Mead Diaries #5 - Aging
Frankenmead, along with my 3 remaining bottles of Baby Brew are back in the house. After reading around on aging meads and the best practices it was brought to my attention that leaving them out in the cold may not be the best approach. In fact, it may be a bad approach (though not the worst).
Basically, the long held ideology in wine making is that 13 Celsius is the ideal temperature to age wine at. The general problem is that mead is not wine. Another problem is that this number doesn't truly appear to be based on scientific evidence. It does however, appear to be not a bad number after all.
The reading I did, did lead me to a page that talked about aging from a more scientific perspective. And the argument there was simple. Aging is a process of chemical reactions. Some potentially good, and some potentially bad. Most chemical reactions are slowed or even halted at low enough temperatures. And there is a good chance that even the chemical reactions I am hoping to have happen will be substantially slowed.
Based on the numbers, aging could be stunted by an order or magnitude or more at the current temperatures outside which hover around the freezing mark. On the other side of the extremes, if there is any bad bacteria or anything which might cause an undesired chemical reaction, if the temperature gets to an ideal range for those reactions, things could easily get bad at a more rapid rate than they get good.
Which basically means that I'm playing the odds. The time tested value of 13 degrees seems to be a trade off of sorts and seems to be (for wines at least) a temperature at which the good reactions happen at a better rate than the bad reactions. So while it may mean more time than may perhaps be explicitly necessary to age it to perfection, it also has very good odds of not going the wrong way on you.
Now, as stated, basically all of the research and all of the time honed methods revolve around grape wine. Grapes and honey are 2 VERY different substances. And on the molecular level, and the rates of reactions we're talking about when we talk about aging, it seems to me that the best temperature could very well be a drastically different temperature than that used for honey wine.
Either way, too cold means guaranteed slower aging. The only mead I have ever aged to "perfection" was the one I was about to dump after 3 years. It aged at room temperature (hidden in the dark in my bedroom on the main floor). And I have to say, while it did take 3 years, it did turn out fabulously. Also, considering just how sweet that mead was and what I've learned since, that 3 years isn't really all that surprising of a number.
Yes, I think could have cut down the 3 year aging with a number of techniques. But, it is in the ball park for the type of mead I made. So, it doesn't appear like room temperature is all that terrible for a mead. That was a VERY ad-hoc mead recipe, cutting many of the same corners I took with Frankenmead. So, if that were a bad temperature, not only would I have expected it to not be good after 3 years. I would have expected it to be worse.
This is far from proof positive of anything. But that is why I'm making these blog entries. I can experiment this way and adjust my thinking as I get new results.
With Frankenmead now bulk aging, I have my second air-lock available again. I'm thinking of trying yet another twist based on things read online. And that twist is adding nutrient and or energizer not just when pitching the yeast, but also at even intervals throughout primary fermentation to ensure the yeast constantly have a good supply of the nutrients they need for a healthy ferment.
Also, my fermentation temperature could probably be increased to make the yeast more active. By wrapping it in something insulating and putting it next to one of the heating vents (or as one person suggested, near the furnace itself) I might be able to achieve a better ferment that way. And, for that, I think my next mead will be another sweet mead. I want to see if I can improve on the 3 years. My plan for that one is also not to rack at all until fermentation is completely done and clear (no secondary ferment).
Basically, the long held ideology in wine making is that 13 Celsius is the ideal temperature to age wine at. The general problem is that mead is not wine. Another problem is that this number doesn't truly appear to be based on scientific evidence. It does however, appear to be not a bad number after all.
The reading I did, did lead me to a page that talked about aging from a more scientific perspective. And the argument there was simple. Aging is a process of chemical reactions. Some potentially good, and some potentially bad. Most chemical reactions are slowed or even halted at low enough temperatures. And there is a good chance that even the chemical reactions I am hoping to have happen will be substantially slowed.
Based on the numbers, aging could be stunted by an order or magnitude or more at the current temperatures outside which hover around the freezing mark. On the other side of the extremes, if there is any bad bacteria or anything which might cause an undesired chemical reaction, if the temperature gets to an ideal range for those reactions, things could easily get bad at a more rapid rate than they get good.
Which basically means that I'm playing the odds. The time tested value of 13 degrees seems to be a trade off of sorts and seems to be (for wines at least) a temperature at which the good reactions happen at a better rate than the bad reactions. So while it may mean more time than may perhaps be explicitly necessary to age it to perfection, it also has very good odds of not going the wrong way on you.
Now, as stated, basically all of the research and all of the time honed methods revolve around grape wine. Grapes and honey are 2 VERY different substances. And on the molecular level, and the rates of reactions we're talking about when we talk about aging, it seems to me that the best temperature could very well be a drastically different temperature than that used for honey wine.
Either way, too cold means guaranteed slower aging. The only mead I have ever aged to "perfection" was the one I was about to dump after 3 years. It aged at room temperature (hidden in the dark in my bedroom on the main floor). And I have to say, while it did take 3 years, it did turn out fabulously. Also, considering just how sweet that mead was and what I've learned since, that 3 years isn't really all that surprising of a number.
Yes, I think could have cut down the 3 year aging with a number of techniques. But, it is in the ball park for the type of mead I made. So, it doesn't appear like room temperature is all that terrible for a mead. That was a VERY ad-hoc mead recipe, cutting many of the same corners I took with Frankenmead. So, if that were a bad temperature, not only would I have expected it to not be good after 3 years. I would have expected it to be worse.
This is far from proof positive of anything. But that is why I'm making these blog entries. I can experiment this way and adjust my thinking as I get new results.
With Frankenmead now bulk aging, I have my second air-lock available again. I'm thinking of trying yet another twist based on things read online. And that twist is adding nutrient and or energizer not just when pitching the yeast, but also at even intervals throughout primary fermentation to ensure the yeast constantly have a good supply of the nutrients they need for a healthy ferment.
Also, my fermentation temperature could probably be increased to make the yeast more active. By wrapping it in something insulating and putting it next to one of the heating vents (or as one person suggested, near the furnace itself) I might be able to achieve a better ferment that way. And, for that, I think my next mead will be another sweet mead. I want to see if I can improve on the 3 years. My plan for that one is also not to rack at all until fermentation is completely done and clear (no secondary ferment).
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