/sparkling wine bottles, stoppers and wire cages, to prevent making "bottle bombs".....

Hope that helps some....

regards

fatbloke

 

[mummasan]

Thanks for the input. I made this mead the first week of Jan, and it was done fermenting several weeks ago. I'm not concerned with aging it at all. The links to the other threads had some good info.

I think I'll add the sulfite and sorbate together, stir, then add the additional honey 24 hours later. This mead is in a corney and I plan to carb it with co2. Everything is better with bubbles!

 

[tweake]

add the sulfite first, give it a little while to work before adding the sorbate. give it at least 15min to 1hr. you need to kill any bacteria first otherwise some can eat the sorbate which throws some bad flavors.
after adding the honey you need to let it sit a few days minimum. as long as you can before bottling. this is to ensure that the yeast hasn't started back up.

also try to clear the mead as much as possible. ie rack off the mead off the yeast. the less yeast you have left over the more likely the stabilizing will work.

 

[GinKings]

I have five gallons of mead that went from 1090 to 995. The mead tastes good but way too dry, so I want to backsweeten it.

2. I couldn't find sulfite, but my LHBS has potassium meta bisulfite - is that the same as sulfite?

3. How much honey should I add to get my mead to 1010 or 1015?

Sulfite is commonly used to abbreviate potassium metabisulfite. It's easier to type and to spell. Sometimes you'll also see it referred to as K-meta, since K is the chemical symbol for potassium. Camden tablets are also made from potassium metabisulfite. I would not use sodium metabisulfite for much other than cleaning and sanitizing.

Honey has about 36 points of gravity per pound. Adding a pound of honey to a five gallon batch will raise the gravity about 7 points (36 / 5 = 7.2). Adding two pounds will raise it about 14 points, so a 0.995 mead would become 1.009. Does that make sense?

 

[mummasan]

Thanks for the great info - I don't have all the mead making terminology memorized yet!

Here is my plan - Add the sulfite first, wait a bit, then add the sorbate. Wait a day then add the honey to get my desired sweetness (will use 1/2 lb increments). Let it sit a few weeks, rack to a clean keg and carb it.

 

[mccann51]

I will say that many people find that they are better off aging the mead for several months BEFORE they go to back sweeten it. If you back sweeten to taste now, 8-12 months later it will be far too sweet.

I agree with Golddiggie completely. I would strongly suggest you wait a few months before you decide for certain you want to backsweeten. I have had a few meads that I was sure were too dry and an unfortunate waste of honey and effort. Given just a month's time, they all got A LOT better as the alcohol taste mellowed out.

It's amazing how much sweetness comes through once the mead has aged a bit.


...haha, I just noticed the second link is my thread; please note my final post.

 

[Golddiggie]

Hey mccann... I do try to point people over to GM? for info, when possible... Especially about things like this... Far better, I feel, to look on the site that focuses more on mead for mead info... Granted, there are enough people on both sites to usually get the info posted eventually...

 

[mummasan]

My mead does not have a hot alcohol taste, in fact it tastes kinda ok...it is just very, very dry. I tested the gravity about three or four weeks in and it was at 1010 - it had a very young taste to it, but the sweetness was right on. I don't think my mead needs to age at all.

 

[Golddiggie]

My mead does not have a hot alcohol taste, in fact it tastes kinda ok...it is just very, very dry. I tested the gravity about three or four weeks in and it was at 1010 - it had a very young taste to it, but the sweetness was right on. I don't think my mead needs to age at all.

I have yet to see any mead that didn't benefit from aging... It might not taste hot, but as you already said, it tastes 'young'... Give it 3-6 months and try it again.

Even a low OG mead needs some time to become good, and more time to become great.

Back sweetening young mead can actually be a negative. Especially since, very often, the mead will improve with age, becoming sweeter to the pallet... So what seems good now, after back sweetening, could be too sweet in 6-12 months.

I have a melomel that's was a bit tart last time I tried it. That was 1-2 months ago. I plan on trying it again in another week, or so (once I'm over this cold)... More to see how it's progressing than anything else. At the last SG reading, it sat at 1.002 so pretty dry. I'll let it bulk age as long as possible before bottling it. Hopefully, that will be at least 9 months from when it was made, if not a full year (or longer)...