Mead Class... Looking for suggestions

[MightyMosin]

My local brew shop has asked me to teach a mead class as they have had an influx of new mead makers and these people have expressed an interest in a class... I'm inclined to do it.

I was thinking about doing a survey to see what was wanted, but I now intend to start with a beginners class and will be open to the idea of a deeper class if this goes well and there is enough demand.

As far as basic material goes I am comfortable with doing this... With all that said, I am looking for suggestions on what items that you found as a beginner that was confusing, needed more explanation, etc. I'm looking to hit the items that confound a new mead maker or someone that is coming from brewing beer and just not accustomed to the flow of mead making vs brewing beer.

I would appreciate suggestions and thank you in advance!

 

[Barzahl]

I didn't understand how much a high OG stresses yeast or what a big difference in taste different yeast strains make, I had used 10lbs of honey and water to 3 gallons with ec1118 and front loaded nutrients it came out alright but took almost 4 months to finish fermenting

 

[SixShooter]

I found TOSNA to be a little intimidating. I kept reaching that 1/3 sugar break very quickly and despairing that I didn't get all of the nutrients added. When I wanted to do a session mead. I started obsessing over whether or not the TOSNA calculator I was using had the TANG protocol incorporated in it. I was having dreams about YAN and why am I worried about it. I know this isn't rocket science, but I tend to be a little OCD about things like that.

You should do a class! I have found your posts to be very helpful.

 

[madscientist451]

My first meads were thrown together yeast water and honey. After 2 years+ of aging, the mead was pretty good.
I wish I had known about staggered nutrient additions, the Tonsa protocol, using the go ferm when rehydrating yeast and making low ABV mead. So I would cover those things in a beginner class.

 

[D the Catastrophist]

Nutrient addition and scheduling as that is a huge difference from winemaking since honey lacks the nutrients found in fruit or juice.
Types of honey and impact on flavor- so they know not to accidentally make a pure buckwheat honey mead.
Aging and the impact on flavor as most meads benefit from a longer aging time, and if they come from a beer making background they are likely not expecting a 1-2 year wait.

 

[Rish]

Dry vs backsweetening and best practices on how to do it. Patience and lots of it!

 

[DBhomebrew]

Samples of good mead. Many beginner mead makers have never had any mead before, let alone good mead.

 

[Dan O]

My first meads were thrown together yeast water and honey.

As we're mine, blindly following a certain YouTube channel, (notorious for their bad mead making practices).

After doing some homework & a lot of reading, I realized very quickly there was way more to it than just throwing stuff together & waiting for it to be done.

I wish I had known about staggered nutrient additions, the Tonsa protocol, using the go ferm when rehydrating yeast and making low ABV mead.

Tosna was by far one of, if not the biggest improvement in my mead making experience. Using GoFerm to rehydrate yeast or when making starter was another major improvement.

Maybe touch on making a starter & the benefits of a healthy colony prior to pitch.

Another area I might suggest to touch on would be pH levels & how they can affect a fermentation.

Stressed yeast & all of the things that can cause it can be a little overwhelming to a newbie, but if they know the importance of a happy ferment & the rewards that come with happy yeast, the experience can be one of magic for the people who pay attention & come out with an awesome tasting mead in the end.

The basic equipment is good for a start, but as we all know, you eventually wind up expanding & upgrading to better (& sometimes bigger) equipment a little ways down the road . They should understand that the upgrades can get expensive

Headspace & what it can do to a mead in terms of oxidation is probably something else to stress upon them.

I wish I understood the benefits of using buckets for primary, especially when using fruit additions, (or spice additions....I use small disposable brew bags for spices for ease of removal vs. racking off of the spices), as well as a quality brew bag for reducing waste & mess when transferred to glass. My first few melomels were done in 1 gallon carboys. I remember thinking what a pain it was getting the fruit out, not to mention cleaning the carboy.

I guess the last thing I may suggest would be to do homework & lots of reading from proven, credible sources. Mead making is about having fun with the ferment, mixing flavors & combinations, but they should also understand that there is some science to it all.

I'm not knocking YouTube, because it can be a helpful tool at times, but there's a lot of people on there that only want to promote their channel & aren't worried about what kind of information they're spreading.

I know mead making can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it, but the extra things that go beyond just the basic steps are what make the difference between passable for drinking & "wow, that was awesome, I wanna make more!"

I hope this helps.
Happy meading

 

[Dan O]

I found TOSNA to be a little intimidating. I kept reaching that 1/3 sugar break very quickly and despairing that I didn't get all of the nutrients added. When I wanted to do a session mead.

If this helps you...as a general rule, for my own purposes, if my SG is under 1.100, I typically add all the nutrient additions up front, because it tends to go fast enough that I miss the 1/3 & 2/3 sugar breaks & it doesn't effect the outcome flavor wise.
Also, nutrients won't be fully used if added after 1.030 & can lead to some weird flavors. Not sure if you ever tasted Fermaid O before, but try a bit on your fingertip & imagine that flavor in your finished product

 

[SixShooter]

If this helps you...as a general rule, for my own purposes, if my SG is under 1.100, I typically add all the nutrient additions up front, because it tends to go fast enough that I miss the 1/3 & 2/3 sugar breaks & it doesn't effect the outcome flavor wise.

I did that for the one session mead I did. It does help to have 1.100 as a guideline.

Not sure if you ever tasted Fermaid O before, but try a bit on your fingertip & imagine that flavor in your finished product

I haven't, but the smell is funky enough that I think I'm going to skip that trial

Thanks!

 

[Kyzaboy89]

Having spent more than my share of time educating in my industry I can say try to have a little something for 3 groups of people. Those that can learn from reading and data, those who can observe while listening and the ones who who need to be hands on.

I personally struggled in my younger years with teachers who couldn't explain things in a different way than was written in the curriculum and find it more than helpful when someone can do so.

The aforementioned point of 'Most beginner mazer's have never sampled quality brew' is a solid point I try to clarify for family and friends. I use a bottle of JAOM both young and aged to show how refined jet fuel can become, which results in the expected enjoyment of the aged. Then a bottle of blood orange or citrus melomel to show the difference in basic vs. advanced brewing procedures, tosna, aeration etc.

Not sure if that'll help, got a bit long winded, but the sampling of quality vs basic brew would be my insight as early on in my mind I had an idea but no way of knowing how to get that in a glass and what everyone else considered tasteful.

 

[D the Catastrophist]

I would also point out that if the fermentation is proceeding smoothly, you don't have to add extra nutrients just because the schedule says to.

 

[Johnny2]

I found TOSNA to be a little intimidating. I kept reaching that 1/3 sugar break very quickly and despairing that I didn't get all of the nutrients added.

I think I hit sugar break on my last mead at day 2, if the starting day is 0. With dap based nutrients I would not care about about that, just make sure all nutrient additions are added before or at 8 percent abv. I usually front load with an organic nute and stagger the yeast energizer.