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Carroll's Sweet Mead

Barrel Char Wood Products

Shedretnip

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 10, 2017
2
0
0
Hi, I am a new bee and have not made my first batch of mead, but want to get started.

I have everything I need to make mead except for a receipt for the sweet mead that I would like to make.

I have read The Complete Mead Maker by Ken Schramm, but I can't figure out how to make Carroll's sweet mead which shows 8 AVB on the bottle. ???

Has anyone successfully made Carroll's sweet mead and if so could you share your recipe?

Thanks :)
 

dingurth

Worker Bee
Registered Member
May 23, 2012
489
3
18
Brooklyn , NY
Hey Shedretnip and welcome to GotMead!

The Compleat Mead Maker is a great place to start, but also check out the NewBee guide at the top of the page that has more modern practices.

ABV is directly related to gravity, so make sure you have a hydrometer. You can use the Got Mead Batch Calculator to figure out what gravity you'll need to get 8% abv, and from that figure out how much honey to use.
Because it is a low abv, sweet mead, my guess is they do the initial ferment completely dry to get the abv, then stabilize and backsweeten. You might have to play with how much to backsweeten by unless you can measure the gravity of Carroll's mead.

The type of yeast you use and the honey will also have a big impact. My guess is something light with floral and apple notes. The only clues that they give on Carroll's website (http://carrollsmead.com/) that I saw is that it is fermented cold. So you'll want to pay attention to your temp control a lot.

Remember that making mead is not like cooking with a recipe, its an in-depth process that takes a lot of control. So definitely learn as much as you can first to have a good ferment. :)
 

Shedretnip

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 10, 2017
2
0
0
Hey Shedretnip and welcome to GotMead!

The Compleat Mead Maker is a great place to start, but also check out the NewBee guide at the top of the page that has more modern practices.

ABV is directly related to gravity, so make sure you have a hydrometer. You can use the Got Mead Batch Calculator to figure out what gravity you'll need to get 8% abv, and from that figure out how much honey to use.
Because it is a low abv, sweet mead, my guess is they do the initial ferment completely dry to get the abv, then stabilize and backsweeten. You might have to play with how much to backsweeten by unless you can measure the gravity of Carroll's mead.

The type of yeast you use and the honey will also have a big impact. My guess is something light with floral and apple notes. The only clues that they give on Carroll's website (http://carrollsmead.com/) that I saw is that it is fermented cold. So you'll want to pay attention to your temp control a lot.

Remember that making mead is not like cooking with a recipe, its an in-depth process that takes a lot of control. So definitely learn as much as you can first to have a good ferment. :)


Thanks for the help. I measured the final gravity of Carrol's Sweet Mead it was 1.040 or 1.041 the best that I can tell. Can you shed any additional light on how to make the stuff? I think I can't just brew it dry to 8% ABV and backsweeten, but need to brew to say 9% ABV as I believe adding the addition honey will lower the AVB but I have no clue by how much or if it will arrive back at 8% ABV. Thanks for any help on this.
 
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns