Did i ruined my mead?

[Melite]

Im new to this.

After 3 weeks i didnt saw any more arilock activity on my strawberry mead (for 2-3 days) so i decided to rack my mead.

I did a little taste test and it just taste flat... it doesn't have a special flavor... Its like, water with a little of honey that burns a little...

Any advice? i will let it sit for 2-3 more weeks before back sweeten it or is it not a good idea?

i dont know what ABV i have because i don't have an hydrometer, but it's probably above 10%

 

[DBhomebrew]

Any advice?

You're not going to like it.

It sounds like your mead is well on its way to being an excellent beverage, but mead takes time. Not 2-3 weeks, maybe not even 2-3 months. In 6, 9, 12+ months your mead will mellow and transform. The heat will back off. The honey will come forward.

Maybe it does need some backsweetening. Maybe a bit of oak tannin. Maybe a touch of acid. But what will help is time.

 

[Rish]

^^this. Be sure to stabilize or pasteurize it before you backsweeten.

 

[Melite]

You're not going to like it.

It sounds like your mead is well on its way to being an excellent beverage, but mead takes time. Not 2-3 weeks, maybe not even 2-3 months. In 6, 9, 12+ months your mead will mellow and transform. The heat will back off. The honey will come forward.

Maybe it does need some backsweetening. Maybe a bit of oak tannin. Maybe a touch of acid. But what will help is time.

i rack it because i didnt see any activity and wanted to get rid of the strawberry leftovers. How long should i wait before bottle it?

 

[DBhomebrew]

It's pretty subjective. Waiting until it's crystal clear is my minimum.

Usually 4-8wks in primary. Then racked onto oak for 2-3 months before bottling. Without the oak, I'd still let it sit 2-3 months. Really, without the oak I have no pressure to rack it off so those tend to go 6-9 months before I get around to bottling.

 

[MightyMosin]

i dont know what ABV i have because i don't have an hydrometer, but it's probably above 10%

Do you know how much honey and what the total volume ended up being?

I like doing strawberry mead, but I find that the strawberry's in primary don't come through very well. I always end up back sweetening to get that nice strawberry flavor.

For myself, I use ~2Lb of strawberry per gallon of mead in secondary. Depending on how ripe they are, you can probably count on adding about 4 points to your final gravity after the strawberries have turned white and have been removed.

You must stabilize your mead at least 24 hours before adding the fruit otherwise the yeast will just ferment that sugar away.

At 2 Lb a gallon you should end up with a great strawberry aroma. For my taste, I use ~.3Lb of honey per gallon of mead to get the flavor where I like it. This puts the gravity at about 0.015 depending on how sweet the fruit was and how accurately you measure the honey.

Prior to using strawberries I rinse them well and then put them in a salad spinner to get them rinsed well. I then give them a soak for ~15 minutes in 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water to help clean them of little bacteria that I don't want to add into the mead. I allow them to dry and then I chop and bag them for the freezer for use later.

 

[MightyMosin]

https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-...-infections-frozen-strawberries-february-2023

 

[OregonMEAD]

Im new to this.

After 3 weeks i didnt saw any more arilock activity on my strawberry mead (for 2-3 days) so i decided to rack my mead.

I did a little taste test and it just taste flat... it doesn't have a special flavor... Its like, water with a little of honey that burns a little...

Any advice? i will let it sit for 2-3 more weeks before back sweeten it or is it not a good idea?

i dont know what ABV i have because i don't have an hydrometer, but it's probably above 10%

Sounds like you killed your yeast during fermentation.