Dry mead won’t dry out

[brianpablo]

I’ve been trying to make bone dry mead, but the last few points just don’t ferment out (recipe below). I’ve gotten it down to 1.004, which is decent but still in semi-sweet territory based on most metrics. I’ve tried everything I can think of. It sat for a while at around 1.012, so I made a starter of S-05 and honey in an attempt to get it more or less to the same alcohol volume. I pitched that yeast, which may have helped. It stuck at around 1.006, so I degassed everyday for a week by shaking lightly (there was a ton of CO2 in it). Then I checked the Ph. Unfortunately I only have these cheesy strips, which I can’t read very well – this looks like it’s around 3.8?

That doesn’t seem too bad. So at this point my plan is to hit it with some acid blend to see if I can give the sensation of dryness. I have it split across a three gallon carboy and a one gallon carboy, so I might try putting acid blend in one and oaking the other. Any thoughts on that plan? Or ideas to get it to dry out from the beginning?

Batch Size: 4.00 gal
Date: 10 Jan 2018
Original Gravity: 1.083 SG

4.00 gal Water
9 lbs 10.8 oz Wildflower Honey
3 Campden Tablets
0.7 pkg Lalvin D-47 (Lallemand - Lalvin #D-47) [23.66 ml]
3.50 tsp DAP

 

[CKuhns]

Sounds like a reasonable plan, Acid will help. Not much you can do once nearly done. D47 can and does go dry with the amount of honey and water you used and a 3.8 pH is pretty near perfect.

One additional thought that might help bottle it and let it carbonate. The carbonation will give you that "bite" and the residual sugar will likely get chewed up over time. Assuming the SO5 didn't kick the D47s butt and there is enough yeast left to chew on the sugar.

 

[brianpablo]

Carbonation is not a bad idea, I might try that with half the batch and see what it does. Any thoughts on where oak would fit in? Would it be overkill to hit it with both acid and oak?

 

[CKuhns]

I like oak, again some don't. Kind of a personal preference. IMO will not help much if you are shooting for a driver taste. In fact might hurt a little as it kind of mellows and rounds out the flavor profile a bit.

 

[bernardsmith]

If all you want to do is find work-arounds to hide the problem , OK but for me the bigger problem is why this batch has "stalled" at 1.004. Did you taste the mead to see if it in fact tastes as sweet as that gravity suggests? I ask because could it be that your hydrometer is not providing an accurate reading? Did you check your hydrometer using pure water? Are there ingredients in your mead that would increase the gravity but which are not sugar? Might there be so much CO2 dissolved in solution that it keeps your hydrometer more afloat than the sugar content suggests it should be? What was the starting gravity? what yeast did you pitch? Might the yeast have hit its tolerance for alcohol and so have gone "dormant"?

 

[madscientist451]

Your abv is about 10.11%? You started with S0-5 and then pitched a wine yeast into
9.3% ABV mead, I'd say its done, accept it as it is. Skip the SO-5 and go with all wine yeast next time.
Also, degassing using a wine whip or stirring with a spoon will probably be more effective than shaking the fermenter.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Champagne yeast will dry ANYTHING out.