Started a few gallons of clover mead in Oct. OG was about 1.090 and the mead fermented dry, so I want to back sweeten to about 1.007 or thereabouts. I tasted a sample the other day before back sweetening and it tastes rather bland. I never thought to check the pH but it does taste as if the mead has too high a pH. Would adding acid blend help bring out some flavor or is the problem that I never used enough honey in the must to create enough flavor(given the starting SG).
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My clover honey mead is very blah...
- Thread starter bernardsmith
- Start date
Clover honeys are rather bland in general. They are a good base for melomels or metheglins. It will get better if you fortify with more honey, but it will never be like OB, for example.
Acid blend may brighten it up, but probably won't address what you are trying to fix.
If it's too bland for you, I would suggest experimenting with spices or melomels.
Better brewing through science!
Acid blend may brighten it up, but probably won't address what you are trying to fix.
If it's too bland for you, I would suggest experimenting with spices or melomels.
Better brewing through science!
Thanks for your very speedy response. Interestingly enough, I made this batch of mead to make a braggot and I used 2 gallons out of the three I made to add to a some beer but I held back a gallon hoping that this would be very drinkable. It isn't. I think I will take your advice and perhaps dry hop this gallon.
I used to put a little buckwheat honey in with my clover honey when making a traditional mead just to add a little complexity, and yes, acid blend may well perk it up a bit, I always used lemon juice in mine (although current thinking doesn't recommend adding it before fermentation), and a bit of lemon zest for added bite. I haven't tried a clover mead at that low a starting gravity but hopefully others can chime in about it. Backsweetening it might help too, you could always take a glass of it and see what happens if you backsweeten with a more robustly-flavoured honey too.
I've found that anything below 1.100 tends to require some extra technique to get it tasting good (sur lie, oak, acid, maybe backsweetening). Acid blends help a lot with the "not bright" problem, and you can add different types to boost specific flavors that you want. Try adding some acid blend, let it wait, backsweeten, wait again, and treat with more acid if desired. Tannin powders/liquids also help if the body isn't quite there but you don't want it sweeter.
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