Cherry mead/ melomel advice

[sahunus]

Hi folks,

I have made a couple of standard meads that I'm happy with but I decided to try making a cherry mead. My problem is that I have just racked it from primary, into secondary and had a taste. It's was shockingly bland!
Does anyone have any advice as to why this is and what I should have done/changed?

Made about 6/7 liters for primary (I make alot for primary as i am clumsy and lose alot racking into a 1 gallon demi John) using:
1.1kg honey
1kg destoned cherries
Juice of 1 lemon

Yeast was lalvin 71b-1122

Og:1.070
Fg after primary: 1.000

I know it needs to mature, but my other meads that were just honey and water had more to them at this stage. Does it just need more fruit? Was the fruit added too early? Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[johncrobinson]

If we assume a vol of about 7lts its not a lot of either honey or cherries for this quantity.
The alcohol content will also be under 10%abv.Was this intentional ??.

Some grape tannin would also help.In wines or mead's that have a bland taste lack of tannin is often one of the main culprits.
Its not to late to add some grape tannin or if you cant get it a cup of super strong black tea will do.

Cherries should be added at the start,So your fine there.

I make a lot of cherry wine from local trees.They vary enormously in flavour,Some of the biggest and best looking juicy ones are often tasteless.

I think in future you just need to make it "richer".

 

[johncrobinson]

B.T.W. As an afterthought did you also add the "zest" of the lemons,???
The juice alone will provide the needed acid but not much else.

 

[sahunus]

I was aiming for a 10% final yes. My other batches of pure mead were around there and tasted wonderful. And no I didn't add lemon zest, just the juice. Would it be too late to add some at secondary with the tannin?

 

[johncrobinson]

It would be fine to add the zest

This is how i do mine:> I take a clean coffee jar fill it half full of orange/lemon zest and cover with cheap brandy then lid on and allow to infuse for about a week.Add to the mead after 1st racking.

I should warn you this is a delicious drink in its own right.

 

[Jan.]

Tannins and/or acidity will definitely help get the flavour profile to shine but probably won't increase the flavour of the honey or cherriesthemselves.

I have calculated that 1.1 Kg of honey in a 6.5 litre batch would get you an OG of around 1.050 (maybe a bit more from the sugar you extracted from the cherries and that will vary depending on the honey). Have I read the ingredients wrong? The reason I am asking is that at 1.070 (as you mentioned the OG was) it should be relatively flavourful but at 1.050 probably less.