Woody Taste in Mead

[NinjaBear]

Here is my ingredient list.

Clover honey
Whole Allspice Berries
Whole Cloves
anise seeds
cinnamon sticks
Ground nutmeg
Whole(split) vanilla bean
Cracked Cardamom pods
orange zest
yeast nutrient
acid blend
White wine yeast

All the spices were added during primary fermentation. And have been racked off of them for a couple months now, still bulk aging.

A sample taken over the weekend found the flavor was overwhelmed with the cinnamon. Not the complex blend of flavors I was hoping for.

So I want to add more of the non-cinnamon spices during aging to enhance those flavors.

But there was also a distinct "woody" taste on the finish that I don't want to enhance.

Does anyone know which of the above spices might be responsible for the woody flavor so I can leave it out?

 

[loveofrose]

My guess would be the allspice. By the way, cinnamon dies with age, so it may balance out without doing anything.

 

[MarshmallowBlue]

Can't be too sure. Was really hoping you added oak to make the question an easy answer. Cinnamon is literally a tree bark, so it could be contributing.

 

[Arpolis]

That was my thought. Cinnamon is a tree bark. That would be my first thought for your woody culprit. Just using the orange zest and vanilla in secondary will probably calm that down.

 

[loveofrose]

Nah. I've made lots of infusions with cinnamon and allspice. I'm pretty sure it's the allspice. Cinnamon just tastes like uber strong cinnamon. Think fireball or goldshlager.

 

[fuelish]

I've used cinnamon sticks in a couple cysers (no other spices), and noticed a woody/earthy flavor when it was kind of young ....went away after several months, and cinnamon flavor came somewhat forward.....anymore, my cysers are plain old cysers, come out nice and dry and crisp and tart....my Mrs likes them that way, so...I like 'em that way

 

[NinjaBear]

Going to be opening a bottle of this tonight.

See how it aged.

 

[AkTom]

I didn’t see the original date... I was going to suggest you make another and blend them.
I’m always glad to see people update posts like this, thanks. It’ll be interesting to see how it has changed/aged.

 

[NinjaBear]

Ultimately I had decided to Rack it off the and bottle. (Could have used another rack or two based on the small amount of sediment in the bottle)

Cinnamon is still the most upfront flavor. With cardamom and orange peel being the most notable finishing flavors.

The woody taste age itself out.

Kind of wish the clove was a bit more upfront.
But I also was holding back on clove in 2016 because a friend had a all clove mead that wasn’t very good. And I was nervous to use it in anything.

 

[NinjaBear]

I don’t remember where I got the Original Spice Bill, other than I read that this was approximately what was used to make spice rum, and a friend said, I like spiced rum, can you make a mead like that?

30 Allspice
20 Cloves
1 tsp anise seeds
5 cinnamon sticks
1.25 tsp nutmeg
6.5 vanilla bean
5 Cardamom pods
2 large orange zest
3 cutesy orange zest
2 tsp yeast nutrient
3/4 acid blend
White wine yeast

1.150 OG

1.046 FG

If I were to do it again...

I had never really worked with whole vanilla beans before and had only really scored them as opposed to splitting them. So I think I could have gotten better vanilla representation.

And I’d reduce the cinnamon by 2-3 sticks while increasing the clove. Not sure by how much.

 

[RPh_Guy]

I added a cinnamon stick to a gallon of cider in primary and bottled after about 4 weeks. It had a really awful woody/bark flavor. A year of aging didn't help so I dumped to reclaim the bottles.
I learned my lesson.