Stopping fermentation early

[yakoujin89]

I have a batch of mead which I want to purposely stop before it gets too dry. If I move it off the yeast cake and into the keg early, will that do the trick?

 

[fatbloke]

I have a batch of mead which I want to purposely stop before it gets too dry. If I move it off the yeast cake and into the keg early, will that do the trick?

No.

Cold crash for a week then rack onto stabilising chems while still cold.

or

let it go dry and then stabilise and back sweeten........

stopping an active ferment isn't easy.......

 

[huesmann]

Another option: pasteurize?

 

[fatbloke]

Another option: pasteurize?

Seen that mentioned often........

Wouldn't have though it'd be a suitable method for meads, wines etc........

Sure I know some beer is done like that, but I think its done post-bottling and all pre-bottling stuff is done in a clean environment and the yeast is already cleared out.

Try that with yeast in an active ferment might screw the pooch completely......

But if you have a practical way of doing that, then thats great.

Personally I don't heat any of my wines, meads etc......

 

[yakoujin89]

Thanks guys, hmm. How do most people get their meads to stop fermenting at 1.025 or something? Mine last time went down to 1.002-ish and while it was ok, it wasn't as I expected, I'd like a sweet one but I can't figure out how to do it :/


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[fatbloke]

Thanks guys, hmm. How do most people get their meads to stop fermenting at 1.025 or something? Mine last time went down to 1.002-ish and while it was ok, it wasn't as I expected, I'd like a sweet one but I can't figure out how to do it :/


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They don't. Honey can be strange stuff in many ways, but its almost 100% fermentable so there is no point in trying to use beer methods where you will get unfermentable residual sugars which can often be calculated.

Its much easier to let it finish on its own and then stabilise and adjust sugars by back sweetening.

Dry meads are a doddle, but as many wine yeasts are quite tolerant, trying to produce an exact number is fraught with difficulties........

 

[kaconga]

You can try Joes ancient orange mead. It typically stops at semi sweet to sweet depending on how robust the yeast is.

 

[ColeVet67]

+ 1 on fatbloke's.. everything i have read.. "cant stop an active ferment."
best just to let it run dry, then backsweeten/dilute

 

[noblesquirrel]

It can be done, but you need to start with a yeast that has lower alcohol tolerance, then cold crash, then stabilize. It works best if you force carb as well as that adds additional pressure on the yeast to stop. It's not easy.

The other side of the coin is to just start with a high gravity and pair the yeast. That is the more "controllable" way to do it, but you end up using more honey and get higher alcohol. Just a thought.