Braggot issue / question

[cwfoster]

I brew mead, not beer. Never brewed beer in fact. But I made a braggot a little heavy on the sugar side and have some questions.

So 5gal batch. 7lb ll malt extract. 15lb orange blossom honey (ya, seriously). 1.5oz northern brewer hops, 1lb crystal malt steeped.
Started January 10th (plus or minus a few days).
SG 1.138 (yes, one point one three eight)
Use champagne yeast as a starter. Got it to 1.042 after 2 weeks.
Dropped in Nottingham Ale Yeast at that point.
Left for a good long time. Had a gravity of 1.034 as of 3/18 and same today 3/30). Use a cinnamon stick for flavor over the past couple weeks as well.

So the ABV on this bad boy is already pretty high but fermentation has stopped. It tastes pretty darn good actually. But should I kick start this again because the sugar is still so high? If not, fermentation has stopped... How do I carbonate? Priming bottles yadda yadda... But it needs active yeast.

Thoughts on where I take this?

 

[Arpolis]

Your at about 14% ABV as is. You may just leave this still if it tastes good. Why carbonate if it is good still because trying to re-start fermentation can be difficult.

If you really want to restart fermentation to get some carbonation or a little lower gravity the do a stepped starter.

Pick up yeast Lalvin ec-1118

Start yeast in 2 cups water and 1/4 tsp of yeast nutrient/energizer and 2 tsp of sugar or DME.

After two hours add 1/4 cup of must from your braggot. Wait two hours and then add another 1/4 cup of must. Repeat this process until you hit 4 cups total volume. Then pitch that into the braggot with an additional 2.5 tsp yeast nutrients.

Watch the gravity daily. When it is just over where you want then bottle. Check carbonation level daily by cracking the lid. Once it is at your preferred carbonation level you will need to heat pasteurize. Or if you are ok with this being more dry then wait till the gravity gets to about 1.004 and then bottle. It should finish out slightly carbonated after bottling.

 

[cwfoster]

Great. I'll hit it this weekend. Got ec-1118 in stock and large enough carboy to step up fermentation process.
Heat pasteurize is new to me. Only ever made meads and never had a need to heat pasteurize anything. Assumed I would repitch, get FG down a bit. Wait til I see almost level movement .001 in a week) and bottle without priming. Safe or bombs?

The help is much appreciated

 

[Arpolis]

Running it nearly dry to about 1.002 - 1.004 in this case should be fine without bottle bombs. That yeast will be hitting its alcohol tolerance shortly after that and should not give you bottle bombs. That just takes the sweetness out and may require a little more aging unless you end up liking the taste.

For heat pasteurization there is a great how to guide in the cider forum of this site. It is a sticky at the top so it is easy to find. If you ever want to go that route then check that out.

 

[bernardsmith]

Your at about 14% ABV as is. You may just leave this still if it tastes good. Why carbonate if it is good still because trying to re-start fermentation can be difficult.

...

Pick up yeast Lalvin ec-1118

I guess I am a little skeptical. I see that you are adding the 14 % ABV mead to the starter but I am not convinced that normal yeasts will comfortably begin their work when the alcohol level is so high... You may need to use a yeast that is formulated to begin working in high alcohol environments... That is the kind of yeast that you would add to prime champagne or sparkling wine...

 

[cwfoster]

I did start the process again with EC1118. To be honest I didnt take as much time stepping up the starter as I should have so the yeast is struggling, but I have fermentation albeit slow. Im going to test gravity in a few days and see how it has moved and figure it out from there. I have some champagn yeast to kick it again if need be. Need to get that sugar down.