First traditional mead / Question on wood infusing

[StefanK]

Well, this is my first serious mead.

Using Lalvin K-1 Montpellier as my yeast, and a locally produced Venezuelan honey which the producer claims that its beehives dwell near Orange plantations and vast plains were Mentha suaveolens (locally known as Mastranto), grows wildly.

Honey had an interesting citrus smell and a fresh, citrusy, floral taste.

I left her to ferment for a whole month. Fermentation stopped at about 2 1/2 weeks but I could hear fizzing for a few more days so I waited.

Taste is sweet, velvety, with slight citrus notes. I can't tell ABV but I definitively can tell you can feel the alcohol; not in a bad way, but in a smooth way.

QUESTION: I racked it to secondary already, where I am planning to let her naturally clear out. However I planned on infusing it with some Hungarian Oak chips. I aiming for a mellow oak taste, not to overpower the mead with it but to enhance it for bottle aging it a long time.

Any recomandations from the pros? Must I infuse with the chips shortly before bottling it, can I infuse it now? How much time? My batch is about a good 4 liters.

(yes, my carboy is an old large whisky bottle. This is what I had at hand, finding glass carboys over here is quite hard)

 

[loveofrose]

Look up my Oak Experiment thread for tasting notes that each type of oak provides. Pick one (or two) types and infuse away.

Start with 7 cubes total per gallon. I highly suggest cubes over chips or dust. The infusion is slower so that you minimize the chance of over oaking the mead and they provide a more complex flavor.

You will need to taste every 2 weeks or so and rack off the oak when the oak level is where you want it to be. I generally wait until my mead is clear and aged before oaking (unless it is a BOMM).




Better brewing through science!

 

[StefanK]

Look up my Oak Experiment thread for tasting notes that each type of oak provides. Pick one (or two) types and infuse away.

Start with 7 cubes total per gallon. I highly suggest cubes over chips or dust. The infusion is slower so that you minimize the chance of over oaking the mead and they provide a more complex flavor.

You will need to taste every 2 weeks or so and rack off the oak when the oak level is where you want it to be. I generally wait until my mead is clear and aged before oaking (unless it is a BOMM).




Better brewing through science!

Thank you very much! I will be buying cubes. However If using chips (that's what I have at hand, but I think I have a lot of time until it settles down so I can order cubes) tasting time gets reduced to what, 1 week each time?

 

[loveofrose]

With chips, you better taste every day.


Better brewing through science!

 

[StefanK]

Only 10 days later I was gratefully surprised by the fact that my mead is clearing very fast! While tasting it I noticed alcohol flavor has smoothed out. Can't wait for it to be clear to add some wood

 

[IJesusChrist]

your little holder is cute

 

[damdaman]

If you can't top that up you might want to add some sulfites to prevent oxidation.

 

[StefanK]

your little holder is cute

Its a very old, large whisky bottle with stand. Found that one sitting around very old stuff while looking for a glass carboy at home. Cleaned it up pretty good, found myself a large cork as a stopper and put an airlock on! Holds 4.something liters, its perfect for small batches

 

[IJesusChrist]

oh wow, so you can fit a gallon in therE? Nice

 

[StefanK]

With chips, you better taste every day.


Better brewing through science!

Well, go figure! Since I had nothing else available, I had to use my chips. Importing oak cubes would have taken me forever so I carefully went with chips.

First, I gave em a rolling boil and let them sit in water for at least 6 hours. I heard it help to soften the flavor a little bit while using chips; water was turned into a beautifull tea and smell was great.

I then added the chips. I didn't even had to wait a full day! I tasted it about 18 hours later and it had already enough oak!! It wasn't very overpowering but certainly enough. So I went straight to bottling

 

[StefanK]

My end product. Now onto aging. Patience is everything now, I guess...

Cleared up nicely. Seems cloudy in picture bout you could read through it. Cleared super fast!



Bottled and ready to age patiently...