Slapped Together Apple Mead

**Devon** · 08-23-2009, 03:12 PM

I put together a batch of mead a couple days ago with no real recipe to go by. I used about 3 pounds of wildflower (I think) honey, Lavin Champagne yeast, a teaspoon of yeast nutrient, a couple apples, a vanilla bean and a cinnamon stick. The initial gravity was around 1.10.

I've read that I should rack it every month or so to a fresh carboy. My question is, do I rack it onto another couple apples, vanilla bean and cinnamon stick? Or do I just rack it into a carboy and let it clear off?

I'm pretty much playing this one by ear, so any advice from the more experienced mead makers (ie, all of you compared to me) would be great.

nealf · 08-23-2009, 03:48 PM

If it were me, I would be inclined to rack it on to some more apples... but, I would taste it before I considered adding more cinnamon or vanilla. Are you planning on doing any yeast nutrient additions?

I've only made a couple of meads FWIW

svengoat · 08-23-2009, 04:01 PM

careful with that vanilla bean, I added 2 in the primary (1 gal) and it's really really strong..

**Devon** · 09-11-2009, 03:29 PM

I racked off onto a couple fresh apples yesterday, by this morning the mead had cleared. Not quite crystal clear yet, but most of the cloudy haze has dropped.

The sample I had when I racked it tasted pretty foul though.

I passed on the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean for the secondary.