Peach melomel SNA procedure

[Orerockon]

Hello, I have tried a couple melomels in the past, both blueberries. I started a Peach melomel due to our tree putting out way more poundage than I could force my family to pick last summer. I'm keeping it pretty simple, I'm generally sticking to the "Fast mead" recipe here: http://beersmith.com/blog/2013/09/20/making-mead-for-home-brewers/ which uses staggered nutrient additions (with a few changes based on my local homebrew shop guru).

Ingredients
4 lbs. peaches primary, reserving 4 lbs. for secondary
10 lbs Wildflower Honey (2 5 lb. jugs)
3 tsp Acid Blend
Yeast Nutrient ¾ tsp DAP:Fermax 2:1 in Primary
3 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 tsp Grape Tannin
WLP 755 "dry cider" yeast tube

Cooled to room temp., out into a 6 gal. fermenting pail, pitched the yeast immediately & added DAP/Fermax. O.G. = 1.066

Following their instructions I've been punching down the cap every day.
Added ¾ tsp DAP:Fermax 2:1 in Primary immediately.
Added ¾ tsp DAP:Fermax 2:1 in Primary at 24 hrs.
Added ¾ tsp DAP:Fermax 2:1 in Primary at 48 hrs.
Added the last nutrient mix & swapped out lid for an airlock on day 9 (yesterday). Took a day but it's finally burbling away quite nicely.

I plan to do the 2nd rack into another pail in 3-4 weeks (?) Dunno if this is good or bad, I racked the last blueberry melomel at 19 days. Which so far is awesome compared to my previous attempts, I bottled & primed it for a sparkling melomel a week ago. I'm pretty fussy about dry mead/cider (I think commercial ciders taste like alcoholic apple juice, quite frankly) but I would drink it right now it's that smooth. I followed almost the exact same procedure for 2 previous ciders (only cider apples, no sugar added) with fantastically dry results. Like drinking apple flavored air

3rd rack into carboy 4-6 weeks later (?)

I planned to add the last 3/4 tsp of DAP/Fermax "after roughly 2/3 of the sugar has been depleted (i.e. the original gravity has dropped by 2/3 of your target)" according to the recipe. But I screwed up and did the 4th addition yesterday because I did it with the blueberry at roughly the same time (I took a wild guess that 2/3 of the sugar had been gobbled up). I'm not sure what my "final" target should be, the blueberry melomel went from 1.060 to 0.996 in 16 days and 0.990 at the 3rd racking , 5 weeks after the start, and stayed there. So I suppose it should be close to that, I am shooting for a dry mead with very little residual sugar. I did add 3 c. corn sugar to the blueberry (I used 6 lbs. berries in the primary, 6 lbs. at the 1st racking). But am holding off on that with the peach, the OG seems to be plenty high enough for a decent ABV (~9.95% if it does ferment out to 0.990).

So, given that I already did a 4th nutrient addition, should I add more DAP/Fermax when the SG is 1.066 - 2/3 of 1.066-0.990 = 1.015? I didn't take one yesterday and now I'm afraid to pull the lid. I can't imagine that it's that low already. Also, is adding corn sugar this late in the game a bad idea? If it doesn't really have the potential to get above 9% I'd like to push it higher if I can.

 

[Squatchy]

Lost of people here step feed thier yeast at the end of the ferment and often times push the yeast beyond the listed alcohol limit. Why would you feed it with corn sugar instead of honey? I'm confused. You want to feed it a fifth time? Is that what you're asking?

Check this out http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/15678-fermaxVs-fermaid-k

 

[Medsen Fey]

There is no point in adding DAP after the ½ way point in a fermentation. The yeast won't be able to use it. The yeast can still use amino acids, but even with them the uptake is limited. Nutrients generally need to be added during the first half of fermentation.

Sent from my THINGAMAJIG with WHATCHAMACALLIT

 

[Orerockon]

Lost of people here step feed thier yeast at the end of the ferment and often times push the yeast beyond the listed alcohol limit. Why would you feed it with corn sugar instead of honey? I'm confused. You want to feed it a fifth time? Is that what you're asking?

Check this out http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php/15678-fermaxVs-fermaid-k

The link to fermax/fermaid says I can't access the post, dunno why that is. Can you give a brief summary? I did find a post on the homebrew forum saying that the use of DAP/Fermax in that recipe was a mistake, it should have said GoFerm/Fermaid K. Neither of which I have. UGH. And yes I was asking that, since I apparently added the 4th nutrient/energizer too early, if it would do any good to add it again, taking into consideration that I'll be adding the other half of the peaches at that time.

The corn sugar was just an idea to kick up the alcohol if it doesn't want to ferment most of the sugars. I'll find out when I rack it off, I suppose. How can I tell when it's halfway through the fermentation? I had asked if the SG would help me, am I on the right track with that? Is there a "right way" to determine when to rack off melomel when adding more fruit?

 

[Squatchy]

I think you are not able to access the link is because that's in the Patron section. For $25 a year you can have access to all of the forums. Just the recipies alone is worth much more than your $25. You'll need to purchase a hydromoter to measure your batch as it moves along. Below is a couple links to other info since you cannot read the patrons section (you really will do yourself a great favor to join) there is much info in every regard.

If you add sugar you miss out on the honey flavor. I think if it is a Mead you need to feed it with honey. The yeast won't care either way, but you lose the honey flavor when you add corn syrup.

here,,, http://home.comcast.net/~mzapx1/

reed all of this and then come back if you still have more questions