Griffin Claw Brewing Co. is now the official craft beer partner of the Detroit Zoo … In These Times, and New City. He once asked porn star Stormy Daniels to spank him with an issue of Metro …
We are back from summer vacation to discuss some pretty interesting beer stuff, including: TAPS Fish House and Brewery news. Anchor Brewing news. How does Stone/Sapporo fit in? The Anchor […]
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(Framingham, MA) – Jack’s Abby Brewing Company has teamed up with the World’s Oldest Brewery – Weihenstephan – to create a once in a lifetime, fest-inspired collaboration lager. There may […]
The post Jack’s Abby Brewing Company Collabs with Weihenstephan – Beer Release and Events appeared first on The Full Pint – Craft Beer News.
By Kevin Meintsma
Hydromel is two Latin words combined to mean water (hydro) and honey (mel). Modern language also calls them “short” or “session” meads.
There is no specific “style” definition for hydromels, but from a competition standpoint, the original gravity (OG) and strength (ABV) are the primary components of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) mead guidelines. These guidelines state that hydromel is under 8% ABV with starting gravities in the 1.035-1.080 range. Note that if you start at 1.080, you’ll likely land well outside of the ABV guideline because hydromels tend to ferment completely dry.
The commercial mead industry does not have a standard as yet to define hydromels and the processes in which they’re made. Some meaderies (and homebrewers) make a higher-gravity mead and dilute with water or backsweetening post-fermentation. Others make their meads with fewer fermentable sugars. Both approaches can produce similar and desirable results.
For me, the goal is generally to produce meads that are 5% or lower so they remain genuinely sessionable, and I avoid dilution because I feel that my results are better when crafting a recipe with the final goal in mind.
Lower alcohol: When the alcohol level (ABV) is low enough, you can safely enjoy one or two glasses. This is particularly true when sticking to the lower end of the BJCP guidelines for hydromel strength.
Production speed: Depending on how you make the hydromel, serving within ten days of starting the fermentation is possible. This permits more experimentation and speeds up learning and technique development.
Cost efficiency: Hydromels use less honey and generally less of any other ingredients when compared to standard (OG: 1.080-1.120) and sack (OG: 1.120-1.170) mead.
Embracing the trend: With the rapidly increasing number of commercial meaderies in the United States, and with most of them having tasting rooms, hydromels have become a significant component of those businesses.
From a process standpoint, I think by far, the simplest mead you can make is a traditional (or sometimes it’s called a “show” mead). Traditional meads focus on the core ingredients: honey, water, yeast, and typically some yeast nutrient addition.
A hurdle with the lower-strength traditional meads is it can be challenging to showcase the character of the honey varietal.
As with any mead recipe, the options are seemingly limitless. Fruit meads have tremendous appeal, and spice/herb/veggie combinations make wonderfully refreshing hydromels.
Bucket-style fermenters with a capacity of 8 gallons work especially well for fruit hydromels. In addition, a large paint strainer bag can be beneficial to separate the mead from ingredient debris, and for the mead recipes detailed below, it’s highly recommended.
You will likely want to carbonate your hydromel, so you’ll need to have some way to accomplish this. It’s pretty challenging to bottle condition a hydromel and any residual sweetness without a high risk of bottle bombs (this is not like beer where you have unfermentable sugars remaining after bottle conditioning). A dry hydromel may be precisely what you want, in which case you can bottle condition safely. But I’ve found that most people prefer some residual sugar in their meads. With that in mind, you’ll need some way to add forced carbonation to the mead. At a minimum, for this, you’ll need a CO2 cylinder and a regulator. After that, you can of course add CO2 with a kegging system, or as an alternative you can use a screw-on “carb cap” in combination with 1 and 2 liter PET soda bottles.
Use good quality honey that is complementary to the other ingredient choices. Bold or distinctive flavoring ingredients work best, and you need good water. RO or low minerality spring water has worked well for me. If you are using dry yeast, rehydrate with GoFerm Protect at a ratio of 1.25 times the weight of your yeast, and add water at 20x the weight of the GoFerm. I front load (instead of staggered nutrient additions) Fermaid O (SIY yeast nutrient) at a rate of roughly 2 grams per gallon of must for fruit meads, 2.5 gr/G for spice/herb meads. Front loading is highly recommended because hydromels ferment rapidly.
“Punch down” the fruit cap daily. This is the layer that forms at the top of mead made with fruits. I find no need to “degas” the mead.
Nutrient and Tannin additions such as OptiRed (or OptiWhite), plus VR Supra (or Wine Tannin) and FT Blanc Soft tannins can enhance body, roundness, perception of sweetness, and color stability.
Temperature control ensures the yeast is producing the desired results.
Post-fermentation acid adjustments can add the finishing touch taking your mead from lackluster to bright and refreshing. If you only buy one acid, Tartaric is a good contender!
The use of a fining agent can give your mead the final polish and clarity before serving.
First, let’s consider two of the most common negative impressions people have with hydromels. They are thin and watery, and they lack flavor. Yes, many hydromels suffer from these issues. But, they don’t have to!
Choose honey with a distinctive flavor that is fairly robust, which will pair well with your other ingredient choices.
For example, amber wildflower honey pairs nicely with dark berries. Star thistle or orange blossom honey pairs well with stone fruits like mango, peach, and apricot.
Yeast choice can also have a powerful impact. For example, Lalvin 71b – Narbonne works quite well with dark berries, producing esters that enhance aromatic profiles. It is a workhorse that makes it easy to use in homebrewing settings. Hornindahl Kviek (or Voss) pairs exceptionally well with citrus and stone fruits, and has the added benefit of being incredibly temperature tolerant.
Two hydromels are detailed below that are regularly on tap in my household.
The first one is my take on a Curt Stock-style triple berry mead, made as a 5.5% hydromel (after back sweetening) for 5 gallons with a starting gravity of 1.050.
Add the pectic enzyme to the fruit and enough of the water to mix thoroughly (less water is better). Place into refrigeration for cold maceration. After 12 to 24 hours, add the remaining water and mix thoroughly, bringing the must up to your fermentation temperature. Heat an additional 10oz of water to 110F, add the GoFerm and mix thoroughly, letting it stand for 20 minutes. Maintain the mixture at 95F, then mix the yeast and allow it to bloom for 5 minutes. Next, acclimate the yeast by adding 5 ounces of the must (sans fruit) to the yeast mixture at 5-minute intervals until the yeast is within 10F of the must temperature. Pitch the yeast and mix thoroughly.
Meanwhile, warm an additional 6 ounces of water and combine the OptiRed, wine tannin, FT Blanc Soft, and Fermaid O (we are “front” loading all of the nutrients). Add these ingredients after pitching the yeast. Ferment at 64F until reaching terminal gravity. Then, stabilize using potassium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate, back sweeten to taste and carbonate before serving.
The second hydromel recipe is a 4.6% (after back sweetening) tropical/stone fruit mead that is refreshing and bursting with mango, peach, and citrus flavors. For 5 gallons (net) with a starting gravity of 1.040.
Follow the process described above for the berry mead recipe with this exception: ferment at 95F to 100F. Do not be surprised if this reaches terminal gravity in well under 48 hours.
Enjoy!
About the Author
Kevin Meintsma is a long-time homebrewer of beer, cider, and grape wines, and according to his patient and long-suffering wife he’s become obsessed with mead during the past 4 years. His mead focus at this point has been primarily on process and technique, now expanding into exotic varietal honeys and unique flavor combinations with 75% of his meads made as hydromels. He competes regularly and greatly enjoys the camaraderie of his local brewing community. He is currently the organizer for Valkyries Horn Mead Competition.
The post Hydromel: How to Make Session-strength Mead appeared first on American Homebrewers Association.
The majority of South London’s Jamaican-owned pubs were located on Coldharbour Lane, a major thoroughfare which runs between the neighborhoods of Brixton and Camberwell. It was a poor area even before members of the Windrush Generation settled in London, and with their arrival came depictions of the area as a ghetto by the white media, even though the newcomers were able to forge a strong sense of community. From the 1960s onwards, Coldharbour Lane witnessed a flowering of Black-owned businesses, especially in and around Brixton Market, including grocers, barbers and record shops.Many Black residents lived on stretches of Mayall Road and Railton Road, an area that would later be dubbed “the Frontline,” a shorthand for a community living with day-to-day police harassment.
If you drink beer—any beer—you’ve likely heard of the craft beer revolution, and you likely fall into one of two camps: IPA warrior or lager loyalist … 7.30% – Brewery: Arches Brewing …
If you drink beer—any beer—you’ve likely heard of the craft beer revolution … Rating: 4.25 (223 ratings) – Type: Imperial IPA – ABV: 8.00% – Brewery: Helltown Brewing …
As breweries increasingly consider craft beer’s environmental impact, many are turning toward more sustainable ingredients to reduce their footprint. They’ve found that focusing on the earliest steps in beer making has a positive outcome potentially dozens of times greater than in-house efforts like solar or recycling.
Two of beer’s primary ingredients, hops and barley, offer the best possibilities for sustainable production. Barley in particular can be farmed in ways that support water conservation, soil preservation, and carbon reduction. Meanwhile, low-water hop varieties like Neomexicanus, a hop native to the American Southwest, also reduce a brew’s impact.
Arizona Wilderness Brewing in Phoenix, Ariz., sits in a part of the country where water scarcity has become critical. About five years ago, the outdoor-focused brewery realized that its choice of ingredients—malt in particular—could have an outsized influence on water conservation in its parched home state. As a result, the brewery became a key player in a partnership fostered by The Nature Conservancy to help preserve the Verde River.
The conservancy hoped to encourage farms to switch to early-season crops that grow when river water is more plentiful and there is less waste due to desert heat. With the growing popularity of craft beer, the conservancy hit on a solution: barley. However, to make that solution economically viable, farmers needed a market for the grain. Consequently, the conservancy supported the establishment of craft maltster Sinagua Malt to roast the raw barley and create a marketable product. At the same time, it solicited local breweries to create demand.
The concept resonated with Arizona Wilderness and the brewery has become the malthouse’s primary customer, currently buying 80 percent of Sinagua’s output. According to Zach Fowle, head of marketing for the brewery, this partnership benefits everyone from farmer to consumer. “It’s a win-win for everyone involved. It’s a market-based solution that doesn’t require any sacrifices.”
Focusing on sustainable ingredients makes a bigger difference than anything Arizona Wilderness could do in the brewhouse, insists Fowle. “Any water we save on that end will pale by comparison with the farms on the front end.” He adds, “According to the math that we’ve been able to do, every pint of beer that we sell equates to about 50 gallons of water for Arizona’s waterways.”
In 2022 the brewery added hops to its conservation efforts. It brewed a beer named This Beer Saves Water using low-water hops and Sinagua malt. The goal is to raise awareness of Arizona’s water issues among craft beer lovers. “We really wanted to drive home the point of water saving, the water crisis in Arizona, and why people should care,” says Fowle.
Arizona Wilderness sources other ingredients locally as well, particularly those grown in waterwise ways. For example, the brewery makes three different beers using drip-irrigated watermelons. Fowle contends that the brewery helps create a market for crops that wouldn’t otherwise be economically feasible. He describes the effort as “using the beers that we make to encourage responsible choices in what farmers decide to grow.”
Additionally, buying locally has a much lower transportation footprint than trans-continental or trans-oceanic shipping. “As much as we can work with Sinagua and local groups, it cuts back on the carbon footprint of that malt. Working with these local farms helps in more ways than just water,” says Fowle. Fresh Arizona produce also makes for tastier beer while keeping money in the local community.
Colorado breweries are also recognizing the benefits of sustainable, local agriculture. Root Shoot Malting in northern Colorado is a combination farm and craft malthouse that has gained popularity with breweries in Denver and across the state. The farm grows barley using sustainable and regenerative agriculture while protecting green space from suburban encroachment.
What started decades ago as a family farm expanded to include a malthouse in 2016 after owners Emily and Todd Olander observed the meteoric growth of craft beer. Along the way they realized that sustainable, and ultimately regenerative, agriculture would play a significant role in keeping Colorado agriculture viable in the face of environmental and development pressures.
While there’s a difference between sustainable and regenerative farming, Todd Olander believes that both play important roles in reducing the environmental impact of craft beer’s core ingredients. In a nutshell, sustainable farming doesn’t damage or reduce resources, while regenerative farming actually improves the quality of the land.
To support these goals, the Olanders rotate crops every year and undertake additional annual maintenance work. After the barley harvest in July, they plant cover crops, then turn cattle loose to feast. Both tasks improve soil chemistry and nutrition. It’s a more detail-oriented process than traditional farming but Olander believes it’s worth it. “If we can have healthier soil that is more resilient, we can grow a healthier and more profitable crop.”
The Olanders also believe it’s important to sustain the farming lifestyle and guarantee the food supply for future generations. To this end, the couple has worked with local nonprofit Colorado Open Lands to put conservation easements on their property. These easements allow continued farming while permanently preventing additional development. Future farmers will have available land and the community will enjoy the views and environmental benefits of green space.
The Olanders’ ultimate goal is to use fewer scarce resources and artificial chemical inputs like pesticides and fertilizers while crafting high-quality barley and malt. The approach is clearly working, as Root Shoot won medals in every category at the 2023 Malt Cup.
Bruz Beers in Denver is one of dozens of local breweries brewing with Root Shoot. The brewery relies on the craft maltster for over 90 percent of its malt. Co-founder Ryan Evans and head brewer Dave Olson buy from Root Shoot because of its positive impact on the local environment and because of the quality.
Olson explains that Root Shoot can and must be more thoughtful about resource usage due to its size. “As a small family farm, they’re going to use less water, they’re going to use less pesticides, they’re going to use less of everything. Everything is going to be less because they can’t afford to just sweep everything (with chemicals).”
In addition to less-impactful farming, Bruz values Root Shoot’s proximity to the brewery because it limits the malt’s transportation footprint. Explains Olson, “I either drive up there or they bring it to us. One forklift, one truck. That’s significantly more sustainable.” Additionally, Root Shoot can supply multiple breweries with a single trip of its truck.
Even the farm’s layout reduces the grain’s carbon footprint because the farthest field is only 10 miles from the malthouse. “A huge step toward sustainability is shortening the supply chain,” Olander says. “My goal is to be carbon-negative or carbon-neutral.”
For Olson, the quality of the ingredients and the beers they let him create more than offset the increased costs that come with buying from small growers. “I’m the brewer and to me what’s in your glass is the same as what’s hanging on the brewery’s walls. It’s the art and it wouldn’t feel as artistic to me if I bought industrial.”
Bruz makes several 100-percent- Colorado brews using locally grown ingredients like cantaloupes, peaches, and chiles. It also contracts with Colorado’s award-winning Billy Goat Farms for hops and buys from a local yeast propagator.
Ultimately, craft beer drinkers come out winners through better beers and a more sustainable local environment, whether they know it or not. Most customers are unaware of the environmental ramifications of the pint they’re drinking. Fortunately, breweries understand the underlying value and benefits of sustainability.
Says Olson, “I think the average consumer doesn’t inherently care,” explaining that Bruz’s choice of ingredients is driven by the brewery’s own values. “It’s really more about what we want. I’m not doing it for the customer. I’m doing it for me and the guys that I’m buying it from.”
Adds Evans, “It’s about doing the right thing.”
Fowle recognizes the same challenges but sees cause for optimism. “It’s a difficult story to tell,” he says, but adds, “Over time I think the consumers are understanding, especially as the water crisis in Arizona becomes more severe people are open to learning more. We’re seeing more and more that the people who are coming to our brewery are aware of those messages and making the choice.”
Ultimately, brewers care about the long-term impact they can have on their customers, communities, and the environment. “Buying sustainably is going to be better in the long run for our customers, their housing, their state, and what they get out of living in this area,” says Olson.
The post Treading Lightly: Breweries Reduce Environmental Impact appeared first on CraftBeer.com.
Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Festival is Friday and Saturday in Ypsilanti and will feature more than 110 breweries …
To all of you out there reading this online or in print, there is something I desperately need to confess: For a portion of …
