Aging Mead - Cold or Warm is better? Is there a Difference?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ต.ค. 2024
- We get asked a lot whether you should age your mead cold or at room temp. I've always guessed room temp was better for aging mead, but didn't have a true answer. So... we tested it! Aging Mead at refrigerator temperature or room temp, is there a difference?
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i sent a comment a few weeks ago about making a side by side comparison of chilled and room temperature tasing.. thanks guys 😊
If I remember my chemistry correctly raising the temperature by 10 degrees C doubles the reaction speed. Room temperature versus fridge would therefore be a difference of about a factor 4.
Absolutely correct. The cold slows things quite a bit.
When it comes to aroma testing, instead of smelling your arm, you can take a whiff of coffee beans/grounds. You'll sometimes see this in candle shops that they'll have a small dish of coffee beans sitting around since the smell of the coffee grounds clears the sinuses of any lingering scents. I can attest that this works especially if you ever have a scent you can't quite get out of your nose.
The beard/mustache can hold the coffee beans even. 🤔
What do you do when you can't get coffee smell out of your nose 😂
The stronger smell initial scent from the fridge aged could also have been due in part to any evaporation being trapped in the glass under the cover so you get a bigger hit of esters at once. While I do agree it is possibly more from the suspended "youngness", trapped evaporate could also be a factor
This was my first thought as well, would be interesting to test with both poured at the same time and covered until both are at the same temperature
I've done this test myself. Completely agree with your results. I've always been told by my grandfather, refrigeration will preserve and stop the ageing process. So, if you like something at a certain age you can control it in that way.
Actually very well and simple put, thank you
I don’t know why I haven’t seen this video. I’m glad you linked to it in your newest video. I was wondering about this myself recently. I know it’s not the same, but even with my Kombucha, I like mine at room temp instead of chilled. So glad about this because like you, my meads are in the basement on our shelf, mostly in the dark. The temp is usually 68-70 degrees. Yay! ✨🍺
Good to hear that room temp is ok, as a Scandinavian we usually dont have that high temp during summer. Inside around 18-21 during winter.
I wouldn't be surprised since that the aging is slower at lower temps. I don't know the exact science behind aging, but I know it has to do with breakdown, creation, and escape of flavor compounds. At lower temps, any chemical process is much slower. Good vid.
I LOVE this message! Sitting in every nook and cranny of my house are roughly 90 home-made Belgian-type ales, Meads, Melos, Cysers, Ciders, and few other yet-to-be defined concoctions. They have been there for... Starting back 3 yearzish
3 fridges! Wow! LoL (I have 3 too, one for each house on my property and 1 in the garage) I'm so excited for this test! Ok, back to video....
The whole refrigeration idea is to slow spoilage/aging so it makes sense the chilled mead still tastes young.
I really love your style guys. That finger thing at the beginning got me laughing out loud. Now back to the video.
I actually just read an article about aging bourbons vs scotches a day before watching this video. And a main difference in these aging processes is that scotch is aged in used bourbon barrels and bourbon is aged in new white oak barrels. So a lot of the properties in the used barrels are already out of the wood and thus can afford a longer aging time. If the bourbon is aged longer, being in the new barrels, it would take on a more woody unwanted flavor. Which also begs the question why there is 20yr pappy van winkle. Love the show guys.
You are such a nice couple! Thanks for all the answers i’m so eager to find!
reverse swigg shows more skill i could have imagined 😍......impressive.
Good to see you doing well, Brian. Praise be that you got checked out. Modern medicine is a great thing. Also, that Mediterranean diet is pretty great once you get the hang of it.
Before watching: I guess the non-chilled one is better/more aged. Chemistry witchcraft is always slowed down if cold.
Instantly ran an took my meads out of fridge
It would be really interesting if you guys did the other side of the spectrum now, hot/warm vs room temperature aging. See if its faster/better?
Made sense...rum ages twice as fast in the Caribbean than Cognac in cold cellars in Europe...
Last night I sampled some of my spiced apple wine (10.48% ABV) at room temperature. I bottled it on 1 September 2020, and it has been aging at room temperature since then. Wow! Normally I chill my ciders and meads before drinking, but I'm going to switch to drinking them at room temperature. The flavors were more intense and complex.
Same, I had made a Metheglin Mead (18%) and it had a stronger taste when in the fridge but the one I left out was smoother.
Thank you so much for this video! This cinches it: age at room temperature as a rule, UNLESS the tasting notes indicate that the younger brew is nicer. That would mean a fridge-invasion of my brew.
I had a sneaking suspicion about the results of your taste test, as wineries in France tend to store their millésimes at low temperatures precisely to slow the ageing process and, well, basic chemistry (grew up in a family of science and maths geeks with le being the odd one out but some things did stick). But your video confirmed my guess. With all he brews your videos have added to my wish list and not a whole lot of room or the funds to buy an extra fridge, I’d much rather let my concoctions age at room temperature on a shelf in a closet than haul in yet another appliance or slow my already slow brewing schedule.
Please keep doing what you do because it’s wonderful.
Been busy working, havent seen a video in a min, but gotta say I love the hair Brian .... Also love the content
Part of my mead making equipment I ordered last week came today. I just received my R.B.O.S!!!!! Yeah!!! Can't wait for the rest of stuff to come and hopefully can try my first batch within a couple weeks. Thanks for all the awesome knowledge, tips and experience.
After seeing Derica’s shirt, I felt like saying Inconceivable! Every time you guys made a comparison. Very interesting video
you two are awesome, my mead bible. sipping on my mead pondering this very question.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Cold age vs room temp aging is something I've always wondered about. Thanks for the research! Love the Viking look, btw, Brian!
Thanks for your vids. We've been watching for a while and just jumped right in. After 5hrs she started bubbl'n. It's exciting. ha. Been a could days now and just bubble freak'n.
15bls of clover honey
6 bags (making 3 cups) of Earl Gray tea
About 5 gal of spring water
5 teaspoons of Fleischmanns Classic Active Dry yeast
1 cup of chopped raisins
Reading of 13.8% potential (1.105)
Great video. I would also love to know what happened to the Rhodomel.
Knownst :'D, ah mead people are best people. It honestly makes sense that the refrigerated simply wouldn't age as fast.
I did a bottle vs bulk age study my conclusion is bottles evaporate via my glass lol I do wood infusions in my whiskey by going back and forth between the freezer the counter and the window seal. To kinda simulate the seasons. I can tell a difference from that vs just leaving it to sit.
Thanks for the neat video.
Nice. Yeah, we're just getting to it at this point since I've been able to brew 5 gallon batches which permits me to put a few bottles in a rack to age. We just pulled out a 1.5 year orange spiced a few weeks ago and I could've dumped the whole thing down my gullet in one sitting. This also happened with two other types: much smoother and a more distinct honey element. It's gonna be difficult, but I think I need to start putting more in the aging rack (which is in our dining room at room temp).
it is right, because in lower temperatures, chemical reaction are much slower
I tried taking maybe 20 ml, before it was done fermenting, I figured I would try cold crashing it in the fridge and see how it tasted and it tasted like it was still fermenting. it was pretty nasty, even weeks later. I still have it in the fridge to check periodically. The main larger portion I left at room temperature to ferment, the taste is uncomparably superior. What I learned from that single test is (the assumption) that trying to drink something before it has finished fermenting and the proper age is not a good idea.
Indeed, ‘‘twas not a good idea 🙃
Please take another shot at the bourbon bochet! Currently working on an acerglyn/bochet hybrid that I’m going to oak in my own attempt. Equal parts caramelized honey, raw honey, and organic maple syrup to reach around 13% abv
"Closet of holding"... too funny
Great content guys, amazing discoveries
I age at room temperature because I have no choice. So fate wins!! Thanks for the study, you guys are awesome.
Same here, I was crossing my fingers that chilled aging wouldn't be better.
Not just alcohol, but with many things flavour is muted by being cold. Try a strawberry straight from the fridge compared to one at room temperature. The difference is so great that I won't bother eating a cold strawberry.
Good work guys
Yes I was waiting for this video! I did the same experiment and with the same results
Thank you guys for making so many videos, and being so detailed! I've enjoyed drinking mead for years, but just starting to make my own. I have 4 different melomels in primary right now, all very active and healthy ferments about 4 days in.
Interesting there's such a big difference! Love this test, you guys are awesome.
Thank you!
i made a couple meads that seem to have done nothing despite the usual signs of a good fermentation both were made on 12-11-20 and checked on 1-12-21. the first is a blueberry hibiscus in a 1 gallon carboy: 3lbs wildflower honey, 3oz of dried blueberries, 3oz of dried hibiscus flowers steeped to into a tea, and a half packet of 71B. OG was 1.110 second reading was 1.100.
The second mead was the viking blood for 2020 in a 1 gallon widemouth. i used 3.5 lbs of wildflower honey, 2lbs 8oz of dark sweet frozen cherries thawed, 1 cinnamon stick, and 1 pack of 71B. OG was very high at 1.160 and second reading was 1.160. i made a strawberry mead the same day with the same high reading and it fermented out from 1.160 to 1.040 to close to a 16% ABV using a whole pack of 71B. what would you suggest i do for the 2 that didnt seem to work? Thanks
Possibly adding some yeast nutrient, or maybe more yeast. Sounds like they’ve died.
Thank you for helping me get the confidence to do what I have wanted to try for years, I'm buying the basics to start vary soon just waiting on grad cylinder and scale to start my first basic mead.
I started without a hydrometer, it’s done when the bubbles stop. :)
Great question, great video!
Thanks for the experiment! Love it. 💘
Hi guys, I am not sure if you did a video on this but I couldn’t find it... I am wanting to start a simple mead brew but am concerned about temperature consistency. We live in south Australia and getting into winter now. We don’t have central heating. Temperatures during the day are between 18-24 C (64-75 F) but drop down to between 5-10 C at night (41-50F). Sometimes even lower.
Would you recommend a brewing pad to keep temperatures above a certain point? Would wrapping it into a blanket be enough?
I’ve got a temperature gauge on the Demijohn so I can keep an eye on it.
Any feedback much appreciated. Love your vids. You guys are super informative and entertaining at the same time!
You could just wrap it in a towel or blanket. Your daytime temps are pretty much the same as ours, but at night it might get a bit chilly for the yeast.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thanks guys! Will give that a try.
Great video guys! Keep it up.
The chilled had the lids on the top. Maybe that is why they smell 25% stronger
wine vinyards in my area usual have a small pouch of fresh ground coffee to smell between smelling the wines to reset your nose.
This was insightful thank you.
wow. that's very cool. thanks for doing it.
I ran a similar test with my pomegranate wine. Two bottles aged at room temperature are already gone & the lone fridge bottle is still half full and still has a very bitter aftertaste on the swallow. Lockdown learnings
New to watching your guy's channel. I'm excited to try brewing my own mead soon. Do you have any plans for doing a blood orange flavored mead this year?
So refrigeration slows the aging process.
That’s good news because I have lots of space on my floor but not so much in my fridge.
Fun Fact: A Closet of Holding is an 8th level magic item.
only attuned to druids or?
I gotta say what we're all thinking... Brian and Danika are D&D nerds, too, right? What I wouldn't give to play with Brian DMing!
We do play and I am the DM :)
Hellbound, is there a command word to retrieve any item? Or do I still have to spend a minute + to search for an item?
Love this side by side! I wonder if some of the difference is the separation of fusels? At cold temps, I'd expect that separation to happen much more slowly.
You know, I have always thought that when the greeks claimed their gods ate ambrosia and drank nectar that the nectar was referring to mead. Golden color, ancient alcohol reserved for royals and it is made by bees from flower nectar. Also, it tastes divine. Any thoughts?
Micro-oxygenation happens in the barrel with spirits and wine, and mead I suppose if it was aged that way. It can happen naturally through the barrel staves or artificially sped up.
Three fridges? Respect
Say you use peat-smoked barley malt in a beer.... is that a good idea? Not sure if this will be seen by you guys, but I'm wondering myself a bit about peaty beers, whether it's even good, whether it's even possible. Would be cool to see.
Any chances of making an agave wine? The few people I've heard about it from said it's really good
i second this video idea
Been trying to find recipes for this myself.
Great Space Balls reference. Lol
I age my brews in my cellar, which is about 70 degrees half the year and around 55 degrees the other half (northeast USA.) Next question to answer: do thermal cycles affect aging? You mentioned it with bourbon/whiskey. Wine is usually kept in cellars to age, is there something to it? Hmmm...
It will slow it I would think... but unless you age in a barrel, no, it won't change anything.
Yall are smart!!!!
Good morning Brian and Derica. Derica, what is the holding volume of the "closet of holding" compared to a bag of holding? Great D&D reference.
I say room temp aging is the best. Although, just a thought, what if one is making an ice wine or mead? Not that I'm experienced in ice wine or mead. What effect does ice or freezing have? There is something to say about fresh fruit and frozen fruit and a fruit puree. Maybe we may need a discussion on the difference these make in brewing.
The grapes or fruit are frozen on the tree or vine, then fermented, not really fermented at freezing temps :)
THANK YOU! I have been debating my self and my friend to do cold or warm brew! It seems that warm is the way to go.
However, the big question would be. If we cold or warm brew a mead, what wil it taste like after 5 years?
Each brew is different. Some will still be improving after five years while others may be on the decline. 2-3 seems to be the sweet spot for aging.
@@CitySteadingBrews thank you :)
I started a 1 gallon cider brew on the second and I hadn’t done any research at that point so I added a full packet of store brand bread yeast and every few days I added about a cup of a really thick simple syrup I made with just sugar and water I added a bit of honey and lemon juice here and there but I don’t think it was enough to do much of anything I racked on the eleventh and in my opinion it turned out well for a first brew without really following any instructions I’ve watched a lot of your videos over the past few days in preparation but I ended up just putting it in the fridge any advice on what to do from here or for another brew and on another note what would you estimate the abv. To be I’m guessing 8-10% but I can only base that on my limited experience and research
PS. I love your videos sorry for the long comment but I would love to hear back from you
Ok so I have to comment on this one b/c everything I have made has had a strong yeast (foot) smell. I've had to age things in room temperature for much longer than expected. I don't know what gives, after a few rankings, why I keep getting the foot smell. Even my apple jack smelled AND tasted like shit (yeasty) until I bottled some.
I remember seeing a comment you had made to another person many vids ago about how fridgeration will slow the aging process.
Soooooo, wondering if you would have drank it chilled, would it have been better versus bringing it to room temp???? 🤔
Chilled just turns down flavors, that's why we taste test at room temp. We store them at room temp so we didn't bring it up, it was already there :)
Want to make a cranberry and raspberry mead not sure on how much of each I should use and what else I should put in it and if I should use frozen cranberry or dried ones and I am making a 1 gallon batch could use some advice if you don't mind. Thank you Roger
Let's say theoretically I was to put 2 gallons of Florida orange blossom honey🍯 in a 6 gallon glass carboy with 4 gallons of spring water and a hand full or raisins and some ec-1118 yeast in a basement that averages 64-68 degrees. In your honest opinion what would you expect the outcome to be? I haven't done it yet. But I'm tempted to use the full 2 gallons just to see what happens.
Use less honey and you would make mead. There’s a chane it will stall as it is. Also... bit cold so it will take a long time.
Yeah the temperature is a curse. I live in ohio so as for basements mine is warmer then most but still cold. I may use a space heater in the area to fix the temperature. And as for the 2 gallons of honey it was just a thought. Never hear of anyone using way more honey then needed and was curious if it would work.
How about a comparison between the cold aged and room temp aged, with both chilled before tasting.
No reason to. Room temp lets you taste all the mead has to offer, cold turns flavors off. For a comparative tasting, room temp is the way to go.
So hi Brian and Derica, thanks for all the videos. I am wondering something. I have my first batch of mead fermenting for 4 weeks now. It is a almost 5 gallon batch following your "First mead" recipe. The raisins are floating, there are no bubbles and I gave the whole thing a hefty swirl about a week ago. I do not see bubbles or any sign of the yeast actually doing something. I tried to do a reading as soon as i made the batch but the reader didn't give the same reading every time I tried it. i think the tube was too narrow so it got stuck on the sides... Is there any other way to make sure i can rack?
Use a wider tube, take a reading, wait a few days to a week, take another reading. If both are identical you can conclude fermentation is done. And make sure you watch as many of Brian and Derica’s videos as you can! They’re fun and you learn something more with every video.
I also keep notes in a small notebook or binder. Whenever I find possibly useful information I jot it down together with the title of the video. Another section contains the recipes for the brews I made, hydrometer readings, ABV and tasting notes... and the title(s) of the video(s) I gleaned them from, any changes I made, bottling dates, etc. That’s potential gold for when I want to make the same brew again or a similar, tweaked one. Such a notebook can be a fancy one but the cheapest one you can find, or even an old one you still have hanging around, or even one of those old appointment books or diaries you’d ordinarily chuck in the trash because it’s got dates printed on the pages do the job. Stick a label on it and you’re set.
nice one
Wonder what would happen if you let it age in a room that gets cooler at night and warmer during the day
Random thought, chill both samples and try them cold to see if that changes anything? Does the "cold crash" effect the room temp aged one? Thanks, Guys!
Chilling turns flavors off, so, for an effective taste comparison, there's really no reason.
I'm just getting into brewing, and following the First mead videos from last year to do so. The only thing is that Amazon won't deliver the Star San Sanitizer to my address for some reason! So are there alternatives that I could maybe get at a walmart, or even a Gordon's?
If I have some meads in fridge storage (stabilized) should I just leave them in there at this point or can I remove them to be stored at room temperature? Don't want to ruin them with the temperature change if that would be an issue.
So can you Take the one out of the fridge and age it longer and Come up with the taste of the Age
As far as ageing goes. Do I bottle and just leave it to stand or are there any speciffics to it like temperature, light, dark etc? Can it spoil if I leave it too long?
The flaw in the plan...
"We drank too much anytime we tasted it !"
:)
Hi there. I'm new to mead and wine making and have quick question. Can you move refrigerated sealed bottle with mead to edge it in the room temperature for extended period of time? Thank you.
We keep all our brews at room temperature. If you mean cold crashing then taking them out? If fermentation wasn't finished, they could build up too much pressure and explode.
@@CitySteadingBrews Thank you!
6:38 That just begs for an ice cube.... ;-)
I make home made wine. After about a month and the bubbles have stopped, I run it through coffee filters. Is that a good or bad idea?
Bad idea. Filtering that way over exposes to O2 so you have a much higher chance of it turning to vinegar.
I sense a Spaceballs reference. ;D
Gotta admit, you two are mead aficionados. Might wanna take that title. Just saying.
Nah, still have a lot to learn, but thanks.
"We have three already..." XD
What is the longest you guys have aged a mead?
What do you guys think of doing a sort of favorite brews from the last year video? Or maybe like a meads you would recommend the most.
A top ten recommended sounds good...
Was the chilled poured chilled, sugars fall out of solution or become heavier the colder they get.
As we said it was brought to room temp. It was clear 11 months ago.
LOL too many fridges. I got two small ones and two regular sized - family style fridges.
I'm asking, could the racking process also have something to do with the taste? One bottle was racked from the top where the flavors are not as potent and one racked from the bottom where the flavors might have settled?? Just wondering.
I don't understand. They are bottles from the same batch. There's no, racking from the top or bottom. When we bottle, we wait until the bottles have cleared fully and I can't imagine there being any real difference from any part of the brew. Also... many people told us in the comments they experienced the same results we did, and it does make logical sense. We just needed to do a test.
Ok thanks, that's what I was wondering still new at this.
No worries!
oh hey, what temperature is "room temp"? i have been thinking i'll age stuff in the basement but wondered if that might be too chilly.
Typically 70*f-80*f.
Room temp is a comfortable temp for you as a human.
We said ours was at 70-75f
so this makes me ask is it ok to have stored in fridge for months and then take it out and put it on my rack for months or years?
Sure.
what about aging in an oak barrel?
Look good with out the hat styling and profiling
Did you get those grolsch-style bottles from Aldi's?
We did!
@@CitySteadingBrews I have some of those bottles saved from the sparkling lemonade. Is there anything special you have to do to reseal the bottle? I noticed that the red thing in the cap doesn't go down into the bottle quite as far after I first open the bottle
@@mgonza1350 we haven’t done anything special.
@@CitySteadingBrews Good to know! That's probably the cheapest way to bottle any brews you make