mead additives and how

[junkey17]

Hello everyone, I want to know what additives everyone is using in there meads? I am new to making mead and want to use as little chemicals as possible.

I assume from reading that:
1) Potassium meta sulfite is to disinfect the must and can be used in the beginning, at 1st racking and at bottling.

2) Potassium sorbate is used to stabilize the must for back sweetening and doesn’t have to be used if not back sweetening.

3) Acid blend is to offset the sweetness of the must.

I have a 1 gallon must that consists of 3 lbs raw honey and lalvin d 47 yeast (1pkg). I used staggered nutriment additions (yeast energizer and nutriment) at initial must making, 48 and 72 hours while degassing everyday for 8 days. It’s been fermenting for approximately 3 weeks!

I want to know;

1) What’s the least amount of additives I can use, when and how are they used?

2) If I back sweeten, how to achieve the best mead possible?


Thank you for all your help!!!

 

[sanguine]

What's the least amount of additives? Zero. I'm not exactly the world's biggest expert on mead, but I've made a fair number of batches successfully, and have never used any additives other than yeast nutrient. Chemicals can make certain aspects of brewing/winemaking/meadmaking easier, but their effects are either purely cosmetic or can be replicated with more natural ingredients and a little knowledge...for example, a good way to counter sweetness that I've used is to infuse the mead with a tart, astringent fruit like rowan (mountain ash) berries.

As for backsweetening... probably best to wait and see how you like the finished product before you decide whether you want it to be sweeter or not. After a couple batches/trying a few different meads you will probably get a sense of how dry or sweet you like your mead. If you like it dry, you probably won't worry have to worry about back-sweetening or anything. If you prefer sweet, you have a few options, depending on how sweet you want it.

Your first option is to use potassium sorbate, which is added after fermentation is already finished. It will prevent fermentation from starting up again, allowing you to add more sugar/honey to a finished-but-dry mead without restarting fermentation. If you're as granola as I am and dislike chemical preservatives, you have a couple more options - for example, you can use a lower-attenuating yeast (like sweet mead yeast, for example), which won't eat all the sugar you give it and will leave a bit of sweetness. You can also use a yeast with a lower-end alcohol tolerance, and then use a recipe with enough honey in it that some sweetness will be left once the yeast has hit its maximum tolerance.