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than you have broken a cardinal rule of Joe's. But yes, that should indeed let you push up the alcohol.

Please let us know how that comes out? I suspect it will be very sweet as I have only been able to get the bread yeast up to about 11% (and usually closer to 8%) before they peter out.

Since you are not worried about head I would not worry about sunflower oil on the raisins, but I have no idea why they put sunflower oil on raisins. I don't know those brands of yeast but they should work. Yeast wants to eat sugars. All bread yeast is from the same family. I suspect you...

This one has me baffled. I have made one or two batches of this every year for 8 or 9 years. Always acted like it should. This batch will not clear. It is 6 months old. I took a sample and the bread yeast was a monster. Final gravity 1.010, giving an 11% ABV. I even tried cold crashing...

Sorry for the delay in answering. We have been moving so getting to HBT has been lagging. Anyhow, I use 33 points per lb. Might be a little more, might be a little less but it is a good approximation. Then the formula lb = (desired volume X desired SG in points)/33 Example for a 5 gal...

Anything that would not leave way too much sugar will dissolve. If I am making a batch of any mead I weigh the honey for the desired SG and add to my pot. I then add warm water to the desired gal amount and start stirring. Once the honey is off the bottom I may add heat to help it dissolve...

An SG of 0.998 is low for JAOM. Once of the characteristics of JAOM is the residual sugars. So there are other things other than not clearing going on with this batch. Anyhow, if it was degassing you probably have some CO2 in the head space but that will eventually dissipate. Mead is more...

they should age OK. I don't think the bit of 02 is essential for mead as it is a heavy red wine. I cork my mead but for bottles I plan to give away I also do a wax (actually hot glue gun glue, comes off much easier than way) seal. I have never been able to tell a difference between those...

I would also let it sit for a month in the carboy if you can get rid of air. That will give it a month to prove it has not re-started fermentation. I will say, if it does restart, the carbonated bottles you catch in time, before the corks blow, are a real treat, very good.

If you are going to back sweeten you will need to do something to knock down the yeast or it will start refermenting. What I have done before and didn't have problems until last year was to let it sit for several months (3 to 6) so most of the yeast had fallen out. I then add campden tables...

Two questions, how are you bottling? crown caps or wine bottles? And did the mead ferment totally dry? Last year I had a problem with mead which had been in bulk aging for over 6 months starting to re-ferment. The fermentation had stuck with about a 1.020 FG and I assumed after 6 months it...

The raisins are for nutrients more than anything. You could probably use grapes for the same result. Another option for yeast nutrient is to take a couple of teaspoons of yeast and boil it to kill it and break it down. The resulting broken down yeast cells provide nutrients for the live ones...

You can always pour it onto some muddled mint and ice at drinking time

Assuming it fermented so there is over 5% alcohol there are no pathogens that will be present. So then it is all based on flavor.

you definitely need an airlock to let off CO2 or you will have a small explosion when the container burst. If an airlock is not available a rubber glove or condom with a small hole stretched over the container filler will let gas escape and be fairly good at keeping out the unwanted stuff

Tell us more. Has the flavor changed? Better? Worse? Fading?

As reported above it is hard to get the honey to really mix. The yeast will eat it regardless. So I just use a calculated OG. I don't really care if the final alcohol level is 13 or 12 or 12.5 so an accurate OG is not necessary. I am finding more and more situations where I have to ask, is...

Cold crash it and the fruit will fall.

check the stopper. I just bought a couple of those last month as I ended up with more cider than carboys. Had the same worries with no bubbles but figured both can't have bad yeast. Anyhow, the stoppers looked tight, but twisting them as I pushed down put them in a bit more and I started...

1.085 actually might be a little low. Depending on the honey you should get 32 to 34 points per lb of honey. So three lb per gallon would give about 1.096. I have found it is very hard to get a good gravity reading for mead. Unless the mixture is hot the honey does not totally mix and will...