Personally, I’d rather make good mead consistently with modern methods, then curl up with A Game of Thrones or another good book. Have you read the Song of Ice and Fire books? The author has been taking his time with the latest installment, but it’s world class fantasy that’s perfect with a glass (or mug or tankard or …) of mead.

Erroll

And one must remember humanity has been making mead back to before recorded history, as such it was an ancient artform by the birth of the roman empire. Methods for ensuring sterility and making a well balanced beverage, while not as scientific, were well known even in the days of Aristotle.

I often reuse yeast just as you are doing. The biggest risk is infection, but adding sulfited must onto the lees immediately after racking is a good way to minimize that risk. So keep at it, but be quick, pay attention to cleanliness and sanitation, and be alert for off tastes or smells.

Erroll

Now, it is very dry and I am not sure if it will get any better

When you say it like that, it sounds like dryness is a defect – not so! Personally, I like dry mead very much, but you can easily sweeten your mead if you like. It’s best to wait until the mead is clear, then stabilize and sweeten with honey or sugar syrup. Follow these steps:

• Fine with bentonite.
• Dissolve sorbate, according to the manufacturer’s directions, in a little bit of water and place it in a new carboy with one campden tablet per gallon (or equivilent of sulfite) and the desired amount of honey or sugar syrup. Rack the clear mead into this carboy.
• Take a specific gravity (SG) reading and monitor the airlock over the next month, then take another SG reading. If there is no airlock activity and the SG readings are the same, you can go ahead and bottle. If not, you may have renewed fermentation and you should monitor it for another month (this would be a good time to rack if you have more sediment).
• If you do have renewed fermentation, you should let it run it’s course. When it has (stable SG, no airlock activity), then you can either bottle or try to stabilize and sweeten again.

It looks like you’re aiming for a quick sweet mead, and I think this procedure will get you there. I really liked aged dry meads. If you’ve never made one, I urge you to try it sometime – you might be pleasantly surprised. Anyway, I hope this helps and that you let me know how it turns out.

Erroll

It sounds like you’re leading an exciting life!

Beer yeast will work in making mead, though it might impart beer-like flavor to the mead.

The diammonium phosphate is a nutrient, and I’m not sure what you could find in a grocery store that would be a good substitute. Sometimes yeast hulls are used as a nutrient. These are dead yeast cells that have been processed to make the nutrients they contain available to live yeast. Maybe you can get that in a health food store. Another thought: if you’re using beer yeast, why not use a little malt extract? The malt is a good source of nutrient, but it may make your mead a little more beer like. I’ve never done this, so I’m not really sure how much you should use.

If I were making a 20 liter (5 gallon) batch of mead and I had to use malt extract for the nutrients, I would try 1 liter (quart) of malt extract, 3 liters (quarts) honey, and 16 liters (4 gallons) water. Double check the SG once you mix all of this up.

Hope this helps,
Erroll

Lucas

I’d love to hear about your progress. I think most meadmakers aim for a higher specific gravity than 1.075. I often target 1.090, but Brother Adam, the famous meadmaker of Buckfast Abbey, liked to make low gravity meads. So finish this mead and see how you like it. Make another batch at a higher gravity and see if you and your girlfriend (don’t leave her out!) like that one. Then you’ll know better if you like higher or lower gravity in your mead.

Erroll