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A five mead starter

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I had a bit of a taste today of all the various meads I started about three months ago (how time flies)

They are all definitely maturing. Still a bit "hot" to the taste with the alcohol but they are definitely heading in the right direction.

The blackberry and the blueberry just have hints of the fruit rather than being overpowering. I haven't added any acid blend to any of these but I'm tempted to put just a small amount into the blackberry and the blueberry ones.

I think perhaps a quarter teaspoon in the gallon demijohn of 33% tartaric and 66% malic should do.
 
Berry tastes will likely come back as it ages. Taste it in a year or so.....

Sent from the Nexus of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which has been infected with Vogon poetry, some of which leaked out here.
 
I'm drinking my very young blackberry melomel right now and I'm loving it even though it's fairly dry at a S.G. of 1.002. How much fruit did you use? I just looked at my brew book and I used 3/4 lb. of blackberries in the primary and once it was stabilized I racked it onto another 3/4 lb. of blackberries and I'm finding that I'm getting a nice mix of the fermented and fresh blackberry flavour. It's also good and tart and I love tart fruit. I've eaten kiwi fruit that was so acidic it burned my lips.
 
Hi,

For both the blackberry and the blueberry I used 1kg to the gallon (imperial). I left them in the primary for about 3 weeks then racked - no additional fruit. That's the stage I'm at now. I could probably rack again - there's a 1/4 inch of sediment in both.

A year is a long wait though :(
 
A year is a long wait though
Click to expand...
So far my melomels have been too tasty to last a whole year of aging, hahahahaha. Mind you I only just started mazing so the selection to choose from right now is a little thin. As I get a collection built up the melomels should start lasting a year before I dip into them.
 
Honeyhog said:
So far my melomels have been too tasty to last a whole year of aging, hahahahaha. Mind you I only just started mazing so the selection to choose from right now is a little thin. As I get a collection built up the melomels should start lasting a year before I dip into them.
Click to expand...

I've been doing this for 10 years, and it's rare that a good batch (okay... I have made some mediocre to bad ones) will last anything close to a year.... When it gets down to about 4 bottles, I HAVE been able to save them for special occasions...but that is rare.
 
I got a brake fluid vacuum pump and it works perfectly for degassing



lots of CO2 being sucked out



There is an attachment that fits very snugly into a holed bung and then it's just a matter of pumping it for a few seconds. I think I'll keep that bung specifically for this task though.



MM
 
And another lot was bottled today - It's been maturing for about 3 months and tastes pretty nice - but I think a bottle age for a few months wouldn't hurt.

 
Unfortunately I don't. There a release valve that is used to gently reduce the vaccum. So air does get back into the demijohn. By keeping the demijohn reasonably full this, however, should be minimal. The process is purely for extracting CO2 from the liquid.

Hope that helps

MM
 
GntlKnigt1 said:
After you use the brake pump/bleeder to create a vacuum in the carboy, how do you disconnect it to keep the vacuum in the carboy?
Click to expand...
Hum? Surely you vacuum it up to whatever, one the gas starts to rise the vacuum will drop, then pump some more.

When no more gas wants to come out it should hold the vacuum - well that's how the pump I had worked anyway........

I'd vacuum it as the last thing before bottling so when I removed the bung its only the same as having a bucket or carboy/demi-john open during bottling......
 
Wouldn't there be a blanket of Co2 left on the mead as it presumably just got sucked out of suspension, or would it get blasted out when the vacuum is released?
 
mannye said:
Wouldn't there be a blanket of Co2 left on the mead as it presumably just got sucked out of suspension, or would it get blasted out when the vacuum is released?
Click to expand...
If you had a long enough hose between the carboy and the pump the hose would hold enough CO2 to cap off the carboy when you equalized the pressure again.
 
I had treated a gallon of this first batch with both Youngs wine stopper (KSorbate) and a campden tablet. Then backsweetened with a couple of ounces of honey.

After a few days I removed the airlock and replaced with a solid bung thinking that was it. For the next three days I woke up to find the bung in various locations around my fermentation cupboard. This thing will just not stay dead.

I've added another campden tablet....

The one in front of this picture

 
If you look closely, you can see those yeasties having a party. I think they are laughing at your sorbate and campden tabs. Perhaps hit them again and move carboy outside to cold, but not freezing temps

Sent from the Nexus of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy which has been infected with Vogon poetry, some of which leaked out here.
 
Based on my experience, it is far easier to "stabilize" a mead that has stopped fermenting than it is to chemically terminate an active fermentation. The usual recommended doses for wine stabilization often do little, if anything, to slow an active fermentation. Best to wait it out to make sure that the fermentation is truly over, then stabilize, and if desired back-sweeten the mead. That process is far more predictable.
 
I bottled 3 gallons last night.

A traditional (with nutmeg and cinnamon), a blueberry melomel and a blackberry melomel (still haven't touched that one that won't stop fermenting).



This is the blueberry -pictured- and it's not quite clear - almost but not quite. I couldn't really tell in the demijohn but it is slightly more obvious in the bottle.

I think all of these will need to sit for a year. They tasted quite "hot" though the underlying fruit was there.
 
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