"The Meading Place" (2)
Jim Brangan

Simple Steps to Your First Mead

Much of what you already own and know as brewers will be used to make your first mead.

Before we begin, let's dispel two myths:

1. "Mead fermentations go on for years." Not true. The time to completion is determined by the size of the yeast starter, oxygenation of the must (mead wort), and original gravity of the mead. Like beer, higher gravities take longer than lighter ones.

2. "Mead must be aged for years." Again, just not true. DEFECTIVE meads often require extended aging for off flavors to dissipate. Medium and light meads, fermented with large, healthy starters, at proper temperatures can be consumed at bottling time. These meads will continue to age, evolve, and (usually) improve over time.

Ingredients:

2.5 lbs. of wildflower honey (per gallon of mead)
yeast nutrient
yeast energizer
Danstar's Nottingham Ale (dry) yeast
good water (if you can smell the chlorine in your water, use bottled water)

Procedure:

1. Combine all ingredients in your kettle, and heat to 150F. Cover the pot, and transfer to an oven at the same temperature for 15-20 minutes. NOTE: Never use more yeast nutrient or yeast energizer than recommended on the packaging, since excessive amounts can lead to harsh chemical tastes that will not age out.
2. Cover and cool.
3. Oxygenate thoroughly.
4. Pitch a large, active, healthy starter, made with malt, NOT honey. Honey may be tasty, but it does not contain enough nutrients for the yeast to thrive and multiply.
5. Ferment at 65 - 70F. Cooler ferments will be slower, but will be free of 'higher' or fusel alcohols. These alcohols often create harsh flavors, and contribute to hangovers. Warmer ferments are quicker, but often leave the mead with a "hot" alcohol taste, which must be aged out.
6. Rack once fermentation subsides and sediment builds, which is usually in about 4 weeks. Rack again every 4-8 weeks, as you see more sediment build, and fermentation subside.
7. The mead is ready for bottling when it "falls bright", and there is no sign of fermentation. Additionally, you should confirm this by checking hydrometer readings at least a week or two apart. If there is no change, they mead is stable. (Remember, do not pour the mead from the hydrometer test flask back into the fermenter. You should sample that, so you learn how the mead tastes as it ferments.)
8. Siphon into bottles, and seal with crown caps. Since this is our first mead, we are not going to bother with adding sorbate or sulfites, or corking the bottles. We'll save that for a later batch. Our goal here is to make a simple batch, with the equipment we already have.
9. Serve at cellar temperature and enjoy. Be sure to stash a few bottles in the cool, dark corners of the basement where you won't find or drink them for a while. Although our mead should be ready to drink at bottling, you'll be surprised at how some aging can improve it.

Next month: Sorbate and sulfites, and more...

Hogtown Brewers Newsletter
May 1999
http://hbd.org/news/9904/beermags.html
Copyright © 1999 The Hogtown Brewers, Inc.