NOOB Questions

[DesertDog]

I am new to making mead. I have two 1 gallon batches close to being ready to bottle and I have some questions/concerns before bottling. Any help and insights are welcome.

Batch 1:
This is a traditional mead made with wildflower honey from my hive. It fermented out in 11 days and I racked it to a 1 gallon carboy 26 days ago. It finished at 1.001 FG, 12.47% ABV. I think it close to being ready to bottle but it's still not very clear. It could also probably use some sweetening or something to improve the taste. The honey taste is strong but it's not at all sweet.

Questions: What should I start with to help clarify this? What is best for improving the flavor?

Batch 2:
This is a Cherry Melomel made with Costco Honey. They had a good price on 3 lb local raw honey and I had sold all of mine. I put 48 oz of cherry puree in the primary fermentation. This fermented out in less than 18 days and I racked it to a 1 gallon carboy today. It finished at 1.000 FG, 12.87% ABV. It tastes pretty good for the point it is at but also a bit dry. I sweetened a small sample with a bit of table sugar and it was quite good. This is already extremely clear and probably ok to bottle as well.

Question: What is the best way to sweeten this before bottling. Would a sweet cherry juice be a good idea?

Bonus question:
If I stop the fermentation with something such as potassium sorbate before sweetening can I still bottle carbonate some?

Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Time, give it time to clear. Alternatively, you could use chitosan and isinglass.

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi DesertDog - and welcome. Let me tackle your bonus question: if you add sorbate (to help kill the yeast - technically, you are simply preventing the yeast from reproducing when you add sorbate but that is a fine detail) then you cannot expect the yeast to be in any position to ferment any sugar you add to the bottle in order to carbonate. Adding Sorbate and K-meta (in tandem) is what you do to prevent any fermentation from taking place but the sorbate is enough to make fermentation all but impossible... If you want to bottle prime then you cannot add anything to inhibit the yeast...

 

[DesertDog]

Time, give it time to clear. Alternatively, you could use chitosan and isinglass.

Thanks, I was just getting concerned because the newer batch came out very clear already.

 

[CKuhns]

Agree with Hoppy. And it is not surprising that the cherry puree might still be cloudy.

My technique is Time 30 - 45 days, Cold Crash (refrigerate for 4 - 5 days) Almost always works - If not, then KC-Super Kleer (Chitosan and Kieselsol) and pectic enzyme if still cloudy likely from the fruit or puree additions.

With that said I prefer a very clear beverage, it just looks nicer in the glass. The cloudiness does carry some flavor (Arguable) and my sons prefer a cloudy mead. It might just be perception and or my brain but I would try them both ways to see what you like.