Can mixing meads kickstart fermentation?

[jkuhl]

I made a Nord mead about a month or two ago (from the Elder Scrolls cookbook) but I underestimated what a clove would do and added like 10 to a 1 gallon batch.

That mead is now bottled, I was hoping if it sits it might mellow for like a year and then be palatable.

But today I had a different thought. What if I made a new Nord mead, with no cloves, and then after primary fermentation, mixed the two? Could the mixing add enough new sugar to restart a fermentation?

 

[Kyzaboy89]

If there are live yeast and residual sugar in solution, as long as the yeast haven't hit their alcohol tolerance, fermentation could restart.

Cold crashing can help get a lot of the yeast to fall out of suspension as well as campden and sulfites to prevent yeast from restarting. Not guaranteed to stop active yeast but if you don't want to wait for both to drop clear, then stabilize, then blend, it's really up to you. Personally it's less risky to let yeast run their course, clear, transfer and then backsweeten bit that's just how I do it.

And yes, cloves are potent little buggers, single clove in a 5 gallon for 2 weeks is enough for me.

 

[Duskmoon]

As Kyza said if there is any active yeast and sugar they will restart.
I recommend mixing them, taking a SG reading and letting them sit in carboys testing once a week for a few weeks.
Specifically I would stir up the new one so you have all of the new yeast colony that way any new fermentation will take place immediately. If you don't move the active colony you run the risk of a small percentage of surviving yeast slowly growing and creating bottle bombs.

Once you are confident all fermentation is over you can rack it into secondary and waiting for it to clear.

You may also want to keep one bottle to see if it mellows over time.