Comments on: Making Mead: Testing the controversy over boiling

By: Erroll

Erroll — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:58:55 +0000

Hi Tom,

Congratulations on your first batch of wine. I’ll bet you’ll be a great mead maker, but if you do need advice, pester away!

She’s wondering what to do with the honey? Do you know how that sounds to a guy who buys honey by the 5-gallon bucket? Issaquah is very close, maybe one time you visit your daughter we can arrange to meet.

Erroll

By: Tom Friedland

Tom Friedland — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:05:35 +0000

Hi Erroll
I live in Ellensburg and have a small vineyard and made my first batch of wine this Fall. (just 60 gallons.) My daughter (in Issaquah) has bought a couple hives and is taking a course in beekeeping. She is wondering what to do with the honey and so of course mead came to mind!
I will order the Schramm book and get started… I hope I don’t pester you with too many questions…
A visit sometime would be great.
Tom

By: Erroll

Erroll — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 02:56:31 +0000

Hello Scott,

The result might be more applicable to strong honeys. If I ever repeat the experiment I’ll probably use a milder honey to find out.

I think a boil/no boil blend would be promising, so you’re definitely on to something. The trouble with doing it by priming a boiled sparkling mead with unboiled honey is that most of the honey in the final mead would be boiled. What if the ideal blend is closer 50/50? I think a good starting point would be 25/75, 50/50, and 75/25 blends.

Erroll

By: ScottP

ScottP — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:54:24 +0000

Nice post! Questions:

1) Some prefered the “milder” taste of the boiled honey mead…
… how much of this might be due to using heather honey?
I understand heather honey is quite strong…

2) I assume this is still mead, not sparkling?
If it was sparkling, that would be interesting in that another experiment would be priming the boiled mead with unboiled honey… to see if that restores aroma onto the “mild” mead (best of both worlds?).

-Scott

By: Erroll

Erroll — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:45:35 +0000

Hello CJ,

New mead makers often apply what they know of home brewing or winemaking to mead. This perfectly sensible approach has led to a split that you can see in published recipes. Sometimes you can tell, just by looking at the ingredients, whether the author was a wine maker or a home brewer. I’ve written more about making wine-like meads and beer-like meads here.

Nobody should be afraid to make mead. Make it in a way that’s familiar. Once you’re comfortable, though, think about spreading your wings. You might be pleasantly surprised by a new style.

Thanks so much for the alt-167 tip. I’ve been wondering how to do that!

Erroll

By: CJ

CJ — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:52:24 +0000

I have brewed beer for a long time, always wanted to brew a batch of mead but it’s scary thinking about mixing all that fermentable stuff without boiling! Thanks for the research.
FYI: if you want to include the degree mark (as in 315ÂºF) just hold the “alt” key while you type “167″ on the number pad (it doesn’t work on the row of numbers above the letter keys???). When you release the “alt” key the degree mark will appear…CJ.

By: Erroll

Erroll — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:13:52 +0000

Hello Chuck,

I had to go to Wikipedia to learn what the Maillard reaction is and what melanoidins are – how did we manage before Wikipedia and Google? At first blush it doesn’t seem that a boiling honey-water mixture would promote a Maillard reaction, which does better in high (over 315F – 155C) temperature, low moisture, and an alkaline environment. Still this reaction can occur in the human body, so maybe in the boiling honey-water too.

Erroll

By: Chuck Warpehoski

Chuck Warpehoski — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:08:16 +0000

Hmm, I’m wondering if Maillard reactions and melanoidan production might be part of the increased body for the boiled mead.

By: John

John — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 12:43:20 +0000

Thank you, Erroll. I have already purchased 10 lbs of costco clover honey, so I will tell you how my first batch of mead comes out!

- John

By: Erroll

Erroll — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:57:16 +0000

Hello Medsen,

Sorry for the delay. I went back to my notes and started describing the recipe right away. Then I added some detail that I thought might help. Then I began thinking about the how this or that detail might have affected the results. I started writing about that. It was getting to look more like a post than a comment, and that probably will be my next post. I’ll do now what I should have done right away, which is briefly describe the recipe:

2 kg (4.4 lb) heather honey from Apicoltura Dr. Precia
1.25 gallon water
0.5 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1 tsp Cream of Tartar
Premier Cuvee yeast
1.5 tsp tartaric acid in two additions, post fermentation

They were prepared much the same way, except that one got a 10 minute boil. In the other, I dissolved the honey in hot water.

OG (boiled): 1.105, OG (no-boil): 1.097
FG (boiled): 1.000, FG (no-boil): 1.000

Erroll