In which Ricky the Meadmaker answers questions about what to do with the fruit that has been used for a melomel, dealing with overly acidic mead, brewing with tea, whether or not you can distill mead, and more!
Brewers look for inspiration in all sorts of places. We look to food and in some cases, people look to music, historical recipes, archeology, but I am inspired by art. And recently, I received, addressed to me, a fine piece of work. When one receives artwork from a five-year-old, it is difficult at times to really get into the mind of the artist. At first, I didn't know what this was. But luckily, I had a showing of several pieces by this young gentleman by the name of Riordan. When I said, "Hey, buddy, can you tell me your favorite features of this drawing?" He said, I really like how it's a bunch of swirls. So, look for a mead inspired by a bunch of really cool swirls. Coming soon.
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.
We had a lot of questions this week about melomels. Fruit meads. A lot of them were very involved. So, I've printed them out. I'm going to answer them as written. We're going to start with one from Paul. Paul recently made a blueberry melomel. I was wondering if I had any ideas what to do with five pounds of mead-infused blueberries, he has used them in the past, and this is why I printed it out. I think this is very clever. He's used them in the past in an apricot-infused bourbon for a bourbon-infused apricot ale. Yes, it's as good as it sounds. Seems a bit complicated to me, but usually complicated is worth it when it comes to brewing. What do I do with my fruit after infusing it in my meads? He admits that it may be difficult to do on a professional level, to deal with all that fruit. It might get boozy. The answer is, I also own a restaurant. You know what people love? Boozy fruit for dessert.
Let's keep this melomel train rolling. Mac McCarthy has a question for me. I wonder if his name is Mac McCarthy like that's his name or if he's called Mac because his last name is McCarthy. Maybe he just has terrible parents. I know a guy named John Paul Paulson, and another guy called John Paul Johnson. Anyway, he made a mead that was 12%, bottled still, and had 12 ounces per gallon of frozen dark cherries. He really liked the tartness of the cherries with the sweetness of the strong mead, but he wanted to make a sessionable version of it, something low in alcohol, akin to what I make. He wanted it to be below 1.010. Right around 1.010 would still leave you some sweetness. Mine's all the way down below one. Anyway, his concern was not the alcohol. His concern was that it was going to be too acidic if he overdid it on the cherries. The good thing is if you overdo it pH-wise, not tartness coming from the cherries, but actually get it too low, so it's too sour, you can always add something like potassium bicarbonate, and bring that pH back up to balance it out.
Our next question comes from Keith and he wants to know if you can distill mead, the answer is if you live in the United States, not at home, not legally.
Our next question comes from Matt, who tells me he's writing from the English countryside. I guess he wants me to be able to envision the stonewalled cabin whence he writes, perhaps by a beautiful moor, you don't have to imagine where I'm talking to you from. You're looking at me right now. It's here. Anyway, he wants to know about using tea in his mead. And I could write an entire article about using tea in mead. In fact, I have. It's called Tea Time. Go Google it on our website in our blog. It has way more information than I can answer on air. If there's something in there that I don't get to, follow up and send me another question.
Our last question this week comes from Blackfriars Monastery, who I feel terrible for because the email starts out, "I'm new to mead making, with only about a dozen gallon batches to my credit." A, that's plenty of batches and B, "I'm new to mead making?" Your monastery needs more members. Anyway, it seems that one of these batches has developed a pellicle on the surface. It's a very thin, waxy film that seems to have covered the surface of the must which was pitched in a two-and-a-half-gallon plastic pail. None of my other meads have such a film. So, I was wondering if you can tell me what caused it? Can I get rid of it? And what can I do to prevent it in the future?" Should he dump the batch? Is there anything else important that he should know?
And the answer is written by our friend Jean. Jean from Brazil, helping me out in my work, wrote the following. "I'm no expert, but maybe it's a bacterial contamination. The best way to prevent it as the cleaning and sanitization of all your brewing equipment, including especially your fermenter. There's one bacteria called acetobacter that will turn all of your alcohol into acetic acid. It will turn your mead into some kind of honey vinegar."
Jean Abrigado, that is incredible. The only thing I would add is, sanitize your must as well. You can use heat or sulfites, but killing the wild bacteria in there can also prevent a pellicle. However, I have intentionally made sherry in the past, and it has been incredible. Perhaps you have accidentally discovered a mead sherry worth telling the world about? That's our last question this week. I was going to send it to Ricky with the Word of the Week, but he is "Visiting the Grand Tetons," but I saw him earlier today, so I think it's a euphemism. Anyway, he has no word of the week for us, but he'll have one next time. Depend on it.
Keep sending your questions, guys. We'll get to them as soon as possible. Cheers.
