# new to mead



## hounddawg (Jan 8, 2017)

ok this is my firest attempt at a mead, it is a blackberry added, with a touch of stella hops, in a wildflower honey 6 gallon batch been bulk aging for 1 year now, since i make all country wines from scratch this is new to me, but it is not crystal clear, my thought is to give it another year to bulk age, is this correct or am i in need of you knowledge, any help greatyly needed, or dose honey carry a natural light haze, like i said i am beyound my depth on this, 

thank you
Dawg


----------



## opus345 (Jan 8, 2017)

Dawg,

I think some meads are never meant to clear. I have two batches of Carmel Apple mead where i let the first batch age a year and the second batch age ~3 yrs. Neither cleared (wasn't really expecting it) based on the ingredients. Now my Capsumel Pepper mead is crystal clear after a year. Both taste great and i would serve either to guests.

Here are the links the recipes:

Carmel Apple: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=68519

Capsumel: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=414620

opus


----------



## hounddawg (Jan 8, 2017)

ok this isvery informative to me, i was lost in the dark on this, not to meation i'm abutter knife in thesteak knife drawer, on my country winescome bottleing time i filter using my AI1 vacuumpump 1 microm on whites and 5 microns on my reds, is it o to filter my mead or not and if so woulda5 be aproperate or would i need to step up to a 10 micron, like i said this isaby the seat of my pants experament first time experancefor me. .. i would greatly appresseate your opion on this. do you filter or polish. i've never even tasted mead, but thereason besides it's health benifits, i love to go old stylesas much as possable. and the good lord knows meads goes back eons. the old natural ways intreage me greatly.
thanks man....
Dawg


QUOTE=opus345;634201]Dawg,

I think some meads are never meant to clear. I have two batches of Carmel Apple mead where i let the first batch age a year and the second batch age ~3 yrs. Neither cleared (wasn't really expecting it) based on the ingredients. Now my Capsumel Pepper mead is crystal clear after a year. Both taste great and i would serve either to guests.

Here are the links the recipes:

Carmel Apple: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=68519

Capsumel: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=414620

opus[/QUOTE]


----------



## opus345 (Jan 8, 2017)

Dawg,

I really like the taste of both of these meads and i have not filtered/polished either. Mead will have a slightly different mouthfeel than your fruit wines. Before i started making mead, i hit a meadery in town to see if i liked the liked the experience of drinking mead as much as i did wine. It was very enjoyable and the proprietor was really helpful about local honey sources.

The capsumel really brings out the honey and pepper flavors melding together nicely without much heat. You could always make it hotter, but then i think you would sacrifice the flavors. It also makes an incredible marinade. I really like it with our chicken recipes.

The carmel apple is a great fall/winter drink and i find that i drink it in smaller quantities, but more frequently, especially late evening.

One idea is to filter some/most, but leave a number bottled unfiltered and see if there are any differences after 6 months or a year.

opus


----------



## AkTom (Jan 8, 2017)

I've done about 15-20 single gallon batches. They so far have cleared up. I don't have a filter yet, so I don't filter. I have a 2 gallon batch of red currant mead going right now. It is racked and maybe clearing. It is beautiful but it doesn't look like its going to clear. It hasn't been very long though. I gave some 12 oz bottles to a friend for Christmas. Haven't talked to him yet, but his wife indicated they went down good on a camping trip. I haven't tried sweetening or carbonating one either. 
Tom


----------



## hounddawg (Jan 8, 2017)

my reason about wondering is i got what looks like4 small beads of honey floating on top of my carboy, i put a flashlight on it today and thecolor isdark but itdont look hazie after all guess i should of back lite it first, but the4 honey beadswhich i think fell from the neck i think will cause me to do a5 micron filter, so i will after racking will check yet again to see if i wish to back sweeten, ( i like sweet to semi-sweet ) sulfate, sorbate, and bottle, all of yawls advice has steadyied my nervies,, lol
thank you one and all.
Dawg


----------

