Study: GMO insecticide responsible for killing off bees, contaminating food chain

Click links below for more info: http://www.naturalnews.com/035511_insecticide_bees_collapse.html

 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3250423/?tool=pubmed

Mead and appropriate fermentation temperatures.

 © 2012 Douglas Remington

I thought I would post a quick rundown of the proper temperature protocol for the fermentation of Mead since I have gotten several emails about this lately. Note this is an advanced/professional method of Mead fermentation and will require the resources for temperature control.

Mead should be fermented and made exactly like white wine (not beer!) varieties such as Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, etc. The correct temperature depends on the honey type and the yeast used. This of course takes much experience (citrus blossom honeys can benefit from a bit more heat and the use of a Sauvignon Blanc yeast for example), but in general we are looking at: 10-18 Celsius or 50-62 Fahrenheit. I shoot for around 12-14c to start my fermentation off. These numbers are lower than most commercial Meaderies (but similar for white grape wine producers), but in my opinion it is simply because they either do not know better or they are trying to get their product out faster: time = money, warmer = faster.

The reason white wine and Mead should be fermented relatively cool is to make it more focused. Warmer temperatures such as 20-25c makes a Mead more fruity, confusing to the palate, and damages the varietal character of the honey. Honey is a product from flowers so we try to retain as much of that floral character as possible. Now when I talk about these temperatures I am talking about the initial fermentation, not the final fermentation temperature. It is most important to keep the fermentation at these cool temperatures for the first 72 hours. That is when the majority of off-flavors are developed if fermented warm. After 72 hours I raise my temp to 15c where it remains there until fermentation is nearly complete and then raise up to 18-20c until fermentation is finished. The 18-20c step permits the yeast to reabsorb any off flavors and finalizes attenuation. From there the Mead is racked off and cold conditioned for a short time at -2c, and then racked off one more time and kept at 10c until filtering and bottling.

On the home scale this can be accomplished by getting a large chest freezer and a dual temperature controller (such as a Ranco that mainbrew.com sells) and some of heating element or ferm-wrap. What I do at home is I have a thermo-well in my fermenter(s), and I have a ferm-wrap attached to the fermenter. When the fermenter warms over the target temperature the controller kicks on the freezer until the desired temperature is reached. If it needs to warm up, the controller kicks on the heating element. You can control your temp within 1 - 2 degrees in this manner and ramp it up to whatever you wish. On the professional scale we do the same thing but with a glycol jacketed fermenter. A glycol chiller pumps cold glycol around the fermenter to control the temperature.

I recommend the following yeast strains for cool Mead fermentations: Lalvin R2, DV10, EC-1118, RHST, Cross Evolution, W15, BA11, Maurivin Elegance, Vitilevure 58W3, QA23, Quartz, CHP.

Prost!

~dr

Dwójniak

Oh my gosh Droogs, I just bottled my, Dwójniak! A Dwójniak is the Polish name Mead that is made with equal parts honey and water. This particular one was just a 10 gallon batch. I aged it for 4 years before bottling. In this 10 gallon batch I used 81 pounds of honey which consisted of 40#'s of Fireweed honey. 40#'s of Orange blossom honey, and 1# of buckwheat honey. It is 21% ABV and is simply divine! To put into perspective. Most traditional Meads use between 2.5 - 3 pounds honey per gallon. This baby got 8.1 pounds per gallon!

Tasting notes include: Honey, honey dew, apricot, pear, apple, melon, rose petals, sherry, orange and fireweed blossom, beeswax, vanilla, cinnamon and spice, and is somewhat icewine-like.

No, I do not ever enter my Meads in contest on principle, but soon you can try a similar Mead I made for a commercial Meadery. I do consulting, and right now I have taken the reigns as head Mead-Maker at a commercial Meadery (the owner is still very active in the process, I handle the technical stuff, most of recipe development, and the heavy labor). We are making some really good stuff. I will share more about this in the near future.

More later my friends...

~dr

November Mead lecture

I will be speaking at the Oregon state bee keepers convention in Seaside Oregon on, November, 19, 2011. click HERE for more info.

~dr

Mead Lecture.

I will be speaking about Mead at the Tualatin Valley bee keepers association Friday, October 28. This is open to the public. Follow this link for more information.

~dr

Champagne Mead (Méthode Champenoise)

 © 2011 Douglas Remington

Méthode Champenoise is the traditional way in which Champagne grape wine is made in the Champagne region of France. The same processes can be applied with Mead, since traditional Mead is made and reacts much in the same way as white wine production.

After fermentation the wine is bottled with some fresh yeast and a dose of sugar or honey.

Riddling: After a certain amount of aging the lees are consolidated in the neck for later removal, and this is called remuage. The bottles are inverted on special racks known as pupitres at a 45 degree angle with the crown of the bottle pointed downwards. Usually once a day the bottles are turned and shaken sharply and the angle is gradually increased over a period of time until the bottles are vertical and all the lees (sediment) are captured in the neck plug.

Disgorging: Removing the lees is called disgorging. The neck of the bottle is frozen and the cap and frozen plug is quickly removed and a dosage of sugar or honey is added to the bottle and it is quickly corked to ensure the proper carbonation level.

Metodo Italiano (Charmat process)
The Charmat process is known as Metodo Charmat-Martinotti. This method was invented in Italy. The wine undergoes secondary fermentation in stainless steel tanks or steel vessels rather than in the bottles. It is then transferred to bottles for final sale. This is less costly than the Méthode Champenoise process and some feel it does not provide the same quality that the French practice. This is the most realistic way for a home Mead maker to make "Champagne" Mead. The finished product is transferred into a Cornelius keg and then bottled with a counter pressure bottle filler or a beer gun.

Stay tuned for reviews of some of these Méthode Champenoise Meads by Heidrun Meadery in California and Die Hochland Imker in Austria.

~dr

Mead class today!

We have one spot left for today's class (Saturday April 23rd) at 4:30pm. If you would like to take this class please call mainbrew.com at: 503-648-4254, or send email to: info@mainbrew.com

~dr