I think my mead went wrong...

[ohowson]

made on 20th Dec, 1.35kg honey, 1 demi-john (so made up to 5l), 2 squirts of lemon juice, 8 raisins in there. 1/3 pack of wine yeast. Measured at 1.062 @ 19.5c which I now know is a bit low - should have added more honey apparently.

Siphoned today into a second demi-john. Was still bubbling so thought I'd better try and stop it. Measured at 1.05 @ 15c which suggests it's only 2.3%. It's sweet with a hint of bitterness - I've not *drunk* mead for years of course so could be all kinds of wrong.

Any thoughts (a) on what I messed up? Should I have put more yeast in to get it eating the sugar faster?
and (b) on whether I can rescue what is currently shamed by cheap french lager...?

 

[Fireside Ales Homebrewery]

made on 20th Dec, 1.35kg honey, 1 demi-john (so made up to 5l), 2 squirts of lemon juice, 8 raisins in there. 1/3 pack of wine yeast. Measured at 1.062 @ 19.5c which I now know is a bit low - should have added more honey apparently.

Siphoned today into a second demi-john. Was still bubbling so thought I'd better try and stop it. Measured at 1.05 @ 15c which suggests it's only 2.3%. It's sweet with a hint of bitterness - I've not *drunk* mead for years of course so could be all kinds of wrong.

Any thoughts (a) on what I messed up? Should I have put more yeast in to get it eating the sugar faster?
and (b) on whether I can rescue what is currently shamed by cheap french lager...?

Hi,
I wouldn’t lose hope. It sounds fine. It might be more of a session mead and not the kind to have Thor under the table. Sounds like it will be fine though. Mead takes ages to age and mature. At least a year. Bottle and let it rest. It will be way to young to fully enjoy yet.

 

[johncrobinson]

Hmmmm some odd figures hear,
1.062 fermented fully out should give you just over 8.5%abv

Also 1.35kg of honey in the gallon should give you a higher than 1.062 starting gravity anyway,I would of expected nearer 1.090.

Normally with mead abnormal low starting gravities are the result of incomplete mixing.(The honey tends to settle as a layer on bottom of the demijohn giving false low gravity readings.)

Since you don't seem to have used any nutrient and only 1/2 pk of yeast you are going to be in for the long haul.
Finally your temperatures are very low at 15c most yeasts are dozing.

You are making a mead to the old traditional methods
There is nothing wrong with that but ,These types of mead's (traditional) can take months and months and months to ferment.
Also to be very clear 8 raisins does not count as nutrient.

There are ways to fully ferment a mead in less than a couple of weeks
but the result is (slightly) different.

 

[ohowson]

Well... I'll bottle it and stick it in the garage. Unfortunately I need to leave it in the kitchen and it gets cold in there.

Next time I'll go for super-duper mixing! What (extra) nutrient should I be adding? I've got room to stick another one on!

 

[johncrobinson]

DAP (Young's wine yeast nutrient) plus a bit of vitamin b1 helps.
In fact any good brand will do my personal favorite is Tronomyzol.

Wine musts made from grapes or many other fresh fruits generally have all the nutrient needed for a good ferment.

Honey however does not,Without these nutrients fermentation can be very slow.(months and months)
With the risk of hot flavours requiring years to "mature" out or even the fermentation sticking before the mead is finished.

The yeast also needs quite a heavy dose. At least 1 FULL pack per gallon if not more.

Others add chopped raisins (you need quite a lot,About 250grams per gallon) as an alternative to chemical yeast foods.

Another option is to mix the honey with other juices.
Examples are :-
Pyment (made from honey plus grape juice.)
Cyser (made from honey plus apple juice.)
There are many more variations.