This is a weird one, I know. I grew up a 15 minute drive from Tokaj, in Hungary, where the most iconic regional wine variety is Tokaji Aszú, a botrytised, sweet wine. I rather like sweet alcohol, but not in a purely saccharine way, so I figured that I would like to try to introduce the unmistakable botrytis flavour to mead, without making a pyment (that would be a reproduction of existing methods, and good luck finding botrytised Furmint in England, where I live now).
I don't have a complete plan, but I understand that the main culprit for the botrytis flavour is phenylacetaldehyde, and the secondary flavours associated with it come from fruity esters. Tokaji is also fermented at very low temperatures, going as low as 8°C to protect volatile chemicals. So, my plan is to use winter temperatures to achieve just such a cold and slow fermentation, which means I need a yeast which will allow me to go as low as 8°C. I have identified a few strains, but my knowledge of yeast is lacking at best. Still, the strains I was thinking of are the following:
EC-1118 - 7-35 °C
CL23 Saccharomyces Bayanus - 7–24 °C
WLP727 Steinberg-Geisenheim - 10-32 °C
Arauner Liquid Tokay Yeast - this one I have little clue about, but it is advertised as a Tokaji strain by a German company, so the geographic proximity is there.
Out of the lot of them, I am leading towards the WLP727, because it is already used to make sweet Riesling wine, but I am intrigued about the Arauner. Many Tokaji producers use spontaneous fermentation for their personal wine, but commercially, I think, cultured yeast is used, but I have no clue which or whether there is any uniformity.
I also need to have some means of producing phenylacetaldehyde, which is a problem. (To say nothing of the full range of chemical changes caused by botrytis - still phenylacetaldehyde is the main culprit.)
Chapter 14 - Mead and Other Fermented Beverages, Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering Food and Beverages Industry 2017, Pages 407-434 states that added pollen has the effect of increasing phenylacetaldehyde and adding toasted, honey and bitter almond notes, which sounds plenty good to me. Of course the irony is not lost on me that I am trying to add honey notes to honey, but I suppose the fermentation does remove some of the honey notes, however gentle. Still, if it takes pollen, it will get pollen.
Am I way in over my head?
I don't have a complete plan, but I understand that the main culprit for the botrytis flavour is phenylacetaldehyde, and the secondary flavours associated with it come from fruity esters. Tokaji is also fermented at very low temperatures, going as low as 8°C to protect volatile chemicals. So, my plan is to use winter temperatures to achieve just such a cold and slow fermentation, which means I need a yeast which will allow me to go as low as 8°C. I have identified a few strains, but my knowledge of yeast is lacking at best. Still, the strains I was thinking of are the following:
EC-1118 - 7-35 °C
CL23 Saccharomyces Bayanus - 7–24 °C
WLP727 Steinberg-Geisenheim - 10-32 °C
Arauner Liquid Tokay Yeast - this one I have little clue about, but it is advertised as a Tokaji strain by a German company, so the geographic proximity is there.
Out of the lot of them, I am leading towards the WLP727, because it is already used to make sweet Riesling wine, but I am intrigued about the Arauner. Many Tokaji producers use spontaneous fermentation for their personal wine, but commercially, I think, cultured yeast is used, but I have no clue which or whether there is any uniformity.
I also need to have some means of producing phenylacetaldehyde, which is a problem. (To say nothing of the full range of chemical changes caused by botrytis - still phenylacetaldehyde is the main culprit.)
Chapter 14 - Mead and Other Fermented Beverages, Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering Food and Beverages Industry 2017, Pages 407-434 states that added pollen has the effect of increasing phenylacetaldehyde and adding toasted, honey and bitter almond notes, which sounds plenty good to me. Of course the irony is not lost on me that I am trying to add honey notes to honey, but I suppose the fermentation does remove some of the honey notes, however gentle. Still, if it takes pollen, it will get pollen.
Am I way in over my head?
