"Mead School" Suggestions

[specialkayme]

I feel like my mead making experience and knowledge is lacking. I made a mead several years ago, and after a long time of aging it ended up like rocket fuel and almost turned me off to making another batch. Some members on this and another forum convinced me to give a JAOM a try, and I'm glad they did, it was delicious. So I tried another semi-sweet mead, and it took a few years before it mellowed out to something that I'd consider decent. Not amazing, but decent.

I'd like to try to make some other types of mead (Melomel, Metheglin, Semi-Sweet, Sweet, some carbonated, some still), but I'm afraid I may not learn to much along the way if I'm just bouncing around between different styles. One might turn out like crap, another one is great, but not really figuring out why one was crap and the other wasn't. One might be harder to make, or naturally more harsh on the pallet, but I wouldn't know.

With beer, I can taste a Gose and either say "That's great, lets try and make it" and go from there, or I can say I don't like the beer so why bother trying to brew it. If I do try and a batch is a failure after two weeks, toss it and try again. But I don't have much to taste to compare with mead. I've tried some meads at some meaderies, but it's considerably less options for me to compare against. And waiting 1-3 years for some of these to mellow out makes it really difficult to learn.

So does anyone have a suggestion on a series of different meads to try in sequential order, in order to get a better base knowledge of making mead? Like start with a JAOM, then try a semi-sweet plain still mead, then try a sweet sparkling mead, before trying a Melomel, then get crazy with other stuff if you want. Something like that? Or am I really just better off scrolling through other's recipies, finding something I think would be neat and giving it a go?

 

[NeverDie]

I feel like my mead making experience and knowledge is lacking. I made a mead several years ago, and after a long time of aging it ended up like rocket fuel and almost turned me off to making another batch. Some members on this and another forum convinced me to give a JAOM a try, and I'm glad they did, it was delicious. So I tried another semi-sweet mead, and it took a few years before it mellowed out to something that I'd consider decent. Not amazing, but decent.

I'd like to try to make some other types of mead (Melomel, Metheglin, Semi-Sweet, Sweet, some carbonated, some still), but I'm afraid I may not learn to much along the way if I'm just bouncing around between different styles. One might turn out like crap, another one is great, but not really figuring out why one was crap and the other wasn't. One might be harder to make, or naturally more harsh on the pallet, but I wouldn't know.

With beer, I can taste a Gose and either say "That's great, lets try and make it" and go from there, or I can say I don't like the beer so why bother trying to brew it. If I do try and a batch is a failure after two weeks, toss it and try again. But I don't have much to taste to compare with mead. I've tried some meads at some meaderies, but it's considerably less options for me to compare against. And waiting 1-3 years for some of these to mellow out makes it really difficult to learn.

So does anyone have a suggestion on a series of different meads to try in sequential order, in order to get a better base knowledge of making mead? Like start with a JAOM, then try a semi-sweet plain still mead, then try a sweet sparkling mead, before trying a Melomel, then get crazy with other stuff if you want. Something like that? Or am I really just better off scrolling through other's recipies, finding something I think would be neat and giving it a go?

I'd suggest focusing on traditional meads for a while. A traditional mead is just honey, water, nutrients, and yeast. I used to think that a traditional mead would be easier than, say, a Melomel or a Metheglin, because it has fewer ingredients, but as another forum member recently pointed out, traditional meads are actually harder because there is nothing to hide behind. i.e. if it comes out badly, you will know it; it won't be masked by, for example, the super strong fruit flavors in a berry bomb. Within the realm of traditional meads, you can still get wide variations in flavor depending on the water chemistry you set up, the type of the yeast, type of honey, the fermentation temperature, the pitch rate, the amount of oxygenation prior to pitching, the number and type of nutrients, the particular protocol selected for staggering nutrients, the amount of aging, the conditions under which aging occurs, etc.

 

[bernardsmith]

First off, let me admit to being a contrarian and so you should treat anything I suggest accordingly. And let me also apologize for the length of this post. That said, there really is no great secret to making a very drinkable mead, one that you and your friends will enjoy in a matter of weeks - not years. BUT everything is totally dependent on two things - good ingredients and good protocol. AND good protocol is dependent on a good understanding of the reasons for doing what you are doing.
1. Mead - like wine - is all about balance and balance is ensuring that flavor, sweetness, acidity, tannin, mouthfeel (viscosity) and level of alcohol all work together to create the final product. When one element (say, ABV) is out of balance then everything is out of balance.
2. Assuming that you are not focused on a session mead (about 5% ABV), though you might, then you are looking to make a mead of about 11 -12% ABV. To make such a mead means that you will dissolve a scant 3 lbs of honey in spring water to make each gallon (US) . This relationship should give you a starting gravity of about 1.105 and so a potential ABV of about 14%). I tend to use a bucket and so aim for a large gallon of water because IMO, 14% ABV is a mite hefty. If you intend to heat your honey I would say that it would be less expensive to simply use table sugar. You are making mead not brewing beer. And with honey heat destroys flavor and aroma. A hefty gallon also means that you are not scrambling to find some way to reduce headspace when it comes time to rack. If your plan is to make a gallon of mead , then you begin with more than a gallon, and if your plan is to make 5 gallons (though if this is a new hobby, why are you planning to run a marathon if you have not ever run a half mile?) you need to start with more than 5 gallons.
3. Choose a yeast that highlights flavors. That means - and it's your call , of course - champagne yeast is not a preferred variety. DV10 (for mouthfeel), 47D, 71B , RC212, saison yeasts, ale yeasts are all good. But ferment the must towards the lower end of the temperature range preferred by the yeast.
4. All wines - and mead is no exception - taste better when their TA is about 6g/L (about .6% acidity), but mead is a bit of a challenge because honey cannot buffer free hydrogen ions (so the pH can drop precipitously if you add acidity during active fermentation. No problem... taste the mead before bottling and add acidity then.
5. Honey is a nutrient desert as far as yeast is concerned. You need to add nutrients. There are all kinds of esoteric calculations and protocols for adding nutrients, but basically I would use Fermaid O (but not DAP) and follow directions.
6. Tannin adds a spine to wine (or mead). Make sure to add tannin.
7. Carbon Dioxide is your friend insofar as it blankets your mead and inhibits oxidation, but CO2 can stress yeast physically and chemically so you want to degas during active fermentation. Stir the mead a couple of times a day to help the gas escape and not saturate the solution.
8. The above is a "recipe" for a traditional mead. Traditional meads are naked. There is nothing to hide or mask faults, so you want to choose the best varietal of honey you can find. Good varietals (in my opinion) are Tupelo, Orange blossom and raspberry, but there are others. Again, my opinion but wildflower and clover are great as vehicles for melomels or metheglins and the like. Tupelo can hold the stage on its own. Clover is better as part of an ensemble. In my opinion, when you can make a good naked mead then you begin adding other fruit or herbs and spices (or even hops) or flowers.
9. If your starting gravity was around 1.090 - 1.100 then when the gravity has dropped to about 1.010 you want to rack the mead from your primary into a carboy. it is at this point that you make sure that there is virtually no headroom and you seal the vessel with a bung and an airlock. While in the primary you can simply cover the bucket with a clean towel. This makes it much easier to degas...
10. Last point - sanitation is very important but mead ain't beer and lacto-bacteria are not going to sour your honey in the same way that they sour mash. That means that you can freely measure the changes in gravity and return your sample to the fermenter. And yes, you want to measure and monitor the process as it develops and you want to (yes, you do) taste your mead as it progresses. No chef cooks without tasting but for some reason wine makers imagine that they can intuit flavor development..
Mead made in this kind of way can be enjoyed after 3 months. it improves after 6 and can be delicious after a year. But any mead that requires 12 months (or longer) to be drinkable is in my book full of flaws.

 

[Seamonkey84]

If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend reading through Bray’s One month mead thread pinned at the top of this forum, or at least through his article and website for the most updated recipe/protocol https://www.denardbrewing.com/blog/post/mead-making-practices-mistakes/
Though I’m fairly new to this myself, I’m a firm believer in his methods. All 5 batches I’ve done so far have been fast and pleasant to ferment, no horrible smells. They have even been pleasant to taste test throughout the process. I’ve also used the same yeast and protocol with fruit wines using sugar, same results so far!

 

[Maylar]

I'd suggest focusing on traditional meads for a while. A traditional mead is just honey, water, nutrients, and yeast. I used to think that a traditional mead would be easier than, say, a Melomel or a Metheglin, because it has fewer ingredients, but as another forum member recently pointed out, traditional meads are actually harder because there is nothing to hide behind.

1. Mead - like wine - is all about balance and balance is ensuring that flavor, sweetness, acidity, tannin, mouthfeel (viscosity) and level of alcohol all work together to create the final product. When one element (say, ABV) is out of balance then everything is out of balance.

So does anyone have a suggestion on a series of different meads to try in sequential order, in order to get a better base knowledge of making mead? Like start with a JAOM, then try a semi-sweet plain still mead, then try a sweet sparkling mead, before trying a Melomel, then get crazy with other stuff if you want. Something like that? Or am I really just better off scrolling through other's recipies, finding something I think would be neat and giving it a go?

Both of these guys are spot on. Master the traditional mead first, including what it means to achieve balance, before attempting the variants. Avoid the JAOM, it won't teach you anything useful.

As for "Mead School", that already exists if you're willing to invest the time to go to the classes. It's in the form of a series of podcasts over at GotMead.com. If you can get through those, you'll have an understanding of not only what to do but why you're doing it. Here's a list of available subjects: (Copied from a post at GotMead.com)

The procedure of making mead right:
9-5-17 Ryan Carlson - Modern Mead Making - Yeast in Mead
http://gotmead.com/blog/gotmead-live...-making-yeast/

9-12-17 Ryan Carlson - Modern Meadmaking - Making Happy Yeast
https://www.spreaker.com/user/meadwe...n-meadmaking-m

9-19-17 Making Modern Mead - SNA, Racking, Stabilizing and Aging
https://www.spreaker.com/user/meadwe...-sna-racking-s

9-26-17 Making Modern Mead - Sulfites and Sorbates
https://www.spreaker.com/user/meadwe...-sulfites-and-

Not going to mislead you. That's probably 10-12h of podcast. Quite a bit of it is banter/filler... but there is gold in there, even in the banter. I've listened to each of them at least twice; taking detailed notes!

The modern mead making series continues from there but they dive into specific meads like pyments, cysers, etc. That was a little scary for me so I stuck with a traditional out of the gate! I will go into them with fervor once I am no longer doubting myself on the basics.


Extra goodies:
A very help glossary: https://morewinemaking.com/articles/wine_terminology . these folks talk weird sometimes!

https://morewinemaking.com/articles/SO2_management information on how to stabilize your mead

https://www.bjcp.org/mead/Mead_Study.pdf - basically a book on this stuff. Some seems out of date but you'll be able to spot it after understanding the podcasts. very helpful section on "balance" & mead faults.

9-25-18 Ryan Carlson - Pairing Yeast to Meads
https://www.spreaker.com/user/meadwe...ng-yeast-to-me

10-2-18 Ryan Carlson – Pairing Yeasts to Meads – Part 2
http://gotmead.com/blog/articles/10-...-meads-part-2/

8-29-17 Ryan Carlson - Oaking Your Mead
https://www.spreaker.com/user/meadwe...king-your-mead

that oaking podcast is well supported by this supplement:
https://morewinemaking.com/web_files...nfopaper09.pdf

 

[CKuhns]

Agree with everything already said - Consider reading this as well. (Copied the link - Hope it works....)
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/attachments/cdk-mead-notes-and-ramblings-copy-zip.617352/

 

[NeverDie]

9. If your starting gravity was around 1.090 - 1.100 then when the gravity has dropped to about 1.010 you want to rack the mead from your primary into a carboy.

This is something I've always wondered about, because there seems to be such a range of opinions regarding the topic of when to rack. Up to now I thought the time to rack was after fermentation was no longer active (as determined by the SG not changing over a one week period). Others have said to rack whenever the lees are 1/4" thick or greater. Still others have said that homebrewers don't need to rack at all--only commercial brewers who have very tall fermentation vessels need to rack. Given this diversity of opinions, how did you arrive at 1.010SG as the trigger for when to rack?

 

[Maylar]

This is something I've always wondered about, because there seems to be such a range of opinions regarding the topic of when to rack. Up to now I thought the time to rack was after fermentation was no longer active (as determined by the SG not changing over a one week period). Others have said to rack whenever the lees are 1/4" thick or greater. Still others have said that homebrewers don't need to rack at all--only commercial brewers who have very tall fermentation vessels need to rack. Given this diversity of opinions, how did you arrive at 1.010SG as the trigger for when to rack?

Yep, different opinions indeed. My criteria is that I want the primary to not be finished, so that in secondary I'll have some CO2 (and an airlock) for a bit of protection against oxidation. At the same time though I don't want a lot of lees to drop in secondary because I may leave it without racking for quite a while. So I rack somewhere higher than I know it'll finish, like between 1.005 and 1.010. Wine yeasts always finish below that.

 

[CKuhns]

It will be interesting to see how Bernard responds.
I target something near 1.010 as well and do so as the ferment is or likely is a little active yet and allows me to move from a bucket to a Big Mouth Bubbler or carboy knowing the bit of ferment left will pretty quickly replace the air in the headspace with CO2 and allows me to add anything in secondary if I am going to again without worrying about too much air in the headspace. I know I'm probably too concerned about oxidation, but that's why I do it.

 

[Maylar]

I should add that I stir my mead in primary to keep the lees in suspension, and that requires opening the fermentor and letting the CO2 out. As primary starts to slow down, the CO2 layer gets less and I think it's wise to move it to secondary to prevent oxidation.

 

[specialkayme]

If you haven’t already, I would highly recommend reading through Bray’s One month mead thread pinned at the top of this forum, or at least through his article and website for the most updated recipe/protocol https://www.denardbrewing.com/blog/post/mead-making-practices-mistakes/

As for "Mead School", that already exists if you're willing to invest the time to go to the classes.

Agree with everything already said - Consider reading this as well. (Copied the link - Hope it works....)
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/attachments/cdk-mead-notes-and-ramblings-copy-zip.617352/

Thank you for the suggestions. A great deal of information to digest, but I've put it on my "reading list." The Podcasts will be a little bit easier to get through for me though, as I can listen during my daily commute and gym time.

But so far, it appears the advice is to make a 1 gallon batch using a consistent protocol (start in a 2 gallon bucket covered with a cloth, good temp control, 4 time staggered yeast nutrient addition, transfer to a gallon glass jar at 1.010 and let sit till it drops clear, then bottle in 5 - 22 oz bottles), let it sit, drink one at 3 months and take notes, let the rest sit till 6 months and take notes. Assuming it works out great, repeat the batch a few times to test consistency. Once consistency is reached, maybe try branching out a little. Add some fruit, or try sparkling. Try a sweet or a dry instead of a semi-sweet. Sound about right?

 

[NeverDie]

Try a sweet or a dry instead of a semi-sweet. Sound about right?

Given the advice, it will be fermenting dry. If you want anything sweeter than that, you'll need to stabilize it with chemicals and backsweeten.

One exception I've noticed is that some yeast strains taste sweeter than others even if fermented dry. So, if using one of those, you may not absolutely need to backsweeten to get a taste of sweetness. M5 appears to be such a yeast strain.

 

[bernardsmith]

My reasoning for racking between 1.010 and 1.005 is based on the following:
1. My primary is a bucket which I cover with a cloth. I prefer buckets because I have easy access to stir , to add or remove fruit or spices, to monitor gravity. The downside is that when active fermentation is done there is nothing to prevent air replacing the CO2 atop the mead.

2. Racking later than 1.005 means that it is possible that I miss the end of active fermentation - I am not near my "winery" a few days each week and there can be a large enough "window" for me to miss the sweet spot for racking if I delay it until after 1.005.

3. Racking too early (depending on the yeast) can mean that I rack off too much of the most active yeast cells and so by racking I stall or even halt the fermentation. Stirring the yeast certainly helps ensure that even early flocculators are kept more in suspension (there being what I take to be a normal distribution (a bell curve) of flocculators among early, medium or late flocculators (though where the height of the curve and the left and right ends may be will be different (so some yeast cells of late flocculators may be inside the bell curve of early flocculating yeast ).

But if you ferment in a carboy sealed with bung and airlock and there is no headroom in that carboy and you have no fruit or spices to remove then unless the autolysis of the yeast cells are creating problems there may be no good reason to rack until weeks or even months after active fermentation has ended, so your experience may be very different. And this is why "recipes" don't make a great deal of sense. What does make sense is understanding the process and having a good reason for anything .. and everything.. you do.

 

[Seamonkey84]

You comment about transferring from bucket to a carboy before fermentation is done makes sense to me. But it clicked too late as I waited and there’s no positive pressure when I did my transfer. But now I can watch the clearing process and it has drastically reduced headspace. For future batches, I’m going to transfer the same day I pull the fruit.

 

[Maylar]

You comment about transferring from bucket to a carboy before fermentation is done makes sense to me. But it clicked too late as I waited and there’s no positive pressure when I did my transfer. But now I can watch the clearing process and it has drastically reduced headspace. For future batches, I’m going to transfer the same day I pull the fruit.

I let the fruit and disturbed lees settle for a few days. The point of racking is to leave stuff behind.

 

[Seamonkey84]

I let the fruit and disturbed lees settle for a few days. The point of racking is to leave stuff behind.

Even when I’ve been degassing through the whole fermentation in a bucket? I felt that was a lot of head space for no active fermentation. With the BOMM protocol your not suppose to rack off the lees until it clears, which I also can’t see well in a bucket.