Equipment
If you make beer, you have all of the equipment you will need. If you don't make beer, the following items are essential:
Brewpot
Stainless steel or enamel on steel, five gallon or larger capacity. You
can use an aluminum pot if you like. I don't use an aluminum pot
because it's too easy to scorch the must. Scorched honey smells rather
revolting and a mead made from it is best used as drain cleaner. One
way to minimize scorching is to use a trivet (see the next section for
instructions on how to make one).
Spoon
You will need a long handled plastic or metal spoon. Don't use a wooden
spoon. Once the must has stopped simmering it's susceptible to
contamination. A wooden spoon can carry contaminates such as wild
yeasts and bacteria much more easily than a plastic or metal one. If
you only have a wooden spoon, don't put it in the must after the must
has stopped simmering.
Funnel
A large plastic or metal funnel with a small bottom opening is ideal.
Many funnels available at brew shops have ribs on the outside of the
bottom part of the funnel. When you pour liquid into a carboy through a
funnel, the air inside gets compressed. Since the liquid is hot the
internal air pressure in the carboy goes up fast. The air will blow
back out of the funnel and spray you with the hot sticky must. Not fun.
The ribs on the bottom of the funnel allow air out while the liquid is
going in. The same effect can be achieved by inserting the handle of a
tablespoon into the neck of the carboy, and then inserting the funnel
as shown here:
Bottles
Got to put your finished mead in something, after all. You can use wine
bottles and cork them or beer bottles and cap them. I prefer using
wine/champagne bottles. They have more class than beer bottles. A 5
gallon batch of mead will take about 25 - 750 ml wine bottles (this is
the standard size). If you use 12 oz. beer bottles, you will need about
56.
If you use beer bottles, don't use bottles with screw tops. It is very hard to seal them completely with a new cap.
Another option for bottling your mead is to use "flip top" bottles.
These bottles have a ceramic or plastic cap permanently attached to the
neck of the bottle. If you use flip top bottles, make sure that the
rubber seals that fit on the inside of the cap are not cracked or
otherwise damaged. New seals can be purchased at your brew shop. If you
use a dishwasher to sterilize your flip top bottles, remove the rubber
seals before running the bottle through the dishwasher. The heat cycle
will ruin the rubber seals. Soak the rubber seals in bleach water to
sterilize them and reattach them to the flip top bottles when you are
ready to bottle your mead.
Siphon Tube (Racking Cane)
Use four or five feet of food grade plastic tubing. When used to siphon ("rack"
in brew speak) the mead from one carboy to another, the suction created
by the siphon can make the end of the tubing in the Ôfrom' carboy stick
to the side or bottom of the carboy, stopping the siphon. Simply cut a
small V shaped notch in the end of the tube to prevent this problem. If
you want to get a little more advanced, use a racking cane. This is a
rigid piece of plastic tubing, with a partial cap on the bottom end. It
is attached to a siphon tube. The partial cap on the bottom end keeps
the tube from siphoning up the sediment from the bottom of the carboy.
Corks/Caps
If you use wine bottles for your
still
(non carbonated) mead, you will need some corks. A standard wine bottle
takes a No. 9 cork. Use fine grade corks. Don't use tapered corks, they
don't stay in very well. I prefer the shorter No. 9 corks (1-1/2" long,
the standard length is 1-3/4"), they go in easier.
If you make a
sparkling
(carbonated) mead, you will need to use bottles that can take the
pressure (beer or champagne bottles). If you use champagne bottles, you
will of course need champagne corks and champagne wires (brew shop
again).
Champagne wires are the wire baskets that hold the corks down. The
easiest way to figure out how they are used is to look at a commercial
bottle of champagne. Always buy more corks/champagne corks or beer caps
than the number of bottles you are filling. A cap will get bent, a cork
will get shredded. Until you get used to using a corker, you will shred
many corks.
Carboy
What is a carboy you
ask? Do you know the plastic 5 gallon containers they use on top of
water coolers? Well, they used to make them out of glass. Glass water
carboys can be obtained from your local brew shop. Never use plastic
carboys. We'll cover the reasons why in a moment.
If you can find them, "acid" carboys are preferred over regular glass
carboys. They have thicker walls (usually with ribs in the glass), and
are much stronger than a standard glass carboy.
Some carboys have threaded tops, and come with screw on caps. These are
good for storing full of bleach water so you can brew on a moments
notice (people show up at my house and say "Let's make some mead" at
the strangest times).
Carboys are available in a number of sizes, typically 2.5, 5, and 7.5 gallons.
Note:
a 5 gallon plastic (food grade) bucket can also be used as a fermenter.
However, there are several reasons not to use them for fermenting
meads. Over extended periods of time (several months) oxygen can come
through the side walls of a plastic fermenter by osmosis. The addition
of even small amounts of oxygen to a mead once fermentation is in its
advanced stages can make the mead unstable, and may shorten the shelf
life of the mead considerably.
Also, plastic tends to
scratch much easier than glass. Even small scratches in the surface of
a plastic fermenter can provide places for wild yeast/bacteria to hide
from your bleach water sterilizing solution.
One instance where a plastic fermenter is useful is when you are
producing a melomel (fruit mead). A melomel is fermented for the first
two weeks or so with a large quantity of fruit. It is much easier to
siphon the mead out and dispose of the fruit from a plastic bucket,
than from the small opening of a carboy. However, second and subsequent
fermentations should take place in a glass carboy. You don't have to
worry about oxygen seeping into your melomel if you use a plastic
bucket as a fermenter for the first two weeks. A plastic bucket is fine
for short term fermentations, it is just long term fermentations (over
a month) that are problematic if you use plastic.
Airlock
A small plastic or glass device that lets fermentation gases out,
without letting the outside air in. Check the airlock once a week to
ensure it has sufficient water in it (about half full). I use a weak
bleach water solution in my airlocks, just in case some of it gets into
the carboy I want the water to be nice and sterile. Don't worry about
the bleach, there's not enough to hurt the mead, and it will tend to
keep fungus from growing in the airlock.
The airlock is fitted into a rubber stopper/plug that is then fitted into the neck of the carboy, providing an air tight seal.
Glass airlocks are becoming hard to find. They are much more expensive,
harder to clean, and easier to break than the plastic ones.
A airlock is also called a fermentation lock.
Stopper/Plug
A rubber plug that fits into the mouth of the carboy. It has a hole
drilled from top to bottom for the airlock to fit into. You can see one
on the bottom of the picture of the glass airlock (the one on the
left). Different carboys have different size necks. You will need to
purchase a stopper that is the right size for your carboy.
Useful, but not essential equipment:
Bottle Washer
A nice toy. If you have ever tried to get dried wine with cigarette
butts out of the bottom of a wine bottle, you will love this piece of
equipment. It screws onto your tap with an adapter. I use mine so often
I leave the adapter in place. However, you will loose the use of the
aerator on your tap if you leave the adapter in place all the time.
Trivet
If you are using an electric stove, take a metal wire coat hanger,
remove any plastic or lacquer coating with a lighter or sand paper and
cut out a piece long enough to be bent into a triangle the size of the
burner. Place this on the burner and place the brew pot on the trivet.
This will provide a more even heat. If you have ever brewed on an
electric stove without a trivet, you know that you end up with a little
scorched honey in the shape of the burner on the inside bottom of the
pot. If you are using gas, you don't need to use a trivet.
Bottling Cane
This is a short piece of rigid plastic tubing with a spring loaded
valve at the bottom. It is attached to the spigot of a bottling bucket
with a long piece (5 feet) of flexible plastic tubing (food grade).
When the bottling cane is put in a bottle, and the valve hits the
bottom of the bottle, it allows the mead to flow from the bottling
bucket into the bottle. When you lift up on the bottling cane, the flow
stops.
Hydrometer
Used to measure the density of liquids. A small sample of the must is
placed in a sample jar and is allowed to cool. Remove the sample before
you pitch the yeast. The hydrometer is then floated in the liquid (spin
the hydrometer to remove any bubbles), and a reading made where the
level of the fluid crosses the neck of the hydrometer. After
fermentation is done, another sample is tested. From these two readings
you can figure out the amount of alcohol in the mead. Also useful in
telling when a fermentation is done (when the specific gravity does not
change over several weeks, this indicates that no more sugar is being
converted to alcohol).
When you take hydrometer readings, do not return the sample of the must
to the carboy, as this increases the chance of an infection.
The temperature of the must sample will dramatically affect the
hydrometer readings. Read the instructions that come with your
hydrometer carefully to ensure your readings are accurate. Then again,
if you are not concerned with the alcohol content of your meads, a
hydrometer is not a necessary piece of equipment.
A Historical Note:
in most period recipes (and near period such as Digbie) a chicken egg
was used as a simple hydrometer (a large chicken egg of Digbie's time
appears to be about the size of a small chicken egg of our time). The
egg was floated in the cooled must. The must was dense enough
(contained enough honey) when the diameter of the egg at the "water"
line was the diameter of a Groat. During Digbie's time, the English
silver groat of Charles I ranged from the size of a U.S. Nickel to the
size of a U.S. Quarter. Needless to say, an egg does not make a very
good hydrometer.
Bottling Bucket
Use a 5 gallon food grade plastic bucket (with a lid) and a plastic
spigot (Brew shop. Tell them it's for a bottling bucket, they'll know
what your looking for). About 1/2" above the bottom of the bucket drill
a hole the size of the back of the plastic spigot. Clean off the edges
so they are smooth (don't want any place for bacteria to hide). Put the
tap in place. Take the plastic nut that came with it and tighten it
down from the inside of the bucket. You will also need 4-5 feet of food
grade plastic tubing that is the right size to fit the spigot.
How to use: rack
the finished mead into the bottling bucket (which you have sterilized
with bleach water). Attach 4-5 feet of food grade plastic tubing to the
spigot and attach your bottling cane to the other end of the tubing.
Fill your bottles. While you can siphon the finished mead directly from
the carboy into your bottles, you will tend to get more sediment in the
bottles if you do so.
Corker/Capper
If
you are going to use wine bottles and cork your mead, you will need to
purchase or borrow a corker. Corking bottles without a corker is nearly
impossible.
If you are going to bottle in beer bottles, you will of course need a capper to crimp the caps on.
De-Labeling Solution
I de-label my bottles using a solution of water and a commercial
product called "One-Step", which is available at your brew shop. You
can also de-label bottles by soaking them in a weak bleach water
solution for several days.
One-Step is also an effective sterilizing agent.
Needless to say, it's best to de-label your bottles before you fill them with mead.
Clarifying Agents
Also known as finings. Clarifying agents are used to, you guessed it,
clear the mead. Some yeasts do not settle out very well after
fermentation, so a little help is needed to convince the little
beasties to visit the bottom of the fermenter. Here are a few of the
more common clarifying agents available to mead makers:
Bentonite
A very good clarifying agent. Bentonite is a volcanic clay and should
be added to the second or subsequent racking. To use, boil 4 cups
water, mix in 1 teaspoon of bentonite per gallon of must to be
clarified (use a blender or a small glass bottle as a shaker). Add to
the must and mix it in thoroughly. In a day or two, you will get a
large amount of sediment. You should rack the mead at least once after adding bentonite before bottling, two or three times is better.
Irish Moss
Surprise, it's not a moss at all, it's a seaweed (Chondrus crisus). Add
1/2 teaspoon of irish moss per gallon of must in the last 5-10 minutes
of the simmer of the must. Used mostly in beers to prevent chill haze
(some proteins in beer can make the beer cloudy when the beer is
chilled down to refrigerator temperatures). Not very useful in meads,
except braggots.
Gelatin
Made from animal skins and bones (yum). Add one teaspoon of gelatin
(not jello) to a cup of water at room temperature. Stir it in
completely then slowly heat to 140-145 deg. F. Cover and let it cool to
room temperature then add it to the must on the second or subsequent
racking. Not a very good clarifier by itself, but it works very well in
conjunction with bentonite.
Isinglass
One of the oldest clarifiers known. Made from the dried swim bladders
of fish. Isinglass will produce a thick, compact sediment in two-five
days. To use, take a cup of cold water, add two teaspoons lemon juice
and 1/2 teaspoon isinglass. Stir vigorously with a sterile spoon. Let
stand overnight (covered) at 55 deg. F or cooler (do not freeze). Take
1/2 gallon of must from the fermenter and add the isinglass mixture to
it. Mix well with a sterile spoon. Add the 1/2 gallon of must/isinglass
back to the fermenter. Use on the second or subsequent racking.
PolyClar
This white powder is polyvinylpolypyrolidon. Add two tablespoons of
PolyClar to a cup of sterile water. Mix well and add to the must on the
second or subsequent racking. PolyClar works well and is easier to
prepare than the other clarifying agents. However, it's not needed for
most meads. I use it primarily in braggots (chill haze again).
Sparkolloid
A polysaccharide mixed with diatomaceous earth. Sparkolloid is the
single best clarifier for meads. Add 1/8 teaspoon of sparkolloid to
1-1/2 cup boiling water. Simmer until all of the sparkolloid has
dissolved (10-20 minutes). Mix thoroughly into the must while the
sparkolloid/water mixture is still hot. It will clarify a mead in three
or four days. Use on the second or subsequent racking.
Egg Whites
Stiffly beaten and added to the second or subsequent racking. Egg
whites have been used as a clarifying agent for wines, and to some
extent for meads, for a very long time. However, the amount of egg
whites to use is in questions. Some period sources suggest using as
many as 10-15 egg whites per gallon of wine/mead. Others recommend one
egg white per 5 gallons.
I do not recommend the use of egg whites as a clarifying agent. First,
there is the risk of contaminating the mead. Second, the other
clarifying agents available today are superior in their ability to
clarify meads compared to egg whites.
Additives
Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C)
Useful as an antioxidant. Or, in English, if you use a small quantity
of vitamin C in the mead, it will be more stable in the bottle. If the
mead becomes oxidized, it tends to taste flat.
I don't use the stuff myself. If you want to, used it in small
quantities, it can't hurt. Use 1 tsp. per 5 gallons, add to the
fermenter (you don't need to boil it). Don't use vitamin C tablets you
get at your health food store. They contain binders that we don't need
in mead. Use pure crystal or powdered vitamin C. You can get it at your
brew shop.
Acid Blend
Usually several acids mixed, including citric, maltic and tartaric
acids. Considering the pH of honey, and the fact that this stuff is
added to increase the acidity of the must, I can see no reason to ever
use it. Also, making the mead overly acid will slow fermentation.
Campdem Tablets
Potassium metabisulfite is available in tablet form (Campdem tablets),
and can be purchased at your local brewing supply store. Two Campdem
tablets crushed up and dissolved in a half cup of water with a shot of
lemon juice can be added to a fermenting mead to prematurely end
fermentation. This can be done to ensure a residual sweetness by
stopping the yeast before all of the sugar is converted to alcohol.
If you use the right yeast for the amount of honey used, you will not
need to prematurely end a fermentation in this manner. However, on a
few occasions I have had a batch of yeast outperform previous batches
of the same yeast, and ended up with a very dry mead. You can use
Campdem tablets to stop the yeast before all of the sugar is gone.
I dislike using metabisulfite as I have several friends allergic to sulfites.
Yeast Energizer
As honey lacks most nutrients needed for a healthy fermentation, add
yeast energizer to the must to get a good fermentation. Energizer
usually consists of diammonium phosphate, folic acid, niacin, thiamin,
sodium pantothenate, yeast cells and magnesium sulfate. Follow the
package instructions, as different manufacturers make different
strengths of yeast energizer. If you use too much the mead will have a
metallic taste (and you can't age it out or get rid of it).
Yeast Nutrient
Diammonium phosphate. Yeast energizer does not have enough diammonium
phosphate for a good fermentation. So we add a little more in the form
of yeast nutrient. Usually a white crystalline powder. Follow the
package instructions, as different manufacturers make different
strengths of yeast nutrient.
Yeast Hulls
Also known as yeast ghosts or yeast skeletons. It consists of yeast
cell walls, and is used to unstick a stuck fermentation (when a
fermentation ends before the yeast reaches its alcohol tolerance and
there is still sugar left). Use 1/2 oz. per five gallons.
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