my first mead

Thought id share a pic of my first ever mead from the first racking. A little cloudy as things got disturbed during the transfer. The taste is a little hot still but its just barely over a month old, but its still very tasty.

Good colour, but its got a fair way to go clarity-wise. You should be able to read newsprint through it........

Plus given 6 months plus ageing and it should mellow nicely......

So we should let the meads age in their carboys another 6 months after they become clear? I always just bottled it once I could read the paper through it.

But, it looks tasty. What is it? Recipe?

That's a good test for clarity. It is...
2lbs honey
1 stick of cinnamon
2 cloves
a handful of cranberries
1gal of water
oh and some yeast nutrients and raisins

luda007 said:

So we should let the meads age in their carboys another 6 months after they become clear? I always just bottled it once I could read the paper through it.

But, it looks tasty. What is it? Recipe?

Click to expand...

The principle is that you can get a nice clear mead quite quickly but it would have the taste and properties of a young mead.

So bulk aging allows it to mellow in a consistent manner. Bottle aging works too but you have no way of consistent conditions between bottles ......

wmcc75 said:

That's a good test for clarity. It is... 2lbs honey 1 stick of cinnamon 2 cloves a handful of cranberries 1gal of water oh and some yeast nutrients and raisins

Click to expand...

What type of yeast did you use in it ? And did you just put everything in the primary and pitch the yeast ? Or add cinnamon cloves and cranberries in secondary ? Sounds like a simple recipe I might give it a try.

It was all in the primary with Red Star Cote des Blancs. I have a couple questions if anyone has time. Is that a good mead yeast? When should I rack again? I sucked up a bit of yeast and don't want flavor to be off if I don't mess with it again for several months.

wmcc75 said:

It was all in the primary with Red Star Cote des Blancs. I have a couple questions if anyone has time. Is that a good mead yeast? When should I rack again? I sucked up a bit of yeast and don't want flavor to be off if I don't mess with it again for several months.

Click to expand...

It's a good yeast.

Rack whenever you have lees 1/4" thick or if you have a light dusting only, do it after 60 days or so. Once you aren't dropping any lees, and the mead is clear, then it can be bulk aged.

Cool thanks its not much yeast so I'll probably just leave it for a few months

Its been a while but I thought I would update. This is very good, my brother and I got into it the other day and drank over half a gallon of it. I do have to say its too much cloves, not overpowering but it mutes the other flavors.

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When did you add the cloves and how long were the cloves in? I'm asking because I made a batch a little while ago. 2 gallons and I used 2 whole cloves. I only let them steep for about 15 minutes though.

I had them in from the beginning until the first racking so maybe a month to month and a half (just moved and can't find my notes).

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