Hey guys,
I just made my first two 1-gallon batches of Joe's Ancient Orange recipe. I pretty much followed everything on the NewBee guide but silly me used raisins with seeds in them. The yeast finished in a little over a month (bread yeast recently bought) and formed a yeast cake at the bottom. There were no visible bubbles nor was there any activity in the airlock, so I figured it was done (despite the guide saying it would take approximately two months). However, when transferring the mead over to a new container for long-term storage I may have disturbed the yeast cake on the bottom, so the mix is currently in the fridge to help any sediment settle so I can re-siphon again.
Despite all my care, the mead has quite a bitter taste. I was wondering if the fact that I used raisins caused the bitterness in my mead. If so, will long-term storage remedy the problem? Or is it a 1-gallon harsh lesson for me?
Thanks for your time.
Edit: There is also a really terrible aftertaste, and I'm not sure if that's a sign that my dead yeasty buddies are still floating around in there.
I just made my first two 1-gallon batches of Joe's Ancient Orange recipe. I pretty much followed everything on the NewBee guide but silly me used raisins with seeds in them. The yeast finished in a little over a month (bread yeast recently bought) and formed a yeast cake at the bottom. There were no visible bubbles nor was there any activity in the airlock, so I figured it was done (despite the guide saying it would take approximately two months). However, when transferring the mead over to a new container for long-term storage I may have disturbed the yeast cake on the bottom, so the mix is currently in the fridge to help any sediment settle so I can re-siphon again.
Despite all my care, the mead has quite a bitter taste. I was wondering if the fact that I used raisins caused the bitterness in my mead. If so, will long-term storage remedy the problem? Or is it a 1-gallon harsh lesson for me?
Thanks for your time.
Edit: There is also a really terrible aftertaste, and I'm not sure if that's a sign that my dead yeasty buddies are still floating around in there.
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