Cherry Mead

  • PATRONS: Did you know we've a chat function for you now? Look to the bottom of the screen, you can chat, set up rooms, talk to each other individually or in groups! Click 'Chat' at the right side of the chat window to open the chat up.
  • Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
  • We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.

BrettyOceans

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 7, 2022
2
2
3
Newcastle Australia
First time post and first batch.
I'm sure i have made all the newby mistakes and i have also learnt a lot along the way.
Question
Two weeks in and bubbling was down to one every minute or more. So I put my first mead in the fridge and added finings.
two days later... today, I racked into another carboy (1 gallon) 1012 FG. I forgot to get SG, mmm.
so what do I do now? please.
Can I add some bochet honey, I would like to add some more honey taste back in.

Thanks :)
 
I would start with stabilizing your mead with potassium sorbate and potassium metabisulphate.
I would then wait a week or so and check your gravity again and make sure that it hasn't moved to make sure that the sorbate has arrested your fermentation.
At that point you can back sweeten with honey. Your mead will get hazy and you will need to give it time to settle or another round of fining.

I would wait to do fining until after stabilizing and back sweetening.

If you know how much honey you used to your batch size, you can figure out your rough OG and know your approximate ABV.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrettyOceans
Thanks for your reply
everything I was wondering answered.
It tastes great out of the fridge, being a first timer, I will put one bottle aside to age. With a steady flow of interested friends that keep wanting to taste it, with big smiles after tasting, I doubt much will be aged.
;+)
 
First time post and first batch.
I'm sure i have made all the newby mistakes and i have also learnt a lot along the way.
Question
Two weeks in and bubbling was down to one every minute or more. So I put my first mead in the fridge and added finings.
two days later... today, I racked into another carboy (1 gallon) 1012 FG. I forgot to get SG, mmm.
so what do I do now? please.
Can I add some bochet honey, I would like to add some more honey taste back in.

Thanks :)

You want to wait until your fermentation is complete, and the only way to do that is to check that that gravity is 1.000 or lower. If you started with a yeast like k1v1116 or ec1118 and used a TON of honey to start, it is possible that the yeast stalled out at 1.012.

Wait until fermentation is complete, stabalize, and then backsweeten to taste. You can do this with bench trials, or just mix honey and your finished mead, and gently head to dissolve. You can also dissolve your honey into a bit of warm water. Depending on the clarity of your honey, you may want to wait a bit to bottle, unless you don’t mind some sediment in your bottles.

I hope this helps!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I say two weeks is definitely too soon to do anything with mead. In fact, two weeks is not even enough for hydromel (low abv mead). As to what to do with batch you have now, If you have not stabilized it, you could add some honey, little bit of nutrient and some yeast and continue fermentation. With mead making haste makes waste. My personal rule of thumb is 3.5 days in primary fermentation for every 1% of abv. So if i have must that will be 9% abv when finished, i will let it sit in primary fermentation for 32 days. Than mandatory 2 months in secondary before i even consider tasting it.