Yeast for Semi Sweet Mead?

[dubwicht]

I am working on a list of ingredients for my first batch of Mead and would like some advice. I would like to make a semi sweet wine like a German Reisling (about a 2 on the sweetness scale). I am woried that the Sweet Mead yeasts will make mead like a desert wine and I have heard that large and impressive hanovers are spawned by the stuff. It sounds like the dry yeasts make very dry Mead without sweetness and my wife would not like that. Is there something inbetween? Perhaps I should ferment it dry and add sweetness? Is sweetness a function of the quantity of honey used?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,




Doug

 

[rightwingnut]

I'd like to know, too...if there is no "in between" yeast, maybe adding more honey than normally...more honey than the "dry" yeast can ferment...maybe there's a wine yeast that'll do the trick on its own...

 

[Janx]

I've used the Wyeast Sweet Mead yeast and it still went fairly dry. Not like a desert wine. Maybe a percent or two residual sugar. Champagne and Dry Mead yeast will ferment it to high alcohol and very dry.

Sweetness is a function of how much honey and to what extent the yeast can ferment it dry. It's been a while since I brewed much mead, but I think the Sweet Mead yeast did what you want with a mead on the order of 3 pounds of honey per gallon. Remember, you need to add acidity and nutrients.

An alternative would be to ferment with champagne yeast and then arrest the fermentation with sulfites. I think that's how wine makers make sweeter wines (I think?)

 

[dubwicht]

Thank you for the input. I have read alot about mead and the information is sometimes conflicting. It sounds like the sweet mead yeast may do the trick. I would like to avoid using sulphites and other chemicals if possible.

Cheers,


Dubwicht