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kc_in_wv

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But I could use some input on the settleing out of the chocolate in my mead.

Below is my post from earlier.

"I started the mead on 10/13/11. Friday I looked at it and I noticed that a large part of the chocolate has settled to the bottom if the carboy.

Should I gently swirl the liquid to mix it back in or just leave it as is?"
 
Do you plan on racking any time soon? If not, it can't hurt you to resuspend the chocolate, because the lees will just resettle.
 
I will probably rack next October in November. From what I have read this mead needs to set on the lees for at least a year.

Right now there is some new CO2 being formed because of the honey water I topped of with.

Thanks for your reply.
 
I will probably rack next October in November. From what I have read this mead needs to set on the lees for at least a year.

Right now there is some new CO2 being formed because of the honey water I topped of with.

Thanks for your reply.

This is incorrect. Sitting on the lees for a year can be detrimental. I usually rack to the secondary fermentation vessel(IE just rack to another carboy or into the brew pot and back to the carboy once cleaned) to rack it off of the lees. Basically, I would recomend that if the airlock is only going 1 bubble a minute or so to rack off, leave the lees and sediment behind.

Mead needs to AGE for a year, chocolate mead I would do 1 1/2 years as it takes longer for the oils to break down.

I have 2 chocolate batches going now and I put the chocolate nibs in the must in the secondary and then left it in for only a month.

You will more than likely end up with a bit more bitter flavor than you want if you leave the chocolate in the must for a year.

1. primary, with or without chocolate.
2. Rack to secondary, off the chocolate if it is in the primary, onto the chocolate if it is not.
3. after about 1 month rack off of the chocolate if it was put in the secondary.
4. Allow to settle and rack off of sediment if sediment gets to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
5. Wait til it is clear enough to read through, might not happen with chocolate but it should look smooth and be even.
6. Then age for a year, bulk age in carboy if you wish or bottle and put the bottles in the bastement for over a year.

This is my recomendation based on other meads I have made, non-chocolate, and form forums like this or on Gotmead.com

The most chocolate or any spice/fruit would need in the mead is 2 months. The rest of the time it should be clearing. Pectic Enzyme (for fruit) helps, and Sparkloid helps (for general clearing).

Hope this helps.

Matrix
 
Fair enough. an older recipie and some would say the original for chocolate mead. There is a chocolate mead test on here somewhere.

A number of people have made great tasting mead since then. I recomend gotmead.com there are a number of chocolate mead recipies. I have often heard it recomended to use cacao nibs rather than a processed powder. I have 2 batches going now with that in mind. Many people will recomend a lot or a little nibs. Many recipies say a pound of nibs, I used 2 pounds of roasted nibs.

At this stage I would recomend that you rack it onto some nibs, pound should do, in the secondary. It has always been the case for me to have better flavors when I add to a secondary.

Also, looking at a chocolate bar, milk chocolate has about 30% cacao nibs, Darker chocolates will have a % of around 60% to 80% making it more bitter. Every chocolate bar I have seen has vanillin (or rather vanilla) in it. I think that this enhances the chocolate flavor as well as a sweeter feel. In my recient batch I used a Pound of Maltodextrin to add a creamy mougth feel too and to sweeten it up a bit.

Overall, If that's the recipie then you shouldn't feel bad for following it. Just I know that there are better ways and inprovements in recipies since then.

Just giving some suggestions to make a better mead, from my perspective. I like to experiment but I also like doing research prior to my expiriments.

Hope it turns out well.

Matrix
 
Thanks for your help. I will adjust it once the fermentation settles down. The fermentation has restarted since I topped off with honey water after the initial foaming settled down.

Where is a good source for the Chocolate Nibs?
 
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