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Actually, if you don't have too many and want to maximize the aroma out of them, adding to the secondary is fine. You just don't necessarily want to leave the whole berries in there for extended periods. For adding the the secondary, I'd probably juice them and just add the juice.

First, make sure you are only using ripe fruit. Elderberries that are not ripe contain Sambunigrin and other cyanide-like toxins that can poison you. Steam juicing, which happens to break down many of these toxins can be a good option. Steaming also breaks down the green goo (I call it...

I think I'd check that gravity to make sure it hasn't restarted. If I had a dollar for every time I saw a "stabilized" batch start again, I'd be able to afford Europe.

Mead gremlins shaking your fermenter while you're out? :) Without know the recipe details, gravity numbers and such, it is hard to say for certain. Are you sure the fermentation is complete? Whenever I've had refermentation start, it begins by getting cloudy.

Here's my suggestion - Start with a good, fresh, light colored honey that is known to make good meads. I wouldn't suggest a dark wildflower for a first batch. Up where you are, sourwood honey would be great. Orange blossom, tupelo, fresh clover, or something similar would also work well. The...

Any particular reason you don't use potassium bicarbonate? It is readily available and serves the same purpose in mead crafting.

It should. The starting gravity is only 1.060 so the ABV will be about 9% and most Belgian ale yeast should be able to accomplish that without too much trouble.

It should finish dry with a gravity slightly below 1.000 before you add priming sugars (if you plan to carbonate it).

I find cysers usually take at least a 2-3 months to clear, sometimes longer. Sticking them in an ice-cold fridge can speed it up a bit. Once bottled, they can carbonate quickly, but the apple/honey aroma and flavor usually won't be at their peak for several months.

Nottingham will take you to 12+% pretty easily. Backsweetening is pretty easy, and you can get the sweetness just right.

So you want to have the sediment stirred up in your bottles?? Are you wanting clear mead with no sediment?

You can always use the same amount of juice in a smaller batch of mead it you want more of the grape character. As for the term "pyment", there is no strict requirement on amounts, and you are adding grapes, but the decision on what to call it is yours to make. And just to be technical, the...

I think keeping it on the skins to take more color and flavor sounds like a pretty good plan. What kind of a mead is it that you are going to use to make this pyment?

It would be surprising if D47 took it from 1.150 to 1.020. My guess is it won't go a lot lower than 1.040.

I often just use two additions - one at the end of lag and the other around the 1/3 fermentation point. I will use 1/2 or sometime 2/3 of the nutrient for the addition at the end of lag phase. If you are going to separate it into 3 or more steps, it may be a good idea to match it somewhat to the...

Agar can be used and does work as a fining agent. It is not commonly used these days. A much more commonly used agent these days in Bentonite which is an inorganic clay. Medsen

It is not an absolute requirement to add nutrients in stages, however, the experience most of us have had is that staggering the nutrients in addition to other good management practices seems to help producing cleaner, better meads. Using raisins is, in some fashion, a staggered nutrient as the...

Lightstrike causes sulfur odors in wines (and presumably meads) so you can get something that smells "skunky" if it is in a clear bottle and exposed to UV light.

The starting point is almost irrelevant. Yeast can function well over a huge pH range. With a traditional mead it is common to see the pH of the must start anywhere between 4.0 and 6.0 but within 24-48, the pH can drop dramatically, sometime even below 3.0 so the important point is not where it...

Not really because the buffering capacity of each batch is different. However, for a 5-gallon batch, I usually will start with 5 grams and go up by 1 gram at a time until I get the level I want. I try really hard not to overshoot.