Stout Man
Well-Known Member
Ok, so I made some 16.5% alcohol mead 4 months ago that I back sweetened with 2 lbs of strawberries to give it a final gravity of 1.036. In the unopened bottle it is a perfectly clear light yellow. It normally has a very strong aroma and sour aftertaste due to my addition of many herbs and spices a month after it started fermenting. My friend loves the stuff but I think it is still too young. One day I poured some into a mason jar and didn't finish it. I left it there for literally a week. When I came back it was a very pretty red. The strong aroma was gone and it tasted extremely better. No sour aftertaste as well. I wondered what was up and tried this again, only I left the mead out for only a day. The color wasn't as red, more orange, and it tasted almost as great as it did before. I can guess what might be happening with the aroma but I don't know what is is accounting for the increased quality of taste.