My mead won a gold medal!!!

[Superfly]

Hey everybody....check it out. I submitted my buckwheat mead to the Amateur Winemaker Competition hosted by Winemaker Magazine and it won a gold medal. You have to scroll down, but it's there in the Traditional Mead section.

This is awesome! I am going to use these results to market my mead when I go commercial later this year.

Brian

[GOPisEvil]

1. The link, man, the link!

In all your excitement I think you forgot it!

Congratulations, though! That's pretty damned cool.

[Superfly]

2. I'm so excited I forgot the link!

Link

[wryter2000]

3. Good for you

E-mail me some, OK?

:yourock:

[trof]

4. Ah, we'll meet in the guild hall

for a tankard of mead.
:toast:
Congrats.

[Superfly]

5. Thank you, everybody....the thing that sucks, tho

is that I had to submit my last 2 bottles of the stuff, so I can't even celebrate with it!

Oh, well, I guess I'll have to pick another mead to toast with.

Brian

[slackmaster]

6. Way to go!

I've always found mead-making to be worth every minute of the time to create and mature the stuff. It's much easier to make a decent mead than a decent beer in small quantities.

Congratulations and have one for me!

:toast:

[TXlib]

7. Congrats!

I make mead, too.

Right now I've got 2 batches going: one is a 6-gallon buckwheat mead (OG: 1.098), and the other is a 5-gallon white clover mead (OG: 1.098). Both are fermenting with Red Star Cotes des Blancs yeast, and are down to a gravity of 1.016; I'll rack them in another month. I expect them both to finish slightly off-dry

I just got The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm; I'd recommend it. He recommends not adding acids to the mead until fermentation is over (apparently, low pH inhibits the yeast; he recommends even using calcium carbonate to keep the pH over 3.7). I've always added my acid blend at the start, and found the fermentations to go slowly.

I'm about to make two more batches, per his suggestions: a 5-gallon batch of tupelo mead and a 5-gallon batch of orange blossom mead. I intend to start both at about 1.110 OG so they finish between semi-sweet and sweet. I'll be using Lalvin ICV D-47 yeast for both; I'm making the starter for them now.

What was your recipe for your buckwheat mead? How long in the carboy? How long in the bottle before submitting?

[Superfly]

9. I'm going to have to pick up that book.

My mead was 100% buckwheat to an OG of 1.110 and I used Lalvin EC-1118 yeast. I used acid blend at the beginning, as well as a healthy dose of yeast nutrients. I did not notice slow fermentation, but that's probably because I pitch a 1-liter starter (for a 6 gallon batch) and I aerate for about 1 hour with a stone and aquarium pump. ABV was around 15% and it finished sweet.

I fine with bentonite and sparkalloid at 6 weeks and then rack into another carboy. After 2 months, I fine again, this time only with sparkalloid, and then rack to a 5 gallon carboy. About 2 weeks before bottling, I fine once more with sparkalloid, because it forms a very compact lees.

I was waiting on the results of this competition to see if I should go commercial or not. I guess this settles it, as I will probably throw my first "large scale" mead together later this year.

So, if you start seeing my meads on the market in the next 3 years or so, pick up a bottle or twelve.

Brian

[Superfly]

10. Oh, yeah...I aged in the bottle for about 6 months

some bottles were opened within 1 or 2 days of bottling (it was ready to drink at bottling, which you know is an anomoly for meads which usually come out like rocket fuel at first)

[TXlib]

22. my process

I make a 2-stage starter, and when it has slowed and the yeast has mostly compacted, I pour the clear liquid off and pitch the yeast slurry into my primary fermenter; I make the must in advance and sulphite it, and add various yeast nutrients. I oxygenate with a stone and pure O2 for about a minute. In the past, I have added my acid blend when I made the must, but I will try it without the acid in my next batch, per Ken Schramm's suggestion, and I will monitor the pH, something I did not do before. My last batch had a pH of 2.7, which could be part of why it took so long to complete; Schramm also claims that the low pH stresses the yeast, causing them to put out undesirable fermentation byproducts.

So, I will add the acid when I rack to the secondary; I'll also add some ascorbic acid this time to protect against oxidation, or maybe I'll splurge and buy a CO2 cylinder, and lay down a CO2 blanket in the secondary fermenter before racking.

I prefer to use low-foaming, slow yeasts (like cotes des blancs), because they blow off less of the volatiles that make up the honey flavors.

I've never used fining agents in my mead; I usually bulk-condition in the carboy for over a year before bottling. The mead is crystal-clear by this time. I've only used light honeys before, and I am considering using bentonite in the buckwheat mead (the clover is clearing very nicely on its own). Do you know if there is any undesirable effect from fining? Can it remove desirable things from the mead?

How much do you expect it to cost to go commercial, and what kind of volume are you looking to produce?

Also, regarding must sanitation: do you heat-pasteurise, or sulphite, or go all-natural?

[Superfly]

24. Answers

Fining...I have heard that excessive bentonite fining can strip aromas if used too often. so, I use a mixture of 2 Tbsp betnonite and 2 Tbsp Sparkalloid in the first fining. After 2 weeks, the lees are very compact, and anything that I rack into the secondary will probably compact to the bottom immediately. The other 2 finings are probably overkill, but without a filter I want to make sure that I am getting the clearest possible mead.

It's going to cost an arm and a leg to get started. I've been researching the *many* ATF requirments and the initial capital outlay for grounds and equipment. I am going to try to finance through the SBAm and am figuring my initial start up costs will run between $30-40000.

Initially, I am going to keep it small, at around 10 bbl per product. I would like to get 2 products out there, with this buckwheat being my flagship mead. So, my total output for the first year will be about 40 bbl (2 products produced every six months)

As for sanitizing the must, I just conducted an experiment with a traditional still mead. I carefully sanitized and went au-naturel. I used a quick fermenting yeast (EC-1118) to boost the alcohol content very quickly to inhibit bacterial growth.

OG was 1.135 2 months ago and it is now around 1.005, which is a little dry for my tastes. It's a bit hot with the alcohol content being aroun 17%, but it should mellow out over the next few months.

Brian

[Fovea]

8. Hwas thu Hal1!

Great job!

I used to make mead frequently, but as a diabetic, alas, I cannot have it very often nowadays.

[Padraig18]

11. Congrats!

I'd love to hopist a pint of it with ya! :toast:

[leftofthedial]

12. Cool!

What is mead?

[Superfly]

13. The drink of gods

honey-wine.

[leftofthedial]

14. but I'm an atheist!

:-(

[Superfly]

16. They were nordic gods, anyways, like Thor

and Odin.

[leftofthedial]

21. congratulations on your medal

that is outstanding!

[bif]

15. Tres cool!

Congrats!

[BrotherBuzz]

17. Congrats

I've never had much success with mead...I attended seminars...tried different yeasts and honeys with little success. I was a beekeeper years ago so I had lots of different honeys to choose from and find it interesting that a good tasting honey doesn't necessarily make a good mead (buckwheat honey is lousy tasting honey in my opinion). Marrying my winemaking background with mead, I have made fantastic pyments, one won hororable mention in the California State fair...but alas, I always made crappy tasting mead. Good for you!

What yeast? Specific gravity? Sweet or dry? Hints?

[Superfly]

19. Buckwheat is a great mead-maker

it ferments to a nice amber color and it's malty flavor sits well on the palate.

I have a pyment about to go in the bottle that I wasn't too happy with at first. So, I left it in the fermenter and recent tastings have been uncovering an improving product.

For most of my meads I start out on the high side around 1.110 or so, and use a yeast that craps out around 15%. That way, it finishes sweet, has a kick, and does not need to be screwed with before bottling.

Hints? Use a quickly fermenting yeast and do not use sulfites. Honey is a natural antiseptic in its natural state. If you are careful with sanitation and use a quick fermenting yeast, the alcohol content will quickly rise, inhibiting the growth of bacteria.

Brian

[BrotherBuzz]

25. Thanks for the insight

I've always gone with lower SG numbers (1090 - target 12% alcohol or lower), the resulting dry meads probably explain why it tastes so crappy.

You got me thinking about pyment again...Cherries! I just may make a batch of cherry pyment when the cherries arrive...Very Cherry! Heck, I should follow it with my (almost) famous Cabernet Sauvignon Pyment in the fall. Mmmmm. Oh, but to be hypnotized by a gas trap as our yeast buddy eats sugar, belches Co2, and pisses alcohol...ain't nature grand...

Hey, I just uncorked a 1993 mead (Pasteur Champagne yeast) and it isn't nearly as bad as I remember it. It has a very slight sherry overtone. Now I'm drinking sherry for comparison, and may be getting whacked, but the mead has a very light nutty mellow flavor and tastes better then the dry sherry. I can actually taste parts of the honey again. Interesting. I may have to pull the rest of the mead out of the cellar for additional testing...because this mead is starting to taste alright.

Again, Congratulations on your award and thanks for mentioning mead!

[TXlib]

23. Get Ken Schramm's book

What was your process for making mead?

[jimbo fett]

18. I can't offer congrats until I get a free sample... (hint, hint)

[Superfly]

20. Sorry, fresh out.

I'm taking orders right now...just be sure to send the money first.

[Hogarth]

26. I had my first taste of mead in Wales

Good stuff! I wonder why it's not marketed here.

[grannylib]

27. Well done, Superfly, Congratulations! eom

[jpgray]

28. What's the process?

I've made various fruit wines before and have friends who brew beer--what's involved in brewing mead?

edit: Oh yeah, congratulations! :D
edit2: Feel free to keep it simple.
edit3: Ok, nevermind, you posted it above. :crazy: