First batch of mead, lots of question.

Hello guys,

This is my first post. I've just signed up a couple of minutes ago. I'm glad I found this forum, where lots of people are just as passionate as I am to brew their own stuff, taste different brews, and feel the rush of creating something of their own.

I am an amateur beekeeper, with close to 20 beehives in a little ranch my father owns, and one particular day I had the idea of brewing a batch of mead with some honey I had juts collected. I did some research and felt confident enough to start a ~18 liter batch.

Four weeks have gone by, I transferred the mead to another gallon (Second transfer. First transfer was done 2 weeks ago) and took out a sample to taste. First of all, I had never tasted mead before, so I have no idea how exactly they are supposed to taste like, especially after a month. First question is, how is a month-old mead supposed to taste like?

Now, I can tell you exactly what I tasted from this sample. It was carbonated, bubbled in my mouth, smelled awesomely like honey (an exact match), but it tasted like a watery lemonade (a lemonade done with peels and all). Citric, but sparse. A thin bitter aftertaste and the alcohol seemed to burn my throat. Now, when I drank in quick, big gulps, it tasted like white wine. Now, did I taste true mead, or did I miss something? Has anyone got this flavors from a month-old mead?

Now, reading around, I found that the process has a lot to do with the true outcome of a batch. I can also describe the process, as I wrote every step down to compare further on (I intend to brew as much as I can). So, I'm living in Brazil and got quite comfortable with the metric system, hence the reason I recorded everything with it. I kept 6 kilograms of honey (13.2 pounds) inside a bucket I had used to store close to 35 pounds, and poured mildly hot water, 6 liters or 1.58 gallons, and stirred it until the honey had completely dissolved into the liquid. Then I added 7.5 liters of room-temperature water to top it off. In the end, I had around 18 liters of must.

I used the Red Star Montrachet yeast to ferment it. I pitched it in a little jar, left it hydrating for 10 minutes or so, and then pitched it into the must. I aerated it, shaking the gallon around, then added the cap and the airlock. I left it to ferment in a dark little room, and covered it with a black plastic bag hoping to keep as much sunlight from it. The average temperature in the room was 19°C (66°F).

So overall, 13.2 pounds of honey into 3.57 gallons of spring water, no ph check or anything like that, Montrachet yeast, and average 66°F fermentation. Very sanitized environment, a bit of bleach, lots of rinsing, and a month has gone by. Did my process go as normal, beginner, process should? Is the mead tasting like a month-old mead should take? Help me out here guys!

First of all, I would like to say good for you on being a bee keeper. I wish that I had a friend like you in my area that I could buy honey from. I couldn't do bee keeping myself.

Ok, so on to ratios. Sorry, I am more comfortable with the english system being in the USA. A normal sweet mead is about 3 to 3.5 pounds of honey per gallon. I primarily brew in a 5 galon carboy. Meaning I go through about 15 to 18 pounds of honey a batch. So from your ratio by the looks of it your ratio is about 3.5 pounds a galon. Pretty close. So you are good there.

Now, your yeast choice: Red Star Montrachet. I don't know much about this yeast. This I believe is a wine yeast so with your mead you may go dry, especially if it is a champaign type yeast. Check the alcohol tolerance on the yeast and what type of notes the yeast is going to contribute. I am betting that you may need to backsweeten a little. More on that later.

But things to check on your yeast: Alcohol tolerance and tempature tolerance. Sometimes if you exceed the temp tolerance then it will produce harsh off flavors. And the Alcohol tolerance will tell you how far it will go before it gives up. If it's close to 14% ABV then you are doing well, if you have a champaign yeast that goes to 22% then you WILL need to back sweeten it.

Taste: Do not take too much stock in how it tastes now. It's still fermenting and still becoming mead. The sweetness seems to be there but is covered up by carbonation and the process of fermenting. The carbonation is normal, it should go away if you degas it, that is agitate it a bit to get the bubbles out. This will happen normally if you do not have it under pressure and sealed off. Most mead will taste harsh and well I like the term "Green" if it is prior to the aging process.

Here's what to do, in my opinion: Give it time.
1. Time to finish fermenting, racking when the lees (sediment) gets over 1/4 inch or 1/2 centimeter or so. Even when it is not very active in it's ferment it is still doing it's job.

2. Time to clear, Gravity will do this as will racking occasionally. I recomend that you rack it every other month only if it needs it. The mead will be ready for aging when it becomes clear enough to read through. The carbonation should leave at this time too. It should be a nice light amber color.

3. Time to Age: A good mead will need to age at least 6 months to a year before it is drinkable. During this time it may taste very astringent and harsh. My first mead tasted like anitseptic prior to aging when it had just cleared. Turned out very sweet.

So above all: Be Patient.

Here's some other things that may help. Look in the sticky for Stabalizing and Backsweetening. It may need a couple of pounds of honey added at that point.

Oaking: Seriously consider taking one or two ounces of lightly toasted oak and droping it in after washing it off. Comes in Cube, chip and spiral form from most brew stores. I recomend cubes or chip form. Toast level is how much "Burned" the oak is. A sort of rating, Lightly toasted is best although medium toasted will work. Leave it in for 1-2 months. Trust me it will smooth out the mead greatly and help take out the harshness.

Hope it works, with out knowing much more, this is my best advice. Good mead takes lazyness or er Patients.

Matrix

Montrachet is a fine mead yeast, I'm using it with a 6 gallon batch right now. It's tolerant to ~14% ABV so your mead should finish sweet ~1.015 to 1.02.

+1 on Oaking, I've had good luck using medium toasted chips. You'll want to add a few ounces and just sample it every month or so until it reaches the toasted level you like, then remove the oak. I like to wait until the mead is in tertiary, during the bulk aging stage to add oak.

I wouldn't worry about the taste at this point, give it 6 months and maybe it'll start to taste good. In a year you'll probably love it.

Cool. Thanks guys. On the oak thing, it should be a little hard being in Brazil - there are no brewing stores here. There are some sites, but they tend to assault your wallet mercilessly.

Illuveatar, thank you for the input. As I want to brew more, do you recommend sticking with the Montrachet, or switch to another type of yeast?