In which Ricky the Meadmaker answers questions about aging mead under pressure, preventing oxidation, wild fermentation, young mead off-flavor, and more!
Before we get started on this episode of Ask the Meadmaker, I know somebody is going to comment on my shirt. Rotary. Yes, I, Ricky the Meadmaker, am a member of Rotary International, and at just over 1000 years old, I am the third oldest member in my club.
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.
The first question this week is from Sven in Iceland, and I am so excited because it is a question about aging that I can actually answer. Sven has what is commonly known as a Keezer, a keg freezer, or a keg fridge, and he wants to know if when he puts his kegs in, can he connect them to CO2 right away, or does he have to wait for some aging reason? And the answer is, you can go ahead and connect it, it makes no difference.
Our next question is also about aging. And this one I can sort of answer. It comes from Paul, and he's worried about oxidation, usually called oxidizing, in his aging process. He puts his mead into a carboy, and he's worried at six months, is it oxidizing? Is it going to spoil his mead? How soon does he need to get it into bottles? Well, the good news is the seal on a carboy is about as good as the seal on a bottle. Don't stress.
Our next question comes from Kurtz Beer, apparently from Instagram. I don't know how you send a message on Instagram. I thought it was all photos. So, maybe he took a photo of a piece of paper on which he had written his question. I don't know. I just get handed a piece of paper, a real solid piece of paper when I have to shoot these episodes. Anyway, Kurtz wants to know: I talked about wild fermentation at Home Brew Con, how easy is that to do at home? The answer is, if you're trying to do a wild-fermented beer, it's real tough. You usually end up with something that tastes like silage, but wild fermented mead? All you have to do is start with raw honey and not sulfite it.
Devo has an easy one. Devo wants to know how long can he let his mead ferment? And the answer is, as long as it takes.
I got another one of those fabulous questions that I want to read to you verbatim. "I started my first mead over a month ago." Congratulations. "First, I made a simple mixture. Then, after about three weeks I added fruit and let it sit." So far, so good. "Now it has been racked and it's sitting in my brew closet. The problem is the taste." This is a rather big problem. "It gets worse on the front end. It sort of tastes like a mixture of beer and wine." Now, it's always possible that Sharon means "beer" here, but I'm going to go forward thinking it tastes "like a bear and wine." That is not bad. Who doesn't like the taste of bear? "However, on the back, it has a weird taste." Makes me wonder about your diet. "The one way I can describe it is chalky. Therefore, as you are an expert," Not true, I just play one on TV. "Can you advise on what I should do? One, toss it. Two, do something different to salvage it."
What you are probably describing is something we like to call young mead off-flavor. We don't know exactly what the compound is, but rather than one, toss it; or two, do something different to try to salvage it, I recommend you simply wait.
That's our last question this week. I just need to send it over to Ricky with our word of the week. Ricky?
Thank you, Ricky. This week's term is isinglass. Isinglass is a specific fining agent, a compound that helps clarify an alcoholic beverage. Isinglass is made from dried fish swim bladders. We do not use it. Not because we have something against dried fish swim bladders, but simply because we don't.
Isinglass. It's our word of the week and the end of our show. Keep sending your questions and I'll get to them as soon as possible. Cheers.
