Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #1641, 14 August 2013 Date: Wed, 14 Aug 2013 15:24:10 -0600 (MDT) From: mead-request@talisman.com Mead Lover's Digest #1641 14 August 2013 Mead Discussion Forum Contents: new topic (Carl Weiss) NOTE: Digest appears whenever there is enough material to send one. Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com. Use mead-request@talisman.com for [un]subscribe and admin requests. Digest archives and FAQ are available at www.talisman.com/mead#Archives A searchable archive is at http://www.gotmead.com/mldarchives.html Digest Janitor: Dick Dunn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: new topic From: Carl Weiss 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. ------------------------------ End of Mead Lover's Digest #1641 *******************************