bottling mead question?

[WheaYat]

i hope this hasn't been asked to many times previously. I googled it an couldn't find much on the subject so I wanted to ask u veterans personally. ok

I don't know if I'm am gonna like mead (not a sweet alcohol type a gent) so I don't wanna spend money on a corker, bottles, and corks etc..... is it possible to just bottle it into a few of my empty DICKEL whiskey bottles then maybe seal it wit some wax? thanks alot for anything here? GOd Bless

 

[bob1852]

I bottle all of my meads in plain ol' 12-oz beer bottles with oxygen absorbing caps.

 

[fatbloke]

i hope this hasn't been asked to many times previously. I googled it an couldn't find much on the subject so I wanted to ask u veterans personally. ok

I don't know if I'm am gonna like mead (not a sweet alcohol type a gent) so I don't wanna spend money on a corker, bottles, and corks etc..... is it possible to just bottle it into a few of my empty DICKEL whiskey bottles then maybe seal it wit some wax? thanks alot for anything here? GOd Bless

or you can just use bottles from a recycling bank (PITA taking labels off, but if they're free then......).

Plus you can get re-usable plastic stoppers that seal a treat and a pack of shrink seals (hair dryer, paint stripper gun or even boiling water will shrink them).

Or how about just beer bottles and a crown capper ?

Or even just the recycled bottles and Zorks ?

p.s. Oh and I know what you're on about with "sweet", all the commercial meads I've tried here, have been vvv sweet. A check of the gravity has shown them to be about 1.040 or thereabouts - but that'd make them "dessert" meads. I usually make mine dry and then back sweeten to about 1.010 - just enough to have some sweetness and as I like to use honey, you get enough honey flavour to understand what it is. Meads don't need to be like watered down honey......

 

[WheaYat]

thank h both but I am talkin about regular old plastic screw top whiskey bottles. I figure I could seal em easy by screwing the top on an then just dip em in wax or shrink rap?

ps - FATBLOKE- I am curious. have u ever gotten a mead to taste like bourbon? any secret to gettin the mead like a spirit kinda. like u said I don't want watered down honey water. I just wanna try this but still would like it successful u know. maybe add some oak chips or cubes. tryin to make it 30-40 proof ? any recipe u can lend on something to these tastes? God Bless

 

[MedsenFey]

You can make mead taste like bourbon. Shoot for a high ABV then use a lot of heavy toast American oak in it.

 

[malkore]

You still won't get the 'spirits' taste though as that only comes from distillation.

Don't use old whiskey bottles. Just bottle them like beer. I find a 12 oz bottle of mead is ideal to split with my wife.

You can't just pound down the mead. If you do, it pounds you back something fierce!

 

[WheaYat]

yeah I understand that about the distillery comment. I just was tryin to say that I wanted something that's pepped up that I can sip in like my whiskey u know what I'm sayin. as far as gettin a high ABV and adding the oak. any rations? and amount of oak for how long? I have some French oak.

 

[biochemedic]

I've not yet done an oaked mead, (perhaps on my next pyment...) but when I use oak in my beers, I use 1 oz of chips, usually for a week or two...you may have to sample periodically to see where you like it. Also, you could consider actually soaking the chips in bourbon for a couple days or a week or two before hand...I do this with my oaked beers...I'll spread the chips out after removing the liquid, and allow them to air dry for a half hour or so, then pitch 'em in. This leaves a very nice hint of bourbon in the final beverage.

As far as increasing the ABV, you can probably get a mead up to 15-18% with a high test yeast (perhaps EC 1118) and good technique (proper pitch rates, good initial aeration, staggered nutrient additions, and degassing). I'd consider that sipping enough, but certainly not like a true bourbon. I'll mention this at risk of inciting a flurry of side discussion, but you might want to do a board search on freeze concentration...

 

[bob1852]

I oak some of my meads/ciders at 1 oz of light toasted oak chips per gallon for ~6 weeks.

 

[WheaYat]

I've not yet done an oaked mead, (perhaps on my next pyment...) but when I use oak in my beers, I use 1 oz of chips, usually for a week or two...you may have to sample periodically to see where you like it. Also, you could consider actually soaking the chips in bourbon for a couple days or a week or two before hand...I do this with my oaked beers...I'll spread the chips out after removing the liquid, and allow them to air dry for a half hour or so, then pitch 'em in. This leaves a very nice hint of bourbon in the final beverage.

As far as increasing the ABV, you can probably get a mead up to 15-18% with a high test yeast (perhaps EC 1118) and good technique (proper pitch rates, good initial aeration, staggered nutrient additions, and degassing). I'd consider that sipping enough, but certainly not like a true bourbon. I'll mention this at risk of inciting a flurry of side discussion, but you might want to do a board search on freeze concentration...

thanks bio-
that's what I do also for my beer. 1 oz oak for a week and check. so we defiantly agree there. as far as the higher abv is concerned. can someone lend a recipe? something strong. with a tad sweetness. and I'll add the oak. honey to water ration and nutrients to use for a stronger mead?? I will prolly start an do just a gallon for my first try. thanks alot GodBless

 

[WheaYat]

I oak some of my meads/ciders at 1 oz of light toasted oak chips per gallon for ~6 weeks.

thanks bra!

 

[MedsenFey]

You still won't get the 'spirits' taste though as that only comes from distillation.

If you ferment it at high temp and get plenty of fusels it can taste an awful lot like your favorite rotgut whiskey. Ask me how I know.

I like to oak things very lightly, usually starting at 1 gram per liter (about 3/4 ounce for a 5-gallon batch) and then adding more if needed. For something that tastes like bourbon, I'd at least double that. Bourbon flavor comes from charred American oak, so the heavy toast American oak will get you closest in flavor.

As for a recipe. I'd take a dark honey (wildflower, or maybe mangrove or Brazilian pepper bush down where I'm at) and use a starting gravity of 1.140. A yeast like EC-1118, DV10, Uvaferm 43, or perhaps K1V should allow you to get near 18%. I'd use at least 10 grams of yeast (for 5 gallons) and would rehydrate with GoFerm. Then I'd plan on SNA using hightest's protocol, but I'd increase the amounts by 50-100% to make sure the yeast have enough. I'd aerate it well until the gravity is below 1.100. I'd watch the pH to make sure it doesn't drop below 3.4, and use potassium bicarb to bring it up to that level if needed (if I couldn't measure the pH, I'd add cream of tartar 4 grams per gallon at the beginning).

When it is finished I'd rack onto the oak (staves preferred; cubes or spirals second; chips only if that was all I could get) and let it sit for a couple of years, racking when it accumulates a think layer of sediment. When clear, I'd add acid to taste and decide if it needs to be sweeter. I'd add more oak if needed. After a total of 2-4 years, you'll have something special to sip.

 

[WheaYat]

medsen - thanks alot bro for the thorough comment. So I'm guessin when the abv is that high it takes that long to mellow huh? guess I'll try it and forget about it. should i let it age in bottles at a certain temp?

 

[smyrnaquince]

I bottle all of my meads in plain ol' 12-oz beer bottles with oxygen absorbing caps.

Why those over the regular caps?