Review of Meads

Normally, beer is my fermented beverage of choice. But variety is good. So, I made a mead about a year ago, and let it age for some time, splitting it up into a "traditional" batch and a "fruit" batch. Since it was my first attempt at this beverage and I wanted to keep my costs down, I used mainly ingredients from Costco, with the expectation of making a drinkable but not great product. Here are my tasting notes, although I've been consuming this product slowly since maybe June 2014.

Traditional Mead
Appearance: Translucent light yellow. Crystal clear.

Aroma: White wine like. Floral, sweet, not completely like honey. Prominent but not intense. Some alcohol in the nose.

Taste: Initial taste is like the nose: sweet, floral, white wine. The honey comes in later, while definitely there it lacks the very strong taste of pure honey. Alcohol notes in the finish but fortunately it doesn't have a nasty alcohol burn.

Mouthfeel: Body is medium to medium full, smooth. Zero carbonation. Sweetness adds to perception of body.

Overall: A pretty wine-like mead, with subdued honey characteristics and medium-low sweetness. Pleasant, but I wish it had more of a distinct



Fruit Mead
Appearance: Crystal clear red, almost purple color.

Aroma: Huge sweet fruit aroma. Mainly raspberries but perhaps some darker fruits like blackberries. Honey aroma is overpowered by the fruit.

Taste: Fruity, but less so than the nose. I get a definite tannic quality from the skins of the fruits, which helps to give the mead a dry red-wine like character. Sweetness is lower than in the traditional mead. Sadly I really don't get much if any honey character. Alcohol is muted by the strong taste of the fruit and tannins.

Mouthfeel: Medium to full. Tannins give it some body. Zero carbonation. Leaves a tannic-dry aftertaste.

Overall: Pleasant, wine-like mead with an interesting mix of fruit and tannic. Lacks significant honey taste or aroma.

Overall
Next time I make mead, I think I will use better quality honey and yeast specifically made for mead. These drinks are tasty but are too wine like in my view.

3 Gallons of Mead

So, I brewed some mead today. No special reason, except that off-brand "Kirkland" honey at Costco was $13 per 5-gallons. I'm cheap, and I'm not expecting to make an award winning mead with stuff, especially as it's my first venture with mead.

 Mead:
10# Kirkland Clover Honey
2.25 gallons water
1 tsp. Yeast Energize
1.5 tsp. LD Carlson Yeast Nutrient

Red Star Premier Gran Cuvée Wine Yeast 

Expected OG / FG: ??

Brewed 2/2/14.
 

Put a little bit of Campden in 2.25 gallons cold water to de-chlorinate it. Began heating up the water.


Poured the honey directly into the brewpot as the water was being heated. Stirred to mix in the honey, so that it didn't sink to the bottom and get scorched. Each 5# bottle of honey was about a 1/2 gallon, so I probably got around 3.25-2.5 gallons of "wort".

Immediately after pitching, w/ Star-San foam.

Heated to 180F. The "wort" smelled good - like honey. It developed some bubbles and a little bit of dark stuff on the top. I didn't skim anything off of it. Just stirred a bit.

Turned off the heat at 190F, then let air-cool, although eventually I did put the kettle in a tub of cool water.

Fermentation has started, but no Krausen.

Rehydrated yeast as per instructions, and pitched after aerating 70F "wort".

Measured the OG at 27 Brix, or 1.115 Gravity. So I'm looking at a brew of approximately 16% - 17% ABV.

2/5/14 - Airlock activity at about one bubble every 2 seconds, but unlike beer, no krausen or foaming on the surface. I can see some activity in the liquid however. The appearance of the mead has not changed substantially. It still looks like a murky, yellowish liquid.

Late march - added 3 lbs of mixed berries - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries to ~2 gallons, and racked the un-fruited portion to a 1-gallon jug.

6/7/14 or thereabouts - Bottled the un-fruited portion in screw-cap wine bottles, and racked the fruited portion to a tertiary fermenter.