# My first mead (for real this time)



## seth8530

Ok, guys and girls. I was down in Georgia (dont ask why) and i happend on a farmers market in the middle of a festival and they were selling honey for 45 bucks for the gallon.. Needless to say i walked away with 13.75 lbs of honey for 60 dollars. So i have decided to make mead. Im shooting for a gravity of 13 percent and I was wondering if their was anything i needed to know about it besided the lack of nutrients.. Should I add spices or fruit to it? any ideas?


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> Ok, guys and girls. I was down in Georgia (dont ask why) and i happend on a farmers market in the middle of a festival and they were selling honey for 45 bucks for the gallon.. Needless to say i walked away with 13.75 lbs of honey for 60 dollars. So i have decided to make mead. Im shooting for a gravity of 13 percent and I was wondering if their was anything i needed to know about it besided the lack of nutrients.. Should I add spices or fruit to it? any ideas?


Well, it depends on what it is that you're actually looking for.

Something that's very "wine like" ? If so, then a dry traditional.

Or maybe something that still shows some of the honey character? well that's also gonna be a traditional, but probably with back sweetening.

Or maybe dry sparkling ?

Or is there a local fruit that you like ? maybe you could try that or just something that's in season at the moment.....

Maybe it's something a little more "exotic" that you've got in mind, maybe like a Bochet (burnt honey mead) ?

You've plenty of choices, but you'll have to narrow things down a little as basically, you've got the start of just about anything.

If you want "easy", then google for the JAO recipe - and whatever you do, make it "as per the recipe", then you'll have a benchmark to work from. Don't doubt the presence of orange peel, pith and all. Don't over do the spices, as that can make it undrinkable. Just follow the instructions......


Hence, it's up to you what direction you want to head in.......


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## seth8530

I want a traditional mead. One that would not be odd for a viking to drink. I do plan on back sweetening it. What kind of spices would be good to use?


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## seth8530

Im also shooting for a bout 12-13 percent alcohol and i want to use my lavlin champagne yeast that i have on hand. Along with a healthy helping of nutrient.


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## seth8530

Ok, i decided on a strawberry mead. My recipe is as follows.

12 lbs strawberry in panty hose.
13.75lbs of farmers honey.
one pint of home made strawberry butter.
pectic enzyme and wine tannin.

right now the gravity level allows for an 11 percent potential. Im hoping after i let this sit over night that the pectic enzyme will go to work on the strawberrys and will raise it up to about 13 to 14 percent.

Any questions or comments? suggestions?


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## seth8530

Ok, the potential has now dropped down to about 10 percent with no fermentation. So im gona go and buy two more quarts of honey and shooting for about a 15 percent potential. I think i have about 6.5 gallons of mead ^_^


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## seth8530

ok added four and a half pints of dark honey and it seems to of brought the sugar level up to somewhere between 13.5 and 14 percent potential. im gona try and wait till tomorrow and then i will check the level before pitching in the yeast.


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## fatbloke

There's little point in quoting "alcohol potential", as that's rather meaningless. Here, and many other forums, it's mainly "gravity" readings/measurements (expressed to 3 decimal places), or maybe a "brix" measurement, as that's popular in the US and is easily converted to gravity measurements.

Champagne yeast is not really good to use, as you'll find that it does seem to blow a lot of the flavour and aroma elements straight out the airlock and the resultant mead can take a long time to recover, if ever.

You end up with a mead that's likely to be "alcohol hot" and when that flavour fades, unremarkable tasting mead that's not really very distinctive.

Most wine yeasts are good for at least 14%. D47 is popular, but really needs to be fermented in the mid 60's F, otherwise you can get a lot of fusels..... 71B is good and produces meads that can be drinkable a little quicker than might otherwise be the case. K1V is also good, has a higher alcohol tolerance and a very wide temperature range. Yes, meads can taste a little "rough" when young but it seems to age beautifully. 

I'm also a fan of D21 (much harder to get in home brew sized packs though).

So, also, to get the maximum out of the strawberries, I'd suggest that you ferment the mead without the fruit to start with, then add the fruit into secondary, or even tertiary. Again, the very vigorous first part of the ferment can easily reduce the fruit flavour/aroma part, which is usually why a lot of people will split the fruit, or put it in secondary (or tertiary), because it seems to preserve more of the fruit flavour and can also help toward making the mead drinkable earlier.

As for your initial question about spices, well I'd say that the spices should match the fruit i.e. ones that have a proven link like apple and cinnamon, etc etc. Strawberries ? well if you consult anyone with a little "cheffy" type knowledge they seem to go well with, of all things, black pepper. Though I like them (well as a smoothie) with a little vanilla. Either way, it's worth heeding Joe Mattioli's advice in the "JAO" recipe about not over doing the spices, when he alludes to cloves. It's very easy to use too much and make a batch undrinkable, so with the spices, it really does seem that "less is more".

regards

fatbloke


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## seth8530

Alright, well its too late for a different choice of yeast. You think i could get more strawberry goodness by leaving these in from the primary and into the secondary? Also, i dont want it to be dominated by strawberry. I want it to be mainly mead with a strawberry flavor in it. 

Also i have a 1.05 starting gravity and right now it is at 1.097


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> Alright, well its too late for a different choice of yeast. You think i could get more strawberry goodness by leaving these in from the primary and into the secondary? Also, i dont want it to be dominated by strawberry. I want it to be mainly mead with a strawberry flavor in it.
> 
> Also i have a 1.05 starting gravity and right now it is at 1.097


You might have to clarify the numbers, because 1.05(0)? is lower than 1.097

You've put the fruit in the primary, well that's fine. If you did find that there's not enough strawberry flavour, then you can always steep some in it later to increase it.

Well done getting it underway. Oh and I presume you're using the same user name over at gotmead. There is a few other places with mead forums, I try to keep my eyes open as I don't care where info comes from, just that its good.

regards

fatbloke


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## seth8530

Yep, thats me over their. I started an acct because i wanted to learn specifically about mead making.

Sorry, i miss typed it.. as of today it is at 1.040. and moving finely.

I mainly want just a little bit of colour and flavour from the strawberry. Since this is my first mead i want it to be more about the honey and less about the fruit inside of it.


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## seth8530

Ok, the gravity is at 1.000 right now and ive got pics to prove it.. Tell me what ya think


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> Ok, the gravity is at 1.000 right now and ive got pics to prove it.. Tell me what ya think


Well at 1.000 it's well on it's way to being dry........ not surprising using champagne yeast though.....

Still, not to worry. if you want it "medium", then you can always stabilise it with sorbate/sulphite, then cold crash it if you have the fridge space to do that.

If you want more fruit flavour, you can chuck a couple of lb of fruit in it (in a muslin/cheesecloth/whatever bag) and let it sit for a couple of weeks or so.

You can just rack it off the lee's to let it clear naturally over time or you can hit it with finings.

Either way, it's gonna need to be aged to be at it's best......


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## seth8530

I def agree that it will need time. Mead is atleast 6 months, but a year is in order?


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> I def agree that it will need time. Mead is atleast 6 months, but a year is in order?


Yer never really know Seth, all you can do is make a calendar and take a little taste, maybe every 4 months, maybe every 6.

Some come good in that sort of 6 to 12 month time frame, but some people will leave it considerably longer.

I've read that mead continues to improve for 7 to 8 years..... how correct that might be is anyones guess. Most of us don't want to have to wait for that long, as we don't have the storage for enough batches to "tick over" with such an extended period


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## seth8530

haha indeed indeed. The mead is tasting rather interesting to me right now. It has a strawberry wine bite to it. Followed my a kinda creamy honeyish taste. It is completely and a sort of nuttiness. I assume that is from the yeast?


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> haha indeed indeed. The mead is tasting rather interesting to me right now. It has a strawberry wine bite to it. Followed my a kinda creamy honeyish taste. It is completely and a sort of nuttiness. I assume that is from the yeast?


Dunno Matey. I can't see where you posted about which yeast you ended up using.

It could be a bit mad though i.e. you get plenty of fruit now, with just a little honey, whereas in 6 months time it might be all honey with little if any fruit.

Yes, the yeast might indeed be giving you the flavour you're getting now, but equally, you might be getting the right amount of fruit and depending on the actual plants that derived the honey, as to why you're getting a bit of the creamy thing.....

It's part of the reason why some go straight for a varietal, as they've got an idea about what the resulting flavour will be, whereas others just go for wildflower as it's much more of a "lucky dip"......

Just give it some time Matey, let it do it's thing. I suspect it'll be worth the wait.

regards

fatbloke


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## seth8530

ok here is an updated picture. I took out a half glass to try and sample the taste and try and figure it out.. In the light it looks as follows.. however in the dark, it has a much darker rosy colour.. 

When i smell it i get a honeyish smell with a possible hint of strawberry ( remember it is completely dry) with a slight alcohol smell following it.

When i swirl the glass it leaves a clear film like coating ( is this called legs?)

When i put it in my mouth i first get a strawberry flavour followed by a slightly creamy honey taste. then it gets kinda bitter with a lasting creamy ish taste.. It def needs time for the alcohol to mellow in it but it is surprisingly tame for being 14 percent and this young. 





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FB: I used ec 1118 yeast on it because it was all i had at the time.

The creamy thing is what is throwing me off. I have no idea where it could of came from. MLF seems unlikely to me. And the relative mellowness of this mead is surprising me. Ive never made anything with 14 percent alcohol that is thing young that is this mellow. Plus it dont taste bone wrenching dry even tho the hydrometer reads below .996


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## seth8530

Ok, ive added fining agents because im gona be forced to rack soon do to moving out of a "volatile area for mead" after which im gona bulk age it in a safe location for as long as it needs it in a nice and cool basement.

The gravity looks to be about .992 or .994 so i feel pretty safe calling it dry.

Oddly enough, it doesnt taste completly dry. Alot of the bitter and nuttiness went away when i cleared it .

As best i can describe it it has a mild strawberry wine flavour followd by something different that i cant quite put my nose on.. Might be a slight hint of creaminess. Which is then followed by by an alcohol ness that is hot yet surprisingly tame considering its age. It does numb the pallet tho after less than a ounce of tasting which i find curious.. 





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## Kleftiwallah

Methalglyn is the stuff you want to make. Cheers, Tony.


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## fatbloke

Kleftiwallah said:


> Methalglyn is the stuff you want to make. Cheers, Tony.


Not necessarily. Some methyglyns are very good, but as with any use of spices, to get it right is heaven, but to get it wrong, well that's hell.

After all, you can always add a little more, but if you use too much, then it's a bugger to remove it......

Think cloves, and you'll follow my meaning......


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## seth8530

I know all about cloves... yick! Right now the mead has taking on a more alcoholic flavor and also kinda of a medicinal flavor. I cant wait to see what aging does for this batch.


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> I know all about cloves... yick! Right now the mead has taking on a more alcoholic flavor and also kinda of a medicinal flavor. I cant wait to see what aging does for this batch.


Well that just sounds like "alcohol hot" to me Seth. That should age out fine, though how long it'll take is anyones guess.


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## seth8530

Indeed, im gona wait another month before i try a little more. Just so i can get an idea of how it changes over time.. But im not gona expect anything worth wrighting home about for a while tho.


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> Indeed, im gona wait another month before i try a little more. Just so i can get an idea of how it changes over time.. But im not gona expect anything worth writing home about for a while tho.


Well if you're feeling a little impatient seth, you can always sulphite and stabilise, then add something to back sweeten it, as that will often mask the alcohol hot flavor......


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## seth8530

I know, but im not THAT impatient. Im gona wait till christmas before i take my next taste.


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> I know, but im not THAT impatient. Im gona wait till christmas before i take my next taste.


Top man! That's my preferred method as well.....


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## seth8530

indeed, so umm i lied and i took another taste lol


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> indeed, so umm i lied and i took another taste lol



And how's it doing ?


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## seth8530

Pretty good, it dont taste like strawberry corona anymore lol. A little more mellow and more like it tasted a couple months ago.


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## seth8530

Been a while, I went and checked on my mead, it currently taste more honey like than strawberry even tho in a bottle it has this curious redish colour to it. When I poured it itno a glass is golden with hint of red in it. The taste was pretty good. Not very boosy at all.. But still a little bitter. This one is gona need more time, which is not surprising considering it is mead.


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## seth8530

Ok the currently the 

 mead is 1 year, 1 month, and 23 days old. Do yall have any suggestions on how far to sweeten this one? and with what type of honey? Or perhaps I should let it sit till December till I start messing with it? Considering it is somewhere between 14 and 15% abv


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## cindy

seems like instead of mead you just make strawberry wine sweetened with honey instead of sugar?
I used strawberry margarita mix and a natural strawberry concentrate"extract" to boost the flavor it turned out fantastic!
I've got a mead going now a 1 gallon batch 3 # of honey,orange,cinnamon,clove tea instead of water it smells great I'll let
you know how it turns out.


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## cindy

oops I didnt know this post was so old...sorry


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## seth8530

It isnt old, I just updated my year old thread earlier this morning. I think you jumped into the thread kind of late, but my mead is actually a strawberry melomel and not a strawberry wine that will be sweetened with honey.

I say this because most of my sugars during fermentation came from honey instead of strawberries. Infact I would be willing to say that 85% of my sugars came from honey. 

I do plan on back sweetening my mead up with some sort of honey... The question is.. which kind??

BTW thats not a bad idea you stated for back sweetening a strawberry wine.


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## seth8530

How old is your mead? sounds like you've got a tasty methilgin on the was ( check my spelling please)


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## seth8530

Fortified 16 bottles of the mead with 1.75 L of 95% grain alcohol. The ABV is around 23% right now. Added superklear. Im hoping that this will help tame the sweetness that has bothered me before.


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## ShawnDTurner

Wow! You may have balance issues with it being that hot! I just bottled a vanilla Cin metheglin about a month ago, I aged for a year in carboy it finished a 13 percent. It is a dessert mead finished sg at 1.040


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## Deezil

seth8530 said:


> Fortified 16 bottles of the mead with 1.75 L of 95% grain alcohol. The ABV is around 23% right now. Added superklear. Im hoping that this will help tame the sweetness that has bothered me before.



Yeah you can put that case away for 5 years, for sure 
Dunno if the grain alcohol will ever "marry" with the mead, but it should smooth out over time


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## seth8530

Yeah, it will be interesting to say the least lol


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## seth8530

Ok, I tasted the mead. The everclear did some interesting things to it.

1) The strawberry has came back into the scene.
2) It is still sweet but it does taste a lot more balanced.
3) It does have a little of a hot taste, but not really an unpleasant one. More of a strong warming.

At 23% ABV this one is def not to be taken lightly.


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## fatbloke

seth8530 said:


> Ok, I tasted the mead. The everclear did some interesting things to it.
> 
> 1) The strawberry has came back into the scene.
> 2) It is still sweet but it does taste a lot more balanced.
> 3) It does have a little of a hot taste, but not really an unpleasant one. More of a strong warming.
> 
> At 23% ABV this one is def not to be taken lightly.


Ha ha! well done Seth.

Not taking it lightly ? Isn't that what is intended ? Just drink it and get hammered. After all, it's "only" 23%, which is about the sort of level of stuff like Apfel Korn etc..... ::


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## mmadmikes1

The term shitfaced come to mind...... I fermented a batch of Pineapple mead to 21% it ended a great party one night when I brought it out at midnight.


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## seth8530

Hehe, indeed.. I will be honest, the only reason why I added so much everklear to it was to fix it being so so sweet. I think the fix turned out well considering the circumstances.

@ mike, Indeed, this thing could get you ship faced way faster than anything else. At this high of proof I will say it would defiantly "end" a party lol


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