My first taste of MEAD!

[HogieWan]

I had my first sip of mead last night (along with MANY subsequent sips). I was quite suprised. It was Chaucer's Mead (made somewhere in CA). The nose reminded me of a sweetish wine wine and the taste was like a Pinot Grigio with a bit of honey mixed in. A great medium bodied drink. I'm buying some honey and starting a batch soon - like this week (I'm planning on getting married in 6-7 months - just barely enough time to make a batch)

[steveh]

Oh boy, the party's over now... ;)

S.

[unkle bik]

My first taste of mead was of the homebrew variety.
John Pastor of the Grape N Granary offered me some of his which was carbonated. I had to make mine the same. I added ginger root & cinnamin for an added flavor and it ended up tasting like exotic ginger ale/champagne.

[ontap78]

I made a cherry mead about a year and a half ago. Actually I made 2 batches of it that summer out of fresh pie cherries and loads of honey. I used diferent yeasts in both of them and they are a bit different from each other.I suggest you do some reading up on making meads before you make a batch. It's a bit different than making beer. I still have about a case and a half of mixed meads from that summer. They are still getting better so I haven't had one in months.

[mlsuggs]

Let's see... I've got 5 gallons of Chocolate Mead that's been bulk aging 2-1/2 years (need to sweeten & bottle, actually)... I've got 1 gallon of Cranberry Spiced Melomel that needs to be racked and topped off... And I've got 1 gallon of Blueberry Melomel that I need to bottle.

Then there's this weekend. I intend to start a 5 gallon batch of White Mead (hopped mead)...

Oh, and there's the 2 bottles of 5-year old Traditional Mead chilling in the fridge.

In the past, I've also done a maple syrup/honey blend mead (this was an annual batch, and very yummy) and a couple of others.

I had the good fortune a couple of years back of sitting next to the guy who does Chaucer's Mead on a plane flight (Atlanta to San Fran), and we got to discussing meads. At the time (this was about 5 years ago) Chaucer's Mead was pretty consistent in having what I call "new mead" taste--rather like an aspirin aftertaste. I very tactfully and politely let him know my opinion (he asked); I haven't had the opportunity to taste their product since.

FWIW, making a mead for drinking in 6 months, I'd go with an ale yeast and a relatively low honey-to-water ratio... Stay away from the champagne yeast (it won't be done fermenting, and will still have off-flavors).

(An acquaintance of mine is working on a batch that's 12 years old at present, and has been slowly fed a total of 22 pounds of honey to date. He proudly informs all who'll listen that it's still got 12 years of aging to go...)

--Misha,
who will gladly talk mead with anyone who wants to. :) Just PM me!

[HogieWan]

Originally posted by mlsuggs
FWIW, making a mead for drinking in 6 months, I'd go with an ale yeast and a relatively low honey-to-water ratio... Stay away from the champagne yeast (it won't be done fermenting, and will still have off-flavors).


How many pounds of honey for a 5 gallon batch? What type of ale yeast?

[Beaver]

Lots of good mead info here (http://www.realbeer.com/edu/mead/index.php) .

[unkle bik]

Originally posted by mlsuggs


FWIW, making a mead for drinking in 6 months, I'd go with an ale yeast and a relatively low honey-to-water ratio... Stay away from the champagne yeast (it won't be done fermenting, and will still have off-flavors).

(--Misha,
who will gladly talk mead with anyone who wants to. :) Just PM me!

Curious on why you would recommend ale yeast over champagne yeast. What type of off flavors are we taliking about, here?
Would'nt you need a high alcohol tolerant ale yeast? (10-12%)
Or are your meads of a lower alcohol variety? (7-8%)

[fretlessman71]

A friend of mine gave me a bottle of 3 year old mead, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. It tastes like stale chardonnay - there's none of that sweet character that I enjoyed drinking stuff like Chaucer's. Now, he drew it straight from an old tap, and he warned me that the yeast would be floating around in it for awhile, so I let it sit, but the flavor is still the same, just a little cleaner. Is this a standard for mead? Seems a little strange...

[chazwicke]

I actually can not recall tasting a commercial mead. If I ever did I'm certain it was just a taste and not a bottle or glass. I believe we have a meadery out in Sperryville area. Maybe I'll see about getting some. Thanks for posting about this. Peaks my curiosity.

[mlsuggs]

Okay, I'll take these in order...

"How many pounds of honey for a 5 gallon batch? What type of ale yeast?"

As far as what type of yeast, I'd pick something with a relatively clean flavor profile--something on the order of, say, Nottingham (dry yeast, but the first to pop into my head). For the amount of honey, it depends on whether you want sweet or dry... For drier meads, go on the scant side of 1.5 lbs per gallon. For sweeter, head upwards of 2 to 3 lbs per gallon. More is possible--but will take more time to ferment. If you have access to Schramm's "Compleat Meadmaker", I highly recommend it as a reference for meads.

"Curious on why you would recommend ale yeast over champagne yeast. What type of off flavors are we taliking about, here?
Would'nt you need a high alcohol tolerant ale yeast? (10-12%)
Or are your meads of a lower alcohol variety? (7-8%)"

I'm mostly recommending the ale yeast because of the time constraints. He says he wants this ready in 6-7 months' time... Something about honey can make meads take *forever* to ferment out--I've had one (with champagne yeast) continue fermenting for 18 months. Bottle-bombs were narrowly averted...
Ale yeasts do, indeed, have lower tolerances, and will tend to ferment out earlier...
For off flavors, in my experience, "young" meads made with wine yeasts (especially champagne yeasts) have an aftertaste reminiscent of powdered Bayer aspirin. It takes quite a while for this taste to mellow out--sometimes on the order of 9-12 months.

Fret--He drew a mead from tap into a bottle? New one on me... Now, there's lots of things that can be done to mead to make it resemble "old chardonnay"--various herbal additions, oxidation, etc. Sometimes it's good, sometimes, not so much--I don't know what that recipe entailed, so couldn't tell you how it was supposed to be...

Now, all of this is, of course, just from my personal experience. Others may have different experiences. YMMV.

Whatever you decide to do, Hogie, do please let us know how it turns out!

--Misha

[HogieWan]

looks like I'm going to put 15 lbs in a 5 gallon batch. How alcohol tolerant is WYeast 1056?

[mlsuggs]

Originally posted by HogieWan
looks like I'm going to put 15 lbs in a 5 gallon batch. How alcohol tolerant is WYeast 1056?

Okay... Wyeast's website claims "73-77%" attenuation... Which doesn't tell me much. Anyway...

15# of honey in a 5-gallon batch is probably going to turn out pretty sweet. The main thing to remember is that honey is: a) about 12#/gallon, and b) expensive in those quantities. If your LHBS carries gallon jars of honey, that's the way to go--unless, of course, you are or are friends with a beekeeper. ;)

Further recommendations, while I'm thinking of such things: With your timeframe, I'd keep it in bulk until it clears (allow me to recommend Sparkolloid), racking about every month or so, then bottle fairly soon (a few days) before serving, unless you want it sparkling. Even this way, you're likely to develop a little carbonation--and be careful with any bottles you have left over, or give away as favors! After a month or two, they're gonna be under pressure**. Of course, you could avert this, and keg it--which is where my advice ends, 'cuz I haven't done this. Yet...

I'll post more as I think of it.

--Misha

**I mentioned the 5-year-old bottles I've got in the fridge? They were about 12# honey in a 5-gallon batch, fermented with champagne yeast, and aged in bulk for ~18 months before bottling. At 6 months in the bottle, there was a pretty good carbonation "tingle" without much in the way of bubbles; at one year, there were bubbles; at 2-1/2 years, they foamed pretty well; and at 4 years, they had to be significantly chilled prior to opening, else end up on the ceiling. Next time, this recipe ages longer before bottling...

--edited for spelling.

[unkle bik]

I recommend staying away from commerical, filtered, honey if you want a great tasting mead. The flavor will be very thin if you use this. My best experience was with raw honey. (honey that was quite thick and waxy looking) The flavor was full and the meringue that came off the 15 min. boil tasted great as well.

Find a local beekeeper and support you local economy.

[ADR]

Can some one point me to advice on how to evaluate Meads? Terminology, what to look for, etc. Expected flavors and off flavors in Braggots, Melomels, etc. I've talked to Mead makers and I know the basics of how its made but when I asked them, they said "it just tastes good or it doesn't"...:D

[danno]

ADR, check out the BJCP's section on mead guidelines (http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/mead.html)...

[ADR]

Originally posted by danno
ADR, check out the BJCP's section on mead guidelines (http://www.bjcp.org/styles04/mead.html)...

Thanks, I have read the BJCP guidelines before, but its just such an unfamiliar beverage...I guess its just going to take a lot more experience for me... :D

And comparisons, I'm just as bad on ciders, I think...I take for granted over 25 years of drinking beer sometimes...

[mlsuggs]

Originally posted by unkle bik
I recommend staying away from commerical, filtered, honey if you want a great tasting mead. The flavor will be very thin if you use this. My best experience was with raw honey. (honey that was quite thick and waxy looking) The flavor was full and the meringue that came off the 15 min. boil tasted great as well.


And here I'd say it depends on more than just the type of honey. If you're making "Traditional," then you'll want something more interesting than commercial filtered clover honey. For a melomel, however, or some metheglins, you might want the less powerful honey, so that other flavors can dominate.

Also, to boil or not to boil is the subject of holy wars on meadmaking newsgroups... I've done it both ways, and had marvelous mead with either technique. It depends on what you want to do, basically. I do agree, though--support your local beekeepers.

Originally posted by ADR
Can some one point me to advice on how to evaluate Meads? Terminology, what to look for, etc. Expected flavors and off flavors in Braggots, Melomels, etc. I've talked to Mead makers and I know the basics of how its made but when I asked them, they said "it just tastes good or it doesn't"...:D

Well, basically, yes... As with wines (or beer, for that matter), it all depends. "Traditional" meads should have a taste reminiscent of the honey used... Melomels should taste like the fruit, metheglins like the herbs/spices, etc. In this respect, I'd say meads are easy--they should taste like what they're made from. Anything beyond that is up to the meadmaker. For terminology, well--describe what you taste.

I'll probably post more on this vein later... I made 2 batches of brew today, while watching my DD's (ages 2 and 4), while the wife was away nearly all day, with both DD's having a cold and me coming down with it. >ick< I'm a bit tired...

(Brews: 5 gallons of Irish Red Ale, extract w/grains; 5 gallons of White Mead, which is just a hopped mead--hops, honey, water, yeast...)

--Misha

[ADR]

Thanks for the advice folks, it all helps, though I doubt I'll ever be a real aficionado of Mead...

Anyone ever have Dogfish Head Midas Touch?

[steveh]

Originally posted by ADR
Anyone ever have Dogfish Head Midas Touch?

Yes, Midas. (http://www.realbeer.com/discussions/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2311&highlight=Dogfish+Head)

S.

[ADR]

Even that was not up my alley, though it was almost three years ago...

[chazwicke]

And I never sampled the bottle I had in my fridge that I mentioned in the other thread either.

[ADR]

Wow, I keep stuff in the closet ("cellar") for years, but nothing in my fridge lasts that long...:D

I reviewed Midas Touch in 2002, but more recently reviewed Mjod from Viking Brewing in Dallas, WI...

Cranberry chestnut color, head dies quickly after the pour, essentially a transparent beverage. No real lacing on the glass. Fruity, somewhat wine-like aroma, like an Arbor Mist or something. Orangish flavor to start out, apple takes hold on further sips as well as burnt raisin tones, lending a sandy texture to the essentially undercarbonated mouthfeel. Gets a bark-like feel close to the swallow, the finish and aftertaste is quinine-like, catches the throat and bitters like an old-fashioned horehound cough drop or like rolling apple seeds around in your mouth. An odd combination of sweetness in a honey sense and a countermeasure that I describe above. I can't really ding a style like this, but its not a drink I would especially seek out again.

[mlsuggs]

Originally posted by ADR
Cranberry chestnut color, head dies quickly after the pour, essentially a transparent beverage. No real lacing on the glass. Fruity, somewhat wine-like aroma, like an Arbor Mist or something. Orangish flavor to start out, apple takes hold on further sips as well as burnt raisin tones, lending a sandy texture to the essentially undercarbonated mouthfeel. Gets a bark-like feel close to the swallow, the finish and aftertaste is quinine-like, catches the throat and bitters like an old-fashioned horehound cough drop or like rolling apple seeds around in your mouth. An odd combination of sweetness in a honey sense and a countermeasure that I describe above. I can't really ding a style like this, but its not a drink I would especially seek out again.

YES! That's the "young mead" flavor/sensation I'm talking about--I describe it as aspirin-like, but quinine works well. Bitter, catches the throat... Yup. Tells me that this particular mead needs to be laid down to age a while--3-4 months at least, 6 would be better, a year more would be best.

For the rest of it, that sounds right for a mead. Can't tell if they were shooting for still or sparkling, but they apparently hit halfway between. There won't be much head retention in a mead typically--when carbonated, they're more like champagne than beer. The aromas you describe make it sound tasty. Get another bottle, let it age a while, and try it again--you may be surprised...

--Misha

[ADR]

Well, thanks for the Mead tips and descriptions...I'll give a few more a try, but overall its not a favorite beverage, and beer descriptors come much more easily to me...:cool: