First Mead - need some help and opinions

[jonfrog]

This is my first attempt at making mead and I need a little help. I'm working with 3.5 gallons of mead that has just reached the secondary ferment stage. I have added my fruit and spices and now I'm looking for a little guidance.

Here is what I'm working with:

- 9 lbs of buckwheat honey (this is what was available to me at the time)
- lalvin champagne yeast
- some energizer
- 1 granny smith (for some tartness)
- 6 Fugi apples
- 4 sticks of cinnamon
- 2 scraped vanilla bean pods
- 2 whole nutmegs
- 1 oz of juniper berries

I need some help figuring out how long the secondary ferment should be. I also need some help figuring out if I should be adding more honey to the secondary.

Thanks for reading and any tips are greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

 

[bernardsmith]

Hi jonfrog and welcome. I don't think that there is one correct answer to your questions. How long should any wine or mead sit in a secondary? I think the answer is always - "As long as it needs to be". The longer it sits, the more clear it will be and the more integrated will be the flavors. In addition, simply because all the sugars have been fermented out does not mean that chemical changes are not continuously ongoing. Typically you want those changes. Do you have the patience to let the mead sit for 4 months? Fine. For 6 months? That would be better. For 9 months? Better yet. A year? Best advice is to taste a measure every month or two. You really cannot make a wine (or a mead) without tasting.
The other thing I would suggest is that you rack the mead off the lees every two or three months. That may mean that you will need to find some way to top off the racked mead... Either that or find smaller vessels to rack the mead into so that there is never any headroom.

As to your question about adding more honey to the secondary.. I guess the answer to that question is why? If you want to increase the alcohol level (it is presumably close to or at 12%) then add more honey. The yeast will ferment it. If you want to increase the honey flavor, then add more honey - But realize that the yeast will ferment it. If you want to make the mead more sweet - THAT is another story. Unless you stabilize the mead - preventing further fermentation then the yeast will ferment any added fermentable sugars. To sweeten a wine (or mead) you add the sweetener AFTER stabilization but just before you intend to bottle it. In my opinion, you cannot stabilize a mead while there is still a large and active yeast colony present - and until you have racked three or four times (see above) that colony is going to be too large - and active. You want the mead to be bright and clear before you even think about stabilization.

 

[jonfrog]

Thanks for the reply and the info.

I will keep what you said in mind.

I was thinking of adding honey to try and sweeten it a bit more and raise the alcohol concentration.

 

[bernardsmith]

Thanks for the reply and the info.

I will keep what you said in mind.

I was thinking of adding honey to try and sweeten it a bit more and raise the alcohol concentration.

You can only sweeten a mead if either you add sugars that are not fermentable.. and honey does not fall into that category; or you add the sugars after eliminating the yeast. This you can do through repeated racking (and removing the yeast) over time; by pulling the mead through a sterile filter (.45 micron - but for that the mead needs to be perfectly clear) or, through (ugh!) the brewer's (not the wine-maker's ) practice of pasteurization - Heat damages the flavor and volatile aromatic molecules.

 

[madscientist451]

I'm somewhat skeptical that adding 7 apples to 3.5 gallons of mead is going to accomplish much of anything. Are you trying to get apple flavor?
I would suggest a better method would be to make a base mead that tastes good and then add flavorings later on. If your base mead doesn't suit your taste, no amount of fruit or spices added in secondary is going to change that very much.
I've never used buckwheat honey, but I've heard from other mead makers that using a lighter honey like orange blossom or clover makes the best mead.

 

[bernardsmith]

I am on the right coast and our buckwheat honey does not make a mead whose flavor I like. Others on the left coast argue that buckwheat honey is delicious. I think that the flavor of buckwheat honey depends on what part of the country it comes from.

 

[jonfrog]

buckwheat honey is by far my most preferred honey. I can put that stuff on anything and enjoy it. My favorite use of the stuff is to make a white sauce pizza with goat cheese and olives and when it is finished I drizzle the stuff on top, it's delicious.