Failure

[Gus979]

Hi

Sooooo..... My very first foray into making alcoholic beverages began with mead on the 18th of this month. Since then I have also brewed 2 batches of beer. I really don't think I "got" the basics of making until my last batch.

I hate to say it, but I think I reaaaallly messed up my batch of mead. Did a taste test and it tasted VERY medicine-e. It might be because I fed it far more nutrients than needed, or the fact that I may have added far more DAP than needed....or the fact that I didn't understand 101 and pretty much sanitized nothing that the mead is in contact with.

I'm thinking this batch is a failure. Even with age I don't think it will live up to its potential had I done it correctly. It's also important that I brew an awesome batch of mead, because I'm trying to prove to prove to my family that it can be just as good as wine. This is despite the fact that I haven't had any (only 1 glass) mead that I like yet. I'm kind of a stubborn person like that.

I'm thinking of starting over. This time diligently following the traditionalmead.com guide to make an excellent off-dry mead. I know its a bit of a crime to throw in the towel so early but it really did not taste good.

What are your thoughts? Is it worth it to continue? ...I think I have a sore throat from that spoonful...

[Barry]

Did a taste test and it tasted VERY medicine-e.

All meads I've tasted were medicine-e. Try brewing a honey beer.

[beemandan]

This is despite the fact that I haven't had any mead that I like yet.

Me either….and I’ve tasted many. Commercial, blue ribbon winning etc and still no joy. I tell folks that, to me, it tastes as though someone added a bit of diesel fuel. A medicinal flavor might be an improvement.

I'm kind of a stubborn person like that.

And me as well. I keep making the stuff…convinced that someday I’ll find a recipe that I like. I have a batch of blueberry brewing as we speak. I think it may be the best yet…but I still MUCH prefer a bad merlot or chardonnay.
PS I’ve had others taste my meads and some like it…a few like it a lot and some put it down after the first sip. I really believe that it is all about how your tastes are tuned.

[beemandan]

Try brewing a honey beer.

I have had some honey beer that I liked......I may give that a try.

[fieldsofnaturalhoney]

You will need to follow the receipe to the T, if you want it to be good, and definetly sanitize your stuff. Thats like cooking without washing your hands. If you started the mead on the 18th, it is way to early to be tasting. I usually let mine go for at least a year (racking it in the process), before the pooring begins. Don't give up, and don't throw your first batch away. Give it time,,

[Steves1967]

And it's not for everyone. Seriously.

[Intheswamp]

I'm thinking that adding DAP after the 1/3 break will impart some "tastes" to the mead. Also, fermenting at too high of a temperature can create some nasty fusel alcohols. I'm not sure if these could be imparting bad tastes to your meads. This is coming from a complete newbee mead maker so take it for what it's worth.

Something you might want to try is some of "Joe's Ancient Orange Mead". This is my first mead and is smelling rather enticing at 16 days old.

Ed

[cade10]

I really think it has alot to do with individual tastes. I did the joe's ancient orange spice mead awhile ago, thought personally it was a bit strong at about 15% and I have a friend that mixes it but many others think it is great just like it is. Been toying with the idea of doing a batch with a weaker yeast and hitting around 12% and maybe trying a real hard batch at about 18% and seeing if the difference is really all that big to others.
Made some red wine from grape concentrate that I thought was horrible but one of my friends keeps bugging me for more bottles of the stuff. Made some pumpkin wine that I won't even touch - just friggin horrible but most of the people I have sprung it on thought it wasn't bad at all.
All in all time has alot to do with the tastes giving time for some things to kind of fade and others to kind of come to the forefront more. The joe's recipe is pretty ok right from the secondary at around the three month mark, only had one person out of 25 or so that really didn't care for it, alot of them thought it was interesting and different in a good way.

[DeeAnna]

I'm not a mead maker, but I do like mead. If you want to taste very drinkable mead ranging from sweet to flavored to semi-dry, check out the White Winter Winery in Wisconsin: http://whitewinter.com/

The other thing I'll say, having read this forum for some time and having made fruit cordials and the like, is that aging really does make a difference. What tastes awful at first can really mellow out after 2-3 years, so don't be too quick to judge.

Case in point, I was not impressed with some peach cordial that my husband made from ripe Missouri peaches in 2010. Right after decanting, it was medicinal and harsh and you'd never guess it was made from melt-in-your-mouth ripe peaches. Ugh. Two years later it has changed radically. It now has a mellow true peach flavor with just the right sweetness.

So ... maybe your mead is truly a failure ... but maybe you are being too quick to judge. Unless you don't have any room for storage, finish the mead, set it aside, and forget about it for a few years.

[Steves1967]

I do a lot of beer brewing and mead and winemaking. I also have worked part time for the local home brew shop and the advice we always gave to people who did not really like the results they got was, and still is....."brew more beer!" Keep at it!

[cerezha]

I am new in this business and I have to admit: Mead is difficult! My wife hated it! She criticized my mead all the time. I ended up buying the "true" mead from Trader Joe, $11/bottle to do comparison with mine. My wife nearly through up Trader Joe's... The rest of the "testers" decided that my product is comparable with commercial sample. Based on this, I concluded that honey mead has very specific taste, which some people just do not like. Also, based on my very limited experience, first racking is very important - most of this "medicinal" taste would be removed with precipitate at the bottom at the first racking- you really need to use the siphon for this.

[Gus979]

Thanks for all the replies and advice. It'll keep it ageing for a long time and hopefully it will turn out for the best. Its kind of disheartening to hear all of the negative experiences but I'l keep trying. It seems wrong that I can't make mead as good as wine

[jimsteelejr]

We went to a honey tasting and one of the guys there had mead. So we decided to try our hand. Went to the local wine suppy and bought all the equipment. They also sold us Champane yeast. First batch was very dry and had a really high alcohol content. Left a hell of a hangover. Since then we have used bread yeast (3lbs of honey to a gallon). All our meads since then have been slightly sweet the way we like them and very tasty. One recipe called for Orange sections (peel and all) that one tasted a little musty (sort of moldy orange peel). So all of our other batches have used pulp free orange juice and various other fruit juices. Keep experimenting. you will find one you like.

[BeeGhost]

A buddy and I used a recipe from VanceG and it is turning out awesome already! We used 4 gallons of apple cider and 16 pounds of my honey along with some dates and raisins. I can't remember the yeast we used but another thing my buddy did during the first few days was he tubed in oxygen for about a minute each day to help the yeast out. We just racked the mead a couple weeks ago and it has a red tint to it and cleared up a lot. Will rack one more time as the yeast has settled to the bottom, about a quarter inch layer in the car boy.

[Barry]

16 pounds of honey! Either overly sweet or very high ABV!

[BeeGhost]

Barry,

No such thing as too sweet in my vocabulary! LOL
As for ABV...........sittin at a wonderful 21% right now!

[Barry]

I think that's my problem. I keep thinking of mead as a honey wine when I should be thinking of it as a honey liqueur!

[Steves1967]

My friend Doug Remington who's website I have already mentioned www.traditionalmead.com makes a lot of port-strength meads that are great even after only a year.

I am not getting anything from mentioning his name or website other than hoping it will help others.

[Gus979]

My friend Doug Remington who's website I have already mentioned www.traditionalmead.com makes a lot of port-strength meads that are great even after only a year.

I am not getting anything from mentioning his name or website other than hoping it will help others.

It's a good website, it deserves mentioning.

[Luterra]

Mead will *always* taste bad 11 days after brewing. Until it is nearly clear it has lots of suspended yeast which have estery medicine-y flavors.

Making a good traditional mead (with only honey and water) is a bit of a fine art. Flavors in honey are subtle and delicate - using honey with off flavors or fermenting on the warm side can lead to an unpalatable product. Even when it is well done it will appeal to a narrower range of palates than wine or beer.

Delicious results are more likely if you treat honey as a source of subtle flavor and fermentable sugar to be mixed with a more dominant fruit or spice. Apple and pear meads (cysers) are very tasty, as are meads made with berries (melomels) or wine grapes (pyments).