"Fread" Mead Freeze Concentration

[JustinCider]

I have been reading the forum posts on this topic for quite sometime. As far as i can tell this is nothing against the board rules to ask about. Anyways I had some of my Strawberry-Vanilla Mead laying around and I was a little bored so i decided to freeze concentrate 2 bottles of this mead in the name of science. HAHAHHA.

I froze it for 12 hours and then tipped the plastic 2-liter over a mason jar and left it alone for a few hours. After a few hours i returned... and the ice was clean. I bottled that baby up after sharing a taste or two with my wife. WOW....this really packs a punch now! I'm guessing it's probably around 25 percent now since it was nearly 18 before. So here is the question...since it has been frozen does it have to go directly to the fridge? Can it warm back up to room temp after the process to be stored? Any questions, comments or death threats would be appreciated.

:fro::rockin:

 

[MindenMan]

I have a few batches of freeze concentrated hard cider behind me, so I hope I can be of help. How to figure the potential amount of alcohol is easy. Let's say you have a two liter bottle of a fermented beverage, and you know it is 10% ABV. So, a two liter bottle contains 6.4 oz of 200 proof alcohol. You will never get all of it out. I always freeze my two liter bottles for a minimum of two days, usually three for the best results. When the bottle is not quite frozen solid, I turn it upside down to drain. The first drippings are very high in alcohol, and if you were to collect about ten ounces in total, it would potentially be the best apple schnapps you ever had. In my experience using apple cider to make hard cider, it does improve with age. I have heard mead needs to be aged to really enjoy it. Based on that, I would say stash a couple of bottles somewhere cool and dark for a year or so, and see what you get.
Back to the point; the mead slush that is still in the bottle, let it thaw completely, and re freeze to get another batch of runnings. There won't be much left that is high proof, so just be aware.

 

[JustinCider]

The mead i used was already aged for a year..and really tasty. Thank you very much for the info.

 

[MindenMan]

With the current price of honey, I don't know when/if I will be making a batch of mead. I am glad yours is good.

 

[Kdog22]

This is something I will try one day with mead. I'm currently freeze concentrating a gallon of white grape peach wine as i'm typing this. I can only assume that if the before product is delicious, then freeze contentrating it will likely also be delicious.

 

[fuelish]

With the current price of honey, I don't know when/if I will be making a batch of mead. I am glad yours is good.

Damn the price of honey ..... it's well worth it

 

[PCChazter]

I can only assume that if the before product is delicious, then freeze contentrating it will likely also be delicious.

You can also make a bad tasting or weak tasting mead taste good by freeze concentrating it. I had a batch that I didn't like the taste of, and I quite enjoyed the result of freeze concentrating it.

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