In regards to freeze concentration....

[Meadiator]

Has anyone ever freeze concentrated mead, such as the process of making apple jack? From what I understand, this isn't illegal.

 

[Maverick22]

This is illegal. but not if you don't get caught

Also, Honey does not ferment to much Methanol, so you're safe as far as that goes.

Only thing is though, it's going to have a heat to it, and alot of the honey flavor is going to dwindle away.

 

[biochemedic]

It isn't illegal... do a HBT search for freeze concentration and you'll find multiple threads, how-to's and discussions on the legality.

I've never done it with mead, but I did it with a braggot that was a bit over carbonated and under attenuated. It definitely was a worthy experiment, and I thought the end product, while not the best thing I've ever made, was probably better than what I started with.

 

[Yooper]

Freeze concentration is allowed in most areas, as opposed to heat distillation (illegal in the US). We allow threads discussing freeze concentration in our forum.

 

[BBBF]

I don't think you hear much about it with mead because it's easier to just use more honey and maybe a stronger yeast.

 

[biochemedic]

I don't think you hear much about it with mead because it's easier to just use more honey and maybe a stronger yeast.

But still...you can achieve much higher ABV's with this technique than you could ever hope to reach with just fermentation. Not that this should be the "be-all-and-end-all" of homebrewing, but it's another technique to explore, and it can make something pretty unique and almost brandy-like...the braggot I referenced earlier was concentrated three-fold (three 22 oz bombers into one by volume), so I had estimated the final ABV to be around 30% (the original braggot was 11%)...it was a fairly nice sip and savor type of drink...

This thread has inspired me to take a couple bottles from the next batch I bottle (probably my cyser from last fall) and jack me up some mead...

 

[Meadiator]

But still...you can achieve much higher ABV's with this technique than you could ever hope to reach with just fermentation. Not that this should be the "be-all-and-end-all" of homebrewing, but it's another technique to explore, and it can make something pretty unique and almost brandy-like...the braggot I referenced earlier was concentrated three-fold (three 22 oz bombers into one by volume), so I had estimated the final ABV to be around 30% (the original braggot was 11%)...it was a fairly nice sip and savor type of drink...

This thread has inspired me to take a couple bottles from the next batch I bottle (probably my cyser from last fall) and jack me up some mead...

Excellent! please let us know how it goes. I have decided to do the same after reading the responses to this thread.

 

[Sharkman20]

One idea I was pondering a while back was to "fortify" a normal batch of mead with some freeze concentrated mead to boost the abv a couple of points if it wasn't to where I wanted it.

 

[biochemedic]

Just bottled my cyser the other night, and I have 3 bottles set aside to do this...

 

[huesmann]

One idea I was pondering a while back was to "fortify" a normal batch of mead with some freeze concentrated mead to boost the abv a couple of points if it wasn't to where I wanted it.

Frankly, that sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Sharkman20]

Frankly, that sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

Then by all means, don't do it.

Me, I like to experiment and considering how easy it would be to do, I don't see where this trouble comes from that you speak of.

 

[EndlessPurple]

Interesting idea sharkman. The straight freeze method can get strong, but adding it back in as a way to fortify sounds like port since port uses distilled grape to add back into the wine.

I would probably use a traditional to freeze so that it would not add uncontrolled flavors to what other mead you add it back into.