Schramm's Mead

[buzzword]

I wanted to get in on this last time, but just missed out. I asked the wife if she wanted to join the Mazer club. She hesitated and now I need a trustee. Anyone willing to help out?

I also just joined. If someone feels like taking pity on a toothless old man from San Francisco, please let me know Payment in mouth hugs...

 

[Hubarooski]

I wanted to get in on this last time, but just missed out. I asked the wife if she wanted to join the Mazer club. She hesitated and now I need a trustee. Anyone willing to help out?

That was quick. I am taken care of!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[elkhunter36]

Once the toothless old man above is taken care of I may also be ISO a trustee. I can offer the same payment but be warned I have all of my teeth.

 

[deuce92591]

Dammit, freaking internet issues at the house. Just got on, and sold out.

 

[Jas45678]

Less teeth=Better mouth hugs

 

[cosmicevan]

went too fast

 

[axeman91821]

went too fast

Story of my life

 

[Jas45678]

Any surprises for this weekend?

 

[Naegerbomb]

Any surprises for this weekend?

'Erik the Red' will be on tap. I wanted two other special new meads on tap also, but the federal government had other plans.

 

[doobiegoobie]

Hey Naegerbomb! Thanks for doing this! I got a quick question about your process for melomels. In Ken's book he says that he prefers the flavor of adding fruit in secondary, but you said earlier and I've heard Ken say on podcasts that yall add all fruit during primary now. So I guess my question is why do you add fruit during primary? Is it bc of the nutrients and pH buffer so it makes for a better fermentation like you mentioned earlier? Or just easier? How does it influence fruit character? I'm just starting getting into meads but have been loving it so any thoughts you have would be great! Thanks!

 

[Naegerbomb]

Hey doobgoob - we do add our fruit in primary, and we use a ton of it (literally! over a metric ton of fruit goes into every 13 hL batch). There are many benefits: added nutrient, pH buffering compounds, more evolved/integrated flavor and aroma with the honey, happier yeast, shorter aging times, etc. One of the drawbacks is that you need to use more fruit per pound in primary than you would in secondary, due to the fact that the vigor of fermentation can scrub some of the flavor and aroma - but this happens with the honey flavor/aroma, also. It definitely isn't easier, since you're dealing with massive poundage of fruit.

Also, it is worth mentioning that for us commercial folks (by some interpretations of the CFRs regulating honey wine, other than standard agricultural wine) it would be illegal to add fruit to "secondary" since you would be adding sugar post-fermentation (and we add no sulfites or sorbates to stop fermentation, instead relying on the ethanol concentration). Additionally, blending of agricultural wines from different agricultural products post-fermentation is also illegal (we co-ferment all of our meads with all the fruits in primary). There is no end to the madness of the federal regulations regarding mead. CFR 24.203 and others regarding "honey wine" are a depressing read...

 

[doobiegoobie]

Hey doobgoob - we do add our fruit in primary, and we use a ton of it (literally! over a metric ton of fruit goes into every 13 hL batch). There are many benefits: added nutrient, pH buffering compounds, more evolved/integrated flavor and aroma with the honey, happier yeast, shorter aging times, etc. One of the drawbacks is that you need to use more fruit per pound in primary than you would in secondary, due to the fact that the vigor of fermentation can scrub some of the flavor and aroma - but this happens with the honey flavor/aroma, also. It definitely isn't easier, since you're dealing with massive poundage of fruit.

Also, it is worth mentioning that for us commercial folks (by some interpretations of the CFRs regulating honey wine, other than standard agricultural wine) it would be illegal to add fruit to "secondary" since you would be adding sugar post-fermentation (and we add no sulfites or sorbates to stop fermentation, instead relying on the ethanol concentration). Additionally, blending of agricultural wines from different agricultural products post-fermentation is also illegal (we co-ferment all of our meads with all the fruits in primary). There is no end to the madness of the federal regulations regarding mead. CFR 24.203 and others regarding "honey wine" are a depressing read...

Thanks! My ****** math tells me that's ~6lb/gal, and although my ****** math is ******, holy **** that's a lot of fruit! But this is fantastic info. I appreciate you taking the time. Hopefully it'll make better meads in the future. Cheers!

 

[Naegerbomb]

Thanks! My ****** math tells me that's ~6lb/gal, and although my ****** math is ******, holy **** that's a lot of fruit! But this is fantastic info. I appreciate you taking the time. Hopefully it'll make better meads in the future. Cheers!

We use more than 6# per gallon in all of our melomels. It's just that "over a metric ton per batch" is fun to say. Cheers!

 

[Beerontwowheels]

Naegerbomb - a local business specializing in honey has a variety called 'Killer Bee', a wildflower honey made by Africanized bees in Brazil. Have you ever used this honey? It's said to vary from year to year, but has a natural caramel flavor. Should I expect something much different from normal wildflower honey? Is this a gimmick?

Are there any honey varieties that you folks have worked with and sworn to never use again? In other words, any varieties you avoid? I'm a honey noob, but looking forward to learn more beyond Orange Blosson, Wild Flower and Clover.

 

[Naegerbomb]

Naegerbomb - a local business specializing in honey has a variety called 'Killer Bee', a wildflower honey made by Africanized bees in Brazil. Have you ever used this honey? It's said to vary from year to year, but has a natural caramel flavor. Should I expect something much different from normal wildflower honey? Is this a gimmick?

Are there any honey varieties that you folks have worked with and sworn to never use again? In other words, any varieties you avoid? I'm a honey noob, but looking forward to learn more beyond Orange Blosson, Wild Flower and Clover.

Actually, a lot of honey is produced by Africanized honeybees, even here in the U.S. Mostly you will see this in Southern states. These bees are more difficult to keep, as they will aggressively protect their hives (a bee suit is required, whereas with more gentle European-bred honeybees sometimes you can get away without wearing one!). They will also "swarm" more frequently and you will lose your hives. The upside to this is that you can collect a swarming hive quite easily, so many times you can get a "free" hive of bees from the "wild", usually someone's attic or soffit, if you have the skill for hive removal.

I don't expect much difference between wildflower made from Africanized honeybees vs. European honeybees. I would expect some natural variations hive-to-hive, or from season-to-season. Wildflower honey is kind of a funny thing: it is the most common "type" of honey collected, but at the same time it is the most rare (every time you collect honey from a hive, you are collecting honey made from nectar from an extremely unique, one-time-only compilation of floral visits, completely impossible to replicate). So I would say this honey being marketed in this way is a bit gimmicky. For more information on Africanized bees and honeybees in general, I can't recommend the documentary "More than Honey" enough. It can be a bit difficult to find, but you can download it from their site or from others.

I don't have a honey varietal that I've sworn never to use again. There are certainly some that I wouldn't want to use from the start - some Hawaiian honeys like Lehua honey, I'm not fond of in terms of the aroma. I wouldn't ever use 100% Buckwheat honey - it is just not floral enough and too dense flavor-wise, like honeydew or liquid malt extract. Maybe in a braggot. Black Locust honey is really funky and earthy, so I wouldn't use it in a "clean" mead. I would, however, use it in a saison-style mead, or similar. It really has some awesome barnyard-leather-horse-blankety aromas that could be interesting in a truly-unique mead like a saison mead, etc. In a traditional? In a melomel? Probably not. So, you really just have to match the honey flavor and aroma characters with the kind of mead you want to make. And remember, all wildflower isn't the same! The last batch of drums of MI wildflower that we purchased had a bit of star thistle / black locust / goldenrod, giving it a sort of earthy/smokiness along with a really wonderful complex floral note that I liked a LOT. And you can tell in our meads - they have that range of aromas, which we really like. The next time we make those meads with MI wildflower from this summer's collections, they may be "wildly" different. At Schramm's, we are OK with that sort of vintage difference batch-to-batch, unlike many mead / wine / beer producers. We want you to be excited to suss out the differences in honey varietals, vintage dates, etc. We think that is a big part of the fun of drinking our mead.

 

[steimie]

Naegerbomb, any idea when fresh bottles of Blackberry might be hitting the shelves?

 

[cosmicevan]

...what about boysenberry?

 

[cBing66]

I decided to Coravin a sample of this mead for fun and got all this foam. I know someone mentioned previously Blackberry having some carbonation but I don't know what came of that. Anyone else have similar experience?

I have only had Black Agnes and The Statement, but I didn't detect any off flavors in this mead.

 

[bathroomlaughter]

that was me with the carbonated blackberry. it wasn't even close to that.

 

[kscaldef]

I've also had a very-lightly carbonated Blackberry. Loved it. Wouldn't have wanted a ton of carbonation, but a slight effervescence made it dangerously drinkable. (Or, even more dangerously drinkable)

 

[cosmicevan]

Things are coming together for an upcoming Schramm's tasting. Here's what we've got:

Raspberry b1
Raspberry b2
Blackheart b1
Statement b1
Statement b2
Statement Reserve b2
Heart of Darkness b3
Black Agnes b2Black Agnes b3
Apple b1
Nutmeg b1
Peach b1
Blackberry ?
Blackberry Sec ?
Ginger ?

we should also have Erik the Red and Madeline (but I'll believe it when the bottles are in hand) and we are working on small batch ginger. Anything else we are missing that you recommend we go for Naegerbomb ?

Also, curious on your thoughts of order of drinking these, if we should group some together for side-by-sides, and if we should do any specific finger food/cheese/dessert pairings? Really any advice you have on how we should enjoy these (ie. decant before drinking or recommended serving temps, etc) is more than appreciated?

 

[trickytunadicky]

Things are coming together for an upcoming Schramm's tasting. Here's what we've got:

Raspberry b1
Raspberry b2
Blackheart b1
Statement b1
Statement b2
Statement Reserve b2
Heart of Darkness b3
Black Agnes b2Black Agnes b3
Apple b1
Nutmeg b1
Peach b1
Blackberry ?
Blackberry Sec ?
Ginger ?

we should also have Erik the Red and Madeline (but I'll believe it when the bottles are in hand) and we are working on small batch ginger. Anything else we are missing that you recommend we go for Naegerbomb ?

Also, curious on your thoughts of order of drinking these, if we should group some together for side-by-sides, and if we should do any specific finger food/cheese/dessert pairings? Really any advice you have on how we should enjoy these (ie. decant before drinking or recommended serving temps, etc) is more than appreciated?

Sushi with ginger, chocolates with dem berries. Pair apple and nutmeg with each other

 

[trickytunadicky]

Things are coming together for an upcoming Schramm's tasting. Here's what we've got:

Raspberry b1
Raspberry b2
Blackheart b1
Statement b1
Statement b2
Statement Reserve b2
Heart of Darkness b3
Black Agnes b2Black Agnes b3
Apple b1
Nutmeg b1
Peach b1
Blackberry ?
Blackberry Sec ?
Ginger ?

we should also have Erik the Red and Madeline (but I'll believe it when the bottles are in hand) and we are working on small batch ginger. Anything else we are missing that you recommend we go for Naegerbomb ?

Also, curious on your thoughts of order of drinking these, if we should group some together for side-by-sides, and if we should do any specific finger food/cheese/dessert pairings? Really any advice you have on how we should enjoy these (ie. decant before drinking or recommended serving temps, etc) is more than appreciated?

Also the latest Blackberry is not 100% Marionberry if you need to be a completionist.

 

[cosmicevan]

Also the latest Blackberry is not 100% Marionberry if you need to be a completionist.

u haven't found a reliable way to tell what batch number blackberry is (or statement/rasp/etc). I usually label them when I get them, but sometimes it isn't known. do we know when different batches were available? I can guesstimate batches on blackberry if I know the avail dates of each batch.

 

[trickytunadicky]

u haven't found a reliable way to tell what batch number blackberry is (or statement/rasp/etc). I usually label them when I get them, but sometimes it isn't known. do we know when different batches were available? I can guesstimate batches on blackberry if I know the avail dates of each batch.

It's whatever 750's they have right now, so super fresh.

 

[Naegerbomb]

Naegerbomb, any idea when fresh bottles of Blackberry might be hitting the shelves?

They be hittin' now. I've been out hustling, doing my thing. Any particular store?

 

[Naegerbomb]

...what about boysenberry?

It'll be a once-a-year release (3/8), meadery-only until we can make enough of it to satisfy local demand.

 

[steimie]

They be hittin' now. I've been out hustling, doing my thing. Any particular store?

I got em. Thanks.

 

[Naegerbomb]

I decided to Coravin a sample of this mead for fun and got all this foam. I know someone mentioned previously Blackberry having some carbonation but I don't know what came of that. Anyone else have similar experience?

I have only had Black Agnes and The Statement, but I didn't detect any off flavors in this mead.

So, fortunately, some folks have seen this carbonation and not had any issues with off-flavors. Personally, I use the Vacu-vins so I have seen this exact phenomenon (exacerbated by the vacuum stoppers). So far, I haven't had any bottles with off-flavors or accelerated carbonation, so my hunch is that the mead was bottled about a week early (and thus won't see significant additional carbonation as the months and years go on). We are continuing to improve our processes and controls, and independent laboratory testing is beginning to be a routine thing per batch as we expand our batch size.

The carbonation is not intentional and would certainly be characterized as a fault in much of the wine world - so, please feel free to email me and we'll get you sorted out. I want your Schramm's experience to only be of the highest quality. We are on the cusp of releasing an official quality statement and customer-side quality control process (I already got a new email!). The official line (co-opted from the wine world) is to return unconsumed product and we will replace the bottle with a bottle of our latest vintage or one of equal value. It can be a problem, because many folks coming to mead from the beer world are used to the drain-pour first, ask questions later thing. Winos have been returning corked wines and wines with other issues for many many years, and as a matter of course any wine shop worth its salt will have a similar replacement policy, no questions asked - because (like we do) they will stand by their products. Every one of our retailers will also replace a Schramm's Mead bottle for you if you return it with unconsumed product, which they will then pass along to me as a chain-of-custody thing - that way they can get a replacement from me.

Anyhoo, sorry for rambling - please email me: [email protected] (yay a new email! This will likely end up on every one of our labels in the near future) - and/or - [email protected] and I will get you sorted out, my friend.

Cheers! -James

 

[Naegerbomb]

u haven't found a reliable way to tell what batch number blackberry is (or statement/rasp/etc). I usually label them when I get them, but sometimes it isn't known. do we know when different batches were available? I can guesstimate batches on blackberry if I know the avail dates of each batch.

We're working on this. I wish we could include year/batch #s on every bottle, but vintage dates are illegal for mead (ask the guv'ment) and batch numbering our large batches is proving to be a vexatious issue. Sometime soon, we will be implementing some sort of batch numbering system on each bottle - this may happen subtly with an inkjet coding machine in the near future...