Add more honey to the primary?

[PDonn63]

I started a mead about a week ago; not my first, but I'm by no means experienced. Brought 2 gallons of water and 14lbs of Trader Joe's Mesquite Desert Honey to 160 degrees for 15 minutes and added it to my primary fermenter (7.9 Gallon Plastic Bucket). Brought another gallon of water to 170 degrees, added 5 organic Valencia oranges (cut in fourths) one bag of mixed dried fruit (grapes, apricots, cherries, plums, etc.), two vanilla beans, and two broken up sticks of cinnamon. Let go for 20 mins and added to primary. Filled with water to reach 6 gallons. SG: 1.084

After cooling and adding the nutrient, I hydrated and pitched my RC212, then aerated.

Fermentation has been going well. I've been punching the cap once daily, and removed about half of the fruit after day 7; as it was constantly trapping the C02. My air lock is still very active. I plan on racking into a 6 gallon carboy within the next two weeks.

I'm thinking of adding more honey to boost the ABV as well as add some sweetness. Any thoughts on when/how/if to do this, as well as any criticism on the over all process, would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Chevette Girl]

I would recommend that you do it earlier rather than later, while your fermentation is still pretty active. Adding a lot of honey/sugar in secondary when you've over-diluted your must just stresses out the yeast and makes it take a long time to ferment out (been there, done that, was bubbling for over a year).

And welcome to the addiction!