Mead is basically a wine, and therefore does benefit from a certain amount of aging. This is not to say that no Meads can be enjoyed within a few weeks of fermentation (see Joe’s Ancient Orange), but even these Meads will improve if given a little time to mature. Aging allows the desired flavors to blend and come to the front, as well as having the advantage of allowing certain unwanted “off” flavors to dissipate.
The following guidelines will help you age your Mead properly:
- Try to keep your Mead as close to 60°F as possible and avoid high temperatures. Slight changes in temperature around the 60°F will not have a negative effect as long as they are gradual.
- Store the bottles on their side to keep the cork moist and prevent shrinking. This is not a concern if you are using beer bottles or artificial corks.
- Keep the Mead away from the light as this causes oxidation and “off” flavors.
- Avoid vibrations and shaking.
- If possible, bulk age your Mead rather than bottling and letting it age individually. Even though the Mead is all in one Carboy (or bucket), there may be very slight differences between the Mead at the top versus the Mead at the bottom. When you rack into bottles, each bottle may have a very slight difference that will age differently over time, so when you start to drink the Mead, changes in flavor or aroma may be noticed. By bulk aging, the Mead should all come out tasting the same, and once bottled, will result in very few differences.
The amount of time needed for the Mead to mature is subjective. Some people enjoy drinking it young, while others prefer to let it sit for many years. A rule of thumb seems to be that at least 1 to 2 years is fine. Sample the Mead every few months or so until you feel that it is at it’s best, then bottle and drink away.
Yeast autolysis – Once yeast have gone dormant and dropped into the lees, they begin to experience autolysis. This is the process where the cell’s own enzymes break down the cell walls, releasing the enzymes and other cellular structures into the Mead. These “guts” add a yeasty flavor, which is not always pleasant depending on the type of Mead being made. To avoid this, make sure as much of the yeast has been removed as possible by racking before aging.
OAK –
Oak is an easy to use and interesting “ingredient” that can add a great deal of complexity to a Mead. It adds various flavor compounds, such as vanillin, provides some astringency from Tannin, and colors the Mead a little. There are various choices when deciding on what type to use. These include the source of the oak (United States, France, Hungary, Croatia), the toasting level, and the format (cubes, staves, beans, or chips).
Source – The Hungarian Oak is the mildest, followed by the French and then the American Oak.
Toast Level – The lower the toast, the higher and more quickly the astringency is imparted into the mead. The higher the toast level, the more caramel, vanilla, chocolate and smokey characteristics are imparted.
Format – Cubes or beans are the best option as their uniform shape allows for greater consistency in the flavors they contribute.
2.5 to 3 ounces per 5 gallons is considered to be equivalent to “new barrel” extraction rates.
For cubes, the following weights are approximate:
· 1 ounce is 34 cubes
· 2 ounces is 68 cubes
· 3 ounces is 102 cubes
A mixture of different types of oak can be used to bring the desired characteristics to the Mead.
Oak is usually added in the secondary when fermentation has ceased. Rack off the lees as much as possible to avoid any yeast flavors which can interfere with tasting the oak. The oak must be washed to make sure there are no contaminants that could spoil the Mead. To do this, soak the oak in a solution of K-Metabisulfite, drain, then rinse with distilled water. A simple way to make using oak easier is to tie the oak up in a small piece of sanitized cheesecloth, weighted with a couple of marbles. This way, the racking will be far easier.
Leave the Mead to sit on the oak for 1½ to 2 months, then begin to sample the Mead every week or so. Once the desired level of oaking has been achieved, rack off of the oak into a clean vessel and leave to age. Note that wines that are higher in alcohol will extract the oak flavor quicker since alcohol is a better solvent than water. High ABV wines, above 13% in this case, should be tasted sooner and more often or the Mead may be over oaked.
Vicky Rowe
She is also an experienced marketing coach and consultant who has recently decided to focus her marketing expertise exclusively on the craft beverage market to help meaderies, cideries, breweries and distilleries expand their business and get more customers while doing what they love.
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Very interesting. I’m new to the mead game (as in: research–>spit in the face of JAOM ‘required’ beginning step–>find local honey–>begin process of making a bochet–>staring at fermenting bochet–>come here for a question):
How long can I age a high abv bochet? I have a four year old son, and I was hoping to put away a bottle for his 21st birthday under the usual aging conditions; will it keep and age well, or would I be presenting my son with a bottle of burned honey vinegar?
Hi! How well a mead ages really depends on how it’s made. Without knowing the recipe and all the fermentation notes, it will be hard to say. In general, I would say a bochet should age well, assuming proper cellaring temps and storage.
Hi Vicky, Thanks for your advice on aging.
After 6 months of secondary fermentation, I am happy with the flavor of my immature blackberry melomel (just enough sweetness and robust flavor; 71-B yeast; O.G. = 1.105; F.G. = 1.002; pH = 3.5). It now sits in the refrigerator for cold crashing. To preserve the fruity flavor, should I now stabilize it with sulfite and sorbate before I bulk age it for 6 months or longer? Since this is a cloudy melomel I suppose that it might be a bit tricky to assure an adequate free sulphite level. Would it really be worth my while to learn how to use a sulphite test kit, or should I simply treat with one Campden tablet per gallon and ½ tsp of K-sorbate per gallon? Might it help to use CO2 to purge the half gallon of air from the top of the carboy?
Thanks for your advice, Bob
Hi Bob!
I guess my question would be, if it tastes great now, why age it? I would hold back some to see how it ages, because that is always fun to discover, but there is not a *need* to age if it tastes great when the ferment is finished, and with proper fermentation management, it’s actually possible to achieve that much of the time. Many award-winning melomels are actually designed to be drunk right away, believe it or not.
On stabilizing, since I started employing fermentation management, there really hasn’t been need, and only rarely will I have re-fermentation in the bottle. If you’re cold-crashing and it drops clear (as it might very well), and you rack off the yeast, you should be safe there. If it doesn’t drop clear, I’d try to clear it, that will do more to stabilize than a lot of other methods. Campden won’t prevent a re-ferment in the bottle.
As for sulfite, I’ve never sulfited a mead, never really had a need to. In a lot of cases, naturally occurring sulfite levels are fine. I’ve also never bothered to purge the airspace, though it certainly can’t hurt, if you want to and have the CO2 handy.
I hope that helps, and happy meading! — Vicky
Thanks much Vicky. Clearly mead making is an art more than a science.
My inclination to stabilize came from my concern that the flavor would return towards that of the 7 month old mead before I let it sit on the blackberries. Before the blackberries, the mead was almost flavorless and tasted too dry and harsh. After sitting with the blackberries (frozen for 5 months then thawed and pressed) for only a week it has a fairly robust fruity flavor (and color) and a hint of sweetness. Ideally those characteristics will not only be retained over the coming months but “rounded out”. But perhaps I am fooling myself that my first ever mead has the potential to improve with age.
I don’t want that trace sweetness to be fermented away. As you have suggested, the clarity will hopefully improve with refrigeration for a few weeks. If not, I will wonder what to do next: a) leave it alone and consume it (by thieving from the carboy or by bottling); b) mix it with a fining agent; c) stabilizing it with sulfite and sorbate; d) some combination of a, b and c (split the 5 gallons for a trial?).
I will definitely hold some back to taste later – and post some follow up comments.
Thanks again, Bob
Hey Bob! Stabilizing isn’t going to change whatever happens if you age, it mainly ensures that the mead won’t re-ferment. If you think about it, pretty much all commercial wines/meads/etc. are stabilized, but as they age, they change to whatever the aging will do for them.
You’re not necessarily fooling yourself. I’d say, drink some early, and set some aside to age. I’m assuming you took good notes when you made the mead. As it ages, open a bottle at 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, a year, etc. and take more notes on how the character changes with age, then for this recipe, you’ll know how it matures, and if it is ‘good’ for aging or not. Remember, to a certain extent, we’re all in experimentation stage here. With wine, they’ve hundreds of years of people doing this, with ‘standard’ grapes and recipes, because they can’t go all over with ingredients the way we can, so they can standardize the aging process, because they know that a merlot using xyz grapes acts a certain way as it ages.
If you want the best option to retain that trace sweetness, then definitely stabilize, and rack enough to make sure you’ve gotten it off all the yeast. Get that puppy clear as a bell, with no spooge (technical term for dropped yeast, LOL) left at the bottom before you bottle. You can then stabilize and bottle. You might even consider aging in bulk, there is some anecdotal evidence that aging in this manner keeps the mead more stable and provides better aging. But again, this often depends on the type of mead and recipe used. So many variable with what we do!!
No matter what, keep detailed notes, so if it turns out to be amazing, you’ll know how to do it again!
The mead did not clarify significantly during 2 weeks in the refrigerator or with 1 tbsp of bentonite slurry. On the other hand, it clarified promptly and completely (with no change in the “berry bomb” flavor) with 1 tsp of sparkolloid in 3 oz of boiling water.
Thanks for the good advice and encouragement, Bob