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Flavor vs. alcohol?

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Leonora

Lifetime Patron
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Mar 16, 2006
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Loveland, CO
www.ildanachstudios.com
Greetings,

I started brewing last November and have been having a blast! I learn so much from lurking on this site. Thank you all for your generosity!

I tried a "succesive" fermentation back in January. I used the liquid White French White Wine yeast. I started out with 10 lbs of honey and a gallon of peach slurry in a 5 gallon carboy. It fermented to .99 fairly quickly. I racked onto another 6 lbs of honey and another gallon of peach slurry. It again went to .99. I racked again on to about 6 lbs of honey and an ounce of grated ginger. But racked it off the ginger after about a week as I didn't want it to be too strong.

So my specific gravity is 1.014 which is about what I want. The carboy is clearing nicely (I used pectin enzyme with the peach slurry at the recommended levels).

But it tastes like jet fuel, a medium sweet jet fuel, but there is no real fruit flavor or any sense of the ginger.

So I do believe that this mead will get better with age. I do believe! But I sure would like some recomendations.

Should I bulk age? Should I go ahead and bottle? Is there a chance that the peach/ginger flavors will re-appear after the alcohol ages in? Should I add some apricot necter? The mead too a long time to clear so I am really hesitant to add anything to it that will cloud it again. How about spices? Would making a spice tea be the way to go or should I rack onto whole spices?

Thanks for you time,

Leonora
 

WRATHWILDE

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Mar 19, 2005
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Dubuque, Iowa
www.zazzle.com
Leonora,
I'd leave it for now. It looks like you step fed it, so it's quite probable you took the yeast up to/past its usual limits. Bulk age for another six months and see if the Alcohol mellows. Peach is a very delicate flavor that's hard to fix into a mead. If after 6 months it's still hasn't balanced to your liking I'd add the Nectar. That's what I'd do anyway, you are of course free to choose your own path, and I'm not generally in favor of spicing... but that's a personal preference, in food as well as mead. For twenty years I've maintained that condiments and spices were originally used to disguise bad food. ;)

Wrathwilde
 

Leonora

Lifetime Patron
Lifetime GotMead Patron
Mar 16, 2006
324
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Loveland, CO
www.ildanachstudios.com
Dear Wrathwilde,

Yes, step fed, that's it. It was sort of accidental as I kept running out of honey. I don't think I will ever do it on purpose again.

Thanks for your suggestions and observations about my peach mead. I will make my best effort to tie up my 6 gallon carboy for 6 months! I borrowed a few more 5 gallon carboys from a lapsed beer brewer, so I should be okay.

It's strong enough that I am also tempted to sweeten the heck out of it and have it for a cordial. *grin*

I believe you are a fellow SCAdian, so I understand your comments about spices. I had always had that opinion also. Over the years of doing period cooking, my thoughts have shifted. Many herbs and spices are antibacterial and anti-fungal.*

My thinking has switched away from thinking the herbs and spices were used to disguise spoiled food to thinking that they were used to keep food from spoiling. And that is important for keeping left-overs.

The bane of every camp kitchen, it seems like they go south faster than the raw foods. But to throw food out, what a waste! But the spicy foods seem to keep better and be better received when trotted out again.

Anyway, just a few musing of a Pelican cook.

Thanks again for your time,

Leonora
Outlands!

* - and as such I do worry about putting them to my charming little mead yeasties!
 
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