Best Way to Add Honey After Fermentation Starts?

[Ryue]

Hey y'all, I have a batch of an Elderberry Mead -first batch ever- fermenting right now: SG was 1.131, reading I took yesterday (8 days after pitching) was 1.000 on the dot. Tasted it and it is quite a bit dryer than I expected and I want to add more honey, but don't want to mess it up... I know that ny adding honey until the yeast dies out will end up with a high ABV and thats fine, so how would you suggest adding the honey? Dump it straight in, disolve in water then add the honey/water mixture, something else entirely?
Also, should I rack it off the lees before adding more honey?
P.S. it's a 1 gallon batch, if that makes any difference.
Thanks in advance!
Skål!

 

[processhead]

With wine, I believe you want to kill the yeast before back sweetening. I would think mead would need the same treatment or else you might kick off some additional fermentation.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi Ryue - and welcome. A starting gravity of 1.131 has a potential ABV of about 17% and if the gravity is sitting at 1.000 it would seem that you have hit that target already. Adding more honey might raise the ABV another percentage or two depending on the yeast strain you used (not many can deal with 18%) but a 17%ABV mead sounds more like rocket fuel than any wine you would want to sit and enjoy. Does the depth of flavor and mouthfeel really support such a muscle drink?

 

[Ryue]

Hi Ryue - and welcome. A starting gravity of 1.131 has a potential ABV of about 17% and if the gravity is sitting at 1.000 it would seem that you have hit that target already. Adding more honey might raise the ABV another percentage or two depending on the yeast strain you used (not many can deal with 18%) but a 17%ABV mead sounds more like rocket fuel than any wine you would want to sit and enjoy. Does the depth of flavor and mouthfeel really support such a muscle drink?

Thanks, Bernardsmith. I used a Champaign yeast on the recommendation of the local supply shop guy (only one shop within an hour of where I live) but am not sure of the exact strain.
I am not too concerned with a high abv%, I have had a few meads (Viking Blod, for example) that sit at 19% and are quite enjoyable. Surprisingly, even only 8 days into fermentatiin amd sitting around 17%, it was immensely smoother than I expected, and after stirring in a small spoon full of honey into 2 fingers in a rocks glass, it was quite enjoyable.
I have another batch going that should be a much lower ABV, I will post it once it gets a bit farther in.

 

[biochemedic]

I am not too concerned with a high abv%, I have had a few meads (Viking Blod, for example) that sit at 19% and are quite enjoyable. Surprisingly, even only 8 days into fermentatiin amd sitting around 17%, it was immensely smoother than I expected, and after stirring in a small spoon full of honey into 2 fingers in a rocks glass, it was quite enjoyable.

Trying to get the yeast to peter out and then add more honey to a desired level of sweetness is a bit of a crap shoot. I think there is a more accurate way to get to what you want:

If you like it better with a certain level of residual sweetness, you are going to need to figure out a weight or volume of honey per volume of mead that achieves that. From there you should be able to calculate an amount of honey to add to the whole batch and then add that much honey as backsweetening.

HOWEVER, as processhead mentioned, you will need to attenuate the yeast so that you don't restart fermentation. You will need to add *both* potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate at least several days ahead of time to reliably inhibit the yeast so that you can safely add more sugar without restarting fermentation.

To answer your original question, I do like to dissolve the honey in a relatively small volume of water, say a pint or two, depending on the amount of honey I'm adding. It helps to heat the water up a bit as well, to facilitate mixing the honey in. Not looking to boil it or anything, just enough to help dissolve the honey... This process makes is much easier to pour in, especially if you're using a carboy with a relatively small opening, and makes it easier for the solution to mix with the whole.

 

[Ryue]

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To answer your original question, I do like to dissolve the honey in a relatively small volume of water, say a pint or two, depending on the amount of honey I'm adding. It helps to heat the water up a bit as well, to facilitate mixing the honey in. Not looking to boil it or anything, just enough to help dissolve the honey... This process makes is much easier to pour in, especially if you're using a carboy with a relatively small opening, and makes it easier for the solution to mix with the whole.

Okay, so I am a "trial by fire" kinda guy. I prefer to live and learn, whether that be from success or failure. So I went ahead and disolved 1 cup of honey to 1 cup of water and added it to my carboy (1 gallon batch), and we will see what ends up happening in the end. It has already started bubbling faster within 2 hours, so once it slows/stops again I will see what we end up with.

But it occured to me (after the fact, of course..) that once I add additional honey after fermentation had started, my SG & FG mesurments will be off, so how do I figure out the abv now?

 

[biochemedic]

So I went ahead and disolved 1 cup of honey to 1 cup of water and added it to my carboy (1 gallon batch), and we will see what ends up happening in the end. It has already started bubbling faster within 2 hours, so once it slows/stops again I will see what we end up with.

But it occured to me (after the fact, of course..) that once I add additional honey after fermentation had started, my SG & FG mesurments will be off, so how do I figure out the abv now?

Your new FG will be measured directly, once fermentation has completely stopped.

You can pretty easily estimate your "effective" OG. If you know how much honey you added, you should be able to calculate how many points of gravity you've added. You can calculate a specific PPPG (points per pound per gallon) for your particular honey by backtracking from your OG, batch volume, and amount of honey added. PPPG is a bit obtuse until you break it down; for example, 1.040 PPPG means that if you add a pound of X into a gallon of water, the resultant OG will be 1.040. Expanding that to a 5 gal batch, the same addition would give you an OG of 1/5th that, or 1.008.

As a "guestimate" though, if you added 1 cup, you can use the following conversions, since you have to work in pounds of honey:
Honey is roughly 3 lbs per quart or 12 lbs per gallon. This converts to ~ 0.75 lbs per cup. In my experience, honey averages about 1.039 PPPG, although this will of course vary by source, varietal, etc. If you assume 1.039 and a 5 gal batch, then you added (39 * 0.75)/5 or ~5.8 gravity points. It's probably a tad less, as remember, you're adding volume too.
Regardless these points can simply be added to your "effective" OG for ABV calculations.

 

[Ryue]

As a "guestimate" though, if you added 1 cup, you can use the following conversions, since you have to work in pounds of honey:
Honey is roughly 3 lbs per quart or 12 lbs per gallon. This converts to ~ 0.75 lbs per cup. In my experience, honey averages about 1.039 PPPG, although this will of course vary by source, varietal, etc. If you assume 1.039 and a 5 gal batch, then you added (39 * 0.75)/5 or ~5.8 gravity points. It's probably a tad less, as remember, you're adding volume too.
Regardless these points can simply be added to your "effective" OG for ABV calculations.

Thanks man! I will update once fermentation is done, until then I will be impatiently waiting lol.View attachment 1504127196791.jpg

 

[voltron]

Hey y'all, I have a batch of an Elderberry Mead -first batch ever- fermenting right now: SG was 1.131, reading I took yesterday (8 days after pitching) was 1.000 on the dot. Tasted it and it is quite a bit dryer than I expected and I want to add more honey, but don't want to mess it up... I know that ny adding honey until the yeast dies out will end up with a high ABV and thats fine, so how would you suggest adding the honey? Dump it straight in, disolve in water then add the honey/water mixture, something else entirely?
Also, should I rack it off the lees before adding more honey?
P.S. it's a 1 gallon batch, if that makes any difference.
Thanks in advance!
Skål!

This is one technique i used and it turn out well. I would leave it alone for three months before adding honey this is to ensure your yeast has fermented to maximum. after three months i racked to a clean one gallon container leaving the sediment behind, then add 1/5 cup of straight honey and let it age for a few more months.