Help with high gravity (~1.19) cyser

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

GhettoDickens

Active Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2011
Messages
35
Reaction score
0
Location
Boulder
I created 1 gallon of cyser weighing in at a whopping 1.190. I split the batch up into two ½ gallons, putting each in its own one-gallon jug to allow for head space during fermentation. I pitched a package of Wyeast Belgian Ale yeast into each carboy. The fermentation was very active, and it has since been two months and I want to rack it off the slurry.

Even pitching a champagne or wine yeast with a high alcohol tolerance (~18%) into secondary, I would still end up with a VERY sweet and high alcohol mead. I was thinking about maybe diluting it to bring down the strength, but I don’t know how to about this (or if I should).

It was suggested to me to dilute with more juice, but in my mind this adds more sugar and will only increase the strength and sweetness. Is this correct? Can I dilute with water at this point of fermentation, or will this come through as watered down mead?

I am tempted to leave it as is because I cringe at the thought of watering down my mead, but an 18+% mead that has a sweetness around 1.040-1.050 sounds a little gnarly:drunk:. Any suggestions?

PS: I haven't taken any gravity readings to track fermentation because I didn't want to waste any of my precious ounces, but I am thinking I will santize the snot out of everything and take a sample that I can return to the carboy.

Thanks in advance!!
 
That's what i do, sample wise, just sanitize and dump it back in.

When I was making one of my cysers, it was really sweet at 1.040 but not intolerable and really tasty. While gravity readings show a general range of if its sweet or dry. How it tastes will be the ultimate factor. So if you like it at 1.040, then whatever dude :mug:.

If there's that much sugar leftover, you should be able to dilute with water and it will drop the abv and start to ferment those extra sugars.

But first things first, take the gravity reading and have a taste. Also the higher the abv the longer it has to age. I think quite a few people use the 1 month to 1% ABV.
 
I want it sweeter, for sure. And I imagined it to be a "sipper" more than a "full glass" mead. Maybe I will just keep it how it is, pitch Lalvin EC-1118 and let it ferment for a few months, transfer it and bulk age it for a 6-12 months and then bottle and let it age for another 6-12 months.
 
Back
Top