Recent content by HeidrunsGift

Thats what I thought at first glance, however, I dont think that works since the volume is changing. By definition, ABV is the concentration of alcohol per volume, so as the volume changes your fraction's denominator does too (since it is alcohol amount divided by volume of liquid). So I...

Gratis Fermentatio, I checked the link you posted (second post on this thread) but did not see where to calculate ABV when doing step feeding. I suppose its simple if certain assumptions are made. Specifically: 1. You can calculate or guess OG without measuring it (since you havent put all the...

Thanks! I'll experiment with the acids you mentioned!

Thanks for the responses, I will definitley have to try orange peels in my Mead one day! Lostboyscout that is correct though, I am not looking to add anything else that would impart flavors -- only mouth feel (tanins), acidity, or something along those lines that i may not be aware of are out...

Ken Schram and Steve Piatz do an excellent job describing how to balance sweetness/honey, alocohol, and acidity/tanins. Specifically, when a mead is too sweet, you need to add acidity and/or tanins (structure) and the structure also needs to match the alcohol. If its too sweet and not enough...

Regarding the head space issue, I start my 5 gallon batches closer to 6 gallons. The down side is that degassing is tougher with less room in the 6 gallon carboy (watch out for overflows), but the up side is that you can get the majority of the treb/dead yeast out with 2 racks (i usually wait...

I would not add any water, this will decrease ABV and the extra water will decrease flavor intensity. If there is too much head space and you are worried about oxidation, clean and sanitize glass marbles and add them to the carboy until you are OK with the amount of head space left in the...