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I cold brewed mine also. Depending on how much coffee was added , and how strong said coffee was will have an effect on the flavor. I suggested bitter because the OP said ashtray. The mead I made had a very strong coffee flavor that back sweetening helped alot. I offered the OP some possible...

I made a coffee mead that at 2 years was ok. At 3years it was really good. Is yours dry or sweet. Would a bit of backsweetening help? Oak? How strong ( bitter)is the mead now? I am a coffee drinker anyways, so I like the flavor, but the bitterness can be overwhelming. I could always store it for...

You probably just need to rack it off the yeast cake and let it age for a few months and taste then. Time can do great things to mead. An addtion of oak (tanins), can also help smooth things too. Good luck

I like to slice vanilla beans lengthwise and just put them in the secondary. The alcohol will extract the flavor pretty well.I don't like adding vodka to my meads. 1 or 2 beans per gallon is a good place to start. Good luck.

More mead is never a bad thing.

The way that I look at the subject is that CO2 is a waste product of the yeast eating the sugars of the honey. Those waste products in some way are probably toxic to the yeast. Happy yeast= happy ferment= happy mead drinkers. My meads have turned out better and sooner since I started degassing.

I am much happier when I de-gas too.:rolleyes:

I will second room temp. It seems to let more of the flavors present themselves.

5gal meadow foam 2gal orange blossom 5gal wild flower 3gal buckwheat All in secondary waiting for flavoring additions. I also have 22 lbs of honey waiting for more fermaid to arrive. 743.5

There is a great thread over at the Got Mead forums about this subject. Look in the "processes of making mead" section. Congratulations and good luck!

Cool let us know how it turns out. I've been wanting to try a wild ferment.

YES you do need an airlock. The yeast will still be working for quite awhile and making CO2 which could build up pressure and explode if you don't give the gas somewhere to go.

I won't think about bottling until 8 or 9 months. It gets easier to wait when you have enough bottled and you have a choice of aged meads to drink. Good luck and welcome to the obsession.

You said that you took 3 bottles out of the carboy previously? That would have left a lot (too much) of headspace. Even with a real airlock you would have oxidation issues. In bulk aging you need to keep the level of the mead up to the neck of the carboy. Good luck.

By any chance was there any potasium sorbate in the concentrate that you used?

1 packet of dry yeast is good for up to 5 gallons. If you are using fresh mint leaves l would crush them up a bit and put them in secondary. Good luck and welcome to the obsession.

I have had good results with adding the spices in secondary,whole cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans sliced lengthwise and tied with string for easier removal. I never really liked the idea of adding vodka to my mead. Good luck.

What size batch would this be?

I have had good luck with using chocolate syrup in the secondary. It didn't take long to age out, and it cleared up nicely. I don't have my notes handy but l can try post how much I used later.

One thing that has helped to make the pumpkin flavor come through is to add a couple of sweet potatoes in to the must.I like to use purple ones if I can get them. They really add to the color nicely. Good luck!