I'm running out of sugar too fast...

[Ferretlady]

Hello!
I'm (obviously) a newcomer here, and new to meadmaking as well. I had tasted mead before, but it was this summer that I found out one I really liked. It was a home brew, and the friend who made it gave me general guidelines and told me to give it a try! So here I am, with four 1 gallon carboys on the go, with four different recipes... Here is my first results:
I just did a testing on my first batch, and I think I'll have to add
more honey to it. I'm just not sure how to go about it...
I started with 3 pound of honey (fall-mixed flowers) in 1 gallon
batch (spring water). I found the honey to be very liquid. Must OG (density?) was 1100.
I used Lalvin 1118 yeast, as it was the only one sold in the store
I got supplies at. Carboy kept at about 70-72 degrees.
7 days: Must OG 1060
11 days: must OG 1030
15 days: racked in clean carboy, must OG 1010
17 days: must OG 1010, taste test: perfect, just sweet enough,
great flavor, very fizzy from yeast. It's still so cloudy I can
barely see light through, and it's merrily bubbling away.
Percentage alcool should be about 11% right now.
I still have 3 pound more of that variety of honey, and I'm
hesitant between adding more honey or doing the fridge-stop
method.
This recipe should be in carboy for 2 more weeks.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance!

Louise the ferretlady

 

[Oskaar]

Just be patient with the first batch and let it ferment to completion. Once the bubbling slows down you can rack it to another carboy. The EC-1118 is a high alcohol and low residual sugar yeast this is rated with a high sugar conversion attenuation.

This may sound odd but I would let the fermentation run it's course until the bubbling has slowed to the point of less than one blip per minute.

For your remaining three pounds of honey, make the same recipe using your normal tap water (unless it's gnarley) this time, and find some Lalvin D-47 Yeast (made by the same folks that make the EC-1118) and get another batch going so you can compare the way the two yeasts work on the honey you used. It's an excellent way, especially when you're starting to see the kind of influence that the yeast has on the honey in your must. The variable would be the tap water.

Here's a link to Lalvin's Yeast Information Page:
http://consumer.lallemand.com/danstar-lalvin/lalvin.html

Hope that's what you were looking for in the way of ideas,

Oskaar

 

[Jmattioli]

The only thing I would add Louise is since you like the sweetness at 1.010 that after it finishes you stabilize and add 4 oz of honey to sweeten it back up to where you liked it.
Joe