Is Montrachet a mistake for mead?

[VermontFreedom]

I've made 3 batches of mead thus far. All fermentations went well, and I'm waiting (MONTHS AND MONTHS) for them to condition/age.

My recipes tell me to give them a full 18 months in the bottle, but I'm terribly impatient.

When I've stolen a taste at racking or bottling, they were 'sour'. More like a chardonnay than a good sweet, robust mead.

I used Red Star Montrachet for each one.

I want to blame the sour or bland flavors on the Montrachet, but could it be the water or something else I'm doing wrong?

I make good beer and good wine, but more than anything I want to make good mead, but I am getting REALLY frustrated by these 'sour' meads.

 

[mike_in_ak]

Holy necro batman? Anyone have any thoughts on this?

 

[fatbloke]

Hard to comment really, without a full listing of the ingredients/method.

Yeast does make, potentially, a huge difference in end flavours.

Redstar yeast isn't easily available here, hell even the Lallemand/Lalvin ones need mail ordering, and then (easily) it's only the "usual suspects".

I like to stick with the types suggested in the writings of the late Brother Adam. He originally used "Maury" yeast, then when that became unavailable, before his death, he was using Montpellier strain.

In current parlance, that equates to Lalvin D21 for a Maury yeast (a small AOC region surrounded by the Rousillon AOC region) and K1-V1116 for the Montpellier one.

I usually bulk age as it seems to produce better, more consistent results for the home brewer - I'd suggest that is mainly to do with temperature swings, and that we don't tend to have temp/climate controlled storage that mimicks the traditional storage environments.

I age mine for a minimum of 12 months, often longer......

 

[Sharkman20]

Montrachet is good for mead making. The mead I made a year and a half ago using orange blossom honey came out killer. I used it again last November for making two more batches. Only thing in my experience is the fermentation last a LONG time. 6 months or so. The batches I made last November literally just had the yeast drop out of suspension over the last 3 days and it's halfway through June now. I wouldn't worry about what it tastes like early, just rack off the yeast once it clears a bit, bulk age and keep the airlock full. Other than that you can just forget about it for months. I'll usually rack mine a few times until there is no longer any kind of sediment falling out, then bottle at the 1 year mark. Hope this helps.

 

[WVMJ]

How do they taste now after aging so many years?

WVMJ

 

[Cyclman]

Video on Basic Brewing in 2006-2007 and they used montrachet in a mead. Said it was alcoholy, like a hard liquor drink. They liked that, though.

 

[PLOVE]

How do they taste now after aging so many years?

WVMJ

Ha! I'm only laughing because this thread (first post) is older than my son!!

Love this response because clearly someone realized that this thread is dead - RIP.

FWIW I've made several mead and braggot with champagne yeast and things have turned out great! I'm also not patient and drinking within 6 months. . .
P

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

My perry Pyment is awesome so far and that used Montrachet.