Feedback wanted on plans for 1g Sweet Mead

[wxman73]

Hi All,

I am trying to plan out a 1 gallon batch of sweet mead. I want to see if my understanding is correct. I used thr calculator from gotmead to do this:

I have 3.5# of hone for a 1 gallon batch. This should give my an SG of 1.126. The calcualtor states the potential abv at 16.23%. I plan to use Lavlin d-47 (which tolerates up to 14% ABV?) If this is true, I should hae about 2% of the sugars remaining? So will this be a sweet mead?

Then I plan to add step nutirents. Given an OG of 1.126 and a n ABV of 14%, I should have an FG of ~1.022. I believe I am supposed to add nutrients at the begining, 1/3 and 2/3 of the way throug hfermentation. If that is the case I would add at the beginning, SG of 1.091 and SG of 1.056.

Am I right in my thinking? Thanks for looking this over. Set me straight If I need it!

Cheers,
Brian

 

[valverij]

Various scales differ, but there's one thing they all agree on: >1.020 is definitely a sweet mead.

As for your SNA's, it looks like you're following the process described in this article (basically the BOMM protocol): https://www.homebrewtalk.com/current-mead-making-techniques.html
That should definitely be fine. There are more involved SNA schedules, but that one is generally a good all-around schedule, especially for beginners.

 

[bernardsmith]

Your finishing gravity really has no bearing (IMO) on the application of nutrients. I you intend to add nutrients using the 1/3 and 2/3 periods then the only gravity you need to focus on is the starting gravity. That tells you how much fermentable sugar is in the must.
That said, if Lavlin D47 is spec'ed to ferment 14% it could ferment 18 % ABV too.. Just that Lavlin cannot guarantee that every batch of yeast they sell will hit 18%. If you are depending that the yeast will all quit as soon as 14% will be reached then my take is that you will be very disappointed: it is a little like a rope or chain manufacturer guaranteeing that their material will safely endure a specific load.. Most likely it can endure at least another 25% or greater load and most likely if that load was slowly increased it could still survive 50 % above the guaranteed load... But it is not sold for that purpose. My guess is that Lavlin D-47 will ferment your mead as dry as a bone...
What to do.. What most (not all , but many) mead makers do is back sweeten. In other words, you allow the yeast to have its way with all the sugars that you gave it... and then when the final gravity has stabilized and refuses to budge... you add K-meta and K-sorbate and then you add additional honey or sweetener to achieve the sweetness you are looking for.
Alternatively, you make a mead with so much honey (step feeding to allow the yeast to ferment all they can ) that the yeast die of alcohol poisoning (and not die from the concentration of sugar) and you blend that sweet mead with this batch to create a semi sweet or sweet mead... But bottom line if you are basing a recipe on the idea that you know that your mead will conk out at a specific gravity then you might as well be betting on a spin of the roulette wheel..

 

[Maylar]

Rather than stabilizing and back sweetening, you can step feed honey. If the yeast goes past your desired/expected sweetness level, add more honey to bring it back to that. Eventually the yeast will poop out.

 

[Arpolis]

You could also change the yeast. I personally like making a specific gravity for a desired ABV and the stabilizing and back sweetening. But a yeast that will for sure not go about 12% would be Wyeast London ESB 1968. I have used that in many meads to great effect. Lends a very fruity profile with a good body.

 

[wxman73]

Thanks all I really appreciate the help. I will use my hydrometer to determine when fermentation is done and add honey to taste after to sweeten, killing off the yeast.

I have lavlin d47 on hand so that is what is going in.

Thanks again!