(Sorry for the double post but I forgot to add this group before posting to
meadmaking.)


I've been making wines and meads for a few years now and I've learned that
meads, cysers, all honey-based fermented beverages need to age out for
several years before they're really drinkable. But what if they honey isn't
used in the fermentation process but added and stabilized after fermentation
is done? Would it still have to age for several years or would it be
drinkable in the normal time?

For example, let's say I make a batch of wine from elderberries, sugar and
water. It ferments to dryness and gets racked a few times along the way.
When it's about ready to bottle, I split it into two batches. To one, I add
a bit of honey and sorbate to stabilize and let it sit for another month
before bottling. The other gets sweetened with sugar and stabilized.

Would both types be drinkable at the same time or would the honey-sweetened
batch take several more years to mellow out?

Paul

Paul -
I haven't actually done a side by side comparison, but I'd expect
that just sweetening a wine with honey would not dramatically lengthen
the aging time required. The sugars aren't actually doing anything -
they aren't being fermented, etc. So I don't think that the type of
sugar being added would have much impact on the aging time required.
I think your two batches would be ready to drink at roughly the same
time, more or less. Adding honey can require additional time for the
wine to clear, but that's a different matter.

Doug

"Doug" > wrote in message
...
> Paul -
> I haven't actually done a side by side comparison, but I'd expect
> that just sweetening a wine with honey would not dramatically lengthen
> the aging time required. The sugars aren't actually doing anything -
> they aren't being fermented, etc. So I don't think that the type of
> sugar being added would have much impact on the aging time required.
> I think your two batches would be ready to drink at roughly the same
> time, more or less. Adding honey can require additional time for the
> wine to clear, but that's a different matter.
>
> Doug
>

I tend to agree with you. I'm going to experiment with this and report back
to the groups in 6-8 months. I think I'll sweeten a gallon of blackberry
with honey and another gallon with sugar, just to see what happens.

pli