LightningInABottle

Recipes 

I made 4 x 5gallon batches for my son who was born last year. They are 21 year meads meant to be drunk on the first day he is legal. They were all 18% meads to give them time to smooth out. I did a blueberry melomel, a cinnamon cyser, carmel apple mead using summer solstice's recipe adjusted to bring up the ABV and a blueberry blossom show mead. I plan on setting aside 2 bottles of each for 2031! Good luck on your endeavor

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ChshreCat

Recipes 

He's in Iowa. It might only have to age 16 years.

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CandleWineProject

Recipes 

Beer bottles aren't designed for aging. The cap is all wrong.

I second using synthetic corks. Real corks can add a taste to the mead after awhile, so that is a real risk with your batch.

funkapottomous

Recipes 

I've heard elderberry wines/meads take FOREVER to age, so that would be a good bet.

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Texron

Recipes 

Charlie Papazian wrote a report in Zymurgy Magazine about a recent experience with some meads made in the 40's. He was very impressed with the tatse of them all. As I remember they were straight meads with the exceptioon of a Cyser.

I think this is a great idea. It would be a great experience even if it was used to celebrate special achievements, such as graduation from college, first big job, moving out on their own, etc.

TerapinChef

Recipes 

This is a great idea. I have plans to make meads for both the wedding day (as table favors in 187mL bottles) and as my bride present. One would obviously be meant to be drank much sooner than the other. I don't think that you'll have any problem with the aging, I've drank several 20 year meads and they are fantastic. As honey doesn't ever spoil, and you have the antiseptic qualities of the alcohol in there, IMHO you don't have anything to worry about. You could put that mead down for a hundred years and it would probably be just fine. Love your enthusiasm!

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MedsenFey

Recipes 

A traditional mead can be aged for very long periods, and even if the ABV is not extreme, they tend to be less prone to deterioration from everything I have read (and seen to date). I haven't aged anything long enough to be called "long-aging" yet, as my oldest stuff is about 3 1/2 years old.

However, I have oxidized quite a few things; some intentionally, and some not. If you want long aging I don't think synthetic corks are the answer. They allow the highest oxygen transmission rate of any of the closures in the various wine trials that have been conducted so far (like the AWRI trial). If you age something for several years with a synthetic cork, it will probably wind up smelling like sherry. That may not be bad, and the nutty/sherry smell that a mead develops with oxidation can sometimes be quite nice. But if you don't want it developing an oxidized aroma, I'd pick another closure whether screw tops, crown caps, or my preference, the best quality cork I can get my hands on (with a wax seal).

If you wax seal a synthetic, that would also reduce the oxygen transfer.

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Texron

Recipes 

I guess-after everything else was done- if you were worried about it enough you could also vacuum-seal each bottle in a plastic bag with a "food-saver" system.