'Body' in Meads

[petes]

Have done tastings at racking my meads and notice that the ones with 'body' are the ones with higher honey/water ratio.
JAOM @ .46kg/litre is the gutsyest.
Have a vanilla, a quince and a tamarillo all @ .40kg/litre that each have great body; an uglifruit @.30kg/litre that the jury (SWMBO) is out on presently; Malkores version of JOAM @ .33kg/litre, a green ginger recipe picked up in an on-line auction @.20kg/litre and a loquat @.30kg/litre all of which can only be described as lacking on the body front. All the meads have been made from the same batch of clover honey.
Are there any other factors in getting body into mead besides honey/water ratio?
Cheers, petes

[fatbloke]

Have done tastings at racking my meads and notice that the ones with 'body' are the ones with higher honey/water ratio.
JAOM @ .46kg/litre is the gutsyest.
Have a vanilla, a quince and a tamarillo all @ .40kg/litre that each have great body; an uglifruit @.30kg/litre that the jury (SWMBO) is out on presently; Malkores version of JOAM @ .33kg/litre, a green ginger recipe picked up in an on-line auction @.20kg/litre and a loquat @.30kg/litre all of which can only be described as lacking on the body front. All the meads have been made from the same batch of clover honey.
Are there any other factors in getting body into mead besides honey/water ratio?
Cheers, petes

Hum ? well apart from the fact that I'm completely unfamiliar with melomels made with any of those fruit (I suspect they're decidedly "antipodean" ), that if the recipes are lacking in body, it's quite common to add sultana's (or was it raisins) or a banana or two (skinned and crushed) which are also known to help with that.

Or of course, the other trick that I can think of is make the recipe "as is" and then when it's finished/cleared/etc add some glycerine - I don't know if there's any guidance about how much per litre/bottle/gallon etc, but you could always experiment with something like half a teaspoon per bottle.

I also understand that glycerine is a monosaccharide, so it can add a small amount of sweetness.

This is all presuming that by "lacking body" you're meaning that they are lacking viscosity (or you might think of it as "mouth feel") ???

Sorry, I'm no expert, I've just made a fair bit of mead though that's mostly "traditional" meads.

regards

JtFB

p.s. have you tried looking/asking here ? you'd find some with extensive "mead expertise" there.

[petes]

Thanks JtFB, viscosity - mouth feel - is what I'm after.
Have found from my wines that raisins can impart too much in the way of other flavours so presently tend towards bananas, with pleasing results. Tho, having said that, recently found patience can also work miracles .
Still, tossing a 'nana in the mead 'snot something I'd considered.
Wouldn't have thought quince would be too antipodean. Suspect you'd find them growing wild there with a bit of a shufti .
Case the 'mead experts' site from time to time. Find it problematic in access and the depth of cr@p overwhelming.
Cheers, petes

P.S. FWIW quinces make excellant wines and cider too

[Mamgiowl]

I'd go along with the glycerine option myself. Yes, it sweetens a tad but such a tiny amount that it hardly notices, more a smoothness than anything else. Plus it has the added advantage of not giving any extra unwanted flavour.

Just my opinion

[petes]

Thanks Super Mod; it's an option I was aware of but ignoring.
Coming from high, I'll have to give it closer attention
Cheers, petes

[lockwood1956]

Mead also changes greatly over time (as does wine) so tastings at rackings arent always a good indicator of the finished product.

JAOM is an early drinker so may appear to have more about it initially, but your other meads could develop over time. As a general rule, more ingredients = more body, but it can be overdone.

I hear from some meadmakers that it can take 5 years or more for a mead to grow into itself.

regards
Bob