Mead is too tart, any pointers?

[JTehFreakS]

A few months ago I started a plum melomel, with the about 10lbs of red plums being added to secondary. Everything has gone well so far, and the plum flavor is very apparent in the mead, just what I was going for. I didn't expect it to be so tart though! I knew there would be some of this due to the plums being more sour than sweet, but again, not as much as I've gotten.

So far I've been back sweetening it bit by bit and tasting it as it goes. I've gotten it up to a gravity of 1.016, from 1.000, and the honey has definitely taken some of the edge off the acid. Should I keep on back sweetening this one until it's where I want it, or are there other ways to help mitigate the pucker factor?

 

[Yooper]

A few months ago I started a plum melomel, with the about 10lbs of red plums being added to secondary. Everything has gone well so far, and the plum flavor is very apparent in the mead, just what I was going for. I didn't expect it to be so tart though! I knew there would be some of this due to the plums being more sour than sweet, but again, not as much as I've gotten.

So far I've been back sweetening it bit by bit and tasting it as it goes. I've gotten it up to a gravity of 1.016, from 1.000, and the honey has definitely taken some of the edge off the acid. Should I keep on back sweetening this one until it's where I want it, or are there other ways to help mitigate the pucker factor?

Each time you sweeten it, it should start fermenting again unless it's been stabilized. Then, when the yeast finally dies from alcohol poisoning, the mead will remain sweet- but it could be as much as 18% alcohol by volume by then, so it'd be sweet hot rocket fuel that could take years to age out.

It'd be much better to let it finish, clear, and then to stabilize and sweeten as desired.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

A few months ago I started a plum melomel, with the about 10lbs of red plums being added to secondary. Everything has gone well so far, and the plum flavor is very apparent in the mead, just what I was going for. I didn't expect it to be so tart though! I knew there would be some of this due to the plums being more sour than sweet, but again, not as much as I've gotten.

So far I've been back sweetening it bit by bit and tasting it as it goes. I've gotten it up to a gravity of 1.016, from 1.000, and the honey has definitely taken some of the edge off the acid. Should I keep on back sweetening this one until it's where I want it, or are there other ways to help mitigate the pucker factor?

Some (but not all) of the acid in your plum melomel will actually age out. You could simply let time work for you. I'm not sure how sweet you like your melomel, so aging alone may or may not be enough for your taste. You could try some acid reduction with calcium carbonate, just be careful not to use too much or you'll get a chalky taste in your melomel.

Not much help now, but for future plum fermentations you might try using black plums as they have a bit less acid than red. Use RIPE plums, ripe plums should be soft, a hard plum isn't ripe, no matter what the color of the skin. You could also use 71-B yeast, it will metabolize some of the malic acid in the plums into alcohol.

I've never used one, but you might try a malolactic fermentation. While it should reduce the malic acid level, you might get a buttery flavour from it too, similar to chardonnay.

If all else fails, the standby of chemical stabilization & backsweetening should work for you. Hope this info helps.
Regards, GF.

 

[JTehFreakS]

Thanks for the replies. The plums were picked from a generous neighbor's tree as they started to turn red and then ripened in the house so they didn't get stung by local wasps. I tossed them in the freezer after ripening until I had a batch of mead ready for the plums.

I used 71B on this with a SNA schedule, and it fermented to tolerance, started up a little bit after adding the plums, but not much. There hasn't been any restart of the fermentation, based on gravity readings, since back sweetening, so I think I'm good as far as adding stabilizing goes.

I think I'll just sweeten it a little more and then let some of the acid age out. I've got plenty of stuff bottled to pass the time.

 

[Yooper]

Oh, good! It wasn't clear that fermentation hasn't restarted.

What I would do now is let it clear- then put it someplace really good (like near freezing if you can) for a month. This "cold stabilization" period can precipitate excess acid, and really make a difference in the acidity.

 

[JTehFreakS]

Trust me, it's pretty darn clear as it is, but when the weather cools off again, I think I'll go ahead and let it sit out there for awhile. I had no idea acid would precipitate out of the mead.

 

[Yooper]

Trust me, it's pretty darn clear as it is, but when the weather cools off again, I think I'll go ahead and let it sit out there for awhile. I had no idea acid would precipitate out of the mead.

Generally, "wine diamonds" come from excess tartaric acid, but I have had some wines and meads where I used plums or wild grapes and they screamed ACID. I put them someplace cold, and I got this sediment just like the wine diamonds and the wine was much less acidic. I try to cold stabilize many of my wines and meads, even those with fruits higher in malic acid than tartaric, like apple wine and cyser. It really helps!

 

[IJesusChrist]

My friend gave me way too many plums.

I made a mead.

I call it "war head" mead. It'll make your face pucker.

AND I LOVE IT.

I have no advice, you could try to add potassium or sodium bicarb, but do this in small aliquots to test, don't make the whole batch your experiment