2 Dec
2003
2 Dec
'03
3:53 p.m.
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Subject: Fwd: Re: Re: too sweet
From: sweiland(a)usfamily.net
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Date: Tue, 2 Dec 2003 15:44:18 -0600
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Hi all,
Chatting with club members about a subject like a "too sweet" mead sure gets
interesting. Here's some thoughts by Al Boyce and myself for blending in acidified
water to balance the sweetness in a mead. But also consider what Gary (mead guru) Sinnen
mentioned....age helps a mead a lot and maybe the mead that is too sweet to your tastes
now, may be a lot different and even much better tasting after a year or more of aging.
And, consider (what? another consideration?!) the water itself...Steve Fletty, you do make
mead with city water, correct?? If it is St. Paul or Mpls. city water it is quite soft
(it's river water) and has very little mineral content and therefore a low buffering
capacity.... next batch of mead, try blending in some hard water with a mineral content,
this also may aid in getting the mead to ferment "drier". Cheers! Steve
Weiland [------forwarded message-------------------------]
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Subject: Re: Re: too sweet
To: sweiland(a)usfamily.net
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Looks good to me! Post away!
I will certainly share the mead/cider blend with you when it's ready. It
started out with 4 gallons of cider from last year as one of it's
ingredients, so it should blend pretty well.
I also have taken to blending acid to taste at bottling. I use the
titration method to figure out the TARGET range of how much to add, then
do side-by-side samples with NO acid, half the recommended acid, and all of
the recommended acid, then decide which one I like best. It's AMAZING what
a difference just a little bit of acid makes in the final product!
- Al
sweiland@usfamily
.net To: allan.boyce(a)usbank.com
cc:
12/02/2003 11:26 Subject: Re: Re: too sweet
AM
Hey Al,
Your reply to Steve Fletty's overly-sweet mead concern is a good one.
I really like your idea of blending a sweet mead with a finished, dry
cider. Can I taste some of that, please?? :)
Adding sterile water to a very sweet mead is a good idea.... I've done it
and it works ok. You need to consider the water itself.... and the pH of
the water you are adding. If you add sterile, distilled water there will
be a dilution effect in the mead, but the flavor profile may not change
much (still tastes sweet). However, if you spike in a bit of mead acid
blend (citric, tartaric and fumaric blend), then you will get some tartness
in the mead. The target is to try and balance the flavor profile, in my
opinion.... best be very careful how much acid blend is added....
which brings me to my next point. You are correct, sir! Use just a small
sample of mead and run the water dilution expt. If you like the results,
then scale it up to include the whole batch.
Didnt' want to post this to the group....rather just wanted to run it by
you first.
Cheers,
Steve
>So, what are my options if a mead is too sweet?
>I know I can add champagne yeast. If the
alcohol level is already around
>11%, how much more can champage yeast go? What's the best choice for yeast
>here? Pasteur? Champagne? Premier Cuvee?
>What about making another batch with the
same type of honey and making it
>dry and then blending?
>Meadmakers, please let me know what you
think.
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All of the options you mentioned are good ones. You
will probably need to
make a little starter if you throw more yeast in - that alcohol level will
kill the little beasties before they even get a shot. I'm not sure of
the
best brand.
I have a mixed category mead that I'm going to blend with FERMENTED cider,
so that it won't add any more sugar to the already too-sweet mead.
Another option (don't anyone throw things at me please!) is to dilute with
sterile water. Try it in a GLASS of the mead first, a) to find out if it
tastes any good that way and b) to discover percentage-wise how much water
to add.
Finally, the polish meads that were for sale at Wine Streets were REALLY
sweet. If you're quite sure the yeast is DEAD, bottle it the way it is.
Time will probably turn it into something really wonderful.
- Al
"Steve Fletty"
<fletty(a)umn.edu>
To: mba(a)thebarn.com
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mba-bounce@thebar Subject:
too sweet
n.com
12/02/2003 09:18
AM