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I think I made a mistake

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Gardenfish

NewBee
Registered Member
Feb 28, 2009
213
1
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Phoenix,Az.
Well my first JOA has been bottled 2 weeks. I now have 9 different batches going. Some Pyments,Melemels,Meths ect....I opened a bottle of the JOA last night to try it out and get the wife into the Mead addiction. Well it didnt work. Still too early on the JOA. Maybe try again on the 4th of July. Looking around there were no cellar rats to be seen. None!!!!

So, wife not impressed. Well today I decided to try a taste of the first batch I made , a Pinot Noir Pyment. Its 3 months old today and in a keg aging. The recipes say wait 6 months till tasting and from what I have seen here I should wait 1 year before tasting. Well it was awesome. O.g. 1.148 F.g. 1.019 so this is rather sweet. WELL ANYWAY THE WIFE LOVED IT. Seeing the difference in the JOA from bottleing day to 2 weeks later and drinking this now and intisipating what a year might do...........

So where was the mistake? Well I see a giant cellar rat now and it looks just like me!!!! Wow, am I going to have to figure out how to stay away from this stuff now that its been tasted and its very drinkable now. The Merlot Pyment is 3 weeks behind and the Sauvignon Blanc Pyment is 3 weeks after that.

I just racked a 3gal JOA today and I am going to maybe add some more cinnomon and maybe some allspice before I bottle so maybe this can keep that GIANT cellar rat away from the others while they age.

Gardenfish
 
Personally I have found the best way to hide things is to bury them in other full bottles. ;D

Beer works great for hiding the mead. I have a lot of my OB mead left that was bottled in 2007, and just now started drinking the cider and cyser I made in '07. It's annoying to have to move full boxes of beer to find the mead, but makes for some really well-aged stuff.
 
Gardenfish said:
get the wife into the Mead addiction. Well it didnt work. Still too early on the JOA. Maybe try again on the 4th of July. Looking around there were no cellar rats to be seen. None!!!!

So, wife not impressed. Well today I decided to try a taste of the first batch I made , a Pinot Noir Pyment. Its 3 months old today and in a keg aging. The recipes say wait 6 months till tasting and from what I have seen here I should wait 1 year before tasting. Well it was awesome. O.g. 1.148 F.g. 1.019 so this is rather sweet. WELL ANYWAY THE WIFE LOVED IT. Seeing the difference in the JOA from bottleing day to 2 weeks later and drinking this now and intisipating what a year might do...........

So where was the mistake?
Click to expand...

Some where/some time, I read that you should have enough mead in reserve to last 5 years. At the end of 5 years you have enough so you can pull a bottle out and have it! Liquid sex! Hmmmm and my oldest are only 3 years old...ahhhh man!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like you went a little early............... 4th of July????? Have 6 gallons? Pull a bottle (or 3) out in 2009 and enjoy..............Rack the rest for 2014!!!!!! Build up you’re reserves! 2009 goes to 2014, 2010 goes to 2015... and on and on..............

At some point you'll be able to host a hell of a party!!!! justr remember to invite me! You bring yours, I'll bring mine....have mead, will travel;........
 
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Yeah if they were bottled they would be easier to hide and ignore. But I am bulk aging in 5 gal kegs and better bottles in a 57* freezer. It was too easy to hook up the co2 and push out a little sample. Hopefully I will be able to drink the Joa and stay away from the others. I like the looks of the recent braggot recipe on here so I may make a batch of that too to help. As soon as the group buy Rasberry honey shows up I can also start the pyments again so I should have plenty in a few years.

Gardenfish
 
JAO is meant for early drinking (a year or less) anyway. While it does generally improve with more age, the transformation is nowhere near as dramatic as what happens to a higher ABV dry mead or metheglyn. In my experience, if you want a real surprise keep good notes of an early tasting of one of those, and then refer to them as you pop open a bottle (or pressurize the keg) after a year or so -- the difference is guaranteed to make you smile!
 
Hey Wayne I am smiling already. Just from when I kegged to now is awesome. I will do one more little taste in a couple of weeks when the merlot pyment reaches 3 months. I will taste them both and try to take tasting notes to compare in a year. Maybe I can push a bottle out when I come up to Denver and see you this fall.

Do you know of a tasting chart anywhere that I might use as a guidline for taking notes? If you imagine me as a mead noob, imagine I am light years behind that as a taster.

Gardenfish
 
Gardenfish said:
Do you know of a tasting chart anywhere that I might use as a guidline for taking notes? If you imagine me as a mead noob, imagine I am light years behind that as a taster.

Gardenfish
Click to expand...

Oskaar has these in the "Tips, Tricks, Traps......." Forum: http://www.gotmead.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=123952

http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12050
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12049
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10163
http://www.gotmead.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10164
 
Thank you I have seen those posts and they all have great information. I was hoping for something like a judges scoresheet. Although I dont know what that looks like but it sounds like something I could use to describe my own meads.

Gardenfish
 
In general, evaluations are broken down into: Appearance, Aroma, Flavor, and Overall Impression.

Appearance is just that, what does it look like. You're looking for carbonation (intended or not), color, clarity, head retention (if appropriate), etc.

Aroma and Flavor are pretty obvious too. What does it smell like? How about after you give it a swirl. Taste it, how does it taste right away vs. as you hold it in your mouth. What flavors linger after you swallow? There are some aroma/flavor "wheels" floating around both here and on the web in general if you'd like some ideas about what flavor words people like to use. There are no wrong answers here, you should describe how you experience it and everyone will come up with different answers.

Overall Impression is partly a combination of the above, but mostly just what you thought about it in general. How does it fit with the style (if you are judging to a style standard)? What might be lacking/overpronounced? If there are flaws, what might you do to mitigate them next time?

You can assign points to each category too if you want to go that route.
 
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