Boiling test - idea for a group brew?

[Medsen Fey]

I was reading over Erroll Ozgencil's honey boiling comparison once again. In this he made two batches of heather mead - one boiled and one not and after considerable aging, blind tasted them. In this test, the boiled batch had less aroma, but had better body and was considered better overall.

Now I have previously pointed out a couple of issues here. For one, the boiled batch had a slightly higher gravity and had 1% ABV more than the non-boiled. That could give a mead more body and might make it "better." Also, the tasting was not a triangular test leaving more room for bias. I'm not here to criticize Erroll - quite the contrary; I applaud him for testing this side by side and sharing the results.

Boiling mead must was a tried and true practice throughout history. Although most of us shudder at the thought of boiling away those delicate aromatics, there may in fact be some honeys that do make better mead when boiled. Heather might be an example, being very strong and bitter. Perhaps some honeys with more phenolics like eucalyptus, or possibly mint; maybe even eastern buckwheat.

While we tend to always discourage boiling for new mead makers, I haven't seen a lot of side by side comparisons posted. I'm sure some of you have done some (Wayne? Pete? Vicky?) along the way but the data has never been compiled. If I'm going to keep suggesting to people that they don't boil their must, I'd really like to have some data to back that up.

Hence my thought that this could be a fun and easy group brew project to collect a whole bunch of data point. It would be nice to try side by side comparisons with a variety of honeys, with different levels of sweetness, different yeast, different alcohol levels, etc. Who knows, you might find that dry heather mead is better boiled, but sack strength sweet heather mead is better without boiling. If there are particular combinations that do come out better with boiling, that would be great information to have for the future.

So it might be really cool for anyone that wants to participate to make two identical batches (small or large - you decide) using the same honey, gravity, nutrients, acid, yeast, temperature, etc (you make the call on each parameter) with one boiled and one not. Then keep track of the rates of fermentation and clearing, and then bottle them up and compare them (with a bit of triangular tasting) after whatever amount of aging you deem suitable. We could very quickly (hey 1-2 years in meadmaking time ain't much) build a database that helps answer the question, "when is it better to boil your must (if ever)?"

Is anyone else interested in trying this?

 

[Sunny]

Great idea...I'm in! I've often wondered about this too. My first batch of mead was the only one that I've made in which the must was boiled. (I have to say that it's one of my favorites of all time.) Then I discovered this wonderful forum and decided that I would no longer heat my musts at all. I've often wondered if that 1st batch would have been better or worse if the must had not been boiled. I did not keep notes on that 1st batch but the honey was produced by my local apiary who said it's from wildflowers.
I recently purchased 4 gallons of this season's batch of his wildflower honey (I wiped out his entire stock). I was thinking that I would make 2 batches: one a la natural - with only raisins, black tea, and lemon zests...and one with prepared and packaged additives/adjuncts.
I'd like to get in on this and split it into three batches...the 3rd being (gulp) boiled.
I don't have the most refined palate, but I know folks who do - who would be happy to particitpate in blind taste tests! (In a year or two...)

-Sunny

 

[AToE]

I was actually planning on doing this as one of my initial test batches when I started out last month. I'd definitely be interested in doing this, but I have some yeast tests planned for soon that I'd want to get out of the way first.

 

[Medsen Fey]

I don't have the most refined palate, but I know folks who do -

I'm with you on this.

Fortunately, a refined palate is definitely not required. We just need to capture the data like Erroll did. Anyone of us can tell which one we prefer overall even if we don't have the ability to break down all the description. Same with the aroma; it's pretty easy to say I like this one or that one better. Body and flavor likewise. Even someone who had never critically evaluated a beverage in their life can weigh in on this, and the broader the range of people tasting, the more generalizable will be the results.

 

[wildoates]

I'd do it, if Wayne does have some Western Buckwheat going out this fall!

 

[Kee]

I'm interested. I'll have to bottle a few things first. It will be a couple of months before I can get started. It's probably for the best. It will also be easier for me to control the fermentation temp in the winter.

What might also be interesting is boiling times/temps. We might find a difference not only between not boiling and boiling 15 minutes but between boiling 15 minutes vs. boiling 90 minutes.

 

[akueck]

Would you be looking for strong honeys in particular, or any honey? I suppose getting info from Costco clover would be helpful as well.

Very, very tempting....

 

[Medsen Fey]

Actually any honey you have will add to our fund of knowledge (which at this point consists of 2 batches of dry heather mead).

Personally, I plan to try it with Orange Blossom since I have that readily available (and relatively cheap). I may also try a batch with mint honey as I have some sitting here and don't have any plans for it. Mangrove (which I've found some medicinal character in) might be something to try. Pretty much anything you use will provide some information that we don't have currently.

As for the boil time, I don't have a specific recommendation. Erroll used 10 minutes. I might do it for whatever period of time it takes to skim off all the scum from the surface. If anyone wants to do extended boils, I'll be interested to see the results.

 

[Vino]

I have a few gallons of Saw Palmetto that I was planning to make into an off-dry traditional. No reason I can't make two 3 gallon batches.

 

[Gardenfish]

I will start my batches tomorrow. I am planning on mixing 18# raspberry honey with 5 gal water. Should be around 1.097. I will then split to 2 - 3+ gal batches. One of which I will boil until no more foam or scum is present. I will cool until both batches are equal temp and then pitch rehydrated K1-V1116 yeast in each. I will use Hightests Nutrient schedule and ferment at 65 degrees in freezer. I have 4 packets of yeast. Do you think 5 or 10 grams for each 3 gals?

Gardenfish

 

[Medsen Fey]

5 should be plenty.

 

[akueck]

Don't forget to readjust the SG of the boiled batch. You will lose water during the boil, which will raise the SG. Depending on how long/vigorous the boil is, you may need to add quite a bit of water to get back to the original volume.

 

[wildoates]

Note to self: buy a brewpot.

(since it doesn't look like I'm getting the tamale pot back)

 

[Medsen Fey]

Don't forget to readjust the SG of the boiled batch. You will lose water during the boil, which will raise the SG. Depending on how long/vigorous the boil is, you may need to add quite a bit of water to get back to the original volume.

To make it simple, I just made a batch and boiled it, and then measured the gravity. Then I made an non-boiled batch to that gravity level. It is a bit of a challenge to get the gravity exactly matching - using a refractometer was not easy and I used a fine scale hydrometer to get it to the precise point. I just hope the yeast ferment to the same final gravity in both batches.

By the way, what shall be call this little adventure?

The Boiling Mad Mead Test?

 

[AToE]

I was thinking, to make sure the yeast ferment the exact same amount, why not start with an SG they can easily take dry? That way there is no worries about different ABV or RS - seems like the simplest way to do it to me.

 

[Medsen Fey]

For a dry batch, that's how I'm going to do it, but even so, some batches can finish at slightly different gravities.

 

[Gardenfish]

Just made 7 gals at 1.104 split into two 3.5 gal batches and boiled one. lost 1 qt in boil and added water back to 3.5 gals. the sg on the boiled is 1.109. they are both exactly 3.5 gals and from 1 original mix. For the benefit of the difference between boiling and not boiling experiment i think I should leave the volumes equal and not change the og's. If I was going to boil a batch the new og is what i would get anyway. Does this seem right?
I am still equaling the temps and have not pitched yet so I can change things if you think necassary.

Gardenfish

 

[Medsen Fey]

I think starting at the same gravity is important. In Erroll's experiment the differences lead to a significant difference in ABV and that could potentially skew the results. That's why I'm taking the approach I mentioned.

 

[Gardenfish]

But if i put 10# of honey in 3 gal of water and then another 10# honey in another 3gals of water and boiled it and added water back to the the original volume that was lost in the boil so they were both equal in volume again, woulnt that give me a truer result in boiling vs no boiling? If I add more water to equal the og's am I not now comparing two different batches? I think that if the og changes in the boiling then that would be part of the difference in taste.

Gardenfish

 

[Kee]

But if i put 10# of honey in 3 gal of water and then another 10# honey in another 3gals of water and boiled it and added water back to the the original volume that was lost in the boil so they were both equal in volume again, woulnt that give me a truer result in boiling vs no boiling? If I add more water to equal the og's am I not now comparing two different batches? I think that if the og changes in the boiling then that would be part of the difference in taste.

The purpose is to determine if boiling changes the flavor. We want to make sure EVERYTHING is the same so the only independent variable is the heat. If the OG is not the same, that will influence the results. We won't know if the heating or the different OG had more of an impact on the results. That was the issue with the first experiment. The OGs were diferent.