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I have yet to start my own mead, but I have also been reading Making Wild Wines & Meads and Ken Schramm's Compleat Meadmaker book, and the two of them don't see eye to eye when it comes to acid additions. At the bottom of page 56, Schramm says in a section on pH, "While many mead recipes call...

Kind of funny that when you drink a glass of wine that you don't stop and say, "It doesn't taste like grapes." Yet we expect fruit wines and ciders to taste like their source. That said, the one blackberry wine I've had was fermented dry, and the owner said drink it like a Merlot, which he was...

What exactly is graf?

First time I observed my husband aerating beer, I thought it wasn't smart - air is the enemy, you know. Since then, I've found out it is good for mead, too, but the cider makers I talk to don't do it. Then again, a lot of cider makers don't pitch yeast and instead rely on what is naturally on...

I just bottled my cinnamon cranberry apple cider, and I'm a little worried about the taste as it seems off. Some British cider makers have indicated that it could be the cinnamon, while one mead maker said she brews with it and lets it age awhile and has no problems. See...

I would leave it in the secondary for 2 weeks or so if it is indoors. Don't rush it. They will also do better with age, like wine. As far a sweet ciders go, take a look at this for some help: http://www.cider.org.uk/part4.htm. FYI - real ciders never contain extra sugar, just juice.

Even if you had completely dry cider, as long as you didn't add chemicals to it, it would start fermenting again with any new sugars. Secondly, I probably wouldn't have added sugar - real ciders have no added sugar. What you could have done is added more juice, which would have started...

True cider doesn't have sugar added, so your yeast should start brewing regardless of when the sugar was added.

Pincy is right - they let cider freeze and then thaw and it will start fermenting again in the spring. Also, let it ferment longer - at least a month. You can try chemically stopping the ferment, or back sweeten with juice, which will be milder in sugar, sort of. Sorry, I haven't exactly figured...

FYI... the British make something called a slider, which is cider made with the discarded sloe berries, which are like a plum, that they had soaking in gin to make sloe gin.

Well, 1.080 is a bit high for a cider (1.040ish-1.040ish), so I'm going to say you went for an apple cinnamon wine at 11%. As long as the pH was 3.2-3.8, it has the potential of being good, but you would have to report back to us to let us know. See...

Splenda works to sweeten, it won't cause it to start fermenting again, and it is cheaper than lactose.

You shouldn't have had to repitch unless it absolutely doesn't start after a week. Cider makers will sometimes let it ferment outside, which is a really really slow way to ferment. Cider will get a tad bit of foam, not at all like how beer gets, so don't worry. Be patient. The other question...

Good idea with the preservatives, but he did mention that he wanted to prime the batch, and that would prevent it. Hopefully, sitting on the lees that long didn't mess it up. It might have off flavors, but I wouldn't toss it.

Take a look at my blog for a little bit of clarification. http://bycandlelightwinery.blogspot.com/2009/12/differences-between-wine-beer-and-cider.html

Yes, your recipe will work, except that it isn't cider, it is a wine. Ciders do not have any added sugar, so therefore, your worries about not having enough sugar are for nothing. Now, if you wanted a good apple wine, then yeah, I would have added about two pounds of sugar per gallon, but don't...