# Waste not Want not Mead



## ColoradoRaptor

That is a high SG! What hydrometer are you using as mine only go to 1.170?


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## Gumpy

ColoradoRaptor said:


> That is a high SG! What hydrometer are you using as mine only go to 1.170?


I suspect he meant 1.125.


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## ColoradoRaptor

Yeah, most likely


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## Vance G

Most likely


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## Tenbears

Most assuredly. An SG of 1.25 would equate to an ABV of 38.54% :doh: If I drank that I would not need an embalmer. :banana:


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## Vance G

Well my embalming fluid has worked down to 1.002 and I added two pounds of honey to each brew bucket. That is to cheer up the yeast which has been on a really slow ferment and give me time to pull out my fruit and bring it to more than room/ less than cooked temperature. I think I will set the fruit on two buckets of honey melting at 104F for a day and add it. I have frozen peaches/tangerines/chokecherries and meteor pie cherries. Any suggestions on mixing what with what? Its all going in. a deer yet to be shot needs room!


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## Gumpy

I cleaned the freezers this summer and found several small batches of various fruits. I just strained the two batches I created from it all. One has raspberry, rhubarb, blueberry, wild blueberry, and currant. The other has tart pie cherries, rhubarb and wild grapes. They been in the primary on the pulp since early June and I'm actually impressed with the flavor. 

I'm never used tangerines in a wine. Tried oranges and didn't like it at all. I can't ever get enough flavor out of peaches. Chokecherries are very distinct, and pie cherries very subtle. I think I'd go light on the chokecherries and tangerines, and heavy on the peaches and cherries. Balance them out by strength of flavor. Use montrachet and keep adding sugar until it stops at about 18%. Stabilize and sweeten to around 1.026 for a sweet port. That will bring out all the flavors. Should go well with some venison steaks on the grill.


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## Vance G

I added three more pounds honey to each bucket and it is worked back down to 1.00. Starting to taste like something as before it seemed a bit watery. I have decided that I am going to add peaches, tangerines and ginger to one. I will let that work for ten days and then rack into a carboy. The other will get the cherries, both kinds for ten days also then rack into carboys and taste and decide whether to step feed it some more.


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## Vance G

I have a gallon of the base mead without fruit added. It is 1.00 and I don't have a stopper for that small to airlock so I will be letting off gas every day until I figure out if its thru working. The fruit is in. I used an awful lot of cherries and the air lock is perking away rapidly. The other with the peaches and tangerines is not venting. Of course racking really degasses the mead. The mead as is does not taste bad! I maybe should have just pitched the fruit and left it vanilla.


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## Tenbears

A regular #6 bung will usually fit most 1 gallon jugs/the exception would be the old Ocean Spray jugs which have a bigger neck. If racking is decreasing CO2 significantly then you must be splash racking. Which is okay if done in a vacuum. Meads are extremely sensitive to oxidation for this reason splash racking is not recommended. In future meads especially since you have the patience to wait for 3 years for the mead to age. Try coiling the racking tube in the bottom of the receiving carboy and let a nice gentle fall reduce oxygen contact. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.


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## Vance G

No I wasn't splashing on the aereation past the half inch discharge at the bottom of reciever. Looked like an airstone over the intake on the syphon. Fruit has been in just short of a week and judging by the bubbles is being eaten. The gallon of base mead hasn't bubbled at all. The balloon check valve still hangs limp. I found a half dozen lost and forgottenvanilla beans. They will have to go in the bulk aging carboy. Vanilla never ruined a mead.


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## Tenbears

For sure Vanilla bean have never ruined a mead The light uplifting provided by it sure has saved a few. Vanilla and rosemary are my two preferred mead enhancements. Salute!


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## Eikel

I'm going to show my rosemary ignorance as it not one of my normal spices/flavorings and considered it a "meat" seasoning, never for mead or wine (never considered cucumbers either until I tried them). 



> Looking like a small sprig from an evergreen tree the wonderful smell and assertively pine-like fragrance and pungent flavor of rosemary goes a long way to flavor to chicken, lamb, pork, salmon and tuna dishes as well as many soups and sauces Rosemary has a unique pine-like fragrant flavor that is balanced by a rich pungency, a combination that evokes both the forest and the sea.


When referred to as being pungent and "goes a long way to flavor" I get a bit cautious about it becoming overpowering. I'm assuming you use fresh rather than dried, what would be a normal "measure?" Does it hit the palate at the end and what enhancement does it bring to a "less than optimum" mead.


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## Tenbears

I use both fresh and dried Rosemary during the bulk aging. Length of time in the mead as well as quantity impart different flavor profiles. Depending on infusion rosemary can impart nothing more than a silky smoothness to the mead Or it can strike the tong and linger pleasantly on the pallet. The honey variety of fruit addition can also impact how the rosemary imparts the mead. When combined in a Bochetomel it can bring a distinctive flavor that many Just cannot put their finger on. (When asked I refer to as my secret ingredient) Good to keep some mystery in this mead making. Start with a simple straight forward impart much like oaking, to see how you feel about Rosemary. Then allow your instincts to open and close the doors for you. The beauty of Maser's they usually like to grow their pallet.


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## Eikel

Thank you sir.


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## Vance G

My two six gallon carboys are full to the brim and the bubbling has again slowed. Time to drink a pint of each and add an equal measure of honey. Still tasting dry and SG has returned to 1.00
By no means a smooth and mellow drink, but quite drinkable in the name of science and a sound nights sleep. When I start tasting a tad of residual sweetness, I will scoot these to the back for several quality years at 65F.


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## Vance G

Have drawn a pint off each and replaced with the best honey in the world, mine. When I poured in the honey in the cherry variant I thought I was deeply involved in a CME! That is a catastrophic mead event! It is a class II if the mead hits the ceiling of the brew space. As the honey hit the bottom of the carboy, a gazillion little bubbles started making their way to the surface and seemed to recruit more little degasification devils all the way up. I got some foam up thru the air lock and down the sides of the carboy. A five minute cleanup but having seen the mead dripping off the ceiling in the past, the whole situation got my hear beating. Both the citrus and the cherry variants were down to .998 but still bubbling. The cherry presented drier than the citrus because of the extra acidity I think. The citrus is very drinkable right now. It tastes a little fizzy and would be improved by some time in the fridge to degass and get oxygenated a bit. a pint of honey in six gallons won't move the SG much. in a week, I will taste and test to see if another pint is called for.


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## ColoradoRaptor

:lpf:


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## Vance G

SG has worked back down below 1 on both. The mandarin/peach is starting to present as sweet. I am feeding a pint each again to keep those bubbles rising.


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## ColoradoRaptor

No more CME's? I have had a few of those and they are a sticky mess..... Never had them hit the ceiling though.


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## Vance G

Another hard nights work! I went down and theifed a pint off both the cherry and the peach/mandarin orange sides. The wife declares the cherry too powerful and likes the other which does not show its muscle but has identical alcohol content. I replaced the mead with more honey and once again, a lot of C02 came roaring up. Since I haven't seen the air locs move in weeks that surprised me. I am sure I will get a little more fermentation again. I still plan on adding honey until I get the right taste. The cherry tastes great right now but I already have ten gallons that taste just like it. So I will pump up the volume a bit and see what happens. 

No matter what you do to mead that you don't like, if it is potent the SCA folks will make it disappear on a hot day so nothing is wasted.


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## Ravenseye

I love this thread. Vance, I feel real bad about your long nights work. I hope I have the patience that you all do. This weekend I started 2 types of maple syrup mead, a basic mead for later addition of hot peppers and a lemon mead that my wife wanted. Of course, that's the one that still hasn't got started after 72 hours. Curious about your cherry mead. Is it bitter..... As in tart?


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## Gypsi

This is a great thread, I never knew half this stuff could go in mead. At some point I am going to make a gallon


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## Vance G

No real bitterness but it is tart, I would call it acidic though. Not objectionably so. I am slowly step feeding it until it reaches alcohol tolerance or it hits just the right taste, then I am going to sulfate and sulfite it to stop it right there. I already have ten gallons that can be bottles any time I want so my meads are not in a hurry. I have a gallon of maple syrup bought from a beek on another forum who sugars. I am enthralled with the idea of an acerglynn. I am tempted to put some ginger in that one but want to make a base mead with KIV1116 which is my go to dry mead yeast. The idea of a sweet maple mead with D47 is also appealing.



Ravenseye said:


> I love this thread. Vance, I feel real bad about your long nights work. I hope I have the patience that you all do. This weekend I started 2 types of maple syrup mead, a basic mead for later addition of hot peppers and a lemon mead that my wife wanted. Of course, that's the one that still hasn't got started after 72 hours. Curious about your cherry mead. Is it bitter..... As in tart?


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