seems like a dumb question - (mold?)

but does mead have a molding problem? I'm always overly cautious and sometimes my anxiety gets the best of me. personally my mead looks great, it's been aging for about 6 months now, there's nothing that resembles mold or anything crazy like that, but I'm still afraid to drink it, like with anything I brew or ferment, I'm afraid I made a poison or something. I need assurance that's not gonna happen. also, what exactly does oxidation do? can you still drink it in the event that there's too much o2?

Yes. It is a dumb question. Happy now? Relax, your mead is fine. Just like beer, no known pathogens can live in wine, cider, or mead. Oxidation comes from oxygen in the air binding to the flavornoids (it's a real word, but I'm using it wrong) and creating a wet cardboard or stale taste to the beverage. You can still drink it if it tastes like that, it'll just taste like cardboard-y goodness.

To explain oxidation go buy a decent but inexpensive bottle of wine, try yellowtail. Open it and try some then leave it open for a week in or out of the fridge then try again.

And your mead should be safe to drink with no problems.

cheers

TryptamineScape said:

I need assurance that's not gonna happen.

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Nothing's going to happen. Do a little research, and you'll find that Fermentation was once a method of killing the bugs and such that would make you sick. Many many an ancient Greek drank beer and wine because the water was not safe.

As far as the mead molding...not likely. Honey has a unique antiseptic property (tuns into very week Peroxide) that will keep it from ever going bad...this does carry over into your mead.

tooomanycolors said:

To explain oxidation go buy a decent but inexpensive bottle of wine, try yellowtail. Open it and try some then leave it open for a week in or out of the fridge then try again.

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I think this'll tell you what vinegar tastes like more than oxidation. You might get better results from pouring some into a bottle and shaking the heck out of it before drinking.

The Blow Leprechaun said:

You might get better results from pouring some into a bottle and shaking the heck out of it before drinking.

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Oxidation does taste very vinegar like. To shake and wait for a day or so would be the real key.

Wine will not oxidize right away. In fact, you can actually improve some musty old red wine by decanting it and letting it splash a bit to release some of the old fumes that have stored themselves up in there.

My friends are afraid of my brewing. In fact one person just last night asked me if my cider was safe or not. But I'll defend their case by saying that I have done alot of straight up dangerous and dumb projects. I know im going to cause some significant injury to myself within 5 years or so, but thats whats fun about life right?

Dont worry about bugs, alcohol itself is a sanitizer and most bugs cant live in it. the only way your brew would be dangerous was if SOMEHOW you ended up with wayy too much methanol (fusel alcohol) Then you might risk possible blindness if you drank about 20 gallons in an hour.

your mead is fine.

jameswardpeterson said:

the only way your brew would be dangerous was if SOMEHOW you ended up with wayy too much methanol (fusel alcohol)

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Unless you are distilling (illegal) you don't even need to know what Fusel Alcohol is. And if you ARE distilling and you have to ask what Fusel Alcohol is, you are not well enough educated to distill without killing yourself, so stop that too.

Anyone that questions the safety of home brew is simply ignorant.

The more I think about this the more it irritates me.

There is only 1 answer to the question of "Is Home Brew Safe?" and that answer is yes.

There is no reason to even consider Fusel Alcohol or Methanol or anything else. Plain and simple the alcohol in beer and wine will kill any pathogens that will hurt you. There are plenty of molds and bacteria that will make beer taste like $hit, but it is not going to hurt you!
I think we do a great disservice to both the consumers of beer and the N00bs that come her by talking about these phantoms that "Could" cause you to get sick on home brew. It is simply bad information and it causes people to be extra wary about something that they are already mystified with.

So Knock It OFF! When Someone asks if Home brew is safe, the answer is YES!

BigKahuna said:

Anyone that questions the safety of home brew is simply ignorant.

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didn't mean to be ignorant

BigKahuna said:

Plain and simple the alcohol in beer and wine will kill any pathogens that will hurt you. There are plenty of molds and bacteria that will make beer taste like $hit, but it is not going to hurt you!

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I knew that was true about whisky's and the like, but I didn't know with it being a lower alcohol content if it would be different. I am a noob, this is my first fermentation of anything. I'm not ignorant, I just don't know as much as the rest of you may.

I love the way this mead is looking though, this color is gorgeous.

BigKahuna said:

Unless you are distilling (illegal) you don't even need to know what Fusel Alcohol is. And if you ARE distilling and you have to ask what Fusel Alcohol is, you are not well enough educated to distill without killing yourself, so stop that too.

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What about an Eisbock? My understanding is that fusel alcohols are more likely to be created through freeze distillation - at least, that's what I read when I was considering making my own applejack last winter.

I imagine Eisbock probably doesn't go through enough rounds of freeze distilling to create problematic levels.

While I'm jacking the thread towards freeze distillation and eisbocks, does anyone know of a commercial example of one? I've never had one and am curious!

Actually....being a N00b IS nearly the definition of Ignorant:

Main Entry:
ig·no·rant Listen to the pronunciation of ignorant
Pronunciation:
\ˈig-n(ə-)rənt\
Function:
adjective
Date:
14th century

1 a: destitute of knowledge or education <an ignorant society>; also : lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified

Sorry for the rant....You're here now and you are already less ignorant than you were 2 days ago.

What about an Eisbock? My understanding is that fusel alcohols are more likely to be created through freeze distillation - at least, that's what I read when I was considering making my own applejack last winter.

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\

Concentration of alcohol, in any form is illegal. So yes, that includes freezing beer. As far as freeze distillation goes, You WILL concentrate the Methanol and the Fusel oils, as they are not discarded in the "Forshots" like they are with a Still.

We need to change the subject.

BigKahuna said:

I think we do a great disservice to both the consumers of beer and the N00bs that come her by talking about these phantoms that "Could" cause you to get sick on home brew.

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Didn't mean to scare the noobs.
knowing too much chem makes me talk about stuff like that way too much.

TryptamineScape said:

I love the way this mead is looking though, this color is gorgeous.

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We do like Pictures.