Questions about first mead

[jjwelchNola]

So I'm very new to mead making, but not to brewing. For my mead, I kinda played it by ear, with a little guidance from my local brew shop. Forgot to add fermaid to my primary, so let it go for about a month til my hydrometer read approximately 1.00. Didn't take a starting gravity but believe the alcohol content is about 6.5% based on the amount of honey I used. Once it got to 1.00 SG, I racked it into a 5 gallon bucket and added some potassium sorbate. I let it sit for 48 hours in this bucket before racking into 5 1-gallon glass carboys. In each of the carboys I added pureed fruit and placed the water lock on top. I expected SOME bubbling, but a month later I was still seeing what looked like an active fermentation. I recently degassed and the bubbling reduced but didn't stop.

I was going to add some potassium metabisulfate this weekend and then backsweeten, but I'm worried I messed something up and I still have an active yeast colony reproducing and feasting on my sugars. Of course I can't verify this because I didn't take specific gravity readings after adding to the carboys. Reading around I may have added the sorbate too early? Have I mucked up this mead? Should I add more potassium sorbate to retard the yeast if they're still active? Please help.

 

[Rish]

You could take SG readings now then again in a week to see if you still have fermentation. If they're the same you should be good to add K sorbate and Kmeta if you're going to backsweeten or just bottle if you're drinking it dry.

 

[jjwelchNola]

You could take SG readings now then again in a week to see if you still have fermentation. If they're the same you should be good to add K sorbate and Kmeta if you're going to backsweeten or just bottle if you're drinking it dry.

I read somewhere that if you over-add k sorbate you get some off flavors, but you think it'll be OK if I add more?

 

[bushpilot]

Take the readings, they will tell you what you need to know.

I wouldn't add more sorbate. Let it stay dry, or if it absolutely needs it, add a non-fermentable sweetener.

PS your user name caught my eye. I grew up in Kenner. It has been many years since my last visit, I gotta go back to visit sometime.

 

[jjwelchNola]

Take the readings, they will tell you what you need to know.

I wouldn't add more sorbate. Let it stay dry, or if it absolutely needs it, add a non-fermentable sweetener.

PS your user name caught my eye. I grew up in Kenner. It has been many years since my last visit, I gotta go back to visit sometime.

I'm gonna wanna back sweeten at the very end, but sure, I'll take a reading and if it's above 1.00 I'll do a second reading in a week. If it's stable I'll back sweeten.

If I do a reading at first and it is 1.00 or below, I guess it would be pretty difficult to tell if the yeast are dead. Wanted to add honey as my back sweetener if possible. Wanted to stay away from non fermentable sugars.

Name is technically a misnomer, I live in Covington. But I work in Harahan.

 

[bushpilot]

Name is technically a misnomer, I live in Covington. But I work in Harahan.

Oh, we all claim to be from NOLA ...

 

[jjwelchNola]

I'm gonna wanna back sweeten at the very end, but sure, I'll take a reading and if it's above 1.00 I'll do a second reading in a week. If it's stable I'll back sweeten.

If I do a reading at first and it is 1.00 or below, I guess it would be pretty difficult to tell if the yeast are dead. Wanted to add honey as my back sweetener if possible. Wanted to stay away from non fermentable sugars.

Name is technically a misnomer, I live in Covington. But I work in Harahan.

So did a reading. Every one is at 1.00. Looks like my yeast is still very active. Can I just keep adding honey till the yeast kills itself off then rack off the sediment?

 

[bushpilot]

So did a reading. Every one is at 1.00. Looks like my yeast is still very active. Can I just keep adding honey till the yeast kills itself off then rack off the sediment?

I missed something - what suggests that the yeast is still active? I don't see a change in SG, so is this based on bubbling?

If so, bubbling or not is not a reliable indicator of yeast activity. I am guessing your yeast is done.

 

[jjwelchNola]

Few months in, and the mead is sweet and pretty tasty, though more carbonated than I would like. Would love to see some age for a while but my friend group is impatient and we continue to open more bottles. Started a new cinnamon vanilla mead, and will start a new thread if I run into issues! Thanks for the help!

 

[Midway Island]

So I'm very new to mead making, but not to brewing. For my mead, I kinda played it by ear, with a little guidance from my local brew shop. Forgot to add fermaid to my primary, so let it go for about a month til my hydrometer read approximately 1.00. Didn't take a starting gravity but believe the alcohol content is about 6.5% based on the amount of honey I used. Once it got to 1.00 SG, I racked it into a 5 gallon bucket and added some potassium sorbate. I let it sit for 48 hours in this bucket before racking into 5 1-gallon glass carboys. In each of the carboys I added pureed fruit and placed the water lock on top. I expected SOME bubbling, but a month later I was still seeing what looked like an active fermentation. I recently degassed and the bubbling reduced but didn't stop.

I was going to add some potassium metabisulfate this weekend and then backsweeten, but I'm worried I messed something up and I still have an active yeast colony reproducing and feasting on my sugars. Of course I can't verify this because I didn't take specific gravity readings after adding to the carboys. Reading around I may have added the sorbate too early? Have I mucked up this mead? Should I add more potassium sorbate to retard the yeast if they're still active? Please help.

I would rack it. Check SG and add 1/8 tsp of S02, let sit for a month and observe airlock activity. I have an apple mead that I have a similar issue with and will do this at racking.