In which Ricky the Meadmaker answers questions about what to do with a partially-fermented, partially-spilled batch of mead, the smallest batch size good for experimentation, how to make mead with a low carb count, how to know when fermentation has stopped, and more!
An Argument for Homebrewing Big
Hi. In the last week, I've had two people who already own commercial cideries and three people who want to own meaderies write to me and ask for advice. They claim to have seen every episode of this show, which must be a lie because what have I ever said? That implies that it is a good idea to own one of these things?
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 Nick. And he was thinking of making nano- or even pico-batches of mead in mason jars with little bubble locks, so that he can scale them up someday. He wanted to know if that's too small and the answer is probably yes. When you're that small and you're measuring out in milligrams when in the future it'll be in kilograms, it might not work depending on the accuracy of your scale. Basically, the smallest size batch I would recommend for something you want to scale up someday is one gallon, five gallons is ideal.
Our next question comes from Palmer, whose wife is diabetic, and he wants to know about the carb count in mead. I am not a medical doctor, I am merely a doctor of the humors. So, I cannot tell you exactly how many carbs are left in your mead, nor can I say that consuming things with residual sugar are somehow better or worse than consuming things with alcohol for people with type one diabetes. The answer is if you want less sugar, fewer carbohydrates, the drier, the better.
The next question comes from Trevor, who wants to know if these infrequent bubbles coming through his airlock are just natural degassing. He has read on the internet that people sometimes have bubbles, infrequently, coming through their airlock months, even a year, after fermentation is completed. And if the only way you can know is his daily gravity checks. The answer is: you're taking gravity checks every single day, man, why are you asking me? If it has stopped dropping, it is probably done.
Our next question comes from Gabriel who wrote me an epic. It begins with "If you have the time, allow me to spin a tale." Now, I had the time and it was fabulous. And it involves an eldest son coming in and honestly telling his father that an incident had occurred with his fermentation, but you don't have the time, so I'm going to skip to the end. His carboy got knocked over and most of the contents had spilled out onto the floor. He wanted to know, is there anything that I could suggest to help him successfully conclude his batch? And the answer is, man, you were only doing a one-gallon batch and half of it spilled out. It was months ago. I hope you drank it right out of the jug. Next time put your carboy somewhere safe.
Our last question this week is also a reader but quite the opposite of the previous one in so much as it is not an epic but nearly a haiku. It comes from Dick the Butcher [a meadmaker]. And it is, "I have a lot of very dark liquid honey. 30 years old. The mead is fruity and sweet. Any suggestions would be appreciated." So, no questions here. And I don't know what is 30 years old. There's no reference to mead to previously in the comments. So, my suggestions would be those akin to the ones I've given in the past. Drink less before commenting on YouTube.
Anyway, that was our last question this week. Keep sending them, and I'll get them as soon as possible. Cheers.
