Mead Journal: Tasting Young Mead

[matrix4b]

Ok, Pre-Aging taste notes on the recient batches:

Hagrid's Secret Stach:  You can taste the pumpkin but it is heavy on the spices.  Still a very subtle flavor.  I am suprised that it came out as well as it did.  It have a very subltle nose.  I didn't expect much at this stage.  I hope that the pumpkin will come more to the fore after aging.  I hear that it is actually the spices that come to the fore.  Still, very good and a bit spice flavor.  It was tasted cold.  Hmm, perhapse this one might benifit better from being drank heated up a bit.

     Things I would do diffrently:  Less is more on spices.  I used 2 cinamon sticks and 1/2 a whole nutmeg.  Cut that amount in 1/2.  I used 3 vanilla beans, this could have been brought to 2.  Also layering in the spices would work better.  Hmm, maybe put the spices in the primary.  Shouldn't make that much of a diffrence.  I also would toast the pumpkin prior to putting in.  Maybe toasting it will allow me to blenderize it a bit.  This will carmelize the sugars more and hopefully bring out MORE pumpkin flavor.  Maybe also 2 additions of pumpkin.  Or just longer duration in the must.  Also I would Oak it with medium toast oak.  That should smooth out the flavors out a lot.  Back sweetening was a good idea but I also should cut down on the initial honey if I plan on backsweetening.  This will thin out the ABV % a bit too.  Also, this makes a good 6 gal recipie, very seasonal.

Pear Nutmeg:  This one tasted ideal.  Just a touch too much nutmeg.  Wow, the whole fresh crushed nutmeg goes far.  I used 1/2 a whole nutmeng and it should be cut down to 1/3 or even 1/4 to let the pear shine better.  This one also should be the most drinkable yet as I believe that the ABV si 10% not the typical 15-17% that I think that I have been getting.  I think that this would benifit from a lightly toasted oak and maybe 1/2 a vanilla bean.  Not to much, it doesn't really need either.  Increase the volume a bit by topping up on water/juice too.  After racking it a second time, I did top it up with 1/2 gal of pear juice.  Overall pleased with it.  One comment that I hear is that it tastes like fall.  That is a very acurate description.  Drinking it and closing the eyes you can almost smell the fall leaves falling and turning.  It has a very good nose too.  Good and powerful without being overwhelming, also has more subtly that you would expect.  The scents are layered.  Of my tasting group this one was the favorite.  I have to agree.

Vanilla Almond:   This one had a very good nose and an excelent tea color.  I am sad to report that this one tasted too sweet.  It was described as drinking maple syrup.  I know what I did wrong.  I can correct for it.  For starter the base show mead was way too sweet.  This mead would benifit from being LESS sweet, base of a medium sweetness rather than desert quality.  I also think I should cut 1-2 vanilla beans from it.  That would lighten the color a bit but the vanilla flavor doesn't need to be overpowering.  Also almond is the wrong nut to mix it with,  It needs a more bitter nut.  I was thinking walnut.  A vanilla walnut flavor should work well to help bitter up the flavor a bit and temper the vanilla.  As it stands this would be a good mixing mead for a fruit mead that went dry.  I may just crack the bottles and use it as such.  I haven't decided.  I will let it age.  Also though I don't do sparkling meads,  I think that this would be great as such.  Oh, and a light oak or even a heavy toasted oak may mellow and bring more carmelness to it.  This may be good to initially cut back on the starting honey and backsweeten to taste at the end. 

We shall see after they have had a chance to properly age.  If you remember normally mead has a very green and "Hot" or alcoholic flavor to start with, this means that the normal flavors with out the fruit and spices is like an antiseptic that has been sweetened a bit.

So Notes on changes:

Hagrids:  Toast Pumpkin before addition, Pumpkin longer in the must.  cut spices by 1/2, and finally to smooth it out more oak with lightly toasted oak.  Maybe a touch of almond extract.  Not much more.  Increase to 6 gal initially and top up with water.  A little pectin enxyme to break down the pumpkin better.  Most changes and most complex.  not that it still didn't turn out good, It was tweaking it that will make it perfect

Pear Nutmeg:  Cut nutmeg by 1/2, increase initially to 6 gal and top up like I did with pear juice.  Possibly oak a little with lightly toasted oak.
Not many changes at all.

Vanilla Almond:  Cut back on initial honey, Cut vanilla beans by 1-2, back sweeten to taste, switch nut to walnut.  Toasted walnut maybe.  I should toast some walnut and taste the flavor diffrence and consider.  All in all the least complex but most changes.

I'd like to thank my taste testers.  Those brave mead loving souls.  Not that it is hard to get people to taste or drink mead.  One of the things I love about this hobby.  Now to get more honey.  Arg.  I should offer to make a batch for someone if they would buy me a 42 pound bucket of honey.  Current wholesale prices that I get are about $84 or less for 42 pounds.  Normally a batch costs me about $90-95 for a 5 gal batch, that is including glass and a fruit allounce.  That should make 2 sweet batches and 1 medium to dry batch if I am careful.  So yeah that would be worth it.  I have the carboys for 7 batches going at once.  I have 3 of the 7 in current use.  So I could make the whole 42 pounds in 3 mead batches NOW.  Ah, well, money problems are not good.  When you are woried about making mortgages and bills your hobbies go to the wayside.

Let's see how things go for after the aging of the current meads.

Dave

Comments

[ryversong.livejournal.com]

I need to get my hands on a bottle of Hagrid's Secret Stash. It sounds AWESOME

[matrix4b.livejournal.com]

Ya Know, If I could actually see you at some point in time, that could be aranged. You still haven't let me know how you felt the diffrent batches came out.

[shadowpryde.livejournal.com]

As one of those brave mead loving souls ... I'd like to thank you for allowing me to be a taste tester. (Even if my head said differently the next morning.)

Nom, nom, nom.

-DL-

[matrix4b.livejournal.com]

It is my pleasure. As you can see I put all of your comments and impressions to good use and coming up with solutions for next batch. Also working on lowering the potency in my overall product. That is what I mean by making it more drinkable. I think that overall I will need to use less initial honey and then stop the fermentation and back sweeten to taste so you get the same sweetness but less alcohol. Or change yeasts to a less alcohol tolerant yeast. Not sure. Cas let me know that from the sip that she had out of a Booberry she liked and it not alergic to that yeast strain. She wanted to know what it was.

For those out there in internetland: Lavin D-47 is what I used in all but the watermellon. I think that was a L-118 or something but the strain is similar to the D-47 strain.