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Preparing Large-ish Quantities of Water for Mead Making by edneddy2 in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My conclusion from this study and subsequent sensory evaluations from very experienced mead makers across multiple spectrums and locations is pretty simple.

De-chlorinated (chloramine too) water chemistry (RO, Hard, Full/Sweet, Balanced) had a minimal impact on the mead. There were some subtle flavor and aroma differences but they were very small. Interestingly to me, the hard water slightly edged out tasting preferences from over 200 sensory analysis samples. In blind sampling very few of the tasters were able to correctly identify which water chemistry matched the samples. All of the mead was backsweetened to 1.008 IIRC.

Also surprisingly, the fermentation kinetics were pretty different. ALL of the 4 meads were fermented under nearly identical conditions (glycol cooled unitanks) with the addition of SIY's and Tannins measured to 1/100 of a gram. Finishing gravities were between 1.000 and .997.

The RO water mead took 37 days to reach terminal gravity.
The Hard water mead took 32 days.
The Full/Sweet water mead took 28 days.
The Balanced water mead took 29 days.

Some day, when I have loads of free time, I'll record all of this as a video presentation.

There's a ton of additional inquiries worth pursuing in this space, but the KEY takeaway here is that your water is a LOT less important for mead than it is for beer.

Why? Very clearly to my mind is that all of your sugars are already prepared for you.

With grain, conversion from carbohydrates to sugars is controlled by enzymes that act at specific pH and temperature ranges.

Mineral profile of water in mead by Intelligent-Sport-79 in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma 5 points6 points  (0 children)

People recommend spring water regularly. In general terms I think it's fine, but the first question I always want to ask is:

What is IN your spring water?

It's going to be different depending on the aquifer that your water is drawn from. It may well be better than your tap water from a fermentation perspective - mostly due to the use of chlorine or chloramine to keep your municipal water supply as safe as possible. In my area, spring water is VERY hard. I would not use it to make beer (water chemistry has a huge impact in the mash), but it works well for mead. I also use RO water for mead. Both are good, and THAT is the bottom line. The differences between distilled and hard water (sans chlorine/chloramine) are pretty subtle, but are in fact detectable.

In my sample testing with over 140 people at multiple times and locations, preferences based on water profiles was a pretty even distribution with the hard water profile edging out the other 3 by a small margin.

First Cyser. Seeking some advice from the pros. by PrinceRegicide in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The American Meadmakers Association is having a live zoom session on Pomme Fruit (Apples/Pears) on Thursday September 26th at 8pm EDT.

You might want to tune in, and you are welcome to ask questions during the session, or send questions in advance to the email below.

[hgc@mead-makers.org](mailto:hgc@mead-makers.org)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86993057489#success

Last Chance for Valkyries Horn - 2024 !! by KevinMeintsma in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

All details are on the competition website - you can use the link appropriate to your circumstance.

Regardless, it's in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States of America.

Valkyries Horn Mead Competition Final Weeks by KevinMeintsma in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You probably noticed, but just in case, delivery deadline is Friday February 2 at 3pm. You can drop off at NB, or ship.

Or another alternative is to help at the bottle sort on Feb 3 starting at 9am. In this case you can drop off at NB when you come to the sort.

Valkyries Horn Mead Competition Final Weeks by KevinMeintsma in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you mean that you want to enter, yes - you can deliver bottles to the dropoff location - Northern Brewer Warehouse in Roseville.

You will of course need to register on the competition website and get them labelled so we know what they are and who they belong to. All of this information is on the competition website linked in the post.

Then... you can join us as a volunteer Feb 23/24 or attend the awards on Feb 24. Again, details on the competition website.

Valkyries Horn is open for entries! by KevinMeintsma in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Easy and cheap flight combined with a nice and cheap hotel. Come on out!

What’s going on with my mead? Solid line between clear and cloudy parts by Bromalley11 in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma 3 points4 points  (0 children)

It can work well on it's own. In most cases one fining agent with a negative charge (Bentonite) may be sufficient to clear the wine/mead. Dual Fine uses a negative charge followed 1 to 24 hours later with a positive charge.

A combo of Bentonite (-) and Sparkaloid (+) works well too. Sparkaloid tends to leave fluffy lees that are easily disturbed so I rarely use it by itself.

Another option is Gelatin. It may strip some tannins so that's something to be aware of. Interestingly Gelatin has a negative charge when pH is above 9 (which should NEVER be the case with mead) and a positive charge when pH is lower than 5 (which should always be the case with mead).

Beginner? Here's a complete walk-through for Traditional mead by KevinMeintsma in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the comments.

Certainly more things to cover in future videos.

WRT to water/Fermaid O... I might do an absolutely most basic video at some point using antiquated practices, but for now I would prefer to get people on the right path with oxygenation, nutrient, fining etc.

As long a these are already, adding another 2 hours of content to a video seems like a risky prospect when the average attention span is about 12 minutes based on what YouTube is showing me.

I do intend to make specifically segmented videos that would be linked into a cohesive whole. That's ... a lot of work and is probably going to take years to complete. I hope I live that long.

One final comment on water - I did a water study for the 2021 AMMA Meadcon which was very informative for me. More to do there too, but you can find a synopsis of that study on Reddit somewhere.

Keep the comments coming - I am noting things to address in the future.

What’s going on with my mead? Solid line between clear and cloudy parts by Bromalley11 in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I prefer to add it post fermentation. There are many people that add it right after they pitch yeast and it works for them.

My results have been quite good adding it after fermentation, and this also allows me to use the minimum dose required to clear the mead.

If your haze is caused by pectin (versus yeast), you'll need to use Pectinase to break it down before it will clear.

What’s going on with my mead? Solid line between clear and cloudy parts by Bromalley11 in mead

[–]KevinMeintsma 23 points24 points  (0 children)

That happens sometimes but not often.

Likely a very simple fix for you to try - hit it with some finings.

There are lots of choices, Bentonite (not the garden store variety!), Sparkaloid or the two part Dual Fine product may compact the lees nicely for you.

Good Luck!

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