Complete newbie here with a question regarding this strawberry mead recipe:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Strawberry-Mead/
Under Step 9, the author says this:
"But you have an interesting choice to make. Traditional Mead is basically a white wine. But if you taste this within the first couple of days that it's fermenting, it is absolutely delicious, and nothing like a wine! The yeast has been going strong enough to give it a great carbonation, but hasn't eat much of the sugar yet so it's still very sweet. If you'd like to keep it like this, sample it every day until it's about where you like it. But be aware that it's only this good for really up to 5 days. It's like a guy growing his hair out- it can be really good short, or really good long, but the in-between phase is usually terrible! If you try this when it's at, say 8% or 9% ABV, it's going to be strange. If you want to stop it after only 3-5 days, put it in your refrigerator. This won't actually kill the yeast, but they'll go dormant and stop future fermentation as long as it's cold. You'd have to take a hydrometer reading to be sure of the alcohol content at this stage, but it's usually around the same as a beer."
I was interested in trying to make something like this, especially since its only about 5-7 days from beginning to finish! My question, though, is how exactly does one prepare this for drinking? The author says that you can throw it in the fridge after 3-5 days, but its not clear to me whether this is in a secondary or in the primary. Also, would the usage of sorbate, campden tablets, or Super Kleer help at this point? It is my understanding that you cannot drink the mead until it has cleared...is this an exception since you are stopping it so early?
Thanks for all the help.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Strawberry-Mead/
Under Step 9, the author says this:
"But you have an interesting choice to make. Traditional Mead is basically a white wine. But if you taste this within the first couple of days that it's fermenting, it is absolutely delicious, and nothing like a wine! The yeast has been going strong enough to give it a great carbonation, but hasn't eat much of the sugar yet so it's still very sweet. If you'd like to keep it like this, sample it every day until it's about where you like it. But be aware that it's only this good for really up to 5 days. It's like a guy growing his hair out- it can be really good short, or really good long, but the in-between phase is usually terrible! If you try this when it's at, say 8% or 9% ABV, it's going to be strange. If you want to stop it after only 3-5 days, put it in your refrigerator. This won't actually kill the yeast, but they'll go dormant and stop future fermentation as long as it's cold. You'd have to take a hydrometer reading to be sure of the alcohol content at this stage, but it's usually around the same as a beer."
I was interested in trying to make something like this, especially since its only about 5-7 days from beginning to finish! My question, though, is how exactly does one prepare this for drinking? The author says that you can throw it in the fridge after 3-5 days, but its not clear to me whether this is in a secondary or in the primary. Also, would the usage of sorbate, campden tablets, or Super Kleer help at this point? It is my understanding that you cannot drink the mead until it has cleared...is this an exception since you are stopping it so early?
Thanks for all the help.
