strong mead??? possible???

[chef201atc]

Just brew a strong tea then let it cool and add to primary. Something about the tannins helps keep the yeast healthy. Mead does take a long time to mellow and mature, but I've found mine quite drinkable at bottling time.

Does putting brewed tea in a mead during fermentation have an affect on the taste of the finished product?

 

[toolboxdiver]

whea yat everybody!!

I been brewin beer but now I gotta itchin for some mead, but I hate sweet alcohol. i never had mead but im under the impression its sweet. ima a whiskey with a sprits of water a few cubes kinda guy. is there anyway to make like a 30-40 proof mead to taste like a dry honey/ bourbon. is there any yeast that could handle that high ABV? maybe adding some oak chips or cubes to give it a more oaky bourbon feel? how many lbs of honey to gallons of water? and should I pitch double the amount of yeast to take care of the sugars? any one have a recipe for a strong mead? hope this ain't a silly question. just thought about it. thanks an God Bless

why don't you feed it at racking time add more honey every time you rack it. I made a Maple honey mead with K1v-1116 and fed it over 3 rackings to a finished mead at 21% alc I still have a bottle left that is 5 years old, it was awesome at 4 years so I'm saving it for a special occasion

 

[WheaYat]

ok cool thanks to everyone

 

[Rockape66]

Adding the tea does not change the flavor except by attenuation, unless you use some kind of herbal tea. I've read posts of guys using earl grey, chamomile, and cinnamon spice teas to influence flavor.

 

[White_Stag]

There are definitely ways to make a dry, high alc mead. The oak chips are a good idea for sure. We recently made one five gallon mead with 12 lbs orange blossom honey and 14 lbs of good quality mixed berries, and used Lalvin EC 1118. We are not sweet drink lovers either, and this ended up being fantastic. The berry flavor is dominant, but it's not particularly sweet. It also finished out around 16-17%, its hard to tell for sure because getting the OG is hard with that many berries. The Lalvin EC 1118 has an alcohol tolerance of about 18% and is a good all-around choice.

 

[WheaYat]

There are definitely ways to make a dry, high alc mead. The oak chips are a good idea for sure. We recently made one five gallon mead with 12 lbs orange blossom honey and 14 lbs of good quality mixed berries, and used Lalvin EC 1118. We are not sweet drink lovers either, and this ended up being fantastic. The berry flavor is dominant, but it's not particularly sweet. It also finished out around 16-17%, its hard to tell for sure because getting the OG is hard with that many berries. The Lalvin EC 1118 has an alcohol tolerance of about 18% and is a good all-around choice.

coolio!!!! how long was it until u were drinkin it? also how long did u let it sit on the berries? I'm thinkin of peaches and oak. oh did u use and yeast energizer?

 

[toolboxdiver]

coolio!!!! how long was it until u were drinkin it? also how long did u let it sit on the berries? I'm thinkin of peaches and oak. oh did u use and yeast energizer?

one of my favorites is a White Grape and Peach Pyment
clover honey works great and it gets better and better with age
I have a 6 year old bottle which was good at 1 year great at 2 even better at 3 and after 4 awesome is not giving it enough credit

 

[fatbloke]

If you look around the net, there's a number of threads, articles and pieces of commentary that talk about this.

There are few yeasts that will naturally exceed the 20% mark (give or take 1 or 2 %).

Those often have compromises attached, like the resulting taste of the ferment, etc (I don't favour EC-1118, it's good for what it was developed for i.e. champagne, but seems to leave quite a bland taste when used for fermenting other musts). Yes, there are a couple of "turbo's" that claim like 23% ABV, but again, the compromise is often difficult to manage fermentation.

If you really want something strong, then just get some everclear and stir in some very strong flavoured honey. It will reduce the %ABV, but you'd probably still get something in excess of 80%

There's also some research that's been done into the highest level that produces the best tastes/flavours - I seem to recall that it was done with whiskey (Scottish ones), and the best flavours, aroma etc were released when it was watered down to about 20%

Also, if you're thinking specifically of meads, then don't forget, the higher the alcohol content, then invariably the longer it takes to age or the greater the amount of other additives that are needed to make it taste good......

S'up to you what it is that you actually want to achieve though, and just how much effort you're prepared to put into the ferment........

regards

fatbloke

 

[WheaYat]

yes, I see said the blind man to the deaf dog. lol
na bra, I totally understand! thank u guys so much for the detailed replys an ur time. I am thinkin of doing an slightly above average mead. not gonna try an get crazy for the first one. I didnt think there would be so many variables when I originally asked the question, u know what I'm sayin. God Bless and thanks again.