Last October when I first got started in homebrewing and
mead/winemaking one of the first recipes I tried was the Christmas
Spice Metheglin on Vicky's site (listed below). I followed the recipe to the letter
and now, a year later, I was finally starting to think about checking
it for bottling. I tasted it a few days ago and though I do taste the
spices and such in it, it's a very weak drink. It's almost as if it
has been watered down (which it wasn't). Little body or flavor,
though what flavor I can detect seems like it would have been pretty
good!

Anyone know what can be done with this? How can I add body and more
flavor at this point? I was hoping to bottle it now to be ready for
this Christmas, but I'm thinking there's little chance of that now.
I'll be happy just to salvage it.

So what's the advice? Thanks.

-Jae

I'll post the recipe here from http://www.gotmead.com :




1 gal honey (I used a local NC honey)
1 tbsp dried lemon peel
2-3 cinnamon sticks
5 tbsp lemon juice
60 whole cloves
6 tsp fresh nutmeg
15 bay leaves (I used CA bay leaves)
5 inches bruised ginger root
5 tbsp orange peel
35 allspice berries, crushed
1 handful of black tea (I used Christmas tea)
1 pkg Red Star Montrachet yeast
4 tsp mead yeast nutrient

Heat 1 gal. of water to 160 and add the honey. Simmer at 160, stirring
for 15 minutes until all honey is dissolved. Add spice tea (see below)
Put 3 gal room temperature water in pail. Add hot must to bucket and
and let cool to below 80. Pitch yeast starter into pail, agitate
vigorously and seal pail with top and airlock. Rack after a month.
Rack again at 3 months, and again until most sediment is left behind,
or until hyrdrometer reading approaches 1.00. Taste test periodically,
and if necessary, make another spice tea, let cool and add in next
racking. Allow the mead to sit until it drops clear. Age in carboy if
you can for at least 6 months (but a year is better, this takes a
while to age out). Rack once more and bottle.

This mead will end up a slightly sweet, very spicy Christmas mead.

On 11/23/03 4:05 PM, in article
, "JaeDavis"
> wrote:

> Last October when I first got started in homebrewing and
> mead/winemaking one of the first recipes I tried was the Christmas
> Spice Metheglin on Vicky's site (listed below). I followed the recipe to the
> letter
> and now, a year later, I was finally starting to think about checking
> it for bottling. I tasted it a few days ago and though I do taste the
> spices and such in it, it's a very weak drink. It's almost as if it
> has been watered down (which it wasn't). Little body or flavor,
> though what flavor I can detect seems like it would have been pretty
> good!
>
> Anyone know what can be done with this? How can I add body and more
> flavor at this point? I was hoping to bottle it now to be ready for
> this Christmas, but I'm thinking there's little chance of that now.
> I'll be happy just to salvage it.
>
> So what's the advice? Thanks.
>
> -Jae
>
> I'll post the recipe here from http://www.gotmead.com :
>
>
>
>
> 1 gal honey (I used a local NC honey)
> 1 tbsp dried lemon peel
> 2-3 cinnamon sticks
> 5 tbsp lemon juice
> 60 whole cloves
> 6 tsp fresh nutmeg
> 15 bay leaves (I used CA bay leaves)
> 5 inches bruised ginger root
> 5 tbsp orange peel
> 35 allspice berries, crushed
> 1 handful of black tea (I used Christmas tea)
> 1 pkg Red Star Montrachet yeast
> 4 tsp mead yeast nutrient
>
> Heat 1 gal. of water to 160 and add the honey. Simmer at 160, stirring
> for 15 minutes until all honey is dissolved. Add spice tea (see below)
> Put 3 gal room temperature water in pail. Add hot must to bucket and
> and let cool to below 80. Pitch yeast starter into pail, agitate
> vigorously and seal pail with top and airlock. Rack after a month.
> Rack again at 3 months, and again until most sediment is left behind,
> or until hyrdrometer reading approaches 1.00. Taste test periodically,
> and if necessary, make another spice tea, let cool and add in next
> racking. Allow the mead to sit until it drops clear. Age in carboy if
> you can for at least 6 months (but a year is better, this takes a
> while to age out). Rack once more and bottle.
>
> This mead will end up a slightly sweet, very spicy Christmas mead.

You don't say if you have any residual sugar left or not. Is it dry or
sweet? Without more details, it may be difficult to advise you. But, I will
try. I would suggest considering adding potassium sorbate and potassium
metabisulfite to stabilize it and then add some honey to sweeten it to the
level you want. Let it sit for a few weeks to make sure it is clear and
there is no renewed fermentation and then bottle it. The added honey flavor
and sugar may help the "weak" flavor you describe. Certainly the sweeter
meads take on a more fuller bodied flavor.

--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine

(remove spamblocker from my email)

Over and over I find that Greg and I are on the same page. With that many
spices I would have expected more flavor. But do try and experiment of
drawing off a few oz's, sweeten with a little honey and see if it is more to
your taste. A little sweetness will often bring out the flavors. If it is
still not what you want you might try doing an infusion. Put the spices you
want enhanced in a bag and let them soak for a few weeks. This may push
back the drinking date but you may end up with something that is more to
your taste.

OR bottle it now and when you want to drink it, pour it in a decanter with
the spices you want and serve it that way.

Ray

"Greg Cook" > wrote in message
...
> On 11/23/03 4:05 PM, in article
> , "JaeDavis"
> > wrote:
>
> > Last October when I first got started in homebrewing and
> > mead/winemaking one of the first recipes I tried was the Christmas
> > Spice Metheglin on Vicky's site (listed below). I followed the recipe
to the
> > letter
> > and now, a year later, I was finally starting to think about checking
> > it for bottling. I tasted it a few days ago and though I do taste the
> > spices and such in it, it's a very weak drink. It's almost as if it
> > has been watered down (which it wasn't). Little body or flavor,
> > though what flavor I can detect seems like it would have been pretty
> > good!
> >
> > Anyone know what can be done with this? How can I add body and more
> > flavor at this point? I was hoping to bottle it now to be ready for
> > this Christmas, but I'm thinking there's little chance of that now.
> > I'll be happy just to salvage it.
> >
> > So what's the advice? Thanks.
> >
> > -Jae
> >
> > I'll post the recipe here from http://www.gotmead.com :
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > 1 gal honey (I used a local NC honey)
> > 1 tbsp dried lemon peel
> > 2-3 cinnamon sticks
> > 5 tbsp lemon juice
> > 60 whole cloves
> > 6 tsp fresh nutmeg
> > 15 bay leaves (I used CA bay leaves)
> > 5 inches bruised ginger root
> > 5 tbsp orange peel
> > 35 allspice berries, crushed
> > 1 handful of black tea (I used Christmas tea)
> > 1 pkg Red Star Montrachet yeast
> > 4 tsp mead yeast nutrient
> >
> > Heat 1 gal. of water to 160 and add the honey. Simmer at 160, stirring
> > for 15 minutes until all honey is dissolved. Add spice tea (see below)
> > Put 3 gal room temperature water in pail. Add hot must to bucket and
> > and let cool to below 80. Pitch yeast starter into pail, agitate
> > vigorously and seal pail with top and airlock. Rack after a month.
> > Rack again at 3 months, and again until most sediment is left behind,
> > or until hyrdrometer reading approaches 1.00. Taste test periodically,
> > and if necessary, make another spice tea, let cool and add in next
> > racking. Allow the mead to sit until it drops clear. Age in carboy if
> > you can for at least 6 months (but a year is better, this takes a
> > while to age out). Rack once more and bottle.
> >
> > This mead will end up a slightly sweet, very spicy Christmas mead.
>
> You don't say if you have any residual sugar left or not. Is it dry or
> sweet? Without more details, it may be difficult to advise you. But, I
will
> try. I would suggest considering adding potassium sorbate and potassium
> metabisulfite to stabilize it and then add some honey to sweeten it to the
> level you want. Let it sit for a few weeks to make sure it is clear and
> there is no renewed fermentation and then bottle it. The added honey
flavor
> and sugar may help the "weak" flavor you describe. Certainly the sweeter
> meads take on a more fuller bodied flavor.
>
> --
> Greg Cook
> http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine
>
> (remove spamblocker from my email)
>

Jae wrote " How can I add body and more flavor at this point? I was hoping
to bottle it now to be ready for this Christmas..."

Ray wrote "Put the spices you want enhanced in a bag and let them soak for
a few weeks. This may push back the drinking date but you may end up with
something that is more to your taste."

Good advice Ray...this will work. But if Jae wants to bottle for Christmas
he needs to hurry up. I make a terrific spiced wine as follows - One bottle
of red wine plus cinnamon sticks, cloves and orange slices (I add some sugar
to sweeten this up). Heat just short of a boil, cover and let stand for 15
minutes. The resulting spice flavor is very noticable. I think Jae could
make a strong spice tea like this and add back to the batch until he has the
right flavor.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas

If you are looking for body, a way to quickly add a bit is to add
glycerin, bananas are an option on the front end...

I have glycerin, but never use it this way; I use it for lubing the
corker jaws as needed.
Regards,
Joe

On 11/24/03 9:47 AM, in article
, "Ray"
> wrote:

> Over and over I find that Greg and I are on the same page. With that many

Whew! Finally - someone as looney as me!


--
Greg Cook
http://homepage.mac.com/gregcook/Wine

(remove spamblocker from my email)

Sorry, guess I didn't say, did I? It fermented out dry. I have
been thinking about one possibility. I made a cyser last year and
oversweetened it a tad. After bottling it and letting it age in the
bottle for a while, it seemed to sweeten even more in the bottle.
I've been considering adding some of this cyser to it to both sweeten
and to add flavor. As for spice flavor, that seems to be fine, so no
real need for that - it's the body that is the problem. I'll try some
of the cyser and see if that helps at all. Thanks for the
thoughts.

-Jae


Greg Cook > wrote in message >.. .
> You don't say if you have any residual sugar left or not. Is it dry or
> sweet? Without more details, it may be difficult to advise you. But, I will
> try. I would suggest considering adding potassium sorbate and potassium
> metabisulfite to stabilize it and then add some honey to sweeten it to the
> level you want. Let it sit for a few weeks to make sure it is clear and
> there is no renewed fermentation and then bottle it. The added honey flavor
> and sugar may help the "weak" flavor you describe. Certainly the sweeter
> meads take on a more fuller bodied flavor.