Session Mead with Steve Piatz- BeerSmith Podcast

[@jgar538]

I actually picked up Steve's book about a year and half ago and I enjoyed reading it. It's great to put a face and voice to that book. Thanks Steve and Cheers Brad.

[@jcat5150]

Great discussion, as usual. On a semi-related note, I did something similar from a different angle earlier this summer. I had 3 pounds of nice wildflower honey just itching to get used for something. Combined it with 3 lbs of 60/40 wheat DME, which I did a quick 30 minute boil on, adding roughly a 18IBU bittering charge of Perle (also leftovers), and fermented it with a culture of 2565 I saved back from a kolsh. This finished out just a bit over Steve's "session" guideline but it was scary easy to make and even scarier easy to drink (I was able to actually bottle condition this, of course). I thought the wheat gave it some character, even as dry as it was. The "lawnmower" reference cracked me up as my buddy said he got a little dizzy having a couple while mowing his yard (bi-product of 7%ABV going down as easy as a Coors Lite). dubbed it my "honey wheat bragga beer" as I didn't know if it is a heavily "honeyed" beer or a heavily malted mead......Pretty successful experiment....CHEERS.

[@jeremysdailydose9660]

Couldn’t you back sweeten without using sulfite and sorbate then bottle condition and pasteurize once you have reached desired carbonation? This is what I do with my ciders. I fill 1 plastic bottle and once it gets hard it’s ready to pasteurize.

[@scottpowell9985]

What about pasteurizing to kill off the yeast? Heat it to 150 degrees F for 10 minutes or so. Too cool to boil off the alcohol, but enough to kill the yeast. Just curious! Scott

[@MrBeersmith]

Pasteurizing is certainly an option and it will kill off the yeast. I've not done it myself, but it can be done.

[@thebeersandthebees]

I was under the impression Campden tablets could be used to halt fermentation. This episode prompted me to do some research and I discovered this is a common misconception (unsure where I picked it up). This should hopefully save me some issues in the future with unwanted carbonation.

[@MrBeersmith]

They will not halt fermentation unless used at an unacceptably high dosage.

[@hamsterabuser86]

Hey Brad, loving the new Beersmith 3 software! When is the new Beersmith 3 Mobile coming out?

[@MrBeersmith]

The Android version was just released. iTunes is rolling out this week but it is staged over a few days so you should have it shortly.

[@johno7617]

Why not skip back sweetening and bottle condition? Id just do it like beer

[@Vykk_Draygo]

Because mead finishes much drier than beer. It's an option, especially if you want to carbonate. Seems most people want a sweet drink for a "session" though.