Thanks, @Murph4231 ! That seems like a great idea. I've been kegging home brew for about 10 years now, but never done any significant aging in them.
I totally agree. I had some of my Berry Death BOMM last night that I made 8/8/21, the flavors are way more complex now, the honey made a comeback, just a totally amazing drink now. Not that it wasn't @ 6 months old, but, there's a noticeable change for the better since that last bottle was consumed.
I won't argue with you but declining to ask qualified judges to attest to the claims you make independent of the fact that you are sharing your mead with friends and not strangers and free anything is often less open to critique, makes your assertion about how good a NFT mead can become a little... um ... dubious... If it's wonderful , then it's wonderful. Facts are facts..and I never argue with facts but opinions are um... vested.
Please find attached the picture of the unicorn I found for my daughter's birthday last weekend. It wasn't in my backyard, but pretty close!
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Distilling is definitely something that interests me... but I just bought a Spike trio system, so with the added costs of another baby I'm pretty sure I need to hold off on more equipment purchases for the time being hahai'm pretty sure you're right? but there is a drunken section, and general chit-chat also....(and rank, is why i don't often venture out of there!
.i have a bottle of brandy from 2008 still 3/4 gallon, aging on valley oak...
alcohol is easy enough to make and keep the pipe line fluid, not really that hard to long term age stuff....
I used to own a homebrew shop. Back in the day we had 2 mfrs of synthetic corks we used to recommend as superior for long term. There were Neocorks or Nomacorks. I’m having a hard time finding either with a search. But I was always a fan of the synthetic corks for mead. Whatever brand they make today.
Haha yes… they say something like cry once… it’s a pretty good system so far. Brewing my second batch now- a big Russian imperial stout. Will see how it handles this big of a grain bill
Ha I like it! I wound up having so much grain in there that I hit my 1.1 OG on the RIS and still was able to make a 1.045 small beer with the second runnings. Now for the wait….there was a thread "what do you see through your beer" or something like that...i can't find it, but you could post a pic in it. if you do, call it a pain killer for sticker shock, with your 'double imperial stout' blocking some of the view! imperial in more ways then one!
Brilliant!!!
Ha yes well RELATIVELY smallerDAMN! If that's a small beer to you, i'd be curious what a normal one is!
I thought I replied to this but I guess not lol. so it's been the better part of a decade since I tried to age anything, and I don't think I used either. i have never used sorbate, and only used sulfites on a few things. most of the mead I make now if good right after fermentation so it doesn't last. that said, if I can age properly I would make a bigger batch to forget about.
With proper sanitation practices you don't have to use either. I have one now that is 4 yrs old. When it comes to aging anything, sanitation is of the upmost importance. But oxidation is another enemy. Avoid oxygenating at all cost.
Anecdotes are always fun to read but anecdotes are often atypical. Most neophyte wine or mead makers have already begun oxidation before they pitch the yeast and like with most cars, a tiny scratch 10 years ago is more than likely to result in rust (AKA oxidation) today. So, sure I have no question about the delightful nature of your nephew's melomel , nor do I have any question about you being able to nicely age a well-made mead that may need a year or five to fully mature. But a mead that is poorly made or made with poor ingredients or is made with an untested recipe is unlikely to age well. It'll get older but that's not what is meant by "aging".
