I think I might finally be "starting to get it"!

[fatbloke]

The other weekend when I went over to my brothers' place to deliver his "birthday bottle", I decided to take a bottle of the very first mead I made (from CJJ Berrys' "First steps" book).

Now allowing for differences from what the actual book recipe suggested, I used "Tesco's cheapest" honey (blended, obviously) along with Youngs "Dessert/High Alcohol" yeast.

I'd read up the various threads about degassing, along with the "ferment to dry and stabilise/back sweeten" suggestions.

I opened a bottle and degassed it with my vacuvin. I got some bubbles but not as many as I was expecting. So I tasted a bit and "bu99er me sideways with the rough end of a pineapple", it wasn't as good as some of the commercial meads I've tried, but it "wasn't half bad". It seemed to have lost all of the "rawness" I'd noticed before. It seemed OK for "body" (ha! if I understand the definition of body).

Definitely not a world beater, but good enough for me to be pleased with my efforts.

Yes I did actually stick about half a teaspoon of lactose in it, but that didn't seem to make much of a difference so I left it there.

I'm gonna take a bottle of it with me tonight when I go to my other brothers gaff to deliver his birthday bottle, but I'll just put the vacuvin in a bag and degas it when I get there.

It's a bit of a pain really, because it's making me impatient to try the other ones I've made and that are currently bulk ageing under the stairs.

Either way, it gives me a reference point to establish which of the recipes I think is best (too my taste), only then will I start experimenting with the honeys' I use (the local Tesco seems to have a reasonable range, and as it's about the 4lb per gallon level, price isn't too much of an issue if I make a gallon at a time).

regards

John the fatbloke

[lockwood1956]

YAY!

Always nice when things work out well, the only thing about meads is that they take forever to reach their potential (up to 3 or 4 years apparently) thats one of the reasons I havent made many


but nice that yours has turned out good, well done dude

regards
Bob

[StockeyDAW]

YAY!

Always nice when things work out well, the only thing about meads is that they take forever to reach their potential (up to 3 or 4 years apparently) thats one of the reasons I havent made many


but nice that yours has turned out good, well done dude

regards
Bob

Oh Bob - sure it is better if you can wait that long before its all gone but that is hard to - it just seems to get better as the months go by. I have found that after 10 months in the bottle the aromas of the fruits and honey and fruit flavor gets more pronounced but hey it is sure good after bulk ageing for 4 months and then into the bottle. Can't help but test it out then every so often. It is wonderful stuff - smooth - less of a chance for that dreaded fat head as with red wine. the secret is to make a real bunch so that there is no way you could drink it all in two years. Cheers DAW

FB congratulations with the mead it only gets better from here on.

[fatbloke]

Cheers both. As I say, it isn't perfect, but it's drinkable. It's a real reassurance that I've not just made gallon after gallon of drain cleaner (well OK, not drain cleaner, I'd just put it through a different piece of kit to change it a bit if I didn't like it). It's given me enough enthusiasm to persist at mead i.e. I can make it, keep it with dated labels in bulk (unless I need some DJ's) and when it's a year or two old I can "bung" it in bottles and just stack them away (an alcoholic "time capsule" ???) till I need a bottle or two.

It would be nice if there was some way of tasting it so that I can judge the potential of the aged product though, so I know whether it's just OK for a freebie give away, or whether a specific recipe is guaranteed to turn out good so I can concentrate on perfecting it!

Ah well, I suppose I'll just have to wait!

regards

fatbloke