Planning stage for a traditional mead

[Bombo80]

I am looking for suggestions on yeast selection, OG, fermentation temp, etc .....

Keep in mind, I want this to be a Traditional Mead.

I have 12 pounds of Basswood honey. Very light and delicate tasting.

I want to do this different than my other meads. I would like to let it ferment dry, and use chemicals to stabilize, cold crash, and backsweeten with some of the Basswood honey just enough to bring it up to 1.008 - 1.010.

I have never used the chemicals to stabilize a mead, but have used them, sparingly, in wines.

So, Thanks to all of you in advance. I am looking forward to your suggestions and comments.

:rockin:

 

[bernardsmith]

What ABV are you looking for? Is this to be a sipping wine or a wine to quench your thirst? One approach you might take is to consider a saison yeast (this will add pepper notes and a hint of spiciness) and step feed the mead with honey in order to stall the fermentation at the point just beyond the yeast's tolerance for alcohol. You can then add enough more honey to hit your target ABV - but in this case there should be no need for any chemical stabilization although there is always the possibility that in another two or three years the yeast still in solution will a) have multiplied enough to continue fermenting and b) those around will be virile enough to ferment even at such relatively high alcohol content... so you need to monitor your bottles to ensure that bottle bombs are not in the cards...
Last point: You say you are looking for a traditional. OK... but might that neverthess allow you to caramelize the last few ounces you step feed to produce a bochet note in this mead...?

 

[Bombo80]

I currently have a high ABV (14%+) mead right now. The D47 yeast performed pretty well with all the SNA I used.

I was thinking more of a middle of the road, somewhere in the 8% to 10%, or a bit less.

Let it finish dry, stabilize, backsweeten and let it be.

I already have plans to do a bochet sometime this winter. That way the bees will leave me alone. LOL

 

[bernardsmith]

What about low ABV meads (about 5-7%) so using about 1.5 lbs of honey to make a gallon and then priming the bottles to make the mead sparkling? Time from pitching to drinking can be as short as 8 weeks. You want it traditional so ignore this but you might think about boiling say 1 oz of hops for each gallon for say 10 minutes and then allowing the tea to cool and using that tea to mix with the honey (so a metheglin). Not a beer - certainly not as sweet as a beer but this can be drunk like a beer and if you use brightly flavored hops (Nelson, Galaxy spring to mind) then people who have never tried a mead might be knocking at your door for a pint or two... (these being session meads). I wouldn't suggest hopping a mead where you wanted the flavor of the honey to be front and center but basswood does not sound to me like tupelo or meadowfoam...