Tasting My 4 Attempts to Reach 25% ABV in a Mead - 1 Year Later

Today we're tasting the meads from my 25% ABV test. You can find the original video here: • The Quest For a 25% Mead
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[@tedlofland3446]

Lalvin ICV K1-V1116 and adding enough boiled banana peels with the water, for nutrient will get it close especially using step fermentation till your specific gravity stops going lower, Then back sweeten as you please afterwards.

[@Funpants94]

This type of content is a lot of fun.

[@timothywilliams2021]

That's funny I've never tried to push for 25%. I have gone past 20 a few times. Highest was 23%. Any time I've gone past 20% i was step feeding and basically kept adding till it stopped fermenting. I generally go 13-18%.

[@CrazyIvan865]

I think I've used the same Strawberry Kiwi. It does that. The strawberry more or less disappears entirely, even when it gies dry, it still feels kind of cloying or syrupy... it's not the best, but not bad either. Next time I try it I'm gonna cut up some strawberries and add just enough sugar to make the syrup.; Like you do for short cakes. pour off the syrup and add that in secondary. Maybe that will dragsome of the strawberry flavor back in. Because the compounds that make of the strawberry aroma and flavor are more volatile. So they go right out the airlock. Maybe adding some strawberry syrup in secondary to backsweeten and maybe carbonate will help fix that.

[@1014p]

Order of tasting: Hmm drinkable, good times ahead, mistakes were made, last falling into interesting but drinkable. I personally found strawberries magically took your projected abv and threw it out the window. Had two batches rocket in high 17-19 percent. Spent some time working out a sugar added ratio to grams to prevent it going forward.

[@reneaclark7689]

I have 1 brew that was higher than 16%... it is my "yeast tolerance" mead. It ended up at 17.9%, yeast were "supposed" to cap at 15%. I was trying to make a semi sweet traditional without sulfites... hahaha. It is boozy a year later, I can taste the honey starting to come back and it is okay, but it is gonna take another year before it is really good. I much prefer 7 to 12% abv meads, you get more honey and ingredient flavors, and it is so much easier to balance when alcohol isn't blowing out your taste buds!

[@reneaclark7689]

Wanted to add, in the end I stabalized it so I could backsweeten and know it wouldn't referment again in bottle.

[@geckoman1011]

A valheim reference in the edit. I don't think I would have got that when this video was originally published. Lol

[@thisolddog2259]

I have a "friend" who distilled mead into honeyshine. It's to bad because it was much better as mead

[@KaguraOfTheWind]

Why don't you drink all of it?

[@roman9509]

It would be interesting to know if the only thing that affects the long aging time is the alcohol content or are the yeast really “stressed” and produce more unwanted molecules. How would it age if you ferment it high (e.g. 18-20 ABV) and before aging dilute it to 11-12 ABV vs the same recipe originally fermented to 11-12

[@ignaciocarosiofont1998]

👏

[@stephenclifford3971]

I got by sheer accident, a 22.3% mead. Its still hot and hard to drink flavor is not there yet. maybe in another year or so...😂