[tschmidlin]

Did you measure the temp of the wax by any chance?  Is that just one coat?

I ask because I've seen some really thin wax coatings on some commercial bottles, and they look lame.  You can tell sometimes they even did it twice.  Yours look perfect.

I don't know if the difference is the wax or maybe the wax temp.

[punatic]

The wax-sealed bottles are a very nice presentation!

What yeast did you use?  Many wine yeasts are fine fermenting at 75 degrees F.  Maybe it's high ethanol content that's giving you the perception of fusels?

Haziness is no problem.  Serve in opaque mazers.   

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Not sure about the wax temp.  But it wasn't under a constant flame; it sat in a warm water bath while I dipped the bottles.

punatic, I used Lalvin D-47.  OG was 1.104; FG was .999-1.000. I could be tasting ethanol.  Honestly, I've never evaluated a homebrewed product with that level of alcohol, so maybe I'm just tasting normal ethanol amounts.  But it's pretty hot tasting; a few other tasters (who are primarily wine drinkers) make the "whiskey" face when tasting it (as if to say, "wow, that's got a lot of alcohol!").

[Jimmy K]

Yep, I sanitize the corks in a container of starsan.  What are you using for cork size & corker?  Cheers!!!

I have this corker: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/gilda-compresion-hand-corker.html

I bought #9 straight corks.  I may wax the tops for fun. Looks easy enough.

That corker is my archnemesis.

[ryang]

you can use old crayons next time...

[punatic]

Lalvin D47's spec sheet says optimum fermentation temp range is 15 - 20 degrees C  (59 - 68 F).  Mid 70s might have made for some fusel production.  Do you smell any acetone-like notes in your mead?

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Lalvin D47's spec sheet says optimum fermentation temp range is 15 - 20 degrees C  (59 - 68 F).  Mid 70s might have made for some fusel production.  Do you smell any acetone-like notes in your mead?

I don't smell any acetone/solvent-like notes. The nose is actually pretty nice: slight apple and honey notes -- just what I would expect a dry mead to smell like. But I do taste alcohol harshness.  I'm hoping some long-term aging will cause most, if not all, of the harshness to go away.  I guess I just expected this mead to be considerably smoother after a year of bulk aging. But maybe my expectations are unrealistic. I wouldn't expect a great wine to be fully mature within a year!

[punatic]

Your mead finished pretty dry.  Pop a bottle and try back-sweetening it a bit with some honey.  Maybe that will add some balance.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Your mead finished pretty dry.  Pop a bottle and try back-sweetening it a bit with some honey.  Maybe that will add some balance.

I'll give backsweetening a shot. That could make the mead more drinkable in the short term.  But at 1.000, I think it finished right where it was supposed to for a dry mead. I just need to be more patient 

[gordonstrong]

You can still have a dry mead without it being bone dry.  You'll be surprised.  Try pouring a glass of it, taking a small spoon of honey, and swirling it in the mead (while the honey is on the spoon).  Give it a couple swirls, taste, repeat.  Gives you an idea of how it can change.  Then do it to taste in the bigger batch.