Recipe is as follows:
one gallon of honey, four gallons of regular tap water, and red star champagne yeast (I don't remember the specific number).
We made two batches, one using local unpasteurized honey from a local beekeeper, and one using standard pasteurized clover honey from Wal-mart.
After fermentation, we racked the mead off the lees into clean carboys, mixed in a little clarifier and some preservative and let it sit. It has been about 6 weeks, and we checked it out again to see what was happening. Both batches smell yeasty and have a taste that is not pleasant. It has an alcohol taste, a little bit of yeast taste, and frankly, it's bland. Definitely not something I want to drink. Also, the batch with the Walmart honey is really cloudy, whereas the unpasteurized batch is nice and clear.
But what's with the taste/smell? Is it just that it hasn't aged long enough? Is there something wrong; are these batches ruined?
We've made both wine and beer before, and everything has been fine.
one gallon of honey, four gallons of regular tap water, and red star champagne yeast (I don't remember the specific number).
We made two batches, one using local unpasteurized honey from a local beekeeper, and one using standard pasteurized clover honey from Wal-mart.
After fermentation, we racked the mead off the lees into clean carboys, mixed in a little clarifier and some preservative and let it sit. It has been about 6 weeks, and we checked it out again to see what was happening. Both batches smell yeasty and have a taste that is not pleasant. It has an alcohol taste, a little bit of yeast taste, and frankly, it's bland. Definitely not something I want to drink. Also, the batch with the Walmart honey is really cloudy, whereas the unpasteurized batch is nice and clear.
But what's with the taste/smell? Is it just that it hasn't aged long enough? Is there something wrong; are these batches ruined?
We've made both wine and beer before, and everything has been fine.