I am making Curt Stocks “Triple Berry Melomel”.
It says the final gravity should be 1.030-1.040.
He also said that the must should be in the primary for 2-4 weeks.
It has been a week and my gravity reading is already at 1.050.
Should i let it go for the 2-4 weeks or should i rack it to secondary as soon as it gets to a gravity of 1.040?
or
keep it in the primary for the 2-4 weeks, check the gravity and sweeten it to the final gravity?
Any thoughts?
As with most things, “Milage may very.”
Each batch of honey, yeast, water, fruit, etc. is different so there could be slight or major differences from his batch to your batch.
My 2¢ would be let the fermentation go till it is done; i.e. when gravity is stable for a few days in a row. Then rack off. After a few months decide if you need to sweeten and how you will do that.
The fruit is already in with primary right? When the gravity is getting close to where you think it should end you could start tasting it; if the fruit flavor starts changing towards too tart or too tannic then rack off the fruit.
If you try to sweeten before fermentation is done, that sugar will be eaten as well.
You could set up a one gallon batch of dessert mead separately and use it to sweeten after a few months.
dob
