Does this sound OK to you?

[colbycurtis]

OK Well my first ever gallon of mead is done fermenting it was a gallon done from a recipe for newbies using flieshmans yeast 3 pounds honey and gallon of spring water one orange and 25 raisins. I started it on 9 March 2008. I racked it to a one gallon carboy on 24 March 2008. On 28 March it had stopped bubbling so I added 4 ounces of honey (Don't ask me why I'm a newbie it just sounded good) It started bubbling later that day and continued until 30 March.

So I racked it a second time at this point and no more bubbles. So here is my question, I pulled the airlock off tonight and smelled it. I have to admit it doesn't smell delicious. The best way I can describe it is it has a tart/sour/bitter/sour apple cidery and maybe not sure but slightly vinigary smell to it. It's really hard to explain the smell. It is not repulsive but it is not real pleasant either. Is this normal? Does it just need aging? What should it smell like after it finishes fermenting?

P.S. it looks pretty good it is not clear but it has a silky gold color to it.

 

[beninak]

why did you rack it so early? It kind of sounds like you were trying to do the JAO recipe, in which case you probably should have left the mead in primary until it had completely cleared.

I don't think there is necessarily a set aroma that you should be looking for. Have you taken a hydrometer reading or taste test? I think these would be much better indicators on how you are doing.

Good luck!

- Ben

 

[colbycurtis]

The only reason I racked it was because the website I got the recipe from before I had found this website had said you can rack it to another container which will move it along nicely but it did not say when, so when I saw a bubble about ever minute I thought it must be time. Live and learn I guess. I will do a taste test soon and let you know.

 

[beachfrontmeadman]

i'd try the only test that really matters, the in the glass test
this sounds like a JAO so if there are any problems with it it's because you went a fuddlin' with it
take a turkey baster, wash it extremely well, (and i wouldn't do this on a night where it was just freshly used mind you0 sanitize it
then suck a litle of the mead out, and put it in a glass, smell it from there, and give it a little taste
the smell coming off the top of the fermenter is not always what you are going to get from the top of the glass

 

[colbycurtis]

OK I did the taste test tonight. I took about two tablespoons out. In the glass it smelled more like wine. Bad wine mind you but wine. So I tasted it. It wasn't like OH crap spit it out but it wasn't like wow this is great either. So another sip it has a slight fizzle to it and it runs warm down the back of your throat. I can tell it's potent alcohol content is probably like a champagne but I really don't know with this batch but it tasted potent. I think it just needs aging and I hope it mellows out.

 

[yaeyama]

If it tastes okay, maybe you could just give it a couple of more months of bulk aging in your carboy to mellow it out as well as let it degas. Make sure it's under airlock.

You could speed up the process of at least removing the fizz by trying various degassing methods. Search youtube for some interesting ones.

 

[ucflumberjack]

that stuff tends to taste kind of rough for a while. the longer you leave it on the oranges the more orange flavor it gets to it which will overpower any bad flavor. eventually the orange will back off and it will be kind of balanced like the last one i did. it will have a bit of a pithy taste to it, which isnt very pleasant but it goes away almost completely before the orange backs off. just wait a while and it will be fine. in the mean time start a cyser or a sack mead or get 20# of your favorite fruit and get a mel goin. youll find that once your gallon starts to taste decent itll dissapear quickly.