Hi all, I'm a beginner mead maker but an experienced beer maker. I just started my second mead batch ever (1gal modified JOAM) but I've got some questions on my first batch.
I made it about 4 years ago, basic recipe with champagne yeast and campden tablets for finishing. It tasted terrible when I bottled it and it tastes a slightly different terrible now. From my logbook I see that I calculated 16% alcohol content and at bottling it tasted like turpentine. From what I know now, I believe I had a few things wrong (leaving it sit on the lees too long in the secondary, lack of nutrients/energizer, etc.). But what gets me is how watery it is. Tasting terrible aside, the turpentine taste is gone (aging I assume), and it does smell terrific... But there's no body to it. After a sip, swallow, it doesn't have the "feel" of wine. More like a bad tasting, weak, vitamin water.
Is there a way to overcome this? I know looking back on something like this without a proper recipe has all sorts of flaws, but is there a common solution for adding body to mead? Raisins/Tannins/Acid? What gives it "legs" in a glass?
I've got more raw honey than I thought imaginable in the last few years, and I'm looking to make more mead. Of course, not one that tastes like a rotten weak vitamin water that smells like honey.
Cheers
I made it about 4 years ago, basic recipe with champagne yeast and campden tablets for finishing. It tasted terrible when I bottled it and it tastes a slightly different terrible now. From my logbook I see that I calculated 16% alcohol content and at bottling it tasted like turpentine. From what I know now, I believe I had a few things wrong (leaving it sit on the lees too long in the secondary, lack of nutrients/energizer, etc.). But what gets me is how watery it is. Tasting terrible aside, the turpentine taste is gone (aging I assume), and it does smell terrific... But there's no body to it. After a sip, swallow, it doesn't have the "feel" of wine. More like a bad tasting, weak, vitamin water.
Is there a way to overcome this? I know looking back on something like this without a proper recipe has all sorts of flaws, but is there a common solution for adding body to mead? Raisins/Tannins/Acid? What gives it "legs" in a glass?
I've got more raw honey than I thought imaginable in the last few years, and I'm looking to make more mead. Of course, not one that tastes like a rotten weak vitamin water that smells like honey.
Cheers