Quick Grape Mead (drinkable in 5 weeks)

Just finished bottling my first Grape Mead (Melomel) or Pyment whatever one wishes to call it and it was started on November 4th and is simply wonderful to drink already. It was ready in 5 weeks! Thought I would share my recipe with you as it is the youngest best tasting, quick mead I have had thus far. Too bad I only made 1 gallon experimenting.
2 lbs Clover honey
1 oz buckwheat honey
1/8t Pectin Enzymes (I used but on second thought I probably didn't need since Welch's is already clear)
64-oz Welch's Grape Juice with Vitamin C added- Make sure it has no preservatives in ingredients other than Vitamin C added (Absorbic Acid)
Balance water if you need it to make 1 gallon after adding honey mixed in water (don't use too much water in honey mix or you'll end up with more than you bargained for.
Lalvin EC-1118

It will ferment super fast to dry (about 13% alcohol) because of type of yeast and all the nutrients and natural sugars in Welch's grape juice.It should be to SG =1.000 or less in 14- 21 days max. Rack to clean carboy over mixture of 6 oz honey, 6 oz Welch's grape juice,
1/2t of Sorbate and 1/2 crushed campden tablet . It will stabilize and clear fast. Let it clear and set for another 2 weeks and it will be ready to bottle and drink. It will be medium sweet but smooth and drinkable right away. If you want it semi sweet use 4-oz honey instead of 6-oz /
gal. The only reason I used the Campden (Sulphite) is because my understanding is that using both Potassium Sorbate and Sulphite together will definitely inhibit renewed fermentation and it did for me. I went with the sweeter version to please my wife and can't wait till she gets home to try it. I got 4 regular bottles and one small bottle and drank the rest. I don't usually like sweet wine but this was the fastest best so far. I'm told that most melomels don't require a lot of aging to be good and if this gets any better
with age, I'll probably never buy store bought wine again. Color is deep red, has nice legs on sides of glass after swirling, good nose and great balanced taste) Just don't tell everybody you used Welch's. I won't. Because the juice is clear to start, clearing is naturally fast, fast, fast.
Enjoy cause I am.
Regards Joe ;D

Well All,
My wife didn't like it after all, but everyone else who tried it loved it. She just doesn't like anything that taste like wine. It has a great concord taste from the final sweetening by using the 4 or 6 oz of juice and honey to sweeten it. Yes the sorbate and campden is necessary if you don't want it to take off again as the EC-1118 yeast has a very high alcohol tolerance and you would ruin the taste and cause a longer ageing time if you use more honey or don't stabilize it at a lower alcohol content.
Joe

This is suppose to be a quick and easy mead folks. No need for a big primary.It is so quick you can use the jug as a primary and secondary. Fermentation will be done in 3 weeks with EC-1118. The one gallon jug with EC-1118 and 3 inches of headspace will be fine. Mine did not run over and fermented at 68 degrees. No nutrients are necessary and you will make up the balance when you rack by stabilizing and racking over honey and more juice. Keep this one simple. This is one to drink right away. No need to rack a bunch of times. The welch's is clear already and it probably doesn't even need pectin enzyme as I found out in my second batch. If you use more than 2 lbs of honey it may take longer to age. No need to try and break alcohol records on this easy one.
Good Luck, Joe

Use an airlock instead of a rag on the jug. This one is simple. Forget the primary / secondary senario. The proof is in the pudding. Joe