my mead sucks - need help

[joejaz]

Its been one year since I made my first mead, a blackberry melomel and it sucks. It has a strong alcohol aftertaste and very little flavor. I used a a 49 oz. can of Oregon blackberry puree to flavor. I transferred to different carboys a few times during the year to clear. At this point should I just bottle it and forget about it for awhile and hope it mellows or is there something else I can do to it to mellow it out.

 

[bob1852]

A couple of questions for you, before the actual mazers swoop down to help you out

batch size?
honey amount and type?
yeast?
OG/FG?
ferment temp?

again, with mead, it needs time, time; and then some more time.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Have you de-gassed it yet? Entrained fermentation gases taste terrible. IME, leaving it under an airlock for extended aging does not sufficiently degas a mead or wine. I have left meads for 2 years under an air lock and still had entrained gas. Booo. Always degas thoroughly.

Have you ever had mead before? Many people just don't like it.

 

[joejaz]

A couple of questions for you, before the actual mazers swoop down to help you out

batch size?
honey amount and type?
yeast?
OG/FG?
ferment temp?

again, with mead, it needs time, time; and then some more time.

5 Gallon batch
wildflower from a local beekeeper
15 lbs honey and topped off with water to 6 gallons
yeast D47
OG 1.085 FG .098
fermenting =/- 70 degrees

 

[TipsyDragon]

i would say just let it sit for a few more months in a bottle.

when did you add the fruit?
you should of added the fruit in the secondary to preserve the taste and aroma of the fruit. if you added it during primary fermentation then all the goodies where carried away by the CO2.

did you add any acid blend before bottling?

49oz is only 3 lb. of fruit. that may not of been enough. did you have a recipe or did you just wing it? figured one can would be enough.

 

[joejaz]

i would say just let it sit for a few more months in a bottle.

when did you add the fruit?
you should of added the fruit in the secondary to preserve the taste and aroma of the fruit. if you added it during primary fermentation then all the goodies where carried away by the CO2.

did you add any acid blend before bottling?

49oz is only 3 lb. of fruit. that may not of been enough. did you have a recipe or did you just wing it? figured one can would be enough.

Added the fruit to the secondary, told by brew shop that it would be enough fruit puree, didn't bottle yet, What's acid blend

 

[TipsyDragon]

its a blend of citric, malloc and another acid cant remember the name of right now. it helps with the mouthfeel of the mead and can add a little flavor. your LHBS will have it. also might think about adding grape tannin too, also available at your LHBS.

 

[Matrix4b]

Sounds to me that you are at the point of bottling and aging for a year. If it was a year since you started you probablly have a few months where it is actually done. Has it cleared or is it hazy?

My first mead I did a strait honey mead with alfapha honey. 20 pounds for a 5 gal batch. It still tasted like antiseptic. After 6 months aging it tasted good, with a bit of a bite. After a year it was Awesome. Smooth. The only thing that I could have done better was to oak it.

My advise to you is patients. Bottle it and let it age for 1 year then taste it.

 

[beerocd]

Just finished reading the compleat meadmaker. Distinctly remember a picture of a blackberry mead with the caption that it is just starting to taste good after 10 years.

 

[joejaz]

Just finished reading the compleat meadmaker. Distinctly remember a picture of a blackberry mead with the caption that it is just starting to taste good after 10 years.

I guess I'll have to leave this in my will to someone.

 

[joejaz]

Sounds to me that you are at the point of bottling and aging for a year. If it was a year since you started you probablly have a few months where it is actually done. Has it cleared or is it hazy?

My first mead I did a strait honey mead with alfapha honey. 20 pounds for a 5 gal batch. It still tasted like antiseptic. After 6 months aging it tasted good, with a bit of a bite. After a year it was Awesome. Smooth. The only thing that I could have done better was to oak it.

My advise to you is patients. Bottle it and let it age for 1 year then taste it.

I think that's what I'm going to do. Bottle it and let it sit, can't get any worse.

 

[beerocd]

I guess I'll have to leave this in my will to someone.

At least it will be good by then. Have em serve it at the wake so everyone you know can have a taste.

Otherwise maybe just try another bottle every year and note how the taste has changed and hopefully improved.
And if you're lucky, at one a year you run out of mead before that day comes.

-OCD

 

[TipsyDragon]

no it doesn't say that. just add the acid to taste and let it sit for a while.

 

[Tiamat]

yeah, i tried a blackberry mead for my first attempt at mead. 6 months later, it's not great - not horrible though. A little more than 5 pounds of honey for a 2 gallon batch, with 4 pounds of frozen/crushed blackberries. Ended up as a semi-dry, slightly tart blackberry scented/flavoured red wine, basically.

I say it's already been a year, just drink it and start another batch making some modifications (or completely different recipe).

 

[beerocd]

no it doesn't say that.

If you're referring to the book; It's in the section on tasting mead there's a picture of a 10 year old bottle and glass of melomel that he claims is just coming in.
Drinkable and Really Good are two different things.

-OCD

 

[ByCandleLightWinery]

Nobody seems to talk about the FG being less than 1 with a starting SG that would produce 11% alcohol. In my mind, that wouldn't taste very good, either, as it would be very dry and strong. So, in addition to aging, could it also be a personal taste thing?

 

[bubbachunk]

Nobody seems to talk about the FG being less than 1 with a starting SG that would produce 11% alcohol. In my mind, that wouldn't taste very good, either, as it would be very dry and strong. So, in addition to aging, could it also be a personal taste thing?

Maybe but I would say that many home brewers do not consider 11% to be very strong for a wine. The dryness would be more so a personal taste thing.

 

[TheRabidKumquat]

If you have the room, I'd say age it for another 6 months. Maybe add some oak cubes to it for a couple months and then taste it. Wait until the oak flavor gets just a little too much for your personal taste, then remove the oak from the mead.

Or, if you don't like it because it's dry, pull a small amount and add a little honey to it, and sweeten to taste. Then measure the S.G. and backsweeten the main batch to that point. You might get some restarted fermentation though, since D-47 will go above 11% alcohol, but perhaps there isn't enough left over active yeast after a year and a few good rackings.