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Making mead is a centuries-old practice that can be enjoyed by the home brewer.
As with the preparation of most foods and beverages, the making of a good
mead is a blend of science and art. This kit is designed to help you understand
the basic principles of mead making and guide you through the process. It
is intended as a primer for the beginner and as a resource for the more experienced
home brewer.
Mead is one of the world’s oldest fermented beverages. Ancient myths and writings throughout the world contain references to alcoholic beverages that were drunk by both people and gods alike.
Mead was a part of the rituals of the Celts, Anglo- Saxons and Vikings. It was believed to have magical, healing powers even capable of increasing fertility. The word honeymoon is derived from the practice of the newlyweds drinking mead for one month (a moon) after the wedding. If the mead was "proper," a son would be born nine months later.
As civilizations and agricultural resources grew, beverages such as wine made from grapes or other fruits, and ale made from barely and wheat replaced mead in many areas of the world. In Northern Europe, where grapes were difficult to grow, mead remained popular until grape wine was imported from southern regions.
The roots of the variations of mead we have today can be found in the cultures and agriculture of old. The practice of adding bitter herbs (gruit) to mead began in the Middle Ages. Mixing grape and other fruit wines with mead can be traced to Roman times.
Eventually, agricultural crops such as grapes, grains and hops, became the preferred ingredients for alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer and ales.
Mead is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting a mixture of honey and water. Traditional mead is simply that — honey and water. Variations have existed through the ages and range from the traditional to complex mixes of fruit juices and spices. (See Table 1.)
Mead can be either still or sparkling. Sparkling mead results from a second fermentation that retains dissolved carbon dioxide in the bottled product.
Other alcoholic beverages made from honey include braggot and mead brandy. Braggot, made with malted grain and honey, is part beer. Mead brandy is mead that has been distilled. A honey liqueur is made by adding extra honey to mead brandy.
Honey is the first ingredient to consider when making mead. The flavor and color of the final product are dependent on the variety of honey used. In general, a light honey yields lighter colored and flavored mead and a dark honey, darker colored and more robust flavored mead.
The floral source of the honey determines its flavor profile and other sensory attributes. Honey bees gather nectar and convert it to honey. There is some variation in the amount of sugar, minerals and vitamins in the nectars that the bees gather. An enzyme (invertase) secreted by the bees converts the sucrose in the nectar to fructose and glucose and another enzyme (glucose oxidase) changes the glucose to gluconic acid and hydrogen peroxide. The water content in the nectar is also reduced in the process. The result is honey: a fermentable sugar with pH of approximately 3.9, on average, and an 17.1 percent water content. Choosing which honey to use is a matter of taste and the type of mead desired. Stronger honeys go well with sweeter, heavy or spiced meads and milder honeys with delicate flavors work well for traditional or fruit meads.
The National Honey Board has additional information available on the floral sources of honey. A list of honey suppliers is available on the National Honey Board’s Web site, www.nhb.org. A paper describing the sensory attributes of U.S. honey varieties is available both online and as a hard copy.
The United States Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin number 1261 gives detailed information on the chemical composition, color and granulation of various honey varieties. These resources will be helpful in selecting a honey variety.
Yeast is the next ingredient to consider and once again, there are several choices. Yeast is living organism that metabolizes sugars in honey to carbon dioxide and ethyl alcohol. Cultured wine yeast is commonly used to make mead. In general, those that are used for white wines, especially sauterneyeast work well. The yeast used for wine and mead fermentation is Saccharomyces cerviseae.
Matching the appropriate yeast culture to the honey variety is key to developing the desired taste and mouthfeel of mead. Formulation guideline for various types of yeasts and honeys can be found in Zymurgy: For the Homebrewer and Beer Lover, May-June 2000 issue.
In addition to sugar, yeast needs nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium for growth. Ingredients such as urea, peptone and potassium phosphate are used to supply these nutrients. It is also possible to buy packaged nutrients specially designed for mead.
The third basic ingredient used to make mead is water. The quality and chemical composition of the water used to make mead is critical. For example, water that has a high chlorine content may produce off-flavors. Most mead makers recommend bottled or spring water but not distilled water since it lacks sufficient minerals for the yeast.
ACIDS: Small amounts of acids, such as malic, tartaric and citric acid, are added to balance the flavor. Their tartness offsets the sweetness of the honey while combining with the alcohol to give a degree of stability against spoilage. Some experts recommend an acid blend composed of twenty-five percent citric, thirty percent malic and forty-five percent tartaric acids.
SULFITES: Sodium bisulfite or potassium metabisulfite
in tablet or powder form are commonly used for sanitation in wine making.
STABILIZERS: When making still mead, potassium sorbate,
or wine stabilizer, can be added at the bottling stage to prevent a second
fermentation by killing
remaining
yeast cells.
FRUIT: To create the fruit-containing mead, ten to twenty
percent
fruit juice or purees are added to the honey-water mixture. Whole,
pitted fruit can also be used. Twelve to fifteen pounds of fruit with
twelve to fifteen pound of honey in five gallons are recommended.
SPICES AND HERBS: Almost any spice or herb can be added to mead either as an extract or directly
at almost any time during the mead making process. Blends of two or more spices
and herbs are commonly used. If added directly, they should not remain in
the mix for longer than twenty-four hours because bitter components may be
extracted.
A strong extract of mixed herbs (gruit), can be added at bottling time. Or, a strong extract of each spice can be prepared and added at any time after fermentation but before fining. To make an extract, boil the spices in a small amount of water for 15 minutes.
HOPS: Adding hops to mead will add a distinctive flavor, but more importantly,
its resins, oils, tannins and pectin can help to clarify the mead and preserve
its freshness. Tannin is sometimes used by itself to add astringency and aid
in brewing and clarification.
Home brewers typically make five-gallon batches of mead. The equipment they
need is similar to what is used to make wine and is readily available in home
wine and brewing supply stores. Basic equipment needed to produce five-gallon
batch includes:
*Note: A carboy is a glass
container with a narrow neck.
There are seven basic steps to making mead. (See Table 2.)
The single most important step in making a good mead is sanitation. Contamination with wild yeast, molds or bacteria will result in mead that is cloudy and off-flavored. Wash all equipment and containers with detergent and water. Scrub well and rinse repeatedly. After rinsing, sanitize all equipment and bottles by immersing them in a bleach solution of one-ounce chlorine bleach to 5 gallons water. Soak for at least 10 minutes; rinse well with water. Equipment can also be sanitized in a rinseless solution called iodophor sanitizer (available at brewing supply stores).
Must is the unfermented mix of honey, water and other ingredients. There are several methods for preparing the must. Several factors should be considered in choosing which method to use.
BOILING: Boiling the honey and water for 10 to 30 minutes will sterilize
the must and cause a "cold break", which precipitates the protein
and other colloidal materials in the honey. This will help clarify the
final mead. The disadvantage of boiling is that it drives off the delicate
flavor components of the honey. Yeast nutrients and acid blends can be
added before or after boiling.
PASTEURIZATION: Heating the honey and water to 190 ?F for 10 to 20 minutes
will destroy any wild yeast in the honey but will preserve more of the
volatile flavor components. When preparing large batches of mead (3 to
5 gallons), it may be impractical to heat the total volume of water. Instead,
mix the honey with 1 or 2 gallons of water. Heat sanitize this mixture
(boil or pasteurize) and when cool, transfer to the carboy. Add enough
additional water to the mixture in the carboy to equal the total volume
needed.
SULFITING: An alternative method of sanitizing the must is "sulfiting." The
advantage of this method is that there is no heating. Simply dissolve the
honey in water along with the acid blend and yeast nutrients and add the
sulfites. The major disadvantage is that some individuals are allergic
to sulfites and would not be able to consume mead that is made with sulfiting
agents. Also care must be taken not add too much sulfite as levels in the
60-70 ppm range can inhibit yeast growth. Since proper adjustment of levels
requires an accurate scale and pH meter, sulfiting is not recommended for
the amateur mead maker. Sanitizing with sulfites is recommended when making
Mulsum or Melomel. Since boiling fruit juices will "set" the
fruit pectin and prevent the final mead from clarifying.
If the must has been sanitized by heating, the yeast can not be added
or "pitched" until the must is at room temperature (approximately
70-75 ?F). When using sulfites to sanitize, let the must stand for 24 hours
before adding the yeast. If using dry yeast, activate it by stirring the
packet of yeast into 4 ounces of warm water (80 ?F). Allow the yeast to
hydrate for 10 minutes before stirring into the must.
Fermentation takes from several weeks to several months. During this step, the sugar in honey is converted to alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. Once the must has been sterilized (by boiling, pasteurization or sulfite treatment), transfer it to the fermentation vessel (carboy) and add the activated yeast. At the onset of fermentation, yeast need an ample supple of dissolved oxygen. Therefore, it is helpful to cascade the cold must into the carboy prior to adding the yeast. Air is excluded during the remainder of the fermentation process by installing an air lock on the neck of the carboy.
Racking involves siphoning off the clear mead into a second sanitized fermenter, leaving the sediment behind in the first. This step is repeated as many times as is necessary to achieve the desired level of clarity, usually at three-month intervals. Strict sanitation practices must be observed to prevent contamination. (If sulfiting agents are used as a disinfectant, they need to be added at each racking to ensure the desired level of 50 ppm sulfur dioxide.) Care must also be taken to not incorporate oxygen during racking after the onset of fermentation. Excess exposure to oxygen once the process has begun, can cause spoilage. When filling the carboy, headspace should be limited to approximately one inch to minimize the available oxygen.
Fining is an optional step that clarifies mead, using agents such as bentonite, isinglass, egg white, gelatin, and casein. A commercial product called Sparkolloid is also available. Fining agents combine with charged particles in suspension, such as protein, and precipitate them. The result is clear mead that has a sparkle. The drawbacks to fining are the amount of mead left in the residue and the potential for decolorizing the mead. Fining is usually done before racking or when mead fails to clear. After racking, attach the air lock. Fermentation will begin in several hours or may take several days. Mead is best fermented at temperatures between 70 ?F and 80 ?F. Fermenting at lower temperatures will not harm the mead flavor; it will just take longer to complete. During fermentation, rack the mead into a new container as sediment develops. If the mead sits on the sediment too long, the yeast will begin to feed on the sediment (autolysis) and result in an unpleasant flavor. Fermentation is complete when air bubbles are no longer visible.
Aging requires the most patience. During this step, the mead clears and develops its flavor. Usually, it moves from a harsh, acidic, unpleasant taste to a smooth, mellow beverage with a nice bouquet and fragrance. As the dead yeast cells continue to settle, it is important to continue racking the mead. A steady temperature below 70 ?F (preferably around 60 ?F) is recommended through the aging process. The length of aging can take months or years, depending on a number of factors. In general, lighter meads will be ready sooner while darker, sweet meads and those with higher alcohol content will need more time to fully develop. Ultimately, the taste preference of the mead maker will determine when it has aged enough.
The last step is bottling and capping. As with all the steps, good sanitation practices are essential and aeration during the transfer should be avoided. Standard caps or corks can be used. Bottles with corks need to be stored on their sides or the corks need to be dipped in melted paraffin to keep them from drying out. Headspace should be approximately one-half to three-quarters of an inch to limit exposure to oxygen. Making sparkling mead requires a second fermentation using a new yeast culture and priming sugar. The concentration of sugar to mead should be 60 grams or 2 ounces for each gallon of must or three-fourths to one cup per five gallons. The second fermentation occurs in capped bottles, thus trapping the carbon dioxide gas until the bottle is opened. Typically, sparkling mead has higher alcohol content. Additional sediment settles in the bottom of the bottle. The finished sparkling mead should be decanted off the sediment. Overall, careful handling of sparkling mead is required to prevent premature release of the carbon dioxide gas and exploding bottles. Throughout the mead-making process, it is important to test various parameters. Sugar levels of the honey, fruit juices, and mead are measured in brix or specific gravity, using a hydrometer. Acid levels are determined by measuring pH using acid test kits that are readily available in brewing supply stores. A good thermometer is necessary to monitor room and brew temperatures throughout process.
Most off flavors are the result of poor sanitation practices. All equipment must be sanitized to prevent contamination and the resulting off flavors. The must needs to be free of any wild yeast of bacterial contamination before fermentation starts (see "Preparing the Must") and good practices must continue throughout the brewing process. Also, any residue of sanitizer (bleach, sulfites, soaps) remaining on the equipment will affect the flavor of the final mead.
After adding the yeast to the must, fermentation should begin within several days. If fermentation does not start within 5 days, it is probably because of a poor nutrient balance or a weak strain of yeast. The best remedy is to rack the must into a sterilized fermentation vessel and begin again by adding new viable yeast. In other cases, yeast activity may stop in the middle of the fermentation period. All activity stops and the specific gravity indicates that there is adequate sugars still available for fermentation. The most common cause of this behavior is that the alcohol produced by the yeast has reached a level in the mead that is too high to support yeast activity. When the level reaches approximately 12 percent, yeast metabolism is inhibited.
©2007 National Honey Board
www.honey.com | www.honeylocator.com
