Smells of fermentation

[ScadsOBees]

I'm curious about how much the smell during the processing can tell about a finished mead?

What have you experienced mazers found about this?

Mine has only been fermenting for a couple of days, but it has a wonderful fruity white-winey bouquet(is the wine term for odor?)

I know that aging does a lot, but the smell really makes me excited for things to come.

-rick

[Ben Brewcat]

In my experience, good smells: good news so far. Bad smells: indeterminate news. It's hard to say from aroma alone, especially during active ferment.

[nursebee]

My experience is that most meads are not drinkable before a year, most of them two. Straight meads seem to take longer to mellow. Meads that have some adjunct fermentable in them seem to finish sooner. Maybe this is an indication that if I paid better attention to ingredients that I could get plain meads to go better.

If you like the smell now, you better make some more.

[Gregory_Naff]

My experience is that the smell depends on the ingredients. Some fruits / yeasts and combinations when fermenting can release all kinds of nasty aromas (sulfur is the first thing that comes to mind) yet result in a fine mead.

I think nursebee has a point about age. I always sample my meads between each stage (primary fermentation, secondary, etc) I don't think I have bottled a mead that was less than a year old for a long time.

[Aspera]

I'm not sure that there is a strong relationship between the odor exiting the fermenter and the finished product. The stuff exiting the fermenter volitolizes readily, which may not be true of the finished flavors. Also, the yeast and bacteria work their own magic, sometimes over very long periods.