Mead too dry

[Tony from WesrOz]

I have been making fruit wines for a few years and then tried brewing Cider.
Now I am brewing Mead using :

• 8 Kg of honey
• 17 L of rain water
• 8 grams Mangrove Jacks Mead yeast.

I am getting a very very dry Mead.
How do you recommend that I brew a sweeter, more honey flavoured Mead?
More Honey?
Less water?

 

[MHB]

Assuming you made it up to 23L (which is what I get from the numbers) your OG should be 1.100 (give or take a touch. Fermented to dryness (1.000) gives you an alcohol content a bit over 13%, it could be higher but I don’t have your FG. You have chosen a yeast that will go to 18%, so you would need a fair bit more honey or as you said less water.

The other option would be a less attenuateive yeast Wyeast sweet mead pulls up around 12% (from memory), some sweet wine yeasts might work to, or even some Ale yeast like Nottingham that stopped at 12% would leave some residual sugars (ale will change the flavours and would need nutrients to perform well).

If it’s still in the fermenter you could just stir in some more honey and keep doing so until the yeast stops (SG stops changing) and you get the residual sweetness you want.
Mark

 

[Tony from WesrOz]

MHB, Thank you for your reply.
That aligns with my thinking, less water or more honey.
I will see if I can get the "Wyeast sweet mead" from my local Brew shop

 

[Henryshooch]

Why not just back sweeten with honey to desired taste then pasteurize to ensure that no further fermentation occurs?

That is providing that you are happy with a 13% mead of course.