Ask the Meadmaker EP. 113 – Fylleangst

One of the themes throughout this entire arc of our show has been what it's really like to be a commercial brewer. Today, I'm going to tell you what I am covered with, it being a brew day today. I have on my person, embedded in my clothing, yeast, yeast slurry, those are different things in our case, honey, a different type of honey, cranberry, cider, because I went somewhere after brewing, and beer because I was drinking during brewing. But the one thing you might be wondering about is what about the yeast nutrient? Oh nay, nay. That's in my lungs.

Welcome to Ask the Meadmaker, where I, Ricky the Meadmaker, answer your questions about mead making, mead drinking, mead brewing, and really any question you're willing to send to me. 

Our first question this week comes from Matthew who wants to make a braggot. So, I had this great idea about a year ago, that I would save up all my braggot questions and I would brew a five gallon braggot batch at home, and then I'd be drinking it while I answered all of them, and maybe it would be two episodes back to back. I haven't brewed a homebrew batch in years. So, I don't know why I thought that would be a good idea. Anyway, I'm going to start answering them now. Sorry, it's been so long. Anyway, Matthew has a fabulous question, which is, what is a good base beer for a bracket? He loves Belgian doubles. He thought that would be a great base, except that doubles are traditionally sort of bready and yeasty. He was afraid that since those are off flavors in a mead, it would make a bad mead. 

Thing is, as I've said many times on this show, the only thing that makes an off flavor an off flavor is if you don't want it in your beverage. Forget rules, forget BJCP guidelines. A good beverage is one that you, your friends, and your family enjoy. And if you like doubles, and your friends like doubles, and I love doubles, it's probably my favorite Belgian type of beer. I think a mead version would be incredible. So, make a braggot. Get your honey percentage just a little bit above 50% in the fermentables. I think you'd have a heck of a beverage. 

Everybody knows that I'm a bit of a braggart, but I'm not going to be in this one. Jen said so many nice things about one of my beverages. She loves Fenberry draft and she can't find it in Wilmington. Wilmington, Vermont, or any Wilmington, because she may not know this, and I'm sorry I didn't make it clear. Fenberry Draught was not technically discontinued. Fenberry Draught has become Nordic Farmhouse. The difference is Fenberry Draught is cranberry and honey and a cultivated yeast strain, and Nordic Farmhouse, which we prefer in house, which is why we brew it because you have to brew the things that you love, is cranberry, honey, and wild yeast. So, it's a little funkier. It changes batch to batch. I brewed one this morning as I was referencing earlier, and it is available throughout the state of Vermont and soon in other states. 

Our next question comes from Laughing Dragon Meadery, who wants to know what mead drinking culture is like in Norway. I need to remind people that I lived in Denmark, and while it may seem like everywhere in Europe is some foreign place that speaks a foreign language, asking me about Norway is more or less like asking someone who's visited Ireland for a weekend, what Irish food is like. They may know from a few restaurants, but they're not going to know any more than someone who's googled. 

So, with that said, I can tell you this. Norway is one of the only countries in Europe that has extremely high alcohol tariffs. Beer can be sold in grocery stores, but all other alcohol, including wine, has to be sold at stores that roughly translate to alcohol monopoly stores. Says something. And Norwegian is the only language that I know of that has a word, fylleangst, which means basically, drunk anxiety. It's very different from a hangover. It is the deep fear that comes with being somewhere after having been drunk and not knowing who you were with or what you might have done. It is specific to the Norwegian people because it is only in the Norwegian language. It does not show up in Danish or Swedish or Icelandic, which is related. So, I can't tell you about mead drinking there, specifically, though I have consumed mead in Norway. I can tell you that they are people that have a special word about drunk anxiety.

Let's do another question from laughing Dragon Meadery because, well, that last one was too long. Their question is, when I started a meadery, when I made it my profession, did I have to give up any of my other hobbies? Well, my hobbies were woodworking and drinking in public. So, I built our bar, I built all our tables. Cheers.

Our last question this week comes from Brennon. Brennon brewed Valkyries choice. He wants to make it into Winter Warmer. But unfortunately, it's really close to Christmas and he's not certain he can get it out in time. Super sorry. It's May now. Anyway, he wanted to know what kind of brandy we use in it and if I could give any guidance, and how much time he needs for bulk aging it The answer is we use different brandies every year. But my personal favorite brandy, and there's a super long story about this and why this is really funny, but this episode is long enough. I love E&J VSOP. No judgments. That is what we use in our batch of Winter Warmer. The reason for that is it has a very distinct vanilla flavor that I think works really well with the mead we're making. With all alcohols and liquors in general that you add to your beverage, pick one you like. It's as simple as that. Don't waste a bottle of really expensive scotch in a brew. Pick a beverage that you like an add it to your mead and it will probably enhance it. So, I hope you picked something you liked. I hope it was ready in time for Christmas. 

I'm sorry it takes me so long to get to these, but keep sending them and I will get to them as soon as possible. Cheers.