First batch of JAOM almost a year old now... but problem with one of the bottles.

[762by54r]

So I was able to bottle my first batch of JAOM back on Dec 21st 2011. I followed the recipe and up scaled it 3 gallons and replaced the yeast with red star, instead of fleischmans only because I couldn't find it anywhere locally.

Now here is the thing, I was able to get 12 reg sized wine bottles (750ml) out of the batch, 3 of which I gave away to some friends.about 3 months after I bottled, one of those friends decided he didn't want to wait any longer and opened up the bottle. He told me it was no good and tasted like straight vinegar... every other bottle that has been drank so far from the same batch tastes delicious (another friend who tried it has asked me to make him his own 1 gallon batch), I currently only have 2 bottles left and am about to start another batch.

Is there any reason for this one random bottle to taste like vinegar? The bottles I gave away I took the most care with, trying to get as little lees and sediment in them while bottling, while my own personal bottles has some in the bottom, it still tastes great.

When I bottled, I corked them and then sealed the tops with bees wax (seemed appropriate at the time). For the life of me, I can't think why one bottle from a batch would end up like vinegar if every bottle was done the exact same way, and the rest ended up great.

[Khan]

I wouldn't think that it was anything that you did per se. If your friend stored it improperly (like on a shelf in direct sunlight), it could account for the "vinegar" in his bottle. or maybe his taste is off a bit...

[akueck]

It's probably a problem of describing what the taste is, more than a problem in the mead itself. Lots of folks show up on the board here saying "my mead tastes like vinegar!" and then after some probing it turns out that the flavor is actually, say, citric or lactic acid, or even just ethanol. People tend to say anything acidic tastes like vinegar unless they're really into the other kinds of acid out there. Heck, people confuse bitter with sour all the time. I'd chalk this one up to "novice mead drinker".

[Chevette Girl]

Every time I hand over a bottle to anyone, I always tell them to let me know if it's off or if it's bubbly (had that happen once!), and if it's off, shove the cork back in and save me whatever was left...

And yeah, my husband's always describing things as bitter when I taste that they're acidic... so who knows...