sour taste, is this normal?

[solusveritas]

I racked a traditional mead today and sampled a taste while I was at it. It had kind of a sour unpleasant taste to it. Is this ok? It was started 3 months ago, racked into a secondary 2 months ago, then racked again today. The recipe was 3 lbs honey for 1 gallon. I forget the yeast used.

 

[MedsenFey]

Sour? yes (somewhat like white wine).
Unpleasant? not necessarily. Young meads are often harsh especially if fermented at too high a temp or too high an ABV. Aging (for another 9 months) will likely improve it dramatically.

 

[solusveritas]

Ok thanks. Maybe unpleasant wasn't quite the right term, but the taste caught me off guard. I was expecting it to be different I guess. Into the back of the basement it goes.

 

[biochemedic]

I've also found some young meads to have an acetic overtone to them...give it some more time before you judge it... If you end up finding that it's still like this after some additional aging, you might consider attenuating and backsweetening a bit...sometimes just even a little residual sweetness will temper that acidic impression nicely...

 

[solusveritas]

Yeah, I guess I just need to age it more. 3 months isn't that long in a mead life. Argh, waiting is so hard lol