Processes/Methods - Reasoning

Well, we find ourselves with a new segment now don't we!

In these segments I plan to bring you down my thought process as to why I do things certain ways. Mind you no way is better than any other and usually just settles down to preference, so what I say here should NOT be taken as "THE WORD FROM GOD" Merely taken as my findings in my experience, YMMV (For you not Internet-y types YMMV stands for Your Mileage May Vary).

Choice of pasteurization over boiling, why I do it:

1. No risk of boil over.
Now you ask Phisto, so what? I have boiled many a noodle over and it makes a slight mess. NOT SO with hot honey my friends. In my short career I have already had 3 boil overs and let me tell you...there is only one way to re-create a boil over with out a whole lot of mess. Take a cup of sugar and boil it in a cup of water for 10 minutes. Proceed to pour said mixture all over the counter and stove (don't forget a little on your own hand!). THAT'S what a boil over is like.
***ADVISORY I DO NOT CONDONE THE ABOVE ACTIONS IF YOU PERFORM THEM AND WANT DAMAGES FROM ME YOU WON'T GET ANY...I DON'T PAY FOR IDIOCY***

2. Quicker than boiling. Because boiling causes the "impurities" of the honey to rise to the top in the form of foam you need to boil for 20 mins to an hour to get all the "scum" that forms on the top out. Even though it only takes less than a minute to actually pasteurize the must at boiling temp you still need to take the scum off to prevent off flavors. Pasteurizing doesn't produce this "scum" and leaves a good portion of the "impurities" in, which are actually nutrients and proteins the yeast needs to survive. If you boil you will have to add these nutrients back to your must in the form of chemicals/additives (not a historical nor natural approach...see "About this Blog" for what this is important to me!). Pasteurization only takes 8 minutes once it is up to temp 145F, and it only takes about 20 minutes to get there, total time 28 minutes. Boiling can take upwards of a total time of 2 hours. As an added bonus as well, more nutrient equals faster faster fermentation, which translates to more mead quicker, which leads to more to drink, which leads to...you get the idea.


Darker Honeys:

I use the darker honeys for the following reasons:

1. More nutrients in darker honey than in lighter honeys. This means the yeast have even more to live off of than in normal light honeys and coupled with pasteurization means I usually don't need to add anything other than fruit, spices, etc...natural ingredients.

2. Dark honeys tend to be on the stronger and sweeter side than lighter honeys. Lighter honeys tend to be very mild in flavor and thus require more to get the full honey taste to come out in the mead. They are also very delicate meaning they "burn" when brought to high temps leaving off flavors, notably a "burned" taste. Dark honeys on the other hand are stronger in flavor requiring less to get that flavor to be noticeable in the mead, they are also delicate like light honeys so "burning" is still a concern but not as much.

Hope this helped you understand why I make mead the way I do!

Happy drinking! *cheers*