huntingohio
Well-Known Member
I have read for years that mead has to be aged 1 year to be drinkable, tastes like solvent when you and blah blah blah. I've always thought it was a bunch of hooey and through recent tests have disproved this.
Before you go flaming and saying "BUT THIS FAMOUS AUTHOR SAYS IT SO IT MUST BE!!" OR "DONT ROCK THE BOAT, CHANGE MAKES ME NERVOUS", test it, test it again, then test it a third time. It's science people not mythos
In beer making yeast heath and temperature control are considered essential. I have found in mead making, this is generally not the case. When beer is fermented to high of a temp or the yeast are improperly stressed its said to have esters and solvent alcohol....... well that sounds familiar.
So I proposed the theory to myself, improper temperature control and poor yeast health may be why mead needs aged for so so long.
I set about researching this, as it turns out honey is very nutrient poor for yeast, as anyone knows if you eat improperly, your not very productive and have general poor health. This is fixed through staggered nutrient addition.
I also thought that as with beer [it is yeast working in both], the esters and harsh alcohol could be a result of poor temp. control. Well this could be simply fixed by fermenting in a temperature stable environment the mid to low temp. range of the yeast.
So the experiment is set:
3 different meads, all made with wally world brand clover honey [very poor honey], all the same standard gravity of 1.100, all the same cheap yeast [red star, cote de blanc]
batch 001 [control]- mixed honey and water to 1.100, sprinkled dry yeast on top, left to ferment in kitchen cupboard temperature range of 75-60 degrees f. let it go dont touch it or open it.
batch 002 [yeast health] mixed honey and water to 1.100. Made yeast starter 2 days prior by first re hydrating yeast then pitching into a low to medium gravity solution[1.030]of honey, water, and first addition of yeast nutrient. By brew day they yeast where happy and i had approximately 24 oz of starter slurry to pitch. This batch was left to ferment in the cupboard next to batch001
batch 002 [yeast health and temp control] same exact thing as batch 002 but it was fermented in my home made fermentation cooler {temp range of 59-62, during primary fermentation]
For the experiment batches 002 and 003 were feed a staggered nutrient addition on standard schedule. They were also stirred as suggested by Kurt stock until 1/3 sugar break. Batch 001 was left to do its thing naturally.
24 hour report- batches one and two took off and airlock activity was seen in less than 24 hours. Batch 001 as expected did nott show up too much
72 hour report- batches 002 and 003 are going like a freight train, 001 has shown up to the party but notedly much more sluggish than its sibling batches,
14 day report [forgot to write down the 7 day report, and as this is a science experiment I refuse to speculate] batches 002 and 003 are done with primary fermentation 001 seems to be nearing fermentation end as airlock activity has sown considerably[ confirmed by gravity reading of1.025]
30 day report all batches have finished and are within a 5 point margin of error of 1.010., racking to secondary and adding of bentonite in 7 days.
37 day report all batches are stabilized and fined with the same amount of ingredients within a 1 gram margin of error.
day 40 all batches are racked and tasted
001- solvent heavy alcohol, burns like jet fuel. Taste of the honey is nearly un noticeable over the burn.
002-alcohol burn is less pronounced but still quite could choke down the whole 4 oz sample. honey flavor is there, not hugely pronounced bet there.
003- very very little alcoholic bite, nearly un-remarkably so. Honey taste is prevalent, very straight forward on the tongue. sweetness is even noticeable. Finished my 4 oz sample easily.
These same notes were confirmed by 2 other tasters on that same day.
All batches could have used some acid blend, something else to boost there flavor as the honey was poor in quality.
Over all the experiment was a success going to recreate the experiment soon and re verify the results for scientific purposes.
If one wants to know what became of batches 001 and 002 they are currently aging.. in the sewage treatment plant. Bottles are to expensive at my local shop to tie up with poor quality mead.
Before you go flaming and saying "BUT THIS FAMOUS AUTHOR SAYS IT SO IT MUST BE!!" OR "DONT ROCK THE BOAT, CHANGE MAKES ME NERVOUS", test it, test it again, then test it a third time. It's science people not mythos
In beer making yeast heath and temperature control are considered essential. I have found in mead making, this is generally not the case. When beer is fermented to high of a temp or the yeast are improperly stressed its said to have esters and solvent alcohol....... well that sounds familiar.
So I proposed the theory to myself, improper temperature control and poor yeast health may be why mead needs aged for so so long.
I set about researching this, as it turns out honey is very nutrient poor for yeast, as anyone knows if you eat improperly, your not very productive and have general poor health. This is fixed through staggered nutrient addition.
I also thought that as with beer [it is yeast working in both], the esters and harsh alcohol could be a result of poor temp. control. Well this could be simply fixed by fermenting in a temperature stable environment the mid to low temp. range of the yeast.
So the experiment is set:
3 different meads, all made with wally world brand clover honey [very poor honey], all the same standard gravity of 1.100, all the same cheap yeast [red star, cote de blanc]
batch 001 [control]- mixed honey and water to 1.100, sprinkled dry yeast on top, left to ferment in kitchen cupboard temperature range of 75-60 degrees f. let it go dont touch it or open it.
batch 002 [yeast health] mixed honey and water to 1.100. Made yeast starter 2 days prior by first re hydrating yeast then pitching into a low to medium gravity solution[1.030]of honey, water, and first addition of yeast nutrient. By brew day they yeast where happy and i had approximately 24 oz of starter slurry to pitch. This batch was left to ferment in the cupboard next to batch001
batch 002 [yeast health and temp control] same exact thing as batch 002 but it was fermented in my home made fermentation cooler {temp range of 59-62, during primary fermentation]
For the experiment batches 002 and 003 were feed a staggered nutrient addition on standard schedule. They were also stirred as suggested by Kurt stock until 1/3 sugar break. Batch 001 was left to do its thing naturally.
24 hour report- batches one and two took off and airlock activity was seen in less than 24 hours. Batch 001 as expected did nott show up too much
72 hour report- batches 002 and 003 are going like a freight train, 001 has shown up to the party but notedly much more sluggish than its sibling batches,
14 day report [forgot to write down the 7 day report, and as this is a science experiment I refuse to speculate] batches 002 and 003 are done with primary fermentation 001 seems to be nearing fermentation end as airlock activity has sown considerably[ confirmed by gravity reading of1.025]
30 day report all batches have finished and are within a 5 point margin of error of 1.010., racking to secondary and adding of bentonite in 7 days.
37 day report all batches are stabilized and fined with the same amount of ingredients within a 1 gram margin of error.
day 40 all batches are racked and tasted
001- solvent heavy alcohol, burns like jet fuel. Taste of the honey is nearly un noticeable over the burn.
002-alcohol burn is less pronounced but still quite could choke down the whole 4 oz sample. honey flavor is there, not hugely pronounced bet there.
003- very very little alcoholic bite, nearly un-remarkably so. Honey taste is prevalent, very straight forward on the tongue. sweetness is even noticeable. Finished my 4 oz sample easily.
These same notes were confirmed by 2 other tasters on that same day.
All batches could have used some acid blend, something else to boost there flavor as the honey was poor in quality.
Over all the experiment was a success going to recreate the experiment soon and re verify the results for scientific purposes.
If one wants to know what became of batches 001 and 002 they are currently aging.. in the sewage treatment plant. Bottles are to expensive at my local shop to tie up with poor quality mead.