Harvest Gold Mead

[Mikes1992]

Has anybody tried Harvest gold Mead?

I was curious how mead tasted so grabbed a cheap bottle. I didn't enjoy this Mead one bit. It tastes like pollen mixed with alcohol and water... Almost a perfume/honey type flavour with subtle hints of urine.

I was thinking about brewing some Mead and this bottle has really put me off... I might just do a sample brew in my 1L fermenter.

 

[johncrobinson]

I know EXACTLY what you mean.
A bottle of shop bought mead is the only and i mean the only shop bought alcohol i have had to pour down the sink.

My homemade mead's are by contrast quite drinkable.

 

[Mikes1992]

Well my single bottle test has started...

360g of honey, 1 single bag small tea, lemon zest, 15g raisins and 1/4 Tsp yeast all at a cost of £1.50... my SG was at 1.130 but then realised I hadn't added the tea so poured it in mixed it and then removed a bit of liquid for head room and now it's at 1.112. I can imagine this probably won't be that accurate xD

I just hope the Asda "Pure" honey from a non-eu source is genuine as after watching rotten on Netflix it turns out allot of fake chinese honey is on the market. I don't understand how they get away with it to be honest.

 

[Mikes1992]

I did actually enjoy that mead to a certain extent in the end... After realising taking smaller shorter sips while avoiding smelling it prevented my taste buds and smell getting overwhelmed with the strong pollen scent and flavour. I don't think I'd buy this brand again but I think I do see a potential in the taste but this mead just seemed to get it wrong.

Maybe it is artificially flavoured white wine like allot of the reviews claimed. The label doesn't actually say it has honey in the mead, the closest it gets is "rich golden honey colour" and I'm sure they'd broadcast it had been made/brewed with honey if they could

 

[johncrobinson]

I looked at Lindisfarne Mead's website (holy island its monks were famous for mead) and found nearly all the product for sale was a honey/grape hybrid.
So they are really selling pyment rather than a traditional mead.

 

[Mikes1992]

I've got a feeling my single bottle test is going to take a while... Unless it's sugars leaching out of the raisins it's been bubbling away for the last 3 days and it's still at 1.11 from 1.112

The lemon zest seems to be melding well though, hopefully it doesn't over-infuse since I don't really have a way to rack it . I've got a feeling even though it's a thrown together test that it's going to be better then the bottle I bought.

 

[johncrobinson]

Did you chop the raisins,??
they really should be chopped.
There is no need to blitz them to a pulp however.

The zest will mellow I find it affects the nose rather than the palate.

 

[Mikes1992]

Yeah the raisins are chopped into tiny pieces .

I am wondering if it just needs a nutrient boost as I just put a banana wine on and within 2 hours it was fermenting and already dropped from 1.1 down to 1.08 in 24h. The recipe did say bananas are super food for yeast and I've used the same yeast as in the mead test.

I decided to test it just now, it's down to 1.106 from 1.1 and I've also added some yeast nutrient while testing the gravity. So hopefully it'll get a bit more active

 

[johncrobinson]

Yes bananas are super food for yeast.But the banana skins are even better.

One of the problems making mead is that it contains next to no nutrient for the yeast this has 2 consequences:-
(1) Mead can take months and months to ferment.
(2) Because the yeast is stressed it will produce fusel oil and higher alcohols these taste "hot"and generally not pleasant,They will mature out but it can take a couple of years to mellow.

So yes I would recommend adding a complete nutrient not just DAP in the uk a good one is Tronomyzol.

 

[Mikes1992]

Yes bananas are super food for yeast.But the banana skins are even better.

One of the problems making mead is that it contains next to no nutrient for the yeast this has 2 consequences:-
(1) Mead can take months and months to ferment.
(2) Because the yeast is stressed it will produce fusel oil and higher alcohols these taste "hot"and generally not pleasant,They will mature out but it can take a couple of years to mellow.

So yes I would recommend adding a complete nutrient not just DAP in the uk a good one is Tronomyzol.

Is Wilko's yeast nutrient acceptable? I added 1/4 teaspoon. I haven't tested it since but it's certainly producing more gas now.


Also, I did actually add the skins... The skin on top is actually from a bit of banana I couldn't resist eating xD

 

[An Ankoù]

I did actually enjoy that mead to a certain extent in the end... After realising taking smaller shorter sips while avoiding smelling it prevented my taste buds and smell getting overwhelmed with the strong pollen scent and flavour. I don't think I'd buy this brand again but I think I do see a potential in the taste but this mead just seemed to get it wrong.

Maybe it is artificially flavoured white wine like allot of the reviews claimed. The label doesn't actually say it has honey in the mead, the closest it gets is "rich golden honey colour" and I'm sure they'd broadcast it had been made/brewed with honey if they could

It might be drinkable mixed 50/50 with crême de menthe.

 

[Mikes1992]

The yeast nutrient seems to have worked. It's now at 1.076 .

 

[johncrobinson]

I have never used that brand.I looked it up on the interwebs. It seems fairly complete.
For future ref,Add it at the start and another small dose when the gravity has dropped about half way.

Glad its got it going.!!

 

[Mikes1992]

It's finally done at 13.3%, I literally just poured it through a sieve into a bottle xD, it already tastes better then the bottle I tried from Morrisons, I don't really care that I has a haze to it as I'm more interested testing if this is something I'd enjoy brewing and drinking in the future and I think it is! Can't believe Morrisons almost put me off the idea of mead!

 

[Mikes1992]

I've just started a 1 gallon batch of this recipe xD

 

[Andi Dawson VO]

Has anybody tried Harvest gold Mead?View attachment 42644

I was curious how mead tasted so grabbed a cheap bottle. I didn't enjoy this Mead one bit. It tastes like pollen mixed with alcohol and water... Almost a perfume/honey type flavour with subtle hints of urine.

I was thinking about brewing some Mead and this bottle has really put me off... I might just do a sample brew in my 1L fermenter.

I know I'm a little late to this thread, but still....

I know quite a few 'shop-bought' mead drinkers and they all agree to never touch the Harvest Gold. It is thin and watery too. Moniack is the standard if you're looking to try one out

 

[johncrobinson]

My only bottle of shop bought mead went down the drain for the same reasons as yours.
And I REALLY cant afford to waste booze.!!!!!

However my homemade mead's are delicious,(Honest.)
Dont allow this experience to put you off giving it ago.

 

[Mikes1992]

I've just started a 1 gallon batch of this recipe xD

Urgh.... I can't believe how slow mead is xD.... Nearly a month later (30/4 - 26/5) and it's at 1.046 or about 9.45%... I might need to add more nutrient as it hasn't looked that active for the last week although this is the first reading I've taken since I took the OG. I expected the reading would suggest it was finished... Obviously I was wrong. I gave it a good shake to disturb the sediment and mix everything up to hopefully help it along but I am a bit worried it has stalled.

 

[user 39926]

I've got a Cyser that was started end November last. It's been racked a couple of times and it's still - just - chugging away.

Taken a couple of samples, tastes rather nice (it was an experimental batch made with the cheapest stuff I could get my hands on), so I'm leaving it alone.