Let me preface this, my first post, with an introduction and a hello!
I’m new to brewing, having been excited to get started with production for years, and finally able to realize it.
I simply adore beer, and also very-much enjoy mead. I ‘ve decided to start-off with some mead and go from there.
Know that I am continually making the effort to read-read-read instead of bugging y’all to death with newbtastic questions. The technical matters are not beyond my capacity, I’m just ignorant, and that is a feeling I can do without.
I’m working up several different recipe concepts, and I have a few stumbling-blocks at the moment:
1) Sugars: Everything sugars seems to point to proper SG in the very beginning. I understand very little of what SG indicates. Is there some sort of comparision/side-by-side chart for various types of sugars? I see in the calculator many fruits, and that’s mighty handy, but only one choice of sugar. What about brown sugar, molasses, corn syrups or inverts just to name a few? I know from baking experience that brown sugar yields more sweetness in the end product than white granulated does. Perhaps it in-fact has less sugar available for fermentation, but how do you determine this? Is there a standard, or at least an “in general” to go by?
2) Melomel: It seems shooting for a higher ABV than I’d actually like, in the primary, is what I’d want to do if I were adding more fruit in the secondary. Is this the “proper” way to achieve balance, to compensate? Or a hokey way of achieving the desired end result?
3) Does fermentation concentrate the plant essences in a must? For example, if I were to use poppies, would I end-up with an opiate hellbroth? (another :notworthy: TooL-inspired brew perhaps?) Is this just a self-appointed guinea pig and test-batch-it process, or is there some type of established reference or mathematical application one might experiment with on paper and in theory, beforehand? Is there any documentation, or a current authority on entheogens in metheglin brews, or do you know of anyone experimenting in this area?
4) Are alcohol-soluble additives well-extracted in the must? Should those be extracted first, and then added? OR would an extraction be ruined by fermentation and perhaps better added later in the process? (not necessarily flavor Im after here, but the properties of the plant, medicinal, for example.) Would a strong alcohol used for the extraction, added in a small volume, say 4-6 ounces into a 5 gallon batch and say.. Vodka, marginally or seriously influence the batch? Just the alcohol itself, not the flavors in the extraction, but please feel-free to comment to that aspect as well.
If you could point me to a reference for any of these questions, share experiences, advice or comments, all are very-much appreciated.
Thank you.
I’m new to brewing, having been excited to get started with production for years, and finally able to realize it.
I simply adore beer, and also very-much enjoy mead. I ‘ve decided to start-off with some mead and go from there.
Know that I am continually making the effort to read-read-read instead of bugging y’all to death with newbtastic questions. The technical matters are not beyond my capacity, I’m just ignorant, and that is a feeling I can do without.
I’m working up several different recipe concepts, and I have a few stumbling-blocks at the moment:
1) Sugars: Everything sugars seems to point to proper SG in the very beginning. I understand very little of what SG indicates. Is there some sort of comparision/side-by-side chart for various types of sugars? I see in the calculator many fruits, and that’s mighty handy, but only one choice of sugar. What about brown sugar, molasses, corn syrups or inverts just to name a few? I know from baking experience that brown sugar yields more sweetness in the end product than white granulated does. Perhaps it in-fact has less sugar available for fermentation, but how do you determine this? Is there a standard, or at least an “in general” to go by?
2) Melomel: It seems shooting for a higher ABV than I’d actually like, in the primary, is what I’d want to do if I were adding more fruit in the secondary. Is this the “proper” way to achieve balance, to compensate? Or a hokey way of achieving the desired end result?
3) Does fermentation concentrate the plant essences in a must? For example, if I were to use poppies, would I end-up with an opiate hellbroth? (another :notworthy: TooL-inspired brew perhaps?) Is this just a self-appointed guinea pig and test-batch-it process, or is there some type of established reference or mathematical application one might experiment with on paper and in theory, beforehand? Is there any documentation, or a current authority on entheogens in metheglin brews, or do you know of anyone experimenting in this area?
4) Are alcohol-soluble additives well-extracted in the must? Should those be extracted first, and then added? OR would an extraction be ruined by fermentation and perhaps better added later in the process? (not necessarily flavor Im after here, but the properties of the plant, medicinal, for example.) Would a strong alcohol used for the extraction, added in a small volume, say 4-6 ounces into a 5 gallon batch and say.. Vodka, marginally or seriously influence the batch? Just the alcohol itself, not the flavors in the extraction, but please feel-free to comment to that aspect as well.
If you could point me to a reference for any of these questions, share experiences, advice or comments, all are very-much appreciated.
Thank you.