Hello All, first time posing on GotMead. Could I ask for some help with understanding sweet mead please.
I would like to make a 5 gallon batch of sweet mead. I have made beer and spirits before so I am not completely new to the concepts, but all of my previous experience involves processes where all of the fermentables are consumed in fermentation. It eludes me how a mead can be brewed such that there is residual sweetness. I have never tried a dry wine that I like, so I don't want to go too far and end up with 5 gallons of dry mead. I am fond of an occasional drop of port, which is my driving force to produce a sweet mead.
So far I have sourced local raw honey, 3 tubs is 8.4 kg (about 18.5 lb), and some Mangrove Jacks M05 yeast. I was told by my supplier this yeast doesn't require nutrient feeding and has very high alcohol tolerance. I have a couple of 30 L plastic fermenters, several 15 L plastic carboys and 5 x 5L glass demijohns.
I am hoping to keep it simple, which has worked well for me for years with beer and spirits. I am aware I will need a decent hydrometer as my beer hydrometer doesn't have the range required and my spirit hydrometer doesn't read SG, only ABV of an ethanol/water solution.
Sorry if you have heard this question a million times before. I have been reading voraciously but I am not comfortable I have understood this aspect yet and my head is starting to ache (a lot) ;-).
Cheers, Rod.
I would like to make a 5 gallon batch of sweet mead. I have made beer and spirits before so I am not completely new to the concepts, but all of my previous experience involves processes where all of the fermentables are consumed in fermentation. It eludes me how a mead can be brewed such that there is residual sweetness. I have never tried a dry wine that I like, so I don't want to go too far and end up with 5 gallons of dry mead. I am fond of an occasional drop of port, which is my driving force to produce a sweet mead.
So far I have sourced local raw honey, 3 tubs is 8.4 kg (about 18.5 lb), and some Mangrove Jacks M05 yeast. I was told by my supplier this yeast doesn't require nutrient feeding and has very high alcohol tolerance. I have a couple of 30 L plastic fermenters, several 15 L plastic carboys and 5 x 5L glass demijohns.
I am hoping to keep it simple, which has worked well for me for years with beer and spirits. I am aware I will need a decent hydrometer as my beer hydrometer doesn't have the range required and my spirit hydrometer doesn't read SG, only ABV of an ethanol/water solution.
Sorry if you have heard this question a million times before. I have been reading voraciously but I am not comfortable I have understood this aspect yet and my head is starting to ache (a lot) ;-).
Cheers, Rod.