New Brewer, New Problem?...

[Jestercgo]

Hi, I am a new brewer and I am on my second brew about a month into fermentation and I have a problem.

First I'll say how I started this brew.. I used a 5 gal jug with about 13lbs of pasteurized honey and 7 1/2 teaspoons of active yeast with room temperature water and I also decided to use key limes for the flavor as I saw this on someone else's recipe. And then a bubble tap as suggested.. Now I paid very close attention in the first few days and I do know my yeast was active and fermenting over the last month, I also know it needs around 2 1/2 to 3 months to really be ready for consumption. However as it's a month in and time to cap, I decided to give it a ol taste test.

And here in lies my problem, it's not sweet and I figured it would be with that much honey but I know wines are typically bitter so it's not a huge concern. However the key lime taste is very overpowering and I was wondering if there was anything I could do or add at this stage to counter act the overwhelming key lime flavor?

Thanks for any comments!..

 

[stpug]

Meringue and crust (snicker, snicker)

But seriously, some sweetness will help balance out the flavors - it won't "fix" your problem but it should help it a bit. Unfortunately, key lime is a distinct and strong flavor that you may just have to live with BUT if you ended up with a dessert mead then at 3-4 oz at a time it might be doable.

 

[Jestercgo]

Obviously I wont use key limes again, lol.. But can you elaborate a lil on sweetness? As in more honey or sugar? I already used 13lbs of honey and all the sweetness is gone..

 

[stpug]

I would go for more honey. I generally think of sweet mead as having about 14-15 lbs per 5 gallons, but it really matters where the yeast craps out. You could try adding a pound of honey to see how much gets fermented. There are lots of possibilities here. Maybe the place to start is pull a sample and sweeten it to see what you think of it.

 

[Jestercgo]

Cool, thanks for the advice! I experiment a bit and post update with results later.