12-24-2015, 10:22 AM
"One can make mead dry or sweet. Simply depends on the honey to water ratio. When the alcohol level gets high enough the yeast die. How much sugar is still left at the die off determines the sweetness of the final product."
Most commercial operations kill the yeast with sulfites and then blend the product and add sweeteners as needed to create a standardized product. Letting the product ferment until the alcohol gets high enough to kill the yeast can develop off-flavors in commercial-sized batches because it takes so long. Whenever you're drinking a fermented beverage you are consuming the waste products of the yeast (you can think of it as poop and pee if it illustrates this point better) with CO2 and alcohol being the desirable waste by-products, however there are also less desirable tasting things the yeast craps/pees out and the longer its fermenting, the more of it you're going to taste. So commercial operations usually kill the yeast at a lower alcohol level than what would occur naturally. Generally speaking, smaller batches ferment more quickly so home brewers / vinters can let nature take its course.
Most commercial operations kill the yeast with sulfites and then blend the product and add sweeteners as needed to create a standardized product. Letting the product ferment until the alcohol gets high enough to kill the yeast can develop off-flavors in commercial-sized batches because it takes so long. Whenever you're drinking a fermented beverage you are consuming the waste products of the yeast (you can think of it as poop and pee if it illustrates this point better) with CO2 and alcohol being the desirable waste by-products, however there are also less desirable tasting things the yeast craps/pees out and the longer its fermenting, the more of it you're going to taste. So commercial operations usually kill the yeast at a lower alcohol level than what would occur naturally. Generally speaking, smaller batches ferment more quickly so home brewers / vinters can let nature take its course.