Joe's Grape Mead - Dry as a bone in a Week!!!??

[Recluse]

Just took a gravity on my 1 gal batch of Joe's Grape Mead. Only 7 days and it is down to 0.998!!! The Ancient One said it should go to dryness in 14-21 days max. I wasn't planning on it being done so fast!

Tastes kind of acidic and thin (of course at this age..er youth) and it remains to be stabilized and backsweetened..but has anyone had it go THIS FAST??

OG: 1.118
Current Gravity: 0.998

~15.5% ABV.

Guess it is time to Rack and Roll..

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[Strix_Varia]

I'm on my second batch and both have finished the bulk of their fermentation in about 4 to 5 days. But I live in Kentucky and they are fermenting at 80+ deg f

 

[Recluse]

Strix,

Thanks for the info. The fermentation temp for mine was between 67 and 73 degrees F during the week...with most of the time being 68-70.

So how did yours taste after the stabilizing/backsweetening/clearing??

I was kind of worried by the taste of the must itself, but I figured you can't judge much at this stage. I used ~4-5 fl.oz Grape Juice and the same amount of Honey for the backsweetening.

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[Recluse]

Darn those tinted carboys!! Looked like the pyment was starting to clear but I just couldn't tell. Decided it was worth taking a gravity anyway after the stabilizing and backsweetening and once I got it into the hydrometer tube (and a sample subsequently into a wine glass) it was almost crystal clear! Still tasted a bit acidic and still a little dry for my taste, but getting better. I will let it go at least the recommended 2 weeks before panic. No apparent bubbles in the carboy, but after pouring into the glass there was a little fizz, so maybe some fermentation is still going on. Gravity was 1.003 (up from the 0.998 before racking, stabilizing and back sweetening).

 

[Strix_Varia]

Mine tasted awful at first. I hit it with some Kieselsol/Chitosan fining agent but it was still a bit hazy so I hit it with some peptic enzyme. It came crystal clear at that point. I Back sweetened with a bit of honey and a touch of apple juice (the clear kind not the cider type). I then added campden tabs and K Sorbate. Now it tastes great. I'm sure it will taste even better with something more than a week in the bottle :drunken_smilie: Here is a pic of the finished product (which I rushed like mad from pitch to bottle was like 3.5 weeks lol):

 

[Recluse]

Hmmm was that a Pyment or a straight Mead????? Doesn't look like the pyment..unless all the dark grape color disappears!

I did also make the No Age Sweet Mead, and I think it will look very much like that when it is done clearing.

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[Strix_Varia]

It is Cyser.

 

[Recluse]

Ahh OK... sorry, I misunderstood your original reply to mean you made the same Grape Mead that I did. I guess the two are pretty analogous, being pretty much fermenting Honey + Fruit Juice.

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[James Collie]

Last week I made a gallon (only my thrid batch) of what I hoped would have a high ABV. Well, I made a little more than would fit in the jar, so I put the rest in a 2-litre coke bottle. Since it was just less than half full, I filled it up with water and and measured OG of 1.08. I pitched it with bread yeast. (the gallon got "real" yeast) It's been pretty warm here, and they bubbled and churned like mad. I checked the other day and got 1.01 in the 2litre after only 6 days! I was shocked at the speed. I racked it and set it in the fridge to settle. I racked it again this morning and will bottle it tonight.

Does anyone have opinions about how fast and slow fermentation affects taste?