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What am I doing wrong?

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Thomas-Virginia

NewBee
Registered Member
May 27, 2006
4
0
0
Hello, and thank you for being interested in helping me. I'm an amateur mead-maker and recently I have made my second batch of mead. The problem is that my friends think it's bad though I dont. It is a metheglin and has a very strong taste, it has aged 3 months. The recipe will be listed below I think I just need to age it a little more. When making, I boiled the water and added the honey slowly then the spices and all with a candy thermometer so the temp was right on and the yeast was not added until it reached below 100. The fermentation was done in a corked and air-locked, glass fermentation jug. It was kept in my basement in the dark so it's been pretty cold. As much as I read about what others have done and common mistakes I cant seem to find anything that would suggest that my mead is anything other than perfect. Thanks in advance for any help.

1 quart premium light honey
3 quarts water
2 whole nutmeg (sliced)
2 cinnamon sticks
1 sliced ginger root (small)
10 + cloves
1 lemon sliced (peel and all)
Mix all ingredients together in an enamel pot and boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly with a non-metal spool. Let cool to about 104F and add one package of champagne yeast.
 

Oskaar

Got Mead Partner
Administrator
Dec 26, 2004
7,874
8
0
34
The OC
Way too much spice for me dude.

1 nutmeg
1 cinnamon stick
1 sm portion of the ginger root
and a couple of cloves would have been fine for me in this setup.

But, your tastebuds are the ones that matter so if it floats your boat, GFI!

cheers,

Oskaar
 

Thomas-Virginia

NewBee
Registered Member
May 27, 2006
4
0
0
Thank you for the suggestion, if/when I make my next metheglin I will be sure to not add so many ingredients. I will follow your suggestion next time and definatly cut down on the ginger. Do you think I can salvage this? Not that I mind drinking it all by myself but I think my livers bad enough ;] I've heard of adding honey to the mix if the taste is not right, does this carry any merit? Maybe what I read was only within a certain time-limit. Thanks again for the suggestion.
 

finburger

NewBee
Registered Member
May 23, 2006
60
0
0
10 whole cloves? Thats twice what you need for a 5 gallon batch, let alone a gallon batch.
Plus, no need to boil anything. Just heat the water up to 140 or so and remove from heat. Then mix in the honey.
 

Thomas-Virginia

NewBee
Registered Member
May 27, 2006
4
0
0
Haha apparently I've gotten myself on a bad recipe. Maybe made by someone with very weak tastebuds, I dunno. All I know is that I have 3 steralized fermentation jugs sitting around and I'm just itching to try again. Making the mead is fun but making the labels is great fun for me too and did I mention the bottles I also have sitting around? It would definatly be off-topic to ask for your fav recipes so I'll just say that my next one will be a traditional mead with clove honey purchaced online. Maybe not as good as going to my local honeycomb but better than buying it from Foodlion :p . As I recall from an article on this very site, clove honey is about as average and/or widely used as one can get. By average I do not mean bad, just simply not as exotic as some. Thank you for your help I really have benefitted from this discussion and hopefully I will run into you two in the forums later for more talks like these.
 
B

BrewStef

Guest
Guest
Sounds like a medicinal metheglin.

How about making a 3 or 5 gallon batch of "traditional", and blending it to taste? That way you can weaken the spices to appeal to a broader palate.

Cheers!

BrewStef
 

Thomas-Virginia

NewBee
Registered Member
May 27, 2006
4
0
0
Thats a very good idea. I've already taken an 8 ounce and mixed 1/4 (1 quart [16 ounces] per gallon was recommended) with honey to see if it will help. Right now I'm waiting for the must to clear up so I can taste again but right now it seems like too much honey. If this doesnt work then atleast with your idea I'll be adding mead to mead. Thank you.
 
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