A couple of quick questions...

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ArcaneXor

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I made a gallon of spiced orange mead a couple of months ago (OG 1.100 - clover honey, orange juice, spices, Montrachet yeast) that I am planning to bottle and carbonate.

1.) Is "lagering" meads recommended, or should I just bulk age it at room temperature?

2.) What additives work well for back-sweetening meads? I'd like to leave some bottles dry and make some of them sweet to compare the taste.

3.) What about bulk aging vs. aging (carbonated) in the bottle? Is one preferable over the other?

4.) Realistically, how long does a mead of this OG need to age before coming into its prime?
 
1. If you used a lager yeast it might be, otherwise, no.

2. I leave it dry. Things like splenda have an off-taste for me, and I'm not enthralled by sweet stuff much these days, though it might have appealed 20 years ago. Bottle dry and serve with a dollop of honey?

3. Both, and lots of both.

4. Depends. Can be 5 years or more. Can be somewhat less. Don't get over-eager to drink it up young, and find that the last bottle is the best one yet ;-) Not opening one until 2011 might be a good start, if you can manage that.
 
1) Can't see where lagering would hurt but I don't think it is necessary
2)To back sweeten your mead add campden tablets (potassium sulfite) and potassium sorbate to the finished mead. This will stabilize the mead preventing renewed fermentation. Then you can add honey or sugar to get your desired sweetness. Once you do this however you cannot bottle carbonate the mead, so it is best bottled still.
3) Both work, I try to leave it in the carboy 6months, many aim for a year. You can then store in bottles as long as you desire.
4)The mead should be drinkable at 6months, much better at a year. I'm not sure where it reaches its peak but that may be several years. After a year I think the differences positive and negetive take a long time to be noticable. I think you can plan on ejoying your mead after a year but also plan on making it last several years so you get a feel for the changes over time.
So far I am having a hard time leaving mine go much beyond a year as I start sampling a bottle every month or 2 starting at 6months. That's why I quickly moved from 1 gal batches to 5 gal batches. Now hopefully I will still have the majority of my mead left once it reaches a year.

Craig
 
You have great answers to all your questions already, but if I could offer some more.
If you bottle your mead, save some. Start up a collection of your mini-me-mead cellar.
If you don't have the space, put together a treasure hunt setup. Go out and bury three champagne bottles, well sealed and protected deep in the roots of a tree high up in the hills, that does not get a lot of sun light. Do this for three sites for each batch, and start with one each year with some friends following clues to find it. The winner share's one bottle with the hunters, keeps one and you get one. Do this each year, rotating 2-6 years between the batches. When you get sick of it and learn to age your own collection, send me your treasure maps and I'll collect your left overs. :)
 
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