Adding Tannins to Mead; Rose of Edible Flower Petals

Kitchen · Dec 28, 2020

Anyone have any experience adding tannins to mead to give it more mouth feel? Would rose petals or other flower petals do the trick? If so, how much per gallon would you add?

dmw_chef · Dec 28, 2020

Rose petals have a lot of tannin. I don't know how well they'd work in secondary.

Ultimately it's going to depend on what kind of mead it is, and what your goals are. Most of my meads get 100-200 PPM FT Blanc Soft and .5oz/gall of med+ oak cubes for 4 months. Depending on the mead, I may use one or more off Complex, Riche Extra, Radiance, Onyx, and Royal from Scott Labs.

Ty520 · Jan 4, 2021

Rose is a very very overpowering flavor. Not sure you'd get much body out of it before it becomes too strong. Maybe supplement with oaking. I typically do .5 ounces per gallon of cubes for 2 months.

Any other adjuncts you're using in combination with the rose? Perhaps some fruit would help provide balance and body

Vinobeau · Jan 5, 2021

Kitchen said:
Anyone have any experience adding tannins to mead to give it more mouth feel? Would rose petals or other flower petals do the trick? If so, how much per gallon would you add?

dmw_chef said:
Rose petals have a lot of tannin. I don't know how well they'd work in secondary.

I make 5 gallons of Wild Rose Petal wine every three years and I always add 1/2 tsp of tannin per gallon to the must. For a little bite, along with the flowery sweetness, I will add some sprigs of Dill to some of the bottles. None of it has too much tannin. I never imagined that Rose Petals have a lot of tannin, perhaps Red Rose petals have more than the whitish pink of Wild roses. I usually use 2 quarts of petals per gallon.

Rice_Guy · Jan 5, 2021

I have been using crab apple as my “natural” source for tannin. It is a long lasting flavor so I wind up balancing it with 1.015 or 1.020 sugar. Usage less than five percent and if I was aiming dry a guess is 0.5%.
Its winter so blanc soft is an easy to get commercial product.

WOW @dmw_chef,,, dill has extremely long bitter flavor notes