Back Drying

[Ken2029]

Yes. That's what I said. Back drying. I'm not afraid to ask a dumb question, so here I go.

I've got 5 gallons of JAO that will be ready to bottle in about a month. The last batch I made was a little sweet for my taste, so I was wondering: Does anyone add pure grain alcohol to suit their taste before they bottle? Sounds like cheating, but I thought I would ask.

 

[Squatchy]

You can do that. You can also add vodka or rum if you as well. Don't be in a hurry to bottle anything. It takes a while for the liquor to integrate. Bottle it too soon and you really won't know what you have. You could raise your tannins some as well. Or you could make acid adjustments also. I have made really sweet, and bone dry traditionals. That way I can adjust accordingly with Mead if need be to get where I need to go for a finished product.

 

[WVMJack]

Everclear works well, there is a calculator Pearsons Square that lets you plug in the starting alcohol level and calculates how much to add to reach what you want it to be at, a good place to start vs just dumping some in and tasting, and tasting, and tasting and only ending up with one bottle to store away WVMJ

 

[Stasis]

Of course, next time you make a batch don't add as much honey up front and you'll have less residual sweetness in the end

 

[Ken2029]

Thanks for the advice, everyone.

 

[mannye]

Let us now what you did and how it worked out. You can also make a bone-dry mead to blend with your too-sweet mead.

 

[Swordnut]

Or pitch a high tolerance yeast now.

 

[Ken2029]

I'm reluctant to tamper with the recipe since this is a JAO. It's only the third batch I've made, so no other mead to blend with it.

I will go easy on the adjustment and I will keep records and report back.

 

[Chevette Girl]

You could always make a gallon of JAO using less honey than the recipe calls for so it goes dry (maybe 2.25 lb as a guess? I'd aim for 12% with the mead calculator) and use that for blending, it wouldn't take THAT long to do, it might even be ready sooner than expected with the decreased amount of honey. I'd recommend stabilizing if you do add a lower-grav batch in though, wouldn't want the yeasties to wake up again.

 

[Ken2029]

I would, except I would have to make close to five gallons. I've already got ten gallons going right now. Five gallons of JAO and five gallons of your blackberry JAO. In a few months, I'm going to be a popular guy.

 

[mannye]

I would, except I would have to make close to five gallons. I've already got ten gallons going right now. Five gallons of JAO and five gallons of your blackberry JAO. In a few months, I'm going to be a popular guy.

You would be surprised at the changes relatively small amounts of blend can make. Also, if you don't already have one, get a hydrometer and measure what you deem "too sweet" so that you can begin to have a record of what ending gravity you like and don't like. It seems trivial, but having a small notebook with measurements has huge payoffs later in your mead making hobby. If you have a sample that hits all your buttons, then you will have good chance of getting the big batch just where you want it. Also be aware that blends (at least in my experience) need a few days or ideally a week or two to "settle" and give a real indication of the final flavor. I did a very unscientific experiment once where I blended the same two (a dry and a sweet) meads to .010 .020 and .030 I initially preferred the .020 but after a week it was o contest and the .010 beat everything hands down.