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Thanks for the advice. There's about 10 months between when I'd start this and the wedding. I'm shooting for high ABV above quick drinking.

Mead friends, My best friend is getting married in a year and has asked me to provide mead for the reception. I have plenty of melomel and cider lying around, but I thought I'd create something special for the occasion. After hunting around I've found some tupelo honey and am looking to use...

24 pounds of honey seems... too big. If you're going for 5.5 gallons of finished product, and 2 gallons of that is honey (honey is approx. 12 lb/gal)... Do you mean you're adding it to 5.5 gallons of water? Even then, I calculate that you're going to have sugar left over. That's 4.36 pounds...

For your higher ABV, it's best not to front-load with more honey. The yeast can only tolerate so much solute, whether it's sugar or alcohol. Your best bet is to use a yeast that can tolerate ~18%, like EC-1118 or KV-1116, and gradually add more honey as the fermentation continues. Think of...

I think it was either in the Schramm book, in a newer book, or on here. I'll take a look later on and get back. Either way, as you said, don't know if it'll be a problem as long as you're not adding nutrients after all the sugar is gone!

Generally, if you need a certain volume of nutrient per gallon, you can stagger it in fourths. Start with 1/4 mixed in the must. Stir and add 1/4 after 24 hours, 48 hours, and when the mead is at it's 1/3 sugar break (has 1/3 of the gravity left, so when it hits 1.04 in your case). Adding it...

I can't find fresh elderberries anywhere, but Vintner's Harvest has cans of puree if you're into that.

Outstanding, congrats so far. Something I've found, though the article doesn't mention it, is adding more fruit to secondary. It depends on what you're going for; having berries in the primary adds a fruit-wine taste, and in secondary (after fermentation has mostly finished) really adds more...

What temperature did you ferment at? Some yeasts have a reputation of making jet fuel at above desired temperatures. Wait a few months, crack one open, repeat... it'll get there.

I've used wildflower in most of my melomels and cysers and it's come out fine. Maybe just a matter of taste or a regional thing; mine's from southeast PA. A bit of orange or lemon zest could work nicely. I think I saw a recipe a while ago for a blackberry cyser with lemon... I haven't...

Nonsense, don't worry about it. As said, SG is a measure of density; alcohol is less dense than water. All that .990 (I've heard tell of getting down to .980) means is that your mead has fermented dry. Add more sugar or honey if you want to increase the ABV- if the yeast can take it and keep...

Yup, like others mentioned, champagne yeast can often reduce the aromatic/honey notes in the mead. Also, mead doesn't always taste like honey! Wine isn't grape juice, and beer isn't just grain soda! However, adding some honey to sweeten it up again can really bring it back noticeably. A...

Hi, welcome to the forums. A) I've always used a fermenting bucket for my primaries. The way I see it, a carboy can hold five gallons... might as well try to get five gallons of drinkable liquid in there! So, when I've made melomel, etc., it helps to have a bucket that can hold 6.5-7...

I'd agree about the high OG, though I've been able to start some around that range. Honestly I think the problem may be the agave- I have not tried it personally, but I've been told that for whatever reason it's very difficult to ferment. Try adding some water- if that doesn't work, you could...

Interesting. Do you cook the cranberries, or just put them in raw?

Anything up to five gallons, just the one packet should be fine. Unless your SG is really high to start, like 1.15, but that shouldn't be a cider issue.

If you want a noticable spice, without being overpowering, I'd recommend about 1/4 of a whole nutmeg/gallon, and about 2-3 berries, cracked but not ground.

Best thing you can do is to take a gravity reading a few days in a row. Seems like it would just be degassing by now. Or, just try racking to secondary and running the cider down the side of the carboy to release CO2. It can also take a long time to clear without adding clearing agents, just...

Here's the link to the ongoing discussion. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f30/brays-one-month-mead-429241/index25.html

I've never been one for subtlty in flavor (my cooking has been called "a full frontal assault on the senses" so I'd say go for it. The most critical thing here is what you're adding from the orange. You want to use a zester, grater, vegetable peeler, etc., and carefully zest the orange so as...