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  • Thread starter Thread starter kalvaer
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Thanks, That actually really makes sense and I'd much rather prefer not having to add chemicals. Which is why most of my stuff has been very high alcohol and sweet because I just cant get the yeast to stop :D

The sweetness level I have liked so far is around 1.000 to 1.010. Though all the yeast I have will rip everything bone dry. Even the bread yeast I have been using has taken my ginger beer to 12% and 0.900. I'm sure if I add more sugar it will just keep on going again.
I didn't think about cold crashing everything, and I don't really have a fridge big enough. At least in a couple of weeks I'll be able to leave everything in the snow in the back yard.

Next is that I also like a bit of fizz, so not really sure how to get them to a lowish ABV, still being sweet, and possibly carbing (without pony kegs).
So how would you go about for example using a champagne yeast, to a low ABV, and still have it sweet?
Guessing here you let it go dry.. wait or cold crash for most of the yeast to drop, and then back sweeten? or...
 
Took this advice to heart and I decided to try my previous recipe with only 5kg of honey to produce a much lower ABV mead for a new 23L batch.
Its started bubbling in ~3 hours and will see how this turns out compared to the 15KG batch.
 
Cool! Curious to see if you like the end result.


Sent from my TARDIS at the restaurant at the end of the universe while eating Phil.
 
I still haven't met a small mead I've liked. At least nine I have made. Thin, watery and lacking flavor has been most of my result. Maybe I need to add fruit to make them more interesting. B Nektar makes a mean small mead. They have that "it's so good it can't be real" taste but they are real.


Sent from my TARDIS at the restaurant at the end of the universe while eating Phil.
 
I'm guessing it's a "yeasty" smell. Is it clear? Have you racked off the lees?
It's not uncommon for small meads to be a bit boring or funky when they're born. Let him grow up a bit...
I haven't racked it off yet. I mean its only like 70 hours since it started. I really haven't seen anything go through that amount of honey so quickly, and its still bubbling... Granted at a much slower rate right now, but it does look much cleaner than its twin.

I also don't have something to rack off into ;) I have a batch of apple wine and some abbey beer in the other big fermenter's that I was planning on bottling and racking this weekend, but I might have to switch things around a bit.