Patience is a virtue.

[Paps]

But just how MUCH of one when it comes to bulk aging mead???

I've done some meads and thought they were o.k. but i never personally have had the patience to let it age a year before drinking it.Longest i've held out was probably 3 months after bottling.
Soooooooo,
If anyone here would please enlighten me as to just how much of a difference does the extra 9 months really have on a basic mead.(honey+water+yeast+yeast nutrient+nothing else)
Normally i am a beer drinker and really cant claim to be a huge fan of traditional wines but i did think the mead was allright at 3 months but felt it was far outshined by a hard cider of comparable age.
So is it really a `mind blowing` difference with a full year of aging or is it just ` a little bit better`????????
Thank you all for your input.

 

[fatbloke]

Whats the difference ?

Huge.....

Massive......

Enormous.......

Hard to put into words. But smoother, more mellow, often recovering body and even a perception of sweetness......

 

[Bluespark]

I'm currently drinking a mead I thought was aweful at 3 months, good at 6 months, quite good at 9 months, and really exceptional at a year. Can't wait for it to hit 2 years..

I made a raspberry mead that I was excited about. Must was amazing. At 3 months it was disgusting. At 6 it was awful, bitter and acidic. I was getting a bit panicky that I was going to have 6 gallons of cooking wine. At 9 months I still didn't want to drink it, but I didn't spit it out, and I was impressed with the improvement. At a year it is shockingly good. Can't even recognize it.


So how important is it to age? Essential I would say.

 

[Yohef]

I have been making Mead for a little under a year now and I can already attest that time does make a huge difference. My first truly successful batch was born this past February and at 3 months old it was good. I was shocked however, to find how much better it was at 6 months old. It has been bulk aging this whole time, but now I plan to bottle it this week and leave it be until next falls renaissance faire season. It will be amazing by then.

 

[pghfett]

For a Newb Patience and waiting is the hardest part for me !!!

The Damn stuff tastes sooooo good :rockin:

 

[Matrix4b]

Echo above, Huge difference in aging. It's a MUST! Every mead needs to be aged a minimum of 6 to 8 months, and it is recomended for a year. Some take longer than others. I have a Chocolate Mead that I used just nibs on and it still isn't ready after 22 months. I am waiting the full 2 years that is sugested for that type of mead. The oils take a long time to break down. Same with a Coffee mead, I hear.

Oaking mead makes it taste better and seems to age a little quicker, but even then give it at least 8 months. If you don't believe me then make a fresh batch. Take one bottle and a shot at 3 months and each month after that. When you drink the shot, take notes down, everything that the shot tastes. Then after the bottle is done, read the notes. Don't touch any of the other batch until that bottle is done.

Matrix

 

[amaycock071]

After reading all of this I am very eager to begin my next batch. I've just purchased a 15L oak cask to age my mead in so I am hoping by next Christmas to have pretty hefty stash of brews lined up and aged.

Matrix, as you said for trying the same bottle of a long period of time, how would you store that bottle while you are waiting?

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Just make sure you don't over-oak your mead while it's aging. Each use it takes longer for the oak to get in and eventually will take months and months.

 

[gratus fermentatio]

I've bulk aged meads & melomels as long as 4 years. There is a certain magic that happens during aging. It'll go from undrinkable to not too bad, to pretty good, to AWSOME! And all you have to do is wait.
Regards, GF.