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First Batch

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S

steelstrong

Guest
Guest
Hi all

I opened up my first homade batch of mead the other day, it has been fermenting for about 2 months now, and ....
well, I guess you could say it was'nt quite what I was expecting.

I used

2 pounds of honey, yeast
about 1 gallon of water
And then I figured I should spice it up a bit,
so I added nutmeg, cinnamon, a little vannila extract and some pumpkin spice.
and well , it tastes like achohal and rotten fruit.
it's doesnt taste that bad, but it doesnt have the taste I have tried in other meads.
Any suggestions?
 

JoeM

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 9, 2004
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Two months is young...i would suggest waiting at least another 6 months before even contemplating tasting it again, more like 10 months if you can stand it.
 
S

steelstrong

Guest
Guest
that corssed my mind but Im getting really anxious,
Are there any recpies that take less time, but still provide quality?
 

JoeM

NewBee
Registered Member
Jan 9, 2004
665
1
0
43
I jokingly tell people that mead is not for the impatient....that if you want something to drink right away you are better off making beer. Mead generally needs time to reach its full potential. Some people claim that they make mead that is good right out of primary, but i find that ALL meads, even those that are drinkable out of primary, better with age (and better significantly with significant age). theres nothing you can really do to speed the process, and in general, meads that are very sweet or very alcoholic may take even more time to develope. of course this is just one mans opinion ;)
 
S

steelstrong

Guest
Guest
Thanks, I guess I'll just have to learn how to be patient!
Im not going to give into beer making, Im already to hooked on Mead.
 

dogglebe

NewBee
Registered Member
Oct 14, 2003
352
0
0
hbd.org
What do you mean, 'give in to beer making?' You make it sound like an inferior product. Buy yourself an extra carboy or two. You can do both beer and mead


Phil
 

ThistyViking

NewBee
Registered Member
Nov 15, 2003
529
0
0
steelstrong said:
that corssed my mind but Im getting really anxious,
Are there any recpies that take less time, but still provide quality?
YMMV

Organic applejuice no preservatives
2 pounds honey per gallon of juice (i like blackberry honey)
champagne yeast.

Drinkable at every stage, IMO when i made this Cyser.

Seemed best at ~ 1.020, finished 0.994 S.G lsimilar to a white wine with an undefined fruitiness. Had apple charachter at 1.020. Entire batch 3 gallon was gone in less than 4 months from pitching yeast, was 1.020 at about 45 days IIRC and .994 two weeks after that. I used Refrigeration early to try and force it to clear for my christmass party in early december when i bottled the first gallon. This removed most of the champagne yeast, but not all of it and the yeast cranked down the must anyway.
 

White_Ethiopian

NewBee
Registered Member
Aug 30, 2004
4
0
0
As a real newbee maybe its not my place to suggest this, but if you brew second-rate mead your first time, why not just use it for cooking or as a BBQ Sauce ingredient? I wish I had, instead of throwing it out.
 

Jmattioli

Senior Member
Lifetime GotMead Patron
White_Ethiopian said:
As a real newbee maybe its not my place to suggest this, but if you brew second-rate mead your first time, why not just use it for cooking or as a BBQ Sauce ingredient? I wish I had, instead of throwing it out.
That's a good suggestion. At the least one can use it to wash Chicken and ribs before cooking. Or turn it into vinegar and if it is not good vinegar still use it for cleaning or other vinegar uses. If we have extra wine or vinegar we always use it to wash off poultry or meat before cooking. When not we use salt and water but I prefer the wine or vinegar.
Joe
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
8
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The OC
Don't get me started on BBQ! YUM! I'm a bbq-lover with a stack of wood, and a big bbq so all the beef and swine on my block better run for cover.

That's a great idea to use the mead for washing off poultry and meat.

Oskaar
 
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