Adding more honey during primary fermentation?

[Leeham991]

Just wondering if this is a good idea or would it mess stuff up, and if anyone has ever tried this?

I'm not actually planning on adding more to my batch. I'm a bit paranoid about it and don't want to open it until I'm ready to rack. It's my first go and I don't want to mess it up x3

I ask more from curiosity than anything.

[wargodsown]

I have been told by a few of the older mead heads that if they wanna push the abv. That they step feed it honey to keep it going. They pick a gravity measurement they wanna stay at and keep adding honey to it to keep it at that level as apposed to adding it all in the beginning and shocking the yeast

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[Robusto]

I have been told by a few of the older mead heads that if they wanna push the abv. That they step feed it honey to keep it going

Yes, this is what I have done. The idea is that by adding honey in increments it puts less stress on the yeasties than dumping them into a must with a high OG. If I remember correctly, stressing the yeast early on can produce more SO2 (the stinky rotten egg smell), off flavours, and fusel alcohols that take a long time to age out. Think of it like a 7 course meal one course at a time instead of trying to eat it all at once- you are less likely to get indigestion. Check out my log from my “Orange you glad I said Cherry” mead. I pushed EC-1118 over 18% ABV and the mead was drinkable in 6 weeks, and is now amazing after 5 months. Now before you go thinking that I am a seasoned pro -I’m not. This was mainly through luck- I think that the acid and residual sugars made it more drinkable sooner. But I have used the step-feeding technique in other batches since that are showing a lot of promise.


http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19571

[wargodsown]

Originally Posted by Robusto

Yes, this is what I have done. The idea is that by adding honey in increments it puts less stress on the yeasties than dumping them into a must with a high OG. If I remember correctly, stressing the yeast early on can produce more SO2 (the stinky rotten egg smell), off flavours, and fusel alcohols that take a long time to age out. Think of it like a 7 course meal one course at a time instead of trying to eat it all at once- you are less likely to get indigestion. Check out my log from my “Orange you glad I said Cherry” mead. I pushed EC-1118 over 18% ABV and the mead was drinkable in 6 weeks, and is now amazing after 5 months. Now before you go thinking that I am a seasoned pro -I’m not. This was mainly through luck- I think that the acid and residual sugars made it more drinkable sooner. But I have used the step-feeding technique in other batches since that are showing a lot of promise.


http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19571

Wow over 18 like zoinks scoob I didn't think yeast normally went that high.

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[Chevette Girl]

I pushed EC-1118 past 18% doing step-feeding too. That yeast's tolerance is 18%, so it is possible.

[Robusto]

Wow over 18 like zoinks scoob I didn't think yeast normally went that high.

EC-1118 and KV1-1116 can and do it quite regularly if you treat them right.

[fatbloke]

It seems that it is possible to exceed the published tolerance. That's probably more to do with the differences between grape musts (that the data is published for) and mead musts/the careful fermentation methods/techniques we often use.

[Yo momma]

I agree with Fatbloke. Remember that once you start to step feed to keep it going. When you stop, thats when the SO2 smell will kick in and the fusels will develope. The yeast will be in an eating frenzy then you cut them off, well hell that would/will piss me off! LOL Study the Djorniak (spelling) posts on this site, Blokes-Sandmans-Yomomma, they will guide you in the right direction. Hope that helps

[huesmann]

I took a 71B batch to about 17% by step feeding once.