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Very High Initial SG

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Sam60

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Nov 8, 2015
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Greetings!

Based on my local brew supply shop owner's comment "if you want a sweeter mead, use more than 3 lbs of honey per gallon of must". I used 4 lbs and pretty convinced that I did everything correct as far as pitching the yeast at the right temp, sanitizing, etc.... She's bubbling away 24 hours later. But - I checked my SG just before pitching the yeast and it was off the charts as in floating so high it was off the scale. The alcohol by volume content looks like it would be about 25%! I should have diluted it I guess but didn't. Now I'm wondering should I just let it go or...

Here's how I made it: mixed 4 lbs of clover honey with spring water in a pot and brought up to 140 degrees for about 20 minutes. Cooled it back down to about 88 degrees. Poured must into 1 gallon jug. Rehydrated Lalvin yeast (not sure specifically what number) in 104 degree water for about 15 minutes. Cut up one orange and put in must along with about 30 blueberries. I was going to use raisins but couldn't find any. I pitched the yeast and sealed with bung and airlock. She's bubbling pretty good. I didn't use any yeast nutrients because my impression is that the blueberries and orange serve the purpose.

So - what should I do - dilute the must or just let nature take its course and end up with a sweet but strong mead that hopefully ends up being something drinkable and good?

Any advice is apreciated!
 
Where did you get your impression that you don't need to feed your yeast? I'm surprised your yeast even got going. You'll need to keep us informed of how far they go before they crap out. You should not seal it for a week or more. It needs oxygen as well as it needs an escape route for the co2 to escape so it doesn't get too toxic for the yeast. I just loosely set my lid on top of my bucket until it slows way down. Then put it under an air tight lid/airlock. I would for sure feed your yeast with an SG so extremely high. Your going to want to watch the temps as well, say maybe around 65 or so. If you knew what yeast you used you could look it up (temp range).

In the future you should use Go-ferm to rehydrate and do it according to the protocol. Start your batch of at 1120. If you want more honey that that,,,,, just wait till the yeast chew some of it up and then add what you were not able to add so that you could start it a 1120.
 
I don't remember seeing anyone on the videos I've watched adding anything other than some raisins to feel the yeast. I didn't have raisins so I added the blueberries. The brew is bubbling really good 48 hours after starting it. I've never heard of GoFerm until I looked at this forum. I'll ask my supplier about it.
 
Hi Sam

I can promise you everyone feeds the yeast these days. Just look around on the forum. The videos you watched we either really old, or more likely from people who don't really know how to make mead with todays current science.
 
I second that. YouTube might be a great place to get info on beer making, because of the vast amount of information out there on beer brewing. Home mead making hasn't evolved to quite that degree of popularity yet, so the chances of landing on the video of someone who truly understands mead making is slim.

Likewise, your supplier/LHBS owner will probably view mead as a curious occasional pleasantry, and not regard it with the same seriousness we do. I have yet to meet a home brew or home wine making supplier who took mead seriously.

Bottom line; use nutrients, and learn how from the experts at GotMead.com.
 
Thanks fellas! So here's what's happening now - this batch is bubbling like crazy! My question now is are you saying that since I didn't put yeast nutrient in a the beginning, will the yeast die off too soon? Because active fermentation is not a problem, that's for sure! And / should I add some nutrient if the fermentation starts dying off quickly? Thanks for your help!
 
Normally we stagger the food into 3 separate feedings. And you want to get that done before you get to the half way mark. You can "not feed" it if you want to try and see what happens. If it starts getting stinky then I would feed it for sure.
 
My local home brew shop guy told me the same thing about the amount of honey I need per gallon. I think he was just trying to sell me more honey....I just pointed to a copy of Mr. Schramm's book on his bookshelf and told him the expert says otherwise.


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So I kind of feel the responsibility to be the lone voice of dissent here.
While most meads absolutely need nutrients, it's also totally possible to use fruit for that purpose instead of fermaid or what have you. In fact I believe LOR has a BOMM protocol doing just that somewhere on this forum.
Anyway, point is, if the yeast are happy, the yeast are happy. If they're fermenting actively, and it sounds like they are, and they aren't throwing off sulphur or other stink, you should be perfectly fine this time around with just the fruit.

Side note: if you aren't using fruit for yeast food, nutrients are a MUST. (Pun intended)


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Lberry6595 said:
So I kind of feel the responsibility to be the lone voice of dissent here.
While most meads absolutely need nutrients, it's also totally possible to use fruit for that purpose instead of fermaid or what have you. In fact I believe LOR has a BOMM protocol doing just that somewhere on this forum.
Anyway, point is, if the yeast are happy, the yeast are happy. If they're fermenting actively, and it sounds like they are, and they aren't throwing off sulphur or other stink, you should be perfectly fine this time around with just the fruit.

Side note: if you aren't using fruit for yeast food, nutrients are a MUST. (Pun intended)


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Click to expand...
I assumed recently with a blackberry mel that the fruit addition would cancel the need for a nutrient addition. I was wrong. Everything was going fine until about three days after the fruit addition it started throwing sulfur smells. Now I'm working to try to get that out. Mistake I won't make again.
 
I also got sulfur smell on a mead with 3 lbs of fruit/gallon using nutrients in a temp controlled environment. Still have no idea why but the mead tastes like cough syrup.

I would advise you to water that mead down a bit if possible. It is going to end up way too sweet otherwise.
 
zofoandrew said:
I also got sulfur smell on a mead with 3 lbs of fruit/gallon using nutrients in a temp controlled environment. Still have no idea why but the mead tastes like cough syrup.

I would advise you to water that mead down a bit if possible. It is going to end up way too sweet otherwise.
Click to expand...

Ok - I think I will take this advice and maybe add some nutrient to it at the same time?
 
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