I’m no mead maker and stick to mostly to beer. I have a 3 year old blueberry made from just pure blueberry juice, clover honey, water and yeast. It came out nice but way too dry. So I poured a small glass and added Splenda a little at a time until the sweetness did not overpower it but took away some of the dry, almost astringent (juice no blueberry skins) taste. I understand “back sweetening” mead is done sometimes. Am I on the right track here before I add Splenda to more bottles. It is still BTW.
I’d back sweeten rather than adding Splenda.
[quote=“Edward Teach”]I’d back sweeten rather than adding Splenda.[/quote] Thanks,
With plain old sugar? Given it’s age will I need to add some kind of chemical to prevent it from fermenting the sugar? The reason for my choice of Splenda was I figured it was not fermentable and it tastes just like sugar to me.
I’d use honey to back sweeten. I’d heard of using capmden tabs to make sure the yeast dies off. Baratone knows quite a bit more than I do on the subject.
The honey makes sense. It would add some nice flavor to it. From what I can Google adding Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Metabisulfite will halt fermentation. Then add 1 cup of honey per 5 gallons of mead. I’m not sure how that could be mixed in when I have it in various bottles.
Sure I could have looked it up before but there is usually someone right here who answers questions and enjoys it.
Thanks Ed T
if you have an empty vessel, you could sanitize & flush with CO2. empty all the bottles into it & proceed from there. a bucket would be better.
One gallon is already in a gallon jug so that will be easy. They say to use one cup of honey for 5 so I can try to do 1/5 a cup.
Thanks again.
I also agree that I would backsweeten instead of using the artifical sweetener. I’m not a fan of what the artifical sweetener adds to the party. But, if you use the honey you will have to allow extra time for clearing.
Depending on the length of time you plan to continue aging, I have had good luck using KAL brand 100% pure Stevia. But, have not liked other brands due to the fact that they are cut with bulking agents.
[quote=“Baratone Brewer”]I also agree that I would backsweeten instead of using the artifical sweetener. I’m not a fan of what the artifical sweetener adds to the party. But, if you use the honey you will have to allow extra time for clearing.
Depending on the length of time you plan to continue aging, I have had good luck using KAL brand 100% pure Stevia. But, have not liked other brands due to the fact that they are cut with bulking agents.[/quote]
I must say i had never heard of Stevia. Had to Google it to find out what it was. Is that something a regular grocery would sell? You learn something new every day here.
You can find it at some grocery stores. But, I have tried several different brands and have not liked any of them except for KAL Brand. I had to order it online. Some of them have a very strong licorice or have a horrible after taste. Many of the ones you will find in the store are cut with bulking agents and contain very little pure stevia. I have placed in several competitions using the KAL brand and the judges didn’t pick up on it at all.
The honey makes sense. It would add some nice flavor to it. From what I can Google adding Potassium Sorbate and Potassium Metabisulfite will halt fermentation. Then add 1 cup of honey per 5 gallons of mead. I’m not sure how that could be mixed in when I have it in various bottles.
Sure I could have looked it up before but there is usually someone right here who answers questions and enjoys it.
Thanks Ed T[/quote]
To be certain this will work you should check the pH of the mead. The amount you need of Potassium Metabisulfite depends on the pH. With wine that’s pretty easy: if it doesn’t taste flat and flabby, you probably have enough acid present to allow 1 campden tablet per gallon to be sufficient. Mead tends to be more variable. Also, careful with the Potassium Sorbate, it has a short shelf life and goes bad VERY quickly when the container isn’t sealed tight.
But details aside, this is a good aproach.
