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Things I learned about mead
Okay, so my last batches were all ready for the grand taste testing. I was not happy with the results of all of them.
Mead takes forever to age so I fermented all my mead ideas before plunging into beers AND before acquiring The Compleat Meadmaker (strongly recommended).
1) White Jasmine Tea Mead - Used white jasmine tea to dilute the honey (single varietal clover) and champagne yeast
What I learned: Champagne yeast does not die.... if you sweeten the completely fermented mead with more honey, you will get REALLY carbonated mead that acts like champagne and goes all over the damned kitchen when you open it. I am lucky I had no blown up bottles... Tasted meh. The strong honey overpowered the jasmine flowers and the tannin in the tea left an unpleasant dryness to the mouthfeel. It was very sharp due to the over carbonation. Next time, I will use just Jasmine Flowers and maybe 1 or 2 tea bags.
2) Wildflower Mead. Made it from wildflower honey because it was cheaper that way. Used Champagne yeast
What I learned: AFTER I made 5 gallons of this, I learned that mixed varietal honeys are chancy for meads. Since I bought the cheapest I could find, I had mead with an odd taste (I swear there was ragweed in there) and the champagne yeast made it SOOOO high in alcohol that we got that breathe-out back blast commonly found in whisky.
3) Wildflower Mead version 2.0 Wild flower honey and mead yeast
What I learned This one tasted better. I got the honey from the local hippie food store (I understand they prefer to be called "Healthy" or "Organic" rather than "Hippie Food" stores) and it was locally produced out of the fruit orchards in this area. Probably mixed plum and apple flowers. Much better,but still a little off due to the mixed flowers in the honey. Only made 2 gallons of this.
4) Experimental Melomels Pursuant to the Compleat mead maker, my next batch was a 5 gallon single varietal (Orange blossom) which I racked into single gallon jugs over different things (LOL) Used Mead yeast
A) Strawberry Melomel - Okay, but a little tart for my liking.
B) Blackberry Melomel - Really GOOD, I got the sweeting after fermneting down better on this one
C) Chocolate Cherry Melomel - Okay, but it was not clear and pretty, it was murky and scary looking and reminded me of Port more than Melomel
D) Raisin Date Melomel - NEVER think this might be a good idea. (shudder)
E) Orange blossom mead (baseline) - Really good, but I got it a little too sweet. It was almost like drinking honey flavored water. I learned that the mineral content in my water might account for that.
What I learned: I will continue to make my melomels this way... that way I have a variety of flavors and if I have things I don't like, it's a matter of a gallon, not a 5 gallon batch
So, armed with my new-found knowledge, my next mead batch will be:
Tawari Honey (from australia) - I purchased one bottle a payday of to get enough for three gallons (those little suckers are EXPENSIVE!),
Distilled water
a TINY bit of gypsum
Mead yeast
I will start it this month so I can have my pick of local fresh fruit if I want to make melomels (we start getting strawberries in late Feb) Wish me luck, and if any of you have any hints, tips, tricks or things to avoid, let me know!!!
I was thinking of trying to make some mead later this year. I had some at a couple of beer shows, and it was pretty good.
Although, I have to ask....WTF is goat scrotum ale?!?!?!
ricka182 wrote:
Although, I have to ask....WTF is goat scrotum ale?!?!?!
I think that's a porter-like brew from Papazian's book...
Jen: Did you use yeast nutrient, acid blend and irish moss in your meads? The recipe I've been following has those and I am happy with it so far.
I have Papazians book.....I'll check on that later....I'm not sure I could drink anything with scrotum in the name though.....
ricka182 wrote:
Jen: Did you use yeast nutrient, acid blend and irish moss in your meads? The recipe I've been following has those and I am happy with it so far.
I used nutrient, didnt need acid blend due to the alpha levels in the honey I was using... never even considered irish moss......
A good alternative to the acid blend is either a tea bag (tannic acid) or a little orange juice (citric acid) I much prefer the orange juice so far.
ricka182 wrote:
Although, I have to ask....WTF is goat scrotum ale?!?!?!
ricka182 wrote:
I have Papazians book.....I'll check on that later....I'm not sure I could drink anything with scrotum in the name though.....
I didnt get the recipe from Papazains book (I think I am the only one on this board who hasnt read it). I actually just came across the name and it cracked me up so much that I decided I HAD to make it so I can get a twisted kick out of serving something clearly labeled "GOAT SCROTUM ALE"... (my husband claims that there are times he wonders about me...)
I found three do-able recipes (some recipes out there just look like people throwing as much sugar in the pot as possible to make something with a kick... damn the taste)
It seems to be a spiced dark porter pushing stout. The recipe I used has cocoa, ginger, licorice, molasses, juniper and a pretty healthy dose of DME....but it seems like it will have a good hops balance too. It was a fun batch to make. Like I said, I initially decided to make it just because it was funny (considering serving it on April Fools Day) but as I was brewing it, I couldnt help but notice how great it smelled. I have it in secondary now and it STILL smells fantastic. I think it's going to require a long aging period though due to the complexity of the flavorings... I might cold condition it like a lager to smooth it out some.
You should go for 1g batches until you figure out what you like. I myself, enjoy mead very much. Just mead. Honey + water + yeast... that's it. Don't get me wrong. I have a distinct fondness for melomel and braggot and the various meads in general. In fact i have a mead brewing now with 1/2 malted rye, 1/2 flaked corn, 1/2 pound flaked rice and left over pre-boiled (strained from a beer worth that day) hop. I have a couple tips.
1) Clean like you have never cleaned before. Mostly because of #2.
2) Never boil the honey. You loose so much of the character profile of the honey if you boil it.
3) Rack at regular intervals. You don't let your beer sit on trub for weeks on end. Why should you mead be any different.
4) Always, ALways, ALWAYS use a yeast starter. And always, Always, ALWAYS use the same honey you are goin to use in the mead. Honey isn't exactly the most hospitable food for yeast. So give the yeast as good a start as possible by using a starter culture and nutrients.
5) DON"T SHAKE THE BABY!!!!!!!!!! Be extra, super,OMG, supremely careful when you rack to not agitate your mead. I go so far as to purge my racking-to vessel with CO2. O2 is your mortal enemy.
brewskinewbski wrote:
You should go for 1g batches until you figure out what you like. I myself, enjoy mead very much. Just mead. Honey + water + yeast... that's it. Don't get me wrong. I have a distinct fondness for melomel and braggot and the various meads in general. In fact i have a mead brewing now with 1/2 malted rye, 1/2 flaked corn, 1/2 pound flaked rice and left over pre-boiled (strained from a beer worth that day) hop. I have a couple tips.
1) Clean like you have never cleaned before. Mostly because of #2.
2) Never boil the honey. You loose so much of the character profile of the honey if you boil it.
3) Rack at regular intervals. You don't let your beer sit on trub for weeks on end. Why should you mead be any different.
4) Always, ALways, ALWAYS use a yeast starter. And always, Always, ALWAYS use the same honey you are goin to use in the mead. Honey isn't exactly the most hospitable food for yeast. So give the yeast as good a start as possible by using a starter culture and nutrients.
5) DON"T SHAKE THE BABY!!!!!!!!!! Be extra, super,OMG, supremely careful when you rack to not agitate your mead. I go so far as to purge my racking-to vessel with CO2. O2 is your mortal enemy.
Actually, I am trying to duplicate Mountain Meadows Honeymoon Nectar.... love the stuff but it's hard to get in my area without mail ordering.
I appreciate your tips... comments below
1) Naturally. In all things brewing.
2) Of course not. Honey is also naturally antibacterial therefore boiling it is not necessary. The reason water is added is to dilute the honey enough overcome that property so that the yeast will function.
3)I couldn't agree more. I made Strawberry and Blackberry wines this spring and they came out crystal clear and gorgeous due to my dedication to racking (the strawberry actually had to go to a 5th racking before I was happy with it!). But remember, each time you rack you are playing a game of diminishing returns. While it's important to get it off the trub in a timely manner it's also important to understand that there comes a point where you need to decide just how clean is clean enough
4) Again, this is often necessary due to the antibacterial thing. Get that initial jumpstart going. And yeast nutrient is not really necessary, but it makes it easier for the yeast to work. I agree with using the same type of honey.. this goes back to the single varietal I mentioned in my initial post
5) You might also try purging the container you are racking to with Co2. since it's heavier than oxygen it'll sit in the bottom of the bottle and you can fill the mead under the Co2 (the mead will push it up and out of the way) lessening the surface contact of O2 to mead.
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