pimping dry BOMM

[homoeccentricus]

Dear mead makers, I made my first BOMM with orange blossom honey and Duvel yeast, down to bone dry from 1080. I have 2 gallons that I would like to pimp 2-ways. Any suggestions as to what to add?

My main remark to the taste is that it lacks complexity. I also do not want the mead to become considerably sweeter.

- should I add acids? If so, how much?
- I have medium French oak chips. How much should I add, and how long should they steep?
- Any other suggestions to add complexity to a BOMM mead? I'm not really into the cinnamon-like flavors.

A couple of months ago I made a sour cherry melomel with WYeast dry mead, but that's still aging...

 

[loveofrose]

Acid blend is tricky. Most have too much citric acid. I make my own at 50:40:10 Tartaric:Malic:Citric. Dose in small glasses first, then scale up. Add half what you think it needs. Less is more with acid blend.

Also, check my Oak Experiment thread for tasting notes of different strains of oak. Cubes are advised due to complexity of flavor compared to chips.

Here are some options from one of my other posts:

Post Fermentation (1 gallon)
Add 1 vanilla bean, 3 cubes American Medium toast and 2 cubes French Medium toast oak for 2-4 weeks or longer to taste.

You can also step feed small additions of honey until the yeast give up to sweeten. Just be sure your gravity is stable over several weeks to avoid bottle bombs!

I've also had good luck racking on 3-5 pounds of frozen berries to make a melomel.


Better brewing through science!

 

[homoeccentricus]

Thanks for the suggestions, loveofrose. I've added 1.5 kg of frozen raspberries to one gallon, in the other gallon I will add the vanilla, and medium French oak chips (can't seem to find these cubes here in Belgium), so I was thinking of adding 3-5 grams...

As to the acids: I have only tartric and malic acid (and lots of lemons ;-) Would that work? What would be the order of magnitude for one gallon?

As to sweetening the mead, I'm not sure how this procedure works: you add honey, the yeast eats it, you add more, until the yeast chokes? As a home brewer I find this concept difficult to grasp

This being said, I'm not a fan of sweet meads. My mead fermented down from 19 Brix (1080) to 7.5 (1000). Would the dry mead with the oak not make the flavor astringent? Just asking, because I can't find any meads here in Belgium, except one from a honey producing company, but that one is very sweet, too sweet for my taste. And, as a Belgian beer drinker, I'm much more inclined to like the sours than the quadrupels...

BTW, coincidentally the slogan of my home brewery is "Brewing for science", so almost the same as you but with a slight twist ;-)

 

[loveofrose]

As to the acids: I have only tartric and malic acid (and lots of lemons ;-) Would that work? What would be the order of magnitude for one gallon?

-It's all personal taste. I try to keep my acids below 0.45 grams per liter. Usually half that for dry mead. Just test in an individual glass first to be sure you like it before you treat the whole batch.

As to sweetening the mead, I'm not sure how this procedure works: you add honey, the yeast eats it, you add more, until the yeast chokes? As a home brewer I find this concept difficult to grasp

-Say your current gravity is 1.00 and I want 1.01. I would add honey to 1.01. Give it a week to ferment it down. Add to 1.01 again. Repeat until it holds 1.01. This is referred to as step feeding.

This being said, I'm not a fan of sweet meads. My mead fermented down from 19 Brix (1080) to 7.5 (1000). Would the dry mead with the oak not make the flavor astringent?

-Nope. Oak and mead are a match made in heaven. Dry, semi-sweet, or sweet. Check out my Oak Experiment thread for more info.

BTW, coincidentally the slogan of my home brewery is "Brewing for science", so almost the same as you but with a slight twist ;-)

-It's always good to see fellow scientist on the boards. You can also check out Bray's One Month Mead thread to see the yeast experiments I did to create that recipe. I think a summary is in post 47ish. Cheers !



Better brewing through science!

 

[homoeccentricus]

BTW, coincidentally the slogan of my home brewery is "Brewing for science", so almost the same as you but with a slight twist ;-)

-It's always good to see fellow scientist on the boards. You can also check out Bray's One Month Mead thread to see the yeast experiments I did to create that recipe. I think a summary is in post 47ish. Cheers !



Better brewing through science!

Thanks for the info. To be honest, I'm not a scientist at all. I have noticed that whenever I drink or brew, and refer to science, I can get away with anything

 

[fatbloke]

Acids are funny old stuff....

I find that generally, for traditional type meads, the mix of 2 parts malic and 1 part tartaric is good. I don't like to use citric as it can be very overpowering.

That said, a slice of lemon in a glass of chilled traditional can really boost it.....

For fruit batches, I try to find info on the predominant fruit acid in the fruit element, them use that as a guide. Small increments are best as you often only need a little to boost or at least enhance the fruit flavour........