First mead problem

I made a mead for the first time a LONG time ago. I had it in a glass carboy for several months and the airlock went dry because I'm stupid and lazy. I racked it into a plastic carboy with some grape juice to give it a bit of flavor. It was pretty dry and probably oxidized.

Now I want to use the space (It's been sitting there for MANY more months. I'm too embarrassed to say how many) and I give it a taste to see if it's a dumper.

I think it's not bad! Not quite as sweet as I'd like it, but definitely worth drinking IMO.

I give a taste to my wife who scrunches up her face and exclaims how strong and alcoholic it is!

WFT? I am fairly sensitive to that, but I didn't get that effect at all!

So how am I supposed to know if this is safe to give to other people?? I'd have to bottle the whole batch and give some out as tasters...

If you think its alright just bottle and drink over time. I really dont get the alcohol burn or notice really compare to other people but it's safe in sure. Whats the strength of it?

I guess you could back-sweeten it to cut the hot taste if you wanted.

I have no idea what the ABV is. I did not take gravity readings.

As I say, I don't notice a hotness personally. And I think I am capable of it. I believe the woman is simply apt to assume it's their because she tasted previous samples and when things were much younger.

I got the same kind of reaction from friends who tried my admittedly young Banana wine. It wasn't so bad for me, but they claimed it was very alcoholic. And these are the same people who can down shots of schnapps without making a face. Come on people!

The mead is nowhere near the hotness of that banana wine.

I guess I'll just bottle it up and keep it on hand. I'd like to make another batch and maybe pay more attention to it and use a better grade of honey. This stuff was some bulk honey from the bakery. Probably some Chinese junk. Maybe I'll even add a bit of sugar to a few bottles and see how it tastes with some carbonation.

Just add a bit of honey, not sugar if you want carbonation. But you may want to stabilize it (kill the yeast) and add some honey to backsweeten it, this might make it a little more palatable for the missus, but it will end up still rather than sparkling if you did that.

How much did you make ? you could do half one way and half the other.

I made 5 gallons. I'm not interested in spending a lot of time on this batch. I really just wanted to get it done and move on. I was not attentive enough at the start and let the airlock dry out. I'm shocked I can't taste any really noticeable problems, actually. I'd like to start over again and do another batch when it gets cooler out. I just need the space in my room and do some cleaning up in there.

I got to get some small bottles and borrow a corker from a friend at work and get it finished.

Then move on to see what can be done about the banana wine that won't ferment in the secondary. More frustration.

I made a gallon of traditional mead a little over a year ago (Spring 2011) and while it was in secondary the airlock dried out. I was concerned but bottled it anyway back in February 2012. I used 3# Meijer brand clover honey and Montrachet yeast with nutrients and energizer and that's it. It's about 14% ABV and completely dry.

I opened a bottle of it a month or two ago and it tasted a little like nutty cardboard not great, but not too bad either it got better as it breathed a bit.

For your sake and my own curiosity I opened another bottle just a few minutes ago and the nutty flavor is still there but the cardboard like notes have diminished greatly. It has a nice honey bouquet with a light mouth feel. The fore end is vague with little flavor but the back end reminds me of honey roasted almonds. It's got a smooth finish and it's giving me a nice buzz too.

I have no idea how long my airlock was dried out, maybe a few months. Honey has a lot of natural antioxidants which prevent it from being damaged too much when exposed to air. I don't suppose you know how long yours was exposed to the elements do you ? where was the carboy stored ?

I'm thinking of putting a bit of olive oil in my secondary and tertiary airlocks. I hope that it can withstand my inattentiveness better than water.

Cheers and good luck

It probably sat there with no water for a couple of months at most. It was just sitting on a credenza with nothing covering it.

I'm just going to bottle it. Heck with it. I wanted to get some of those small clear bottles, but they are expensive! I *could* use some clear soda or beer bottles, but they don't look as nice, I don't have any, and I don't think I'd want to drink what's in them just to get the bottles.

How many 187 ml bottles does it take to bottle up about 5 gallons of beer?

Homercidal said:

How many 187 ml bottles does it take to bottle up about 5 gallons of beer?

Click to expand...

About 20 per gallon, so 100! lol

Coke bottles it is!