Read a bunch here and I'm kind of confused about when to do things, so I'm just gonna throw the newbie card and ask..... TIA...

Have 3 batches that I've moved into secondary after all got to 1.000 SG, all are in 1 gal carboys with airlocks. 1 is a plain mead, one is a pear cyser the third is raspberry lemon and very low ABV. All went straight to secondary and nothing new added. Trying to understand next steps and more importantly, the why behind the answers as I'm sure there are different schools of thought and likely no "Right" way.

Assuming all need backsweetened (or even some do) should I do that in the secondary or wait until they are ready to bottle?

When backsweetening (all 1 gal batches) should I siphon off to a pitcher and then pour into bottles (that seems to assume after secondary)?

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated as I'm trying to understand all of this.

I started keeping bees last year, so I have some honey and decided to give mead making a try. To get started I bought a kit and followed the directions to the letter, it is now about 10 days into fermentation and seems to be moving along swimmingly... Of course, now I want to explore more so I started doing research and bought a bunch of stuff to try different recipes. Yesterday I started a Spiced Pear, following the recipe below that I found online... Couple things don't align with what I'm seeing in research here and other places so I'm looking for feedback from those with real world experience.

1. Doesn't call for a yeast nutrient. Do I need one? Does the fruit provide enough nutrition for the yeast?

2. 2 weeks seems a very short fermentation, I assume it will be a very low ABV. If I let it go longer that isn't a problem is it? I'll need to add some nutrient if I do I assume.

3. Says to transfer to a carboy after 2 weeks to age. Seems like it will still be actively fermenting and that would create a risk of a bottle bomb. My plan was to stabilize when I transfer it. Is that the right thought?

Planning on another batch this week, probably a raspberry lemon and similar questions are floating through my head on the recipe for that.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs ripe pears, chopped (Bartletts work great for their sweetness)
• 1 gallon spring water (filtered tastes cleaner)
• 2 cups honey (local, raw honey adds depth)
• 1 cinnamon stick (Ceylon for a smoother spice)
• 1 packet mead yeast (Lalvin D47 is my favorite for fruit meads)

Instructions

1. Sanitize all equipment with a no-rinse sanitizer to prevent contamination.
2. In a large pot, combine pears and spring water. Bring to a boil at 212°F, then simmer for 30 minutes to extract flavors.
3. Strain the pear mixture into a fermenting bucket, pressing the pears to release all juice. Discard solids.
4. Stir in honey until fully dissolved. This is your mead base, or ‘must.’
5. Let the must cool to 70°F before adding the mead yeast. Sprinkle yeast on top; do not stir.
6. Add the cinnamon stick to the bucket. Cover with an airlock and ferment at 68-72°F for 2 weeks.
7. After fermentation, siphon the mead into a clean carboy, leaving sediment behind. Age for at least 3 months.
8. Before bottling, taste and adjust sweetness if needed by adding more honey. Bottle and age another month.