Help me reduce sweetness?

[Caz]

I made a cyser that turned out really good, only problem is it's a tad too sweet and I prefer dry meads/wines. This may be a simple fix for most of you, but I have dyscalculia (math version of dyslexia) and I can't make heads or tails of all the conversions, numbers, etc.

SG 1.150, FG 1.000 = 19.6 ABV. Turned out really smooth!

Here's my recipe for 1 gallon cyser.

3 lbs honey (clover & wildflower)
2 bottles (1.5 L) Simply Apple Juice
K1-V1116
Nutrient & Energizer
1/8 tsp tannin
Pectic enzyme

 

[dmtaylor]

Your recipe is good. Just... add a gallon of water.

I'm actually serious. I scored a Best of Show with a ~9% ABV hydromelish cyser a couple years ago. Very easy drinking. Not too tart, not too sweet, just delicious. Not sure why everyone seems compelled to always make 12-20% ABV meads & ciders. Hydromel is fantastic and you can sip a LOT of it without getting trashed.

 

[Caz]

Hey, thanks for the response.

I'm not shooting for a specific ABV, but as a wine drinker I do prefer the 12-20% range, so I don't want to dilute it too much.

 

[dmtaylor]

Final gravity of 1.000 for a 1.150 must / 20% cyser is pretty dang dry. The yeast did everything they possibly could for such a high gravity must. If you like bone-dry, I still think you'll need to use at least 25-30% less sugar/honey/juice or that much more water. My ciders and meads with lower OG often finish about 0.992. Now that's dry, but it's easier for the yeast since with a lower OG they're not getting drunk and quitting early. Your yeast seems to want to ferment super dry at 1.000. Just give them a break with a little lower OG.

 

[Yooper]

1.000 shouldn't taste sweet. Maybe take out a sample and add a tiny pinch of tannin (it won't dissolve well you'll have to stir it like it owes you money and squish it up, unless you use liquid tannin). That may make it seem less sweet. Or at a little little toast oak for a week- that also can help make the perception of sweetness seem much less.

 

[Caz]

Hmm, all my meads have come out sweet, even though they fermented dry. I recently had one go to 0.something and still tasted sweet, although it needs to age. I've been using the K1-V1116 all summer since I live in the deep South USA and it's hot, I know that yeast can tolerate higher temps.

 

[Seamonkey84]

Only choice really is to add water, adding more juice will also add more sugars that won’t get fermented out since it’s already at the alcohol tolerance. Otherwise you’ll have to really lower the abv by adding enough juice, then let it ferment that dry, but you’ll have to do the math to figure out how much juice to add to lower it but then ferment dry to the ABV you want.
Easy way is if you’re hydrometer fits into your container, add just enough water to drop the gravity a tiny bit. But like mentioned, try a sip first, that .002 points shouldn’t really be detectable, the sweetness may come from the honey aroma and flavor, and that bit of mouthfeel from using honey.
Option three, make another gallon that ferments brute dry at 18%, then blend them so you’ll still have ~19%abv and have a product that is below 1.000.

 

[bob1852]

Something's not adding up...

19+% is extremely difficult to achieve in meads with wine yeasts.

Something that fermented down from 1.150 to 1.000 wouldn't taste sweet at all.

At high fermentation temps, something that fermented from 1.150 to 1.000 would probably be loaded with fusel alcohols, which would mask any sweetness anyways (which isn't there at 1.000).

Are you sure you're reading the hydrometer correctly?

 

[S-Met]

Are you sure you're reading the hydrometer correctly?

This.
That yeast tolerance is 18%abv. I know that you can push the line a little, but you are about max for the yeast.
Your only option is to add h2o like alredy mentioned.

As a wine drinker, most big reds are rarely over 15.5%. I don't think dilutdil down 3-5% is a bad think, and you would probably get your gravity below 1.000 to help dry.

 

[Caz]

Yeah, I stared at it for ages to make sure it was right, and then checked it again two days later. It's 19.6%. I'm in Georgia and it's our hottest time of year, so maybe the warm temps had something to do with it?

 

[S-Met]

Yeah, I stared at it for ages to make sure it was right, and then checked it again two days later. It's 19.6%. I'm in Georgia and it's our hottest time of year, so maybe the warm temps had something to do with it?

Possibly a stupid question, but are you temp correcting your sample or are you ensuring your sample is at your hydrometer calibration temp?

 

[Caz]

Possibly a stupid question, but are you temp correcting your sample or are you ensuring your sample is at your hydrometer calibration temp?

The temp was around 70, there's no way I'd try to correct the reading lol

 

[dmtaylor]

Possibly a stupid question, but are you temp correcting your sample or are you ensuring your sample is at your hydrometer calibration temp?

EXCELLENT point. At say 90 F, gravity reads low by about 0.004. So the FG might actually be 1.004, which is actually noticeably sweeter than 1.000.

The temp was around 70, there's no way I'd try to correct the reading lol

Oh. Well then. Nevermind!

 

[CKuhns]

It's all subjective we all perceive sweetness a little differently. Sometimes fruit addition even if at 1.000 kind of tricks me into thinking its sweeter than it is.

 

[Caz]

It's all subjective we all perceive sweetness a little differently. Sometimes fruit addition even if at 1.000 kind of tricks me into thinking its sweeter than it is.

That's quite possible. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I prefer savory/spicy foods, so any sweetness to me is very noticeable. My husband loves sweets, though, and he said it was pretty sweet. But it could definitely be from tasting the apple juice and might smooth out over time.