Homebrew Mead Wine

[Guylee]

I made mead in my barracks room once and let it sit in the closet while I was deployed.

It was terrible. Tasted like turpentine.

[CS1983]

Rear D found it, siphoned, and replaced with turpentine. lol

Did you make mead or gin? Mead shouldn't taste like pine trees.

[GilpinGuy]

OK, I racked my first gallon this evening. I made some newb mistakes, but that's to be expected.

This gallon is just about a month old. No activity from the yeast in a 3 or 4 days. I siphoned some off and it was at .99 SG or so. So I decided to rack it. Naturally, I jostled it around a little, wiggled the siphon a bit and got some of the lees churned up, but that's ok. I''m learning here.

The mead smelled very "fermenty" if you know what I mean. I took a sip. Not pleasing.

The recipe was super simple:
Honey, water, cuvee, blanc, fermax and water. Plus slices from an orange for this one (I have 4 others going now and I'm a total newb here )

So, should I be worried a this point? I watch YT videos of guys racking and taking a sip and being like "oh, this is so good....". Mine was not "so good". Yeah, I'm a bit impatient, but if this gallon is junk, I'd rather know now than waiting months to find out.

[CS1983]

Cuvee is a high ABV yield yeast and you said before that you are running about 70*F, right? It will probably need a little while to smooth out.

It's not beer or something complicated. It's mead. Let it sit in primary for a few months and then bottle it. If it tastes off still at bottling, put it away for a year to let the fusels mellow.

[GilpinGuy]

Cuvee is a high ABV yield yeast and you said before that you are running about 70*F, right?

70*F is probably the max. I thought that was too low, but alas, I have learned that it's not with this yeast.

Let it sit in primary for a few months and then bottle it.

Even with fruit sitting in there? I guess I ASS-U-ME-ed it was necessary to rack it after a certain point to avoid problems with the fruit. Such a newb...... Thanks for the info man!

[CS1983]

Sorry, I just realized I wrote 'sit in primary' instead of secondary. I'd remove the fruit and push to secondary. Just sit the secondary w/ the mead itself. My main concern is that you'd end up with orange Pledge instead of something more drinkable. However, you have tasted it and I have not, so that is your call.

Cuvee is definitely better w/ lower temps. 70* would be a few degrees too high for my comfort. I'm slightly nervous w/ my own batch at a constant 68*.

[Brian]

I don't know about your batch, but I've had several batches now that just plain do not taste good a few months in, but really change after 6-12 months sitting in a corner somewhere. Rack it, put a good "S" airlock on it and don't let it dry out, and forget about it for a while.
I'd never even consider drinking a month-old mead though. 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?

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...

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.

[GilpinGuy]

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.

Tasting party! I like this idea.

You guys are awesome. Thanks for the pointers.

[CS1983]

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

[Brian]

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.