It Ain’t Over ‘til it’s Over - Homebrewers Association
Transcript of It Ain’t Over ‘til it’s Over - Homebrewers Association
Gordon Strong Curt Stock 2002 Mazer Cup winner 2005 Meadmaker of the Year
5 NHC mead medals 7 NHC mead medals
BJCP Mead Judge BJCP Mead Judge
It Ain’t Over ‘til it’s Over Mead Finishing Techniques
Mead is Easy – Except When it Isn’t Making Mead is a Simple Process
Mead isn’t as Predicable as Beer
Significant Money and Time Investment
Recognizing Great Mead
What Can You Do if Your Mead Needs Help?
When are you Done?
Modern Mead Making Sufficient Honey, Fruit, Fermentables
Quality In, Quality Out
No Boil
Staggered Nutrient Additions
Yeast Preparation
Fruit in Primary
Fermentation Management
See BJCP Mead Exam Study Guide for details
Evaluating Your Mead Give it Time before Tasting Basic Triage
Good to Go – Package, Consume Dump – Don’t Waste Your Time Tweak – Here is Where We Focus
Look for Clean, Complete Fermentation Absence of Flaws Balance Issues Can Be Fixed
“Balance” doesn’t mean all components equal Everything in the right amount FOR THE STYLE Pleasant, Harmonious, Enjoyable
Elements of Balance Sweetness, Honey Flavor, Fruit Flavor
Acidity, Tannin, Alcohol
Sweetness:Acid is Most Important
Not Just Proportion, but Intensity
Acid and Tannin Work Together (Structure)
Tannin Adds Dryness and Body
Honey vs. Added Flavor Ingredients
Mouthfeel (Body, Carbonation)
Common Balance Problems Too Dry – Over-attenuated, Not Enough Honey
Too Sweet – Stuck, Stalled Fermentation?
Flabby – Acid not High Enough for Sweetness
Balance Off – Too Much or Not Enough Flavor
Doesn’t Taste Good – Ingredient Quality?
Too Boozy – Could be Young
Corrective Techniques Add, Subtract, Modify, Dilute, Intensify
Be Wary of Side Effects
Back-sweetening with Honey or Fruit
Adding or Neutralizing Acid
Adding Tannin
Oaking, Peppers, Vanilla, Spices, other ingredients
Carbonating
Blending, Repurposing
Back-Sweetening Problem: Mead Too Dry
Solution: Add Sweetness
Honey (raw, solution)
Sugar (why?)
Add Sweet Mead, perhaps Stuck
Add Fruit (if melomel)
Caution: can add acid and tannin too
Acidity May Need Adjusting Afterwards
Example: Blueberry Melomel 3.5 gallon batch, 12 lbs wildflower honey, 12 lbs fresh picked frozen
blueberries, 10 grams Narbonne yeast
OG 1.133 FG 1.003
Dry, tannin/acid astringency
Boozy and very warming
Missing fruit character
Fix: back-sweeten
The Process Use good tasting high quality honey, hydrometer, stir
plate (optional)
Dissolve honey in 250 mls of undiluted mead to
achieve a specific gravity higher than you desire
Make a series of samples back-sweetened to varying
levels (1.050, 1.040, 1.030, 1.020, 1.010)
It’s time to taste and decide what level of sweetness
you want
Enlist the help of trusted tasters to get the best results
possible
Start with the drier samples, proceed to the sweeter
and work your back down again. Yes, your palate will
be crushed when you’re done but this is important
work.
Discuss everyone's favorite and take tasting notes
This mead needed enough sweetness to balance the
tannin and acid, help reduce the booziness and bring
out the fruit flavor.
It was decided to sweeten this mead to 1.037
One pound of honey will raise the gravity of one gallon
approximately 35 to 38 points. Knowing your actual
volume is critical to hitting the proper sweetness level
For this mead we used 2.5 lbs of honey slightly diluted
with 10 ounces of hot water to help with even
dispersion in the mead
Add the honey to the batch and stir
Best to do this in a keg to avoid O2 pickup
The final gravity of this mead is 1.038.
Drawbacks to back-sweetening:
Initially a raw honey flavor, this will become more
integrated with age
Easy to over sweeten, you can’t get the sweet back out
Easy to over sample, but it’s fun!
Adjusting Acid Balance Problem: Mead Fermented Well but Flabby
Mead too Acidic
Solution: Add/Neutralize Acid
(+) Phosphoric acid, lactic acid, citric acid, malic acid, tartaric acid,
acid blend
(+) Add fruit with acidity
(-) KOH, K2CO3, Ca(OH)2, CaCO3, NaHCO3
Can also (-) back-sweeten or (+) blend with a dry mead
(+) Adding tannins can also balance sweetness
Adding Tannin Problem: Mead Too Sweet
Solution: Add Tannin
Grape tannin
Tea
Oak/wood age (can also add flavor)
Fruit with tannin (if melomel)
Raw spices, hops, other more obscure ingredients
If Tannin Too High, Add Sweetness
Adding Other Ingredients Problem: Mead Too Sweet or Lacks Flavor
Solution: Add Other Ingredients
Oak (adds tannin, balances sweet)
Hot peppers (adds heat, balances sweet)
“Warm” spices (cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, cardamom, black
pepper, nutmeg, coriander, cumin) – adds heat and can add tannin
Round/mellow with vanilla
Accent with mint or other aromatic ingredients
Carbonation Problem: Mead Too Sweet or Too Full-Bodied
Solution: Increase Carbonation
Natural or direct with CO2
“Scrubbing bubbles” Offsets Sweetness
Can Add Carbonic Acid
Lightens Body and Finish
Can Be a Very Quick and Easy Solution if you Bulk-Condition or Keg
Blending Problem: Mead Not Right
Solution: Blend with Another Mead
Must have other meads available
Cider (cyser), Wine (pyment), Beer (braggot)
Choose mead to offset problems noted
Can also use to “freshen” an old mead, add complexity
Can’t Fix Bad Meads – GIGO
Trial-and-Error, but That’s Part of the Fun
Example: Cyser 5 gal batch: 3 gal cider, 1 gal water, 1 gal Tupelo honey, 71B yeast, 2010
vintage, bulk-aged.
Balanced acidity, but aged character. FG 1.023 (medium).
Unusual woody character in aroma. Apple, honey a bit subtle.
Solution: Back-sweeten with juice and honey. Raise to sweet. Add
cinnamon character to enhance spiciness and give interest (sweet-hot),
carbonate to increase acidity slightly.
Example: Cyser Transformed mead in 5 steps after racking brilliant mead to keg
Added one can of apple juice concentrate (pure) [1.027, better sweetness]
Added splash of cinnamon oil [red hot candy, very pleasant]
Added some sweet Tupelo honey-water mixture (clarified) [1.029, very good]
Added a splash of vanilla extract and a touch more cinnamon [rounded]
Carbonated to balance added sweetness and body [dangerously drinkable,
bold cinnamon, much more distinctive apple and honey character]
Repurposed to Open Category Mead (Cyser with Cinnamon)
Questions?