Mead Lovers Digest #1641

Published in

· 10 Apr 2024

Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1641, 14 August 2013 
From: mead-request@talisman.com 

Mead Lover's Digest #1641                                  14 August 2013 

                      Mead Discussion Forum 

Contents: 
  new topic (Carl Weiss) 

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Subject: new topic 
From: Carl Weiss <carl_weiss@hotmail.com> 
Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 01:34:18 +0000 

To Whom it May Concern, 

Please post the following. 

As a novice mead maker, I have about 10 small batches under my belt. 
I am focusing on making mead that can be served young.  I have run across 
two problems which are probably common to the more experienced members. 
Here is a typical base recipe. 

Initial Gravity: ~1.135 
Yeast: DV-10 or 58W3 
Volume: 1gallon 
Additions: dark tea, raisins, various fruit juices (less than 1/3 of the 
consumable sugars) 
Primary: 2-4 weeks 
2nd racking: 1 month after primary 
Nutrient: 1/4tsp at pitch, 1/4tsp at 2 days 

1 = Carbonation.  I want to produce still mead.  After 3 months (primary 
and 1 or 2 rackings) I still have a significant amount of carbonation 
in the mead in the carboys.  It tends to hide the true flavor.  My only 
two solutions so far are opening a bottle 1 day prior to serving to 
let it go flat, or using a wine saver to pump the CO2 out of the mead. 
Any recommendation on how to degas prior to bottling? 

2 = I recently started using an energizer and nutrient due to low yields. 
This has increased my sugar consumption and decreased primary fermentation 
times.  However, even at half the recommended doses their is a very 
noticeable bitter flavor.  Was this caused by the rapid fermentation or 
am I tasting left over nutrients? 

Thanks in advance for the advice. 

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End of Mead Lover's Digest #1641 
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