# wild yeasts, rookie mistake



## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

Hi, I just bottled my first ever mead that I mixed up a year ago. I didn't really know what I was doing at the time and was following some poor advice and didn't sterilize the must. It is an apple and honey mead with Champagne yeast.

It tastes horrible and didn't have much of an alcohol flavor to it either. However, it did clear very nicely and bubbled for a long time.

I plan to stick it in the cellar, but whats the chances that it will ever be drinkable?


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

That depends. If it's a harsh solventy/medicinal kind of flavor after a year, those rarely clear up in my experience. It's tough to tell sometimes. If it's bottled, may as well lay them up for a while. Crack one or two open come spring or summer and if it's not improving pitch them. It's tough, but no sense keeping something around you won't be proud to serve your guests .


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## MichaelW (Jun 1, 2005)

its not "solventy" which worried me at first, so that statement gives me some hope. Its harsh without much alcohol flavor which worried me that yeasts developed that don't produce alcohol. If you try "real hard" there are some nice flavors hidden in there but its mostly just real bad.

I guess time will tell. I'll push it back in the crawl space. There will be room for several years.

Are there insects to worry about that would burrow into corks?


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## ScadsOBees (Oct 2, 2003)

Yeah, one of my first cysers I named "nasty apple" because it was bad. Then a year later it actually tasted quite good. I also have a pear/apple mel that is quite horrible that won't clear after a year. I have some hope for it but not much.

Maybe it is the apple?

Time is on your side....


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

Not so much on insects. Natural corks are susceptible to other maladies, but not really bugs. Lay the bottles on their sides so the corks don't dry out and they're all set. Synthetic corks you have no worries.


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## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

Give it a number of years. Not a wild yeast problem unless from the apples.


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