Backsweetening AND Carbonated?

[Ryue]

Not sure if this has been asked before,

I'm curious about turning one of my recipes into a carbonated version.
Per my recipe, once fermentation is done around 12% (I'm going to try to cut that back to 6-8%), I stabilize and backsweeten with honey.
So how would you go about about this?
If I stabilize, I can't prime.
If I prime, I can't add back more honey without making bottle bombs..
I thought about non-fermentable sugars, but I'm not sure what the options are for non-synthetic sweaters. I'd prefer to keep the man made chemicals to a minimum.

 

[Golddiggie]

Carbonate it in a keg.
Bottle off of keg once to the carbonation level you want.
/thread

 

[Ryue]

Ohh I didn't even think about that. I'll need to buy a keg.. lol

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

If corking, may want to also use cork retainers.

https://www.morebeer.com/products/champagne-wire-retainer-100.html
Please don't ask me how I know... ;-)

 

[cmac62]

I'd get a carbonation cap and a CO2 system of some sort and carb it in a 2 ltr soda bottle. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=carbonat...400767&tag=googhydr-20&ref=pd_sl_5hvdekj6dj_e

 

[cmac62]

You could also look up stove top pasteurization and do it that way also.

 

[Dan O]

You could also look up stove top pasteurization and do it that way also.

I was thinking the same thing

 

[Ryue]

You could also look up stove top pasteurization and do it that way also.

Interesting, simple enough.
But, isn't pasteurization frowned upon? I mean for the whole process we make sure the honey doesn't get past like 90°, wouldn't bring it up to 180 right at the end ruin all that?

 

[Dan O]

Interesting, simple enough.
But, isn't pasteurization frowned upon? I mean for the whole process we make sure the honey doesn't get past like 90°, wouldn't bring it up to 180 right at the end ruin all that?

Pasteurization doesn't have to go that high. 140F for 20 minutes should be sufficient to kill off any remaining active yeast. The more reading I do on pasteurization, the more I see the importance of a control bottle filled with water & an open top. Open top to check for temperature, because all of the other bottles filled with mead will be sealed.
If using a sous vide machine, (immersion circulator), most of them on the market are accurate to ÷/-.1/degree.
Once the control bottle reaches temperature, add 5 minutes to make sure the other bottles will be caught up, then add 20 minutes to the timer.
As far as flavor changing, I don't see the flavor having a chance to change, where the lids will be sealed & the flavor has nowhere to go.
I suppose if I were really worried about the flavor changing that much, I would do 1 or 2 bottles, then after they cool, sample one to see if the flavor has changed. My guess is, you probably won't see a big enough difference to notice.

That said, I haven't needed to pasteurize as of yet, because, I step feed to tolerance, so, no need.

 

[Golddiggie]

IMO, stabilizing, back sweetening and then carbonating in keg would give more stable results than the pasteurization. With how much is typically invested per gallon of finished mead (both in components and time) it would really SUCK to have it come out 'meh' due to this final step.

I also like how when you carbonate in keg you can really 'dial-in' the carbonation level. It's also very easy (these days) to bottle from keg.

 

[Ryue]

Yeah, I think I'll go with the keg, but I may still try pasteurization some time just for fun lol
Curiosity killed the cat lol

 

[Golddiggie]

Yeah, I think I'll go with the keg, but I may still try pasteurization some time just for fun lol
Curiosity killed the cat lol

I'd only sacrifice a small amount for the pasteurization test. That way you're not out much if it doesn't go as you want. Or you get an explosion in what you use.

 

[Dan O]

Curiosity killed the cat lol

Satisfaction brought him back

 

[Ryue]

What is the shelf life of kegged mead? Google (for beer) said 6-8 weeks, but I would think that in a pressurized environment wouldn't be any different than being in a bottle?

 

[cmac62]

What is the shelf life of kegged mead? Google (for beer) said 6-8 weeks, but I would think that in a pressurized environment wouldn't be any different than being in a bottle?

I've had beers last months in the keg, and mead has high ABV, so I would say if it is kept cold it could be close to indefinite.

 

[DuncB]

Back sweeten with a non fermentable like monk fruit sugar is an option.

If using a fermentable and bottling strong bottles ie champagne and get the different bell for your capper and different caps. You will get a sparkling mead though unless you pasteurise or keep everthing very cold. Somewhere recent a thread about the pressure in bottles and pasteurising. The pressures if the beverage is carbonated get quite high.

 

[jerrylotto]

If the sugar is non-fermentable, better to adjust the percentages in the boil BEFORE fermentation to maintain sterility. Oxygen ingress is hard enough to control once you have completed fermentation without complicating the process even more. You have choices - in decreasing order of preference: Xylitol (watch out for fido), Erythritol, Stevia, Spleda, Lactose, or Maltodextrin would work.

 

[cmac62]

^^ I've never tried any of these, but have read on threads about them working

 

[Velnerj]

Whoa... You want carbonation AND backsweetening? In this economy?!

Joking aside, why not just sweeten at serving? Put a little honey in your glass before you pour. Bingo!

 

[Beermeister32]

Honey is virtually completely fermentable, all you will do is produce more alcohol.

If you want to sweeten something with honey, mix it in a glass right before you drink it.

If you want to sweeten something (like cider, and probably anything else) you can add Splenda into the bottling bucket. It is sweet and non-fermentable.

Honey is not the most reliable carbonation sugar, it can produce bottle bombs. Don’t ask how I know that...