SG readings of my Blueberry Muffin Mead

[Flexmedia]

Don't count on bubbles. They do nothing for telling you when fermentation is done. Always count on your hydrometer readings. 3 consecutive gravity readings over a 2 week period is a good sign it's done. (Say 1.000 x 3 readings over 2 weeks). If you take a reading & it's lower than the last one, it's still fermenting.
As far as the beer goes, mead is a little more forgiving, where beer tends to be more finicky. Too funny your family said that to you. Anyways, glad I was able to help.
Happy meading

Hey Dan O,
Im going to start a few more questions on another strand. Hope you follow! I like your comments but let me ask you here. I’m going to back sweeten a blueberry mead with honey. I started it 11/27/21 with Lavin Bougovin RC 212 yeast and it looks like it is done fermenting. I want to add 1/2 teaspoon Potassium Sorbate, stir it up and wait a day then add about 1/2 cup of honey diluted in a little water, sake it up and rack it one more time in 30 days then bottle. Does that sound good for this one gallon recipe?
Thank you!
Art

 

[Dan O]

Hey Dan O,
Im going to start a few more questions on another strand. Hope you follow! I like your comments but let me ask you here. I’m going to back sweeten a blueberry mead with honey. I started it 11/27/21 with Lavin Bougovin RC 212 yeast and it looks like it is done fermenting. I want to add 1/2 teaspoon Potassium Sorbate, stir it up and wait a day then add about 1/2 cup of honey diluted in a little water, sake it up and rack it one more time in 30 days then bottle. Does that sound good for this one gallon recipe?
Thank you!
Art

Well, even though I have the ingredients to stabilize, I still have never used them. I ferment to tolerance, meaning until the yeast quit. Even then, I have restarted a slight fermentation again.
There are many people on here that have much more knowledge about stabilizing than I do, (that I could & will also learn from), that I hope will chime in to help you with this. I have recently decided to start stabilizing, but, still haven't taken the plunge.
For when you backsweeten, don't shake it. Take some of your mead that is done, put it in a sanitized container & add your honey to that, stir GENTLY! The key is to NOT aerate your mead. You'll be there a while until the honey is dissolved, so, get comfortable. Then add that back to the rest of your mead...take a reading after that is gently mixed in & see where it's at.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Hey Dan O,
Im going to start a few more questions on another strand. Hope you follow! I like your comments but let me ask you here. I’m going to back sweeten a blueberry mead with honey. I started it 11/27/21 with Lavin Bougovin RC 212 yeast and it looks like it is done fermenting. I want to add 1/2 teaspoon Potassium Sorbate, stir it up and wait a day then add about 1/2 cup of honey diluted in a little water, sake it up and rack it one more time in 30 days then bottle. Does that sound good for this one gallon recipe?
Thank you!
Art

That is generally the process! Though, one could take a little mead to thin the honey addition, and a small portion of campdon to prevent oxidation.

 

[Flexmedia]

For when you backsweeten, don't shake it. Take some of your mead that is done, put it in a sanitized container & add your honey to that, stir GENTLY! The key is to NOT aerate your mead. You'll be there a while until the honey is dissolved, so, get comfortable. Then add that back to the rest of your mead...take a reading after that is gently mixed in & see where it's at.
I hope this helps you.
Happy meading

Ok! That’s a great tip for this wine Freshman. I was just going to add some honey and shake the mess out of it! Glad you stopped me.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

I was just going to add some honey and shake the mess out of it! Glad you stopped me.

Yeah, don’t do that!

 

[bracconiere]

for my own curiosity, and the fact i know you have a refrac & hydro....what's the must say on the refrac now? i honestly thought that was the mysterious "blue sugar line" at first...

and then when i punched it in, got like 0.2%ABV and your ABV on the hydro dropped from 4 to 3.5%? made sense?

 

[Flexmedia]

Looks like 1.120...not 1.002View attachment 757732View attachment 757733

Hey Don O,
Did I get my new SG reading right? I’m working on it!…

 

[Dan O]

Hey Don O,
Did I get my new SG reading right? I’m working on it!…

View attachment 759509
View attachment 759511

I would call that 1.122
Go by where the liquid stops & the foam starts
, not the top of the foam

 

[Flexmedia]

I would call that 1.122
Go by where the liquid stops & the foam starts
, not the top of the foam

Sounds good

 

[Flexmedia]

Bottled my Blueberry Muffin Mead after adding more honey as a back sweetener. Came out a little cloudy and not as sweet as the wife wanted but it should be ok!

Will it become sweeter with age or more dry?
Thanks!
Art

 

[Dan O]

Bottled my Blueberry Muffin Mead after adding more honey as a back sweetener. Came out a little cloudy and not as sweet as the wife wanted but it should be ok!

Will it become sweeter with age or more dry?
Thanks!
Art

Time changes all meads. A 6 month period makes a big difference in many.

That cloudiness.....was it clear before you backsweetened it?
If so, that would be a honey haze, which happens, (in my experience, more times than not) after backsweetening.

 

[Kyzaboy89]

Over time the honey will come forward more, I find if it's almost as sweet as the wife likes I just give it another 6 months. Like Dan said, if it was clear before adding honey the haze will clear as it incorporates into the mead. Month or two at most and it should be clear again.

 

[Flexmedia]

Time changes all meads. A 6 month period makes a big difference in many.

That cloudiness.....was it clear before you backsweetened it?
If so, that would be a honey haze, which happens, (in my experience, more times than not) after backsweetening.

Hey Dan…
Yes it was clear before I backsweetened it. I didn’t cold crash it or add chemicals. That was back in April. I’m learning mead is mead and sometimes is cloudy!

 

[Flexmedia]

Over time the honey will come forward more, I find if it's almost as sweet as the wife likes I just give it another 6 months. Like Dan said, if it was clear before adding honey the haze will clear as it incorporates into the mead. Month or two at most and it should be clear again.

That’s good to know. Still new at this but its still fun making. It’s honey harvesting season! Time for more experiments!
Thanks,
Art