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Sour mead

Barrel Char Wood Products

McJeff

NewBee
Registered Member
May 17, 2013
1,095
1
0
Farmington, Maine
Recipe first....

12/20
10.5lbs Tupelo honey
Spring water to 4 gallons
Rehydrated kv 1116
Dap and ferm k staggered over three days and aerated

1/3 slight stir to degas
1/17 racked, Gravity .980 and stabilized, added light American oak
1/31 degassed

Sampled the mead last light to see how the oaking is coming along and I was suprised first at co2 still hanging out in the mead. Also the mead had a sour smell to it and a slight off flavor. Didn't get a chance to check a ph. But will adjusting the ph(if off) clear the sour smell/taste?
 

McJeff

NewBee
Registered Member
May 17, 2013
1,095
1
0
Farmington, Maine
In a few weeks I had planned on racking it off the oak and fining it before racking of course. Then letting it age for awhile.
 

EJM3

Honey Master
Registered Member
Nov 21, 2013
1,015
3
38
50
The Boozevarian Village of Leavenworth WA
That looks like a nice sound plan. My traditionals (3 to date) have all been face puckering events even though the pH ended up at a relatively high 3.5. Just the lack of sugars & aging made them taste strange to my tastes & palate. For instance: Big wineries/cideries/meaderies would NEVER market a young 1 month old product, so how would we, being new to this whole process, know if it's on track or not? We can't & don't, so need to learn all of this along the way. Now that I have at least 4 or more months on the latest one, it's tasting less harsh, calming & integrating & I am beginning to get a feel & taste for the whole process. I can't wait to taste them in another 3 or 4 months, repeat, repeat, etc... This will give me, a new mazer (16 months and counting), the opportunity to learn the aging process and what happens to the mead while it changes over an extended time period.

Each new type of mead I make requires learning whole new volumes of knowledge. Thanks for sharing!
 
Barrel Char Wood Products

Viking Brew Vessels - Authentic Drinking Horns