Big difference using monofloral?

[milnea]

Hello. Been a while since I've posted anything on hbtalk. I've got four batches of beer under my belt, and feel confident enough to try mead, as well as confident enough to spend a bit extra on higher quality honey if it's worth it.

I live in Boston and have a pub within walking distance that has a wide selection of meads. I got the sampler with some friends, and was really surprised. I had never had mead before and was intrigued by how these were sweet but not overpowering, and had a surprising complexity. At least two, sometimes three levels of flavor ranging from honey to tart blueberry to pumpkin pie. I was expecting something more like honey water mixed with vodka. I've read this is a common epiphany, just thought I'd share mine.

So, my question. Will I be able to more easily get this type of complexity using monfloral honey, or do most have no problem with high quality wildflower varieties? I intend to make a traditional mead. Oh, and obviously this is a dumb topic. I did do a search for monofloral but only got four results. (maybe cause I'm on the iPad)

Alex

 

[Bhunter87]

Man it all depends on what you want. Look up different types of honey and see their characteristics. If you have the scratch to get a little of each one, mi it with a little water and taste the subtle hints. Pick what you want and go with it. The worst than can happen is you have a gallon of good mead that's not quite what you wanted.

 

[biochemedic]

You will get different meads with different honey sources. Wildflower itself can vary depending on exactly what blend of "wild flowers" are harvested, even within a given region, and certainly your wildflower honey in Massachusetts would be very different from what I get here in North Carolina. The bottom line is, if the honey tastes good, is pleasing to the palate, it should make good mead. There may be some exceptions...certain varietal honeys (I've heard buckwheat and eucalyptus, as examples cited) can be a bit funky as a sole honey for a traditional mead.

Certainly up there in New England, you should be able to get some blueberry and cranberry varietals, not sure what others.

 

[Golddiggie]

I've only used local/regional wildflower honey in my batches where there were no other [very strong] flavor elements. I wanted the complexity of the honey to come through, which it did. IMO, if you want complex notes/flavors/aromas in the mead, you'll need to either have that in the base honey, or you'll need to get them into the mead another way. I think it's better to simply start with a honey that is strong in flavor, as well as has more than a single note. Especially since you intend to do a traditional mead.

How strong do you want yours to be? Check out the calculation tool on the got mead site to help you to figure out how much honey to use to get your target OG. I would advise making a small mixture first to see what the sugar concentration is. You can do that by taking 1oz of honey (by weight) and filling up to 8oz of liquid volume on top of it. Mix well and then take a SG reading from that. It will give you the same concentration as 1# in a 1 gallon must. From there you can figure out how much honey to hit your target OG.

I would also go with a Lalvin yeast strain. If you're looking for something 14% (or under), then D47 is a solid choice. If you want closer to 18% (or to hit that) then either EC-1118 (contrary to the haters out there, I've had excellent results with EC-1118 with plenty of nuances of the honey coming through in the final product) or K1-V1116.

Since you're a mead virgin, I think it's a sound idea to go with a traditional first. I also say to completely ignore any recipes that have you add irish moss to a mead, or boil it at all. Or even heat it above 100-110F. DO get some yeast nutrient and energizer for the batch. You can add the total amount of those up front if you wish, or add them until 1/3 of the sugars have been consumed by the yeast. You'll also be well off to degas and aerate (about the same process) until the 1/3 break. Use a honey variety that has strong flavors that you REALLY like/love by itself. IMO/IME, you'll be very happy with the end product with that honey. Also, don't expect this to be done fermenting in under a month. I have a batch that I formulated to go to 21% (using Wyeast Eau de Vie yeast) and it was rather active in fermentation for over two months (almost three). I think it's about done now, but I'll need to check to confirm.

For a batch 14% (or under), plan on a solid 6-9 months from pitching to bottling. Rack it after fermentation has completed (NOT before) and then every month or three as it clears. For a batch 14-18% plan on 9-12 months before bottling. Over 18% plan on at least 12-18 months, if not longer, before it goes to bottles. You'll be a LOT happier with the product if you go with those time frames. Or at least I know I have been. My 21% is going to be in bulk for at least 18 months from when it was started, so around June of 2013 it could be going to bottles. For extended aging, I'll be using kegs that have all the air purged from them and the mead will be blanketed with CO2 (I'll release the pressure, but keep the CO2 gas over the mead). I already have a 14% maple mead/wine and 14% traditional sitting this way.

Once you get a batch, or two, under your belt, start experimenting with different things.

Something else I've found, if you get honey that's a late season harvest, it will be both darker and have more flavor (for wildflower honey at least). If you get a mid-season harvest, it will have very little flavor, very light color, and [IMO] not make a mead that can stand on it's own.

If you want to connect sometime to try out some of what I've made in the past, PM me... I still have some of my 2010 batch. Some of it was put on oak for 5-6 weeks (will do much longer next time) and some was not. I also have some of my mocha madness left and I'm hoping my blackberry melomel is getting closer to being ready for drinking.

 

[milnea]

Gold, et al. Thanks for the replies. I tasted the mead at sunset grill, FYI. My other motivation for mead making is to be able to approximate the "hornets nest" cocktail from my favorite bar Deep Ellum, at home. Which consists of rye whiskey and mead, plus bitters and lemon juice I think. At $10 a glass I could certainly benefit from DIY prices.

I have not thoroughly looked at the process yet fr mead, but I'm surprised that it doesn't need to be boiled. Although with abv's upwards of 15% maybe not as necessary.

I did know that mead takes a long time to age, not a problem for me I've done a russian stout that took six months, and it seems the longer you wait the less anxious to crack one open you get.

Thanks so much for the info, very helpful.

 

[Golddiggie]

The no boil need has nothing to do with the alcohol level you formulate it to and everything to do with the nature of honey. You don't need to heat it at all and there are MANY mazers making mead using this method. At most, just put the honey containers into a warm water bath to get it to flow easier and mix it in primary.

I'll be making another batch of mead pretty soon (I have a 5 gallon bucket of honey that's starting to bad-mouth me now). If you want to connect and see my methods let me know.

 

[TheBrewingMedic]

awww hate when the honey starts to trash talk like that

 

[Golddiggie]

awww hate when the honey starts to trash talk like that

Well, it IS from western and central MA, so I'm not too surprised...

I just had to check on the 21% batch (that will become my mocha madness mkII batch)... It's still burping through the airlock, be it rather slower than a month ago. I might rack it over sometime in the next few weekends. Then I can decide if I'll use the glass carboy for the next batch, or if I'll use another one of my 1/6 bbl sanke kegs to ferment it. I know, tough decisions... lol

 

[fatbloke]

The term to follow, is, as biochemedic was first to mention is "varietal".
Your meads will only be as good as the quality of the honey. Not only varietal, but little processing its been subject to i.e. if you can get raw honey, its probably the best choice.

Research the choice of yeast that are most likely to give you the result you're aiming for and don't be swayed by the beer brewers. The method/technique is different enough that you can turn good honey into mediocre mead, but not the other way round.

After all, you can't make a silk purse from a sows ear......

 

[BobJ]

Wow, Massachusetts! Not often I run into guys on the forum that are relatively local....

I live in Quincy and if you want to see another setup let me know and you are certainly welcome to come by.... I have a number of meads currently in process (Wildflower Show, JOAM, Raspberry, and Strawberry) as well as a Light Lemondade, Apfelwein and a raspberry Skeeter Pee (all 5 gallon batches)..... Just got a 60lb pail of orange blossom honey in from Dutch Gold (shipped from Littleton NH) for future projects.... Price was amazing and with luck it should hold me over till summer.....

 

[TheBrewingMedic]

BobJ, I'm ordering a pail from DutchGold today, been waiting on my tax return, can't beat paying just over $2 a pound and their orange blossom tastes amazing. wonder if we could convince them to give like a referal discount if a lot of us from HBT order from them

 

[milnea]

Yeah, I mean eastern mass is one of the best places for craft brewers. So there are a lot of us.

 

[BobJ]

BobJ, I'm ordering a pail from DutchGold today, been waiting on my tax return, can't beat paying just over $2 a pound and their orange blossom tastes amazing. wonder if we could convince them to give like a referal discount if a lot of us from HBT order from them

You are so right! Great folks over at Dutch Gold! When I placed my order they said if I wanted to save the cost of shipping I could even pick it up at Littleton.... Gas being what it is it was cheaper to have it shipped but if we had enough volume it might be worth making a run and then setting up a SE Mass distribution......

 

[biochemedic]

You are so right! Great folks over at Dutch Gold! When I placed my order they said if I wanted to save the cost of shipping I could even pick it up at Littleton.... Gas being what it is it was cheaper to have it shipped but if we had enough volume it might be worth making a run and then setting up a SE Mass distribution......

Interesting idea...I didn't know they had regional distribution centers...I wonder if they have any here in the South... Without shipping costs, their honey would easily be the least expensive varietal honey out there. Do you know if there is a list of their distribution centers online?

I had actually thought about having my in-laws possibly pick me up some directly from Lancaster (they usually take a small vacation there every summer).

 

[BobJ]

Interesting idea...I didn't know they had regional distribution centers...I wonder if they have any here in the South... Without shipping costs, their honey would easily be the least expensive varietal honey out there. Do you know if there is a list of their distribution centers online?

I had actually thought about having my in-laws possibly pick me up some directly from Lancaster (they usually take a small vacation there every summer).

Am not sure about regional distribution but I bought mine through their McLure Honey and Maple Products store in New Hampshire..... Called them direct since they were closer to me than Lancaster and as I mentioned before they were very easy to work with setting up my shipment.... Their site is here:

dutchgoldhoney.com/bulk-honey

 

[fatbloke]

Ha ! I wonder if they'll consider international shipping ?