What to do with a mead I can't drink...

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Insomniac

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Last July I found some rather funky Tropical Mead from the Zambian rain forrests that I figured had to be worth a try.

I used 4lb of the honey in a 5 litre batch and while I don't remember if I took an FG, as far as my taste buds are concerned it's dry.

As it was a 5 litre batch I had a little bit left after bottling which I put in a small plastic bottle (squished to reduce head space) and left it at the back of the fridge.

Today I gave it a try, not nice. It's not off, no vinigar or oxidised flavours as such, it's a bit smokey but other than that hard to discribe, either way its a flavour that came across in the original honey, but with no sugar to cover it up it completely overpowers it. I didn't bother finishing the tiny sample I poured.

So, any thoughts on what to do with it? I figure my best bet is to put it back into a fermentor, stabalise (dont think I bothered before because it was dry) and back sweeten with something that will fit or cover the current flavour. I currently have Rasperries, strawberries and chilli's on the fruit end and a selection of honeys I can use, though I don't mind going to the supermarket if anyone thinks of something that would work.

P.S. I know FB made a mead with the same honey, have you tried it, do you have the same opinion of it as me?

Cheers!
 
I did have... but I just diluted it and got it unstuck...

Yeah, I figure back sweetening with a different honey and see how it tastes would certainly be a good start. I can look into spices or fruit after that. I'll do that once I get a free carboy and report back in a few months! Cheers guys!
 
I say cook with it.

I mean, you can't describe the taste then it's obviously your call. Maybe it'd be good in the crock pot?
 
It might be ok to cook with but I don't really cook anything that calls for it (nor have the time to do so). I've just ordered some vanilla beans for my leap year mead so maybe I will put one in this too see if I can balance out the smokey with some vanilla sweetness.
 
Should I PM you my shipping address and you let me have it? I'll figure out what to do with it... :drunk: :rockin:

OOOOOORRRRRRRR.......

I have heard many people on here say bottle it and forget about it. Come back to it years from now and see if it is any different.
 
Its 8 months old, I'm sure it will improve with more age but not enough to make me want to drink it. What I dont like is definitely the flavour and not a side effect of being too young.
 
I'd tuck it away for a couple of years. It might surprise you, it might still be too funky for your taste. You could always make a reduction from it & use it as part of a marinade; maybe the "smoky" flavour would go great with meat or fish.
Regards, GF.
 
I might keep one bottle back "just to see", but I'm pretty sure I want to at least try to improve the rest, I will probably need the extra space for new honey etc anyway so keeping on bottle would make sense :)
 
I've got a mead that tastes awful, but when I heat it up and add mulling spices/brown sugar... It's kinda good.
 
So I just did this, racked 5 of the 6 bottles, along with the sample bottle from the fridge back into a 4.55l carboy. I added camden and sorbate just in case. Then filled the remainder of the space with:

281g honey to backsweeten (120g Oxfordshire honey, 161g RewaRewa honey)
1 vanilla bean, spit and chopped.
500ml spring water
And finished off with half of the Traditional mead that didn't fit in bottles from yesterdays bottling session (local honey, FG 1.04, 15.7%).

Leaves me with one unmolestered bottle to see how it would have turned out.
 
Any time "my friend" has a batch of beer/wine/mead turn out not so great he puts it in his water distiller to purify it. Comes out tasting like 40% of deliciousness. So great!
 
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