Making Mead with Curt Stock – BeerSmith Podcast 20

This week Curt Stock is my guest and we talk about mead making. The leap from making beer to making mead is not a large one, and most brewers have the equipment they need already on hand. Curt was the 2005 AHA mead maker of the year and serving in his second term on the AHA governing committee. He’s a member of the Saint Paul Homebrewer’s club.

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Topics in This Week’s Episode (38:22)

• This week’s guest is Curt Stock, the 2005 AHA Mead Maker of the year and long time homebrewer.
• Curt discusses the basics of mead – any fermented drink made from honey
• He explains the mead making process including what you need to brew mead if you are already brewing beer
• We talk about how you can use modern techniques to keep the yeast healthy and significantly reduce the time needed to make mead (down to a few months)
• Curt shares his thoughts on honey and where to get it
• We talk through mead yeast and what Curt recommends for most meads
• Nutrients are a critical part of mead-making as the yeast will not thrive without them. Curt shares the nutrients he uses as well as how to adjust your pH.
• Aeration is critical for mead throughout the meadmaking process. Curt tells us when and how to oxygenate your beer, when to stop doing it and how to remove some of the CO2 later in fermentation to aid in fermentation
• We talk about fruits and spices used to make many popular meads and when to add them
• Curt shares his thoughts on clarity and enhancing clarity
• We talk about making the leap from beer brewing to mead making
• Curt shares his final thoughts on mead making

Thanks again to Curt Stock who was kind enough to appear on the show!

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