The Meadllennium VI
by Richard Furlong

This year I had the privilege of judging the Meadllennium, the largest mead only competition in the U.S. The final flight was quite spectacular, causing the judges much deliberation and finally deciding that an honorable mention was in need so that they could make their decision about third place. Amongst the winners was a cyser which possessed an incredible nose of an apple orchid in full bloom. You could lie down and go to sleep to this aroma, with the flavor being clean, sweet and pure. Another winner was a wonderful maple pecan mead which had a wonderful balance in the flavor of maple and honey and an aroma that possessed a hint of pecan. The other two meads that really stuck out was a guava mead that was superb, and a traditional blackberry honey mead that had mild undertones of cinnamon and spice whose characters came purely from the honey.

On the other hand there were some consistent faults which should be addressed. Many of the traditional meads possessed strong solvent characters in the aroma and some even in the flavor. This is most likely caused by high fermentation temperatures, too much nutrients added, or a combination of both. Meads are always talked about being temperature tolerant, but generally the temperature should not exceed 80F. Quick fermentations often result in meads without much aroma or worse off with wrong aromas. Another problem talked about at the competition was the boiling of honey. I know there is some debate on weather to boil or not to boil, but the truth is that meads that have had there honey boiled generally do not win. Much of the aroma is lost in the steam, resulting in a mead lacking character. You generally do not have to worry about contamination from the honey since there are enough peroxides in honey to prevent this, and if clarity in a concern, the use of sparkaliod will help quickly clear a cloudy mead. Also, known from past experience, if you bottle a cloudy mead that eventually clears in the bottle, you will end up with a lot of sediment. Excess sediment over time will also result in off flavors as the yeast start to decay, so unless you are willing to somehow remove the sediment from the bottle later on, do not bottle a cloudy mead. Either let the yeast drop in the carboy or use a clarifier such a sparkeloid at racking time.

As for nutrients, a little bit of malt extract "2 TBS" or a cup of apple juice can go along way. One national judge stated that he would never use a nitrogen based nutrient such as you typical crystal nutrients, since it often is detectable in the final product. The initial fermentation might not be as explosive, but meads are not meant to go thru violent quick fermentations. The final beverage is delicate and needs to be handled with care during the fermentation process. Proper yeast is also significant in brewing mead. Many yeasts such as Cote de blanc will rip every last bit of sugar out, turning a 3-3.5lb/gal mead into something you can use in your gas tank. Just remember, meads take time and should be allowed to take time, rushing will only result in a beverage without much character.

One final note on the competition was the question of oxidation. The oxidation I am talking about is not unpleasant, but is the results of a well aged sweet mead acquiring raiseny port and nutty sherry notes. Unfortunately this sometimes overwhelms the original taste and aroma of the honey, which is frowned upon at competitions. I tend to have a bit of a problem with this, especially since many of us believe that the ultimate goal of a mead maker is to have several well aged meads kept down in the cellar. I know it is not in the style guidelines, but perhaps a aged mead style should be added to the long list of meads, or the guidelines be changed to accommodate pleasant oxidative qualities of aged sweet meads.

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