Well, it took me almost 2 months, but I finally started my scaled experiment!! I started it just a few days ago (I didn't want to post about it right away because I wanted to make sure all 4 got off the ground and started strong before posting about it).
As I suggested back on January 10th and 27th, I'm doing 4 half-gallon volumetrically scaled batches:
- Regular: One half-gallon of regular Mead which uses the same basic recipe as the other batches, minus the addition of the tea (as a control)
- Steeped before Primary: One half-gallon in which the must was made by steeping the tea in hot water and using that hot tea to then help dissolve the honey and create the must (and then removing the solid chunks before fermenting)
- Loose in Primary: One half-gallon in which the dry tea pieces are added to primary and left in primary the whole time (but removed when transferring to secondary)
- Loose in Secondary: One half-gallon in which the dry tea pieces are added to secondary and left in there until bottling (which means it will essentially be identical to the control during Primary with the experimental treatment applied to it only once we get to Secondary)
Notes about the above summary of batches:
- Of course, there are other potential conditions/experimental treatments I could have tried. For example, I could have done a combination of Batch 2 and 3 by having one in which the must was made with steeped tea AND the solid chunks were left in during Primary OR I could have done one in which the solid tea was in Primary, but only for the first half or second half of Primary OR I could have done one in which the solid tea was put in during Primary AND Secondary OR... the point is, you can think of a thousand ways I could do this. However, these 3 experimental batches (plus 1 control) will give me a good sense of how best to use Dehydrated Fruit and/or Dry Herb tea in fermenting meads in the future and the result of these 3 batches will inform me in regards to more specific techniques (like the ones I just mentioned) that I may want to try in the future.
- I mentioned the batches are "volumetrically scaled" down. They are 1/2-scale batches of a basic mead recipe I've used before (3lbs of Unfiltered Clover Honey per gallon, fermented with D47... that's it; like I said, a basic mead).
- All 4 batches will undergo Primary (and probably Secondary as well) in the same room so as to subject them to the same environment to account for any temperature changes. The room they will be in is a ground floor room (normally I brew in my basement, but it's too cold right now) that varies in temperature due to how and when the sun hits the room through its windows, but normally ranges from 67-73 °F on a normal day with the average being around 69-70 °F throughout most of the day.
Since I am "The Experimenter", here is my experimental design (
I'm just messing around, I know this isn't a true scientific experiment and I do not think so highly of myself so as to actually act like I'm some great scientist on the verge of discovery... but even as an adult, I still enjoy "playing Scientist" from time to time):
Experimental Question: What is the best method for using Dehydrated Fruit / Dried Herb Tea in mead making so as to effectively infuse the flavor into the final product such that the final product has a noticeably different flavor than normal mead, yet is still pleasant and pleasurable to drink?
Hypothesis: I think that the mead in which the must was made with tea steeped before hand will be the best result. (
I actually have no particular rationale for that, it's just the baseless prediction I'm gonna make)
Recipes:
CONTROL
- Control: On 2/27 started a half-gallon of mead with 1.5lbs of Aunt Sue’s Unfiltered Clover Honey and enough water to get it up to 60oz (the bottles I am using are half-gallon juice jugs in which the 64oz mark is right up to the rim, so I only filled to 60oz so as to leave headspace). I shook it a lot too aerate it and to mix the honey in (warm/mildly hot water was used to help dissolve the honey quicker and more efficiently).
- Added 1/4 packet (about 1.25g) of D47. Because two of the other ones have tea in them, I added 1/8 teaspoon of LD Carlson Yeast Energizer (diammonium phosphate mixed with yeast Springcell and Magnesium Sulphate) to this bottle, which is half the recommended amount for this volume, to hopefully account for any small amount of natural nutrients provided by the tea in the ones that contain tea.
- OG = 1.115 (it was rather foamy and hardy to read, but it was around 1.112 to 1.118)
- Notes and Observations from the first 48 hours:
- At 12 hours it was already bubbling, but at an inconsistent rate, sometimes bubbling once every 4-5 seconds and sometimes bubbling three times per second. Timing it with a stopwatch, I was able to calculate that on average it was bubbling about once every 2 seconds.
- On Day 2 (3/1), at around 36 hours in, I removed the airlock (forgot to time the rate of bubbling), capped it, and gently shook it to agitate the mixture, aerate a little bit more, and make sure everything was thoroughly mixed in and dissolved. Aside from wanting to make sure everything was thoroughly mixed in, I didn't really have any reason for shaking it at this time... I kinda just wanted to see what would happen. Both this one and the one that will eventually have Loose Tea in Secondary (both at this point are just regular mead + half the amount of yeast energizer recommended for this volume) immediately ballooned up, meaning the plastic containers they were in became so pressurized they couldn’t even be squeezed anymore. Upon uncapping, it almost foamed over and the pressure had to be slowly released. Something is causing a lot of gas in these two compared to the two with tea in them (that, or the tea in the other two is inhibiting fermentation/gas compared to these two... possibly the tea is making the must more acidic than I predicted). The airlock was refilled and re-fitted.
- At around 48 hours in it is bubbling once every 3.5 seconds.
EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS
- Tea Stepped before Primary: On 2/27 started a half-gallon of mead with 1.5lbs of Aunt Sue’s Unfiltered Clover Honey and enough water to get it up to 60oz (the bottles I am using are half-gallon juice jugs in which the 64oz mark is right up to the rim, so I only filled to 60oz so as to leave headspace). I shook it a lot too aerate it and to mix the honey in (warm/mildly hot water was used to help dissolve the honey quicker and more efficiently).
- This one also had 2 tablespoons of brewed Tealyra Strawberry Orange Sunrise tea in it (tea was ground up so there were no big chunks and therefore the measuring of the 2 teaspoons was more accurate; tea was brewed/steeped in 12oz of hot, but not boiling, water before being put into the must and all solid pieces were strained out and no loose tea was put in).
- Added 1/4 packet (about 1.25g) of D47. No nutrients or anything were added, and the brewed/steeped tea might actually give some natural nutrients on its own (not sure though).
- OG = 1.115 (unlike the other ones, this one didn't foam much and was easy to read. It landed squarely between the 1.114 and 1.116 marks on my hydrometer)
- Notes and Observations from the first 48 hours:
- At 12 hours it is already bubbling, but unlike the others it is bubbling at a consistent rate of about once every 2 seconds.
- At around 36 hours in, I removed the airlock (forgot to time the rate of bubbling), capped it, and gently shook it to agitate the mixture, aerate a little bit more, and make sure everything was thoroughly mixed in and dissolved. Aside from wanting to make sure everything was thoroughly mixed in, I didn't really have any reason for shaking it at this time... I kinda just wanted to see what would happen. The honey all seemed to be dissolved and there was only a little bit of sediment on the bottom before I shook it (possibly small solid particulates from the tea that I failed to strain out when adding the tea to the must, or possibly some very early lees). After opening it, it hissed and foamed up about 2 or 3 inches, but did not foam over out of the bottle. It foamed slightly more than the one with Loose Tea in Primary had but much less than the other two without any tea (which would have foamed over out of the bottles if I hadn't slowly opened them)... perhaps the tea is making the must more acidic and more hostile to the yeast than I expected. The airlock was refilled and re-fitted.
- At around 48 hours in it is bubbling once every 3 seconds.
- Loose Tea in Primary: On 2/27 started a half-gallon of mead with 1.5lbs of Aunt Sue’s Unfiltered Clover Honey and enough water to get it up to 60oz (the bottles I am using are half-gallon juice jugs in which the 64oz mark is right up to the rim, so I only filled to 60oz so as to leave headspace). I shook it a lot too aerate it and to mix the honey in (warm/mildly hot water was used to help dissolve the honey quicker and more efficiently).
- This one also had 2 tablespoons of loose ground up Tealyra Strawberry Orange Sunrise tea in it (tea was ground up so there were no big chunks and therefore the measuring of the 2 teaspoons was more accurate; tea was added loose as opposed to being brewed/steeped before being put in). Some parts of the tea immediately floated and others immediately sank. It was hard to tell which parts did which, but I’m guessing many of the chunks of freeze dried apples and strawberries sank while the lighter things (like the strands of lemongrass and dehydrated orange) probably floated.
- Added 1/4 packet (about 1.25g) of D47. No nutrients or anything were added, and the loose tea might actually give some natural nutrients on its own.
- OG = 1.115 (it was rather foamy and hardy to read, but it was around 1.112 to 1.118)
- Notes and Observations from the first 48 hours:
- At 12 hours it is already bubbling, but at an inconsistent rate, sometimes bubbling once every 4-5 seconds and sometimes bubbling three times per second. Timing it with a stopwatch, I was able to calculate that on average it was bubbling about once every 2 seconds.
- At around 36 hours in, I removed the airlock (forgot to time the rate of bubbling), capped it, and gently shook it to agitate the mixture, aerate a little bit more, and make sure everything was thoroughly mixed in and dissolved. Aside from wanting to make sure everything was thoroughly mixed in, I didn't really have any reason for shaking it at this time... I kinda just wanted to see what would happen. The honey all seemed to be dissolved and there was only a little bit of sediment on the bottom before I shook it (mostly large particulates from the solid tea and possibly some very early lees). After opening it, it hissed and foamed up a very small amount (maybe half an inch), but did not foam over. It foamed slightly less than the one with tea steeped before primary and significantly less than the two others that don’t have any tea... perhaps the tea is making the must more acidic and more hostile to the yeast than I expected and thus less gassy... Idk, just a theory. The airlock was refilled and re-fitted.
- At around 48 hours in, it was bubbling once every 3.86 seconds (average calculated by timing multiple bubbles with a stopwatch).
- Loose Tea in Secondary: On 2/27 started a half-gallon of mead with 1.5lbs of Aunt Sue’s Unfiltered Clover Honey and enough water to get it up to 60oz (the bottles I am using are half-gallon juice jugs in which the 64oz mark is right up to the rim, so I only filled to 60oz so as to leave headspace). I shook it a lot too aerate it and to mix the honey in (warm/mildly hot water was used to help dissolve the honey quicker and more efficiently).
- Added 1/4 packet (about 1.25g) of D47. Because two of the other ones have tea in them, I added 1/8 teaspoon of LD Carlson Yeast Energizer (diammonium phosphate mixed with yeast Springcell and Magnesium Sulphate) to this bottle, which is half the recommended amount for this volume, to hopefully account for any small amount of natural nutrients provided by the tea in the ones that contain tea... this one will eventually have tea in it (the same Strawberry Orange Sunrise tea from Tealyra), but only in secondary after most (or possibly all), of fermentation is complete.
- OG = ~1.115 (it was rather foamy and hardy to read, but it was around 1.112 to 1.118)
- Notes and Observations from the first 48 hours:
- At 12 hours it is already bubbling, though very slowly compared to the others at a rate of about 5 seconds per bubble. This might be due to an imperfect seal with the bung and airlock as this is something I have struggled with in the last 12 hours and have repeatedly tried to refit and get a good seal on, but the bung keeps pushing itself up and out of the bottle (the bung does not appear to have any visible defects and the neck of the bottle appears normally shaped... but for some reason it keeps pushing itself up and out). However, I suspect it is actually fermenting at about the same rate as the other three bottles since it was prepared in the exact same way with the same ingredients, the same yeast, the same original gravity... the same everything.
- At around 36 hours in, I removed the airlock (forgot to time the rate of bubbling), capped it, and gently shook it to agitate the mixture, aerate a little bit more, and make sure everything was thoroughly mixed in and dissolved. Aside from wanting to make sure everything was thoroughly mixed in, I didn't really have any reason for shaking it at this time... I kinda just wanted to see what would happen. Both this one and the Control (which at this point are just regular mead + half the amount of yeast energizer recommended for this volume) immediately ballooned up, meaning the plastic containers they were in became so pressurized they couldn’t even be squeezed anymore. While the plastic container for the control is pretty solid, I was afraid that the plastic container that this one is in might actually rupture! Upon uncapping, it almost foamed over and the pressure had to be slowly released. Something is causing a lot of gas in these two with tea in them (that, or the tea in the other two is inhibiting fermentation/gas compared to these two... possibly the tea is making the must more acidic than I predicted). The airlock was refilled and re-fitted.
- At around 48 hours in, it was bubbling once every 2 seconds.
Further Details going forward:
I tend to take notes in meticulous detail (at a minimum timing and recording the rate of bubbling every single day in Primary) and always try to account for the slightest and smallest variables... that being said, I am not going to come back here and post every little detail every day. I'll update you guys every week or two, especially when I take hydrometer readings and when I eventually transfer to secondary and eventually bottle (and of course when I eventually taste them months from now).
Aging:
I have made mead only a few times, but I've always heard to age anywhere from 3 months to 1 year... but how long should I age for a small batch experiment like this? One might argue that the aging doesn't really matter in this case since the purpose of this experiment is to compare the flavor of the 4 different methods, so aging as little as 1 or 2 months could be fine so long as they are all aged the SAME amount of time so the batches/recipes can be consistently and evenly compared... It doesn't matter if they are well aged or "nouveau" so long as whatever age they are, they are all the same age when comparing them, right? For this reason, I think I might do as little as 1 month of aging.
Any thoughts? Is there any reason for the purposes of this experiment that I should age longer than a month?
How they will be tested:
I will taste test them myself, knowing which is which. I will then have family or friends do a blind taste test comparing them. Based on the results of my non-blind taste test and their blind taste test, I will try a variety of blends to see what that does. These blends will be non-blind taste tested by me and blind taste tested by friends or family. I will report back to all of you on these results.
Planned Duration:
How long should mead ferment in Primary and how long should it spend in Secondary? I've only done a few basic meads before (but never with D47) and they took 1-2 months to ferment... and because I was new to mead making at the time and didn't know even the basics really, I did not do Secondary and instead immediately bottled and only let them age 1-2 months before drinking them. So... How long is the typical Primary and typical Secondary for a Mead?
I'm going to let it ferment until it stops, regardless of how long that takes, but I'd still like to know what the "average" time is that mead spends in Primary and Secondary just because I'm curious.