Too early to tell??

I'm a newbie to wine/mead making. I started my first mead back in January. It has cleared rather nicely. I noticed it had a decent amount of lees, so I decided to rack to a new carboy. When I pulled the airlock, I noticed it had a smell to it. I cant really explain the smell. I wouldn't say say like sulfer or medicine (as I have read) but just didn't smell all that great. I then took a taste, and it was border line horrible. Am I just being anxious, and should let it age for months? It looks amazing, beautiful color.

keving91982 said:

Am I just being anxious, and should let it age for months?

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Probably.

Can you provide the details of the recipe (like honey type, yeast, gravity numbers, additives, fermentation temp, etc.)? That will give folks a bit more insight.

Medsen

It's just a real basic mead recipe:

15lbs wildflower honey
4gal water
2 tsp nutrient
1 tsp energizer
packet of Lalvin 71b-1122 yeast

After 3 weeks, I added some strawberries to the primary. Left them there for 3 weeks, then racked to clean carboy. It had been there ever since until today, after I racked it again. Like I said, I hope its just young. It's got an amazing gold/pink color.

Oh and I cannot find my gravity readings. I need to get better organized. I write stuff down on post-its and then cant find them.

subscribed

It is probably just "young mead smell" especially if you fermented it at room temp. Another 6-9 months of aging will probably do wonders for it.

Great, thanks for the info. I will put it back in the closet and forget about it!