There is such a thing as too high of an ABV. Medsen did say that the Champagne yeast (4021) was going to consume every molecule of sugar in my recipe and he nailed it. VERY dry...which I like....but also an alcohol content that at the moment, tastes like gasoline. You can actually smell the alcohol eminating from the hydro tube across the room. I'm a very experienced drinker but I can guarantee that a couple of glasses of this stuff and I would have trouble getting my tongue to formulate words. This batch may be aging for quite a while and even then it's going to be for casual sipping. The final ABV that I've calculated is 14.5%
Medsen was right
- Thread starter Jess
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The taste and smell is probably just due to the age of this, I've had quite a few white and red wines in this range that I couln't even taste the alc in. They were a few years old though...
i pull almost 18 points on every batch i run nowadays. dry it all the way out. back sweeten it. AGE AGE AGE AGE. the last part is the most important. mead is known for it's ability to age 10+ years. my longest is 1 year and i cant get ppl to leave me alone after opening that bottle. age fixes more than you can possibly break.(usually);D
A new mead will often have that gasoline/paint thinner character. The fusel alcohols and the ethanol that hasn't had time to integrate will do that - and it you do it to a batch with 17-18% ABV you really get rocket fuel. As has already been pointed out, that character will fade with time as the alcohols meld into the mead, and depending on your recipe (which I cannot recall offhand) 14.% ABV may be just fine once it has time to get over its "youthful exuberance."
And as for being right, please tell Little Wifey that for me. According to her, I never am.
And as for being right, please tell Little Wifey that for me. According to her, I never am.
