Double, double, toil and trouble,
By Orlich
Now I know what the three witches were brewing, I myself have finally succumbed to the dark side and, after 40 years of sensible beekeeping; have joined the witches prancing round the bubbling pot. I have become a Mead maker.The actual thought of the pleasure to be gained from sticking the finger in the metaphorical eye of H.M. Customs was just too much of a draw and so I joined the INIB mead-making class with a dozen or so others to learn the mysterical secrets of creating the heady beverage which is said to be the earliest alcoholic drink known. This beautifully innocent drink, so beloved of the berserking Vikings and their cousins the Goths, is probably the true reason for their remarkable success. The samples I tasted in the class were deceptfully potent and as I was not driving, I was pleasantly deceived, again and again, until it was pointed out to me that the amount of knowledge absorbed is inversely proportional to the amount of mead sampled.
It all began when I was inveigled to attend the class organised and run in the Belfast College by our erstwhile chairman Michael Young mbe. After introductions and a wee cup of tea we were introduced to the theory of mead making, what to do and more importantly, what not to do to produce exhibition standard meads. Then we were into the kitchen and let loose. It is not the intention of this little article to delve into the intricacies of mead production. If you are desirous of knowing more about this arcane practice then I suggest you enrol in the next class and in the meantime read a book on the subject so that you are not jumping in totally unprepared, as I did.
For an hour or so we boiled and bubbled, toiled and troubled, generally made a mess and finally just in time for lunch we all completed the production of our assignment, five gallons of mead base, as well as a seething litre of yeast starter. I will not confuse the reader by going into the intricacies we mead makers use to get the base just right as regards specific gravity, but as we went into lunch everything was bubbling along nicely.
After a quick lunch we had a further, more in depth lecture regarding the refining and presentation of mead, as well as a rerun of all the things we had forgotten about during the morning brain storming. All in all a thorough and quite simple, easily understood presentation by our tutor Michael which touched on the flavourings, manipulation and gauging of strength to suit particular markets. All in all a very interesting hour, thank goodness he supplied us all with notes; otherwise most of it would have got lost in the tasting.
Next on the agenda was a description and demonstration of all the various adjuncts to successful mead-making. Air-locks, yeast nutrients, siphons, massive emphasis on cleanliness and sterilisation of equipment; these were all hammered into our thick heads again, until finally even I had to admit that I understood it.
Then – “The Tasting” Michael produced several bottles for our perusal, tasting and comments. This tasting, more that anything else showed how the mead could be enhanced by the inclusion of various fruit, spice and additives to produce more tannin etc., thus making the finished product a much, much more professional product. A few of the sample meads, I confess, were not to my own taste, as I prefer a deep, strong tannin taste in any wine or mead I drink, now I know how to control this to my own preference.
Finally we were all sent off home with our heads reeling and full of ideas on producing the best mead ever tasted; with all sorts of ideas and intentions on producing a spectacular drink to wow the world. It was not until I was halfway home that it dawned on me that this seething cauldron in the boot would not be fit to sample for at least nine months.
It’s a long wait, but what a baby it’s going to be.
31st July 2009.