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Foolishly left Mead for one year.....

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tboyle

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 8, 2014
2
0
0
Hello all,

Brand new to the forum and joined to get some speedy advice.

My friend who I usually make mead with was out of the country for the past year so I was not paying much attention to the last brew we made before he left.

I foolishly left an entire 5 gallon carboy of mead for a year without checking it. The mead had already been racked twice and I was waiting for additional particles to settle out before bottling but then got lazy when school started up for me last fall.

I just checked it now and the water in the airlock has totally evaporated and I am not sure if it is drinkable anymore. I assume it would have oxidized pretty badly from that but I wanted to ask this forum what they think.

It smells and tastes alot like fresh mead or young mead (not aged) for some reason and I am not sure what to do.

bottle and hope for the best? or dump it down the drain and start again?

Torin
 

tboyle

NewBee
Registered Member
Jun 8, 2014
2
0
0
I tasted it and it was not horrible tastes alot like fresh mead so i bottled it. I hope it turns out ok.

what sort of flavours would i have been looking for if it was bad?

Torin
 

Riverat

Premium Patron
Premium Patron
I tasted it and it was not horrible tastes alot like fresh mead so i bottled it. I hope it turns out ok.

what sort of flavours would i have been looking for if it was bad?

Torin

I've heard "wet cardboard", "sherry, to bad sherry" or even vinegar...knock on wood I have yet to see it myself but I get the impression that traditionals are pretty resistant to oxidation
 

WVMJack

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 12, 2013
1,219
10
0
Karnage, WV
www.wvmjack.com
It would have turned brown and tasted bad, sounds like yours tasted good so great. NO EXCUSE to not check an airlock, takes what 5 seconds?? Keep a little bottle of KM water beside your carboys to make topping up the airlock less of a chore. You should always visit your meads often to fully appreciate them during their birth and maturing, talk to them a little to make them feel wonderful, give the carboy a little rub every now and then and they will always perform much better for you. WVMJ
 

Stasis

Honey Master
Registered Member
Jan 10, 2014
1,123
13
38
Malta
True, they say that playing mozart softly to your mead can make it age better
 
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