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Few questions

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J

Jardue

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 25, 2008
1
0
0
First of all.. Hi! ;D

I have been thinking of making mead for a while now. I've been to this site a few times in the past but I didn't know enough about brewing lingo so it sounded harder than it was.

I decided to try after watching a video podcast on making a mead. Well, I remembered this site so I came back and started reading. Alot. I decided to make a dry mead to start. I picked up everything I needed and mixed everything together. After following the nutrient addition schedule I had a crazy fermenting mass-o-goodness. Now, to try something different (can't make things easy), I decided to use Birch beer extract to flavor my mead.
5lbs clover honey
1.5g water
1/2 bottle birch beer soda flavoring
yeast(can't remember what one but it was around 15%abv rated. At work right now)
nutrients
SG- 1.110

Flash forward a few weeks: Everything is done fermenting(SG-9.994) and the mead smells GREAT! Has a very strong alcohol taste but a nice birch beer finish. I know this will go away but my question is this:

Is the smell giving me a preview of the taste once I let it age?


For my second batch, I want to let it age on a nice bed of dark chocolate. I know the directions I've found here all call for hot chocolate powder but can I use, say, 2-3 inches of bakers chocolate as a bed?
 
BrewinNColorado

BrewinNColorado

Got Mead? Patron
GotMead Patron
Jan 4, 2008
173
2
0
Boulder County, Colorado
Welcome to gotmead and mead making.

I will start off by saying that I am no professional, but I have done a couple of chocolate meads before.

Please, anyone who reads this, please correct me if my experience is wrong.

I would suggest that if you are wanting to put your mead on a bed of bakers chocolate, that you would do so after the mead is completely clear. The reason for this is because you should be racking your mead every few months until it is clear. By adding the bed too early, you will be racking off of it in a couple of months, which is not nearly enough time for the two to blend. I have found that you will get better taste by disolving it in hot water first.

Also, from experience, the type of chocolate you chose is very important. IMHO, if you are going with a sweet mead, you would want a dark chocolate to counter the sweetnes from the honey. If you want a dry mead go with something that will lend a little more sweetnes.

I hope this answered your question.

Good luck with the mead, and you have come to the righ place wth questions. I have found this site and the people to be extremely helpful.
 
akueck

akueck

Certified Mead Mentor
Certified Mead Mentor
Jun 26, 2006
4,958
11
0
Ithaca, NY
A lot of folks use nibs (coarsely crushed cacao beans) for their chocolate additions and seem to like how they work. I'd personally avoid any "bar" chocolate due to all the stuff they add, though you might be ok with baker's. The nibs are just chocolate, no additives or emulsifiers.

Haven't done a chocolate mead, but the rule of thumb here is patience. The chocolate will take a long time to dissolve into the mead so you have to let it sit for a long time to get good results. Long time = a year or so.

Good luck!
 
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