I’m looking for a low alcohol mead fo a beginner.

This has been bottled for about 6 months now. First batch I’ve made.

Is this residue sitting on top of the liquid standard?

Hi all. I just returned from a trip to Prague, and my wife fell in love with the sweeter meads served in a lot of the bars. I’m a fairly seasoned beer homebrewer, but have never made mead, and would like to give making a batch similar to what we tried a shot. The first one we tried was a dessert style, and very sweet. She liked that one, but also enjoyed the less sweet varieties that we had. The herbal varieties not as much.

I’ve tried googling, but could only find one recipe in BrewersFriend. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

Disclaimer: This is my first time making mead, and I realize I might be missing some basics so I apologize in advance :). I was relying on my own enthusiasm, advice from "knowledgeable" folks, and a few things I picked up online.

I started four days ago. I’m using a 30 liter barrel with a clamp-style lid and an airlock. I used about 5.5 kg of homemade honey and around 22 liters of water (I heated the honey to about 40-45°C, then added room-temperature water, after that wait for must to cool down to room temperature in the barrel). Beforehand, I sanitized the barrel and all tools with a Bio-San and added about 9 grams of fermaid e to the must.

I rehydrated a sachet of Mangrove Jack’s Mead (M05) yeast in room-temperature water, added it to the mix, stirred it in, sealed the barrel with the metal clamp, and installed an airlock filled with vodka.

Today marks the fourth day, and the airlock is silent. I’m wondering: is it time to worry? I’ve checked the seal, and as far as I can tell, the barrel is airtight.

I acknowledge I might have made some fundamental mistakes. I’d like to know if the situation is salvageable or if I should just dump the contents down the drain and chalk it up to "experience" :)

Any kind of advice is highly appreciated

Bottled 3 Meads on 10/09 and checked them yesterday and noticed discoloration on the bottom of the corks (side touching the mead). Is this mold? I am very thorough with my sanitation and soaked these puppies for 5-10 mins each before corking.

I have been making mead for a few years now. I have done this same recipe before (apple cider) and expected no issues. However- I am on day 5, and my mead has yet to start visible fermentation.

Recipe:
4 gallons of local apple cider
2 packets of EC-1118 yeast
~9 lbs of wildflower honey
Usual additions of Fermaid O and DAP
Some pectic enzyme for clarity

What is going on? I have been aerating twice a day and have yet to see any bubbles!

Testing what ratio of sugar to add for my bone dry Apple melomel. I am thinking of adding cinnamon as well, or maybe even some Graham Crackers to get more of a "pie" character.