JoeM said:
Thirsty Viking
I've been meaning to ask this for awhile. I know that the astringent, gasoline like harshness that dissipates with aging that i describe is a well documented phenomenon. You say that you don't have this problem and that your meads are excellent right out of primary. Now please don't get me wrong, i don't doubt for one second that your meads are awesome, i just want to know how. The way i see it there are two possibilities, either you like the flavor that us agers are trying to avoid, or you really are doing something different. Either one is plausible. When i first started brewing i treated my meads like beer and started drinking them after 6 weeks, usually it was gone by 6 months. Until one day i stumbled across some bottles of mine that had been sitting around for over a year. Man what a difference, it changed my entire outlook and got my fire rekindled. A lot of people say that needing aging is a problem of technique, that if you need to wait that long that you are doing something wrong. But upon doing some reading i found that most professional meaderies age for a significant amount of time, some as long as 5-7 years! But of course who likes waiting!? Are you doing something significantly different or is it just a matter of taste?
Joe
Hmmm ... yes... and no
I've made about 12 batches or so over the last ... just under 2 years. But I didn't make a traditional/varietal mead til batch 11 on Jan 2nd 2004. This batch is in secondary and I haven't really tasted it.
My peach (canned peaches in heavy syrup) melomel had very little flavor and was the first batch I used Yeast Nutrient in. I used the Recomended amount and it was a fast ferment and Very Harsh at 2-3 months. It had dropped clear and I needed a Carboy for a new batch so I bottled it. Had a partial bottle (the last split i couldn't fill all the way) about 6? weeks later and it was considerably improved... low quality white whine was my impression in late December. I haven't had another bottle yet.
Cocoa powder chocholate mead needs aging as well... i think i've mentioned that before... all websites agree... 10 months and counting.
All my other batches have been melomels and Cysers, and one mapple mead (new years day 2004). So they have all had other strong tastes mixed in. They are/were quite drinkable when tried, but are showing improvement in their aging process. The oldest bottled batch surviving is a 10 month old batch of Orange melomel made with NO water ... all O.J. Zest, and honey .. and of course yeast. It had more bite when it was Younger... Vicky Rowe can attest to that. Think she has a bottle of it still unless she drank it.
As For my process,
I don't Boil or pasturize
I minimize chemicals ... when i use them i use 25%-50% Recomended nutrients (Fermax)
I keep fermentation temperature low ... about 65 deg F
So I'm not sure what to answer you... The Peach melomel was done durring the hottest time of the summer with full recomended nutrients, and was finished in 7-10 days befre it went into the basement. I've heard that high temp ferments produce more high alchohols (and Fuesels, same thing?).
I've heard that yeast stressed in a Very low nutrient must also produce similar end products. And among some NMC folks there is concern that some of the nutrients found in yeast nutrients may have an off taste effect if they are used in to large an amount thus requiring ageing.
At the mead Tasting I hosted in January, we had some of my 5 month old Blueberry Cyser (the concoction born of nessisty to salvage a stuck cyser). Everyone liked it, The old hand (making cysers for over a decade) who tried it told me, "This is good.. You need to hide it away because in a year it is going to be incredible". He then proceeded to compare with a fabled batch of his that had won all sorts of competitions including what IIRC was the only time a mead had won best of show at BJCP competiton with a beer category. Needless to say I was quite flattered ... all the more so given the incredible samples he brought to our tasting.
Part of my success with early meads is the fact that they are cysers and melomels... more flavors. Also I haven't been adding things like grape Tannin that also need/improve with aging. The last part is that fruit also juices carry nutrients and coupled with Low temp ferments I believe I am avoiding much of the yeast stress that produces esters.
My meads may not have that Balance of tannin and acid and whatnot that is sought in fine wines... but those who have tried them find them good... (with the exception of the cocoa ... which was WEIRD at 8 months, and the peach which is still in hiding at 7 months and perhaps should be sampled.