Homebrew Mead Wine

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Originally Posted by Brian

I'd never even consider drinking a month-old mead though. (I've seen guys take a sip to try theirs in YT videos, so I thought I'd try it. Maybe these guys know what ass-like mead will taste like months later, dunno)There's a recipe out there for BOMM (Bray's One Month Mead) that's supposed to be ok to drink that soon, but I've never tried it. Especially if it tastes "fermenty" I'm guessing you still have yeast in solution. Is it still kinda cloudy or is it clear? (Due to my noobness, it was a bit cloudy. It was pretty damn clear before I messed with it.)

I honestly treat this hobby kinda like NFA stuff. Start something, do all the work and then forget it for a while. Start something else next month, and repeat. Eventually, you start getting to the point where things are ready to drink, or at least for the next step on a regular basis, but you're not sweating that thing you just started, waiting to see when it will be ready. :)

Best advice is patience... :) Not my strong point, but I knew this was key going in)

Second best advice is to start bottling at least one extra bottle and setting it away, for the day we all eventually figure out how to organize a tasting party. If you're taking decent notes, even the nasty batches can be helpful as we all share what to do and what not to do.

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Tasting party! I like this idea.

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the pointers.

Cloudy = lees/yeast cake got disturbed and you likely got it in the secondary. This is not unexpected and should not cause concern. All it means it you will need to re-rack to a tertiary aging bottle. Since this is a months long process from start to finish, it would not be awful to wait a few days (or weeks, who knows) for the following:

1) see if it's still producing airlock activity (which is not itself a sure indication of continued fermentation. might need to just observe it for activity in the solution itself)
2) let it clarify via a process of gravity pulling down the yeast, and then, without disturbing it, siphon to tertiary bottle (sanitize all equipment first!). Have someone else hold the exit end of the siphon in the new bottle while you slowly and with as little disturbance of the yeast as possible, siphon from top down.

Tip: ferment/age/etc in place. If you must move to that place of siphoning, let it clarify before racking again

One other thing probably worth mentioning. Everybody has different preferences, but in general most of those champagne-style yeasts do a great job of eating up all the sugars, leaving you with a very dry result. Often this means you get something like flavored rocket fuel at first. Some of that will tame with time, so rack it and stash it and let it sit. But if you already hit .99, it's probable that you'll want to add some chems to stop any leftover fermentation and then add some sort of backsweetening at some point to make it tasty again. Not every mead has to be super sweet, but a little can go a long way. You can add sugar, honey, juice, etc. - whatever you think you'd like, just do it a little at a time, because it's easy to overdo. Some people prefer to leave it very dry and add something when you drink. If you ever make a dry cider (like the popular german cider apfelwein), many guys swear by leaving it dry and adding sprite or 7-up or something when you drink it.

I'm glad this thread popped back up, hopefully going to inspire me to take care of some of those stashed carboys.

I cask age my meads in a Hungarian oak barrel..:)

I use a 5 gal home deport bucket that sometimes has bits of paint flakes still floating in it. The residual chemicals bring out a certain bite that covers up for my cheap honey choices.

/sarc

Seriously though -- what sort of actual differences do you notice vs aging in a standard carboy? Have you ever done a portion of the same batch in a small carboy to see if there is an actual difference or just perceived? I ask because I often wonder how much of the brewing hobby is like shooting, where the equipment's difference making is all in the mind of the user rather than actually being better.

A few more noob questions.
I got home early this morning and couldn't wait any longer. I poured some mead from a carboy and drank it. This was a raspberry that I brewed on Oct 6th. It was about 70 degrees.

Yum. Very tasty, very dry, but I wanted dry. It did have a bit of a bitter aftertaste that lingered for a few seconds, but I've bought "good" wine with worse bitterness. Is this the tannins that are supposed to mellow over time?

Also, what is the proper glass to drink mead from? I seem to have misplaced my hollow rams horn and the golden goblet that I plundered from that weak-ass village.

What's the abv? When you say bitter... as in a fusel/gasoline style taste or something else?

My cyser is now bottled. I went with 12oz beer style bottles w/ oxygen barrier caps. I didn't measure gravity on this batch, but based on the yeast and past experience, I'd estimate it's somewhere around 18% abv but still very sweet. 12 oz has the same effect on me as ~4beers.

If anyone in the Springs area is thinking about doing cyser and wants to try it first before investing in 120 bucks in honey (5 gal batch), please send me a PM and I'll give you a bottle.

I'll be doing another batch soon and will let it sit in primary longer to try to cut some sweetness and raise abv. to yeast max (~22%). I'll then age in secondary for 6 months or so.

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Originally Posted by CavSct1983

What's the abv? When you say bitter... as in a fusel/gasoline style taste or something else?

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I didn't check the abv. Just poured into a bottle (now empty) and started sippin out of a glass on a whim. At this point I'd say it has a rather high alcohol content. LOL

I guess you could call it a sort of gasoline after taste, but not nearly as strong. It's totally drinkable though.

The mead is crystal clear and looks awesome. My uneducated guess is that more time will cure the aftertaste.

Funny, I never even tried mead before brewing it, so I have no frame of reference at all. I might have to break down and buy one of the $20 bottles at the liquor store and compare. It's Stonegate or something like that. Worth a try or is it garbage?

I'd try redstone meadery's stuff.

The taste profile you describe is fusels and the result of stressing the yeast by fermenting at too high of an ambient temperature. It takes time to mellow. What I'm reading about that indicates age for 6 months or so.