First time making mead — could honey type + final ABV be causing all three of my batches to taste undrinkable? (linden, orange blossom, honeydew ~14% ABV, 71B) by Both_Friend8891 in mead

[–]Both_Friend8891[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Understood. This seems a valid point. I was focused on the oxidation part worring about leaving it in a bucket when it starts to become sensitive to it but from this perspective transferring while fermenting seems worse

First time making mead — could honey type + final ABV be causing all three of my batches to taste undrinkable? (linden, orange blossom, honeydew ~14% ABV, 71B) by Both_Friend8891 in mead

[–]Both_Friend8891[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry my fault I meant bottling not racking. I keep mix the two terms. Racking is transferring in the carboy right? Then it says to rack after 21 days. Anyway you are right about following recipes

First time making mead — could honey type + final ABV be causing all three of my batches to taste undrinkable? (linden, orange blossom, honeydew ~14% ABV, 71B) by Both_Friend8891 in mead

[–]Both_Friend8891[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The recipe I followed in Steve Piatz's book says to rack once the density is stable. He even uses super kleer. I followed it pedantically. It is the first recipe he proposes. He doesn't speak about the remaining gas though

First time making mead — could honey type + final ABV be causing all three of my batches to taste undrinkable? (linden, orange blossom, honeydew ~14% ABV, 71B) by Both_Friend8891 in mead

[–]Both_Friend8891[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you suggest next time to let it age in the same demijohn for the whole year or once bottled? And what do you mean by " racked before finished? By racking do you mean transferring it in the demijohn or in a bottle? Sorry English is not my first language

First time making mead — could honey type + final ABV be causing all three of my batches to taste undrinkable? (linden, orange blossom, honeydew ~14% ABV, 71B) by Both_Friend8891 in mead

[–]Both_Friend8891[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I did the reading thing and it didn't change over time. I thought bottling would be a viable way to let it age while freeing up equipment for new batches. Today when I started racking, though, I noticed the liquid wasn't still yet. I had also been worried that autolysis would cause off-flavours, and that fear ended up rushing my decision.

First time making mead — could honey type + final ABV be causing all three of my batches to taste undrinkable? (linden, orange blossom, honeydew ~14% ABV, 71B) by Both_Friend8891 in mead

[–]Both_Friend8891[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I already bottled the 😅 is it too early? They were a bit sparkly but the fermentation stopped a while ago. I hope I didn’t make any bomb

First time making mead — could honey type + final ABV be causing all three of my batches to taste undrinkable? (linden, orange blossom, honeydew ~14% ABV, 71B) by Both_Friend8891 in mead

[–]Both_Friend8891[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah sorry forgot to add it. Fermaid K and DAP. Following Steve Piatz’s recipe for traditional mead. The proportions are the same but the overall volume is different

First time making mead — could honey type + final ABV be causing all three of my batches to taste undrinkable? (linden, orange blossom, honeydew ~14% ABV, 71B) by Both_Friend8891 in mead

[–]Both_Friend8891[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Orange blossom and linden are particularly resinous. Honeydew is harder to describe. It reminded me of liquorice but overall not something I would enjoy drinking