When I first got into wine making, I quickly turned to mead making. Because while there is an abundance of really good grape wines on the market. You can’t find many meads. And ones you can find are so-so.
And I’m not ashamed to admit that most, aside from a bottle or two, got consumed in under six months as my production never outpaced my consumption.
But a couple months back, I opened a bottle of one of my favorites I was saving for a special occasion. And it was a totally transformed experience.
It had the cherry and mild sweetness I loved… but the nose and finish exploded with all these floral notes that weren’t there before aging about two years.
So this is where this experience turned towards distilling thoughts.
I’m always interested in things you can’t get on the market. And while you can buy honey whiskey. It’s always just a whiskey sweetened with honey.
Not that smooth dry finish from a good whiskey or brandy that I personally love.
So if someone distilled with mead… would they need to let their wash age two years to bring out those floral notes before running through the still? Would they come out from letting the low wines age before a second run? Or still come out in the aged finished project? Or are those flavors too subtle to survive the still process?
Short of back sweetening, or making a fortified mead, are there any techniques or methods that can be used in the brewing, fermenting, distilling process that can be used to preserve the floral flavors of the honey?
And I’m not ashamed to admit that most, aside from a bottle or two, got consumed in under six months as my production never outpaced my consumption.
But a couple months back, I opened a bottle of one of my favorites I was saving for a special occasion. And it was a totally transformed experience.
It had the cherry and mild sweetness I loved… but the nose and finish exploded with all these floral notes that weren’t there before aging about two years.
So this is where this experience turned towards distilling thoughts.
I’m always interested in things you can’t get on the market. And while you can buy honey whiskey. It’s always just a whiskey sweetened with honey.
Not that smooth dry finish from a good whiskey or brandy that I personally love.
So if someone distilled with mead… would they need to let their wash age two years to bring out those floral notes before running through the still? Would they come out from letting the low wines age before a second run? Or still come out in the aged finished project? Or are those flavors too subtle to survive the still process?
Short of back sweetening, or making a fortified mead, are there any techniques or methods that can be used in the brewing, fermenting, distilling process that can be used to preserve the floral flavors of the honey?