Brewing Education: Additives and Nutrients

Starting off on this first post of the "intermediate level" of our Brewing Education series we will be going through the most common types of additives and nutrients that can be added to a fermentation, what they do, and what potential drawbacks they may have. Here at The Forge Meadery we do our best to make mead in as simple and natural a way as possible and try to steer clear of the non-organic versions of these additives; but that is not to say these additives are bad, just that we prefer to use organic natural sources and processes. If you decide to use them in your own brewing process then that is great and perfectly fine! Now to start things off we will first look at the most common types of yeast nutrients:

Fermaid-K, Go-Ferm, and DAP (Diammonium Phosphate): All of these are yeast nutrients, which as the name suggest are added to mead in order to give the yeast food in order to promote healthy colony growth and fermentation. These nutrients contain sources of nitrogen, magnesium sulfate, thiamin, folic acid, niacin, biotin, and calcium pantothenate which are all targeted key nutrients for yeast-based fermentation. There is really no drawback or downside to using these other than the extra cost to purchase a supply, and the products work very well for their intended purpose. These are not required when brewing a mead however as the honey itself contains sources of nitrogen and other nutrients for the yeast to start up, and the lees formed during the fermentation process provide an ongoing source of nutrition for the yeast. This alone is more than adequate to fuel an entire fermentation using only honey and water. The addition of other sources of nutrient (such as fruits for a melomel) also contain large quantities of nutrient and only help to further feed the yeast during a fermentation cycle.

A quick follow up for a question you may be asking: What is "lees"? The lees is the solid sediment that naturally forms at the bottom of your fermentation container during the fermentation process. This consists of proteins and non-fermentable sugars that have dropped out of suspension as well as the husks of dead yeast cells. It is a completely natural occurrence when brewing and as we stated prior is a fantastic source of nutrient for the active yeast. With some careful siphoning during multiple racking phases you are able to prevent the lees from making it into your final bottled product.

Next up we will take a look at other additives that are used to make the brewing/fermentation process easier:

Potassium metabisulfite (also called K-meta). This is used for the sterilization of the water and honey. This is also a non-necessary additive and the same results can be achieved with just a little effort. For the sterilization of water you can simply purchase bottled water or use filtered water, as well as using distilled water without causing any trouble for the fermentation. So long as you are not using water directly from a river/pond or sketchy well water there isn't really any need for water sterilization. Honey itself has antibacterial properties naturally and so long as you either purchase filtered/pasteurized honey (nearly all commercially available honey is) or pasteurize it yourself there is no need to worry about sterilization of your honey. Make sure you properly wash any fruits, veg, or other ingredients you add to your brew and there is really very little to worry about as far as bacterial infection is concerned.

Potassium Sorbate (also called K-sorbate). This is used for the stabilization of your mead must in order to back sweeten at ABVs lower than the alcohol tolerance of the yeast you are using. What does all that mean? Essentially K-sorbate prevents the yeast from converting sugars into alcohol, and you would do this if you are attempting to produce a mead with an ABV lower than what the yeast you are using will stop fermentation at, but you also want to add more sugar (in some form) to the must to make it sweeter (this is called back sweetening - adding more sugar on the back end of fermentation). This is a very quick and effective method for ending fermentation early, and there are really no drawbacks to using this product except for, again, the cost for a supply and that there are other ways to achieve the same result. The easiest way to achieve this is pasteurization. Simply put your brew in a glass carboy or individual glass bottles and put those in a hot water bath on a stove top, then bring the internal temp of the brew to 140 degrees F for 22 minutes. After that let it cool back down to room temp naturally and viola you have successfully killed the yeast and are now able to back sweeten your mead without causing a fermentation cycle to start up with the addition of sugars.

Acid Blend. Acid Blend is added to help temper the sweetness of mead and can also help your mead with developing a nice body; the Acid Blend is made up of citric, malic, and tartaric acid and helps to give a crisp tartness to your mead (or wine) if it is otherwise tasting flat. This is arguably a necessary additive but there is definitely a caveat. If you are brewing for your own enjoyment this is absolutely optional, however if you are aiming towards competitive brewing you are most likely going to need some acid additive in order to produce a competitive mead. Depending on where you are on that Personal to Competitive brewing spectrum will indicate how essential Acid Blend will be in your brewing process. Some meads, particularly those incorporating fruits, gain the benefit of the addition of these acid compounds naturally while the fruits are being broken down by the yeast during fermentation.

Lastly we will take a look at clarifying and filtering additives, which are also referred to as "fining agents". These, much like the Acid Blend, are more necessary the closer you get to competitive brewing, but are not needed if you are just brewing for your own fulfillment/enjoyment:

Bentonite. Bentonite is a composite volcanic ash compound that contains Montmorillonite, quartz and mica. It is designed to clear up cloudy meads and helps bring undesirable byproducts of fermentation out of suspension, and therefore out of your mead, and it works phenomenally. It works by way of simple electromagnetic attraction. Most of the particles floating around in your mead that make it cloudy are positively charged, and the bentonite mixture is negatively charged so they bind to each other and the bentonite causes it to fall out of solution and settle on the bottom of your container. There are some significant drawbacks to using this compound however, chief of all is that the recommended handling for this substance is to use a respirator, safety goggles, and gloves because it is a skin, eye, and respiratory irritant. Direct contact with it is likely only going to cause minor irritation but it can persist for some time. It also causes you have loose a relatively significant portion of your brew since it causes a lot of particulate accumulation on the bottom of your container (all the junk it is pulling out of the brew has to go somewhere). Lastly it also releases a large amount of sodium into your brew which leaves you with a potentially salty mead (you could definitely back sweeten your mead afterwards, but then your brew is all cloudy again, then you have to use bentonite to clear it again and its just a never ending cycle).

Sparkolloid. Sparkolloid is the next highly used fining additive used in wines and mead mostly. It is a compound of diatomite and algenate pollysaccharide. Much like bentonite it will clear up your mead to an amazing degree, however it takes at least one week to work and sometimes can take much longer meaning you have to wait longer to drink your mead. It can also cause some sediment accumulation - not nearly as much as bentonite - which means you lose a bit more mead during racking and bottling. It also has the potential of stripping flavor and color from your brew if not applied correctly.

Pectic Enzyme. Of the three this one is probably the best balance of good results with relatively few drawbacks, however its effectiveness can be relatively situational. When you use fruits during fermentation they are broken down by yeast and used for nutrients and in the alcohol production process, one thing that gets left behind and causes hazy or cloudy brews is the pectin protein. Pectic Enzyme is an enzyme that can be added to your wine or mead that consumes pectin which results in a more clear mead (as long as pectin was the cause for the haze). Typically this will need to be added during the first stages of mead making and is usually pitched into the must with the yeast; and sometimes it will need to be added before racking as some fruits may release more pectin than the enzyme can efficiently handle. Its drawbacks are few and relatively minor, mainly it might remove some color and flavor from your mead to a minor degree.

If you are like us and want to clear your brew without using any additives there is good and bad news for that. The good news is that you can clear your mead with literally no effort on your part, you just need to let it sit and age. It will eventually clear up (usually pretty nicely) over the course of a few months in most cases which has the added benefit of letting the flavors mesh together creating an even tastier full-bodied mead. The bad news is you have to wait to drink your mead, and if you are also impatient like we are that can be hard. There is definitely nothing wrong or harmful if you immediately drink the mead after it has finished fermenting and you have racked the lees out of it. Clarity is definitely an aesthetic for mead that does not have a realistic impact on the flavor of the mead (people just tend to expect alcohol to be clear and think there is something wrong with "cloudy" beers, wines, and mead). We will warn you however that drinking mead without letting it age may not be the best choice anyway since you will most likely get a very green taste (harsh alcohol/antiseptic) and all of the different compounds of the mead are exactly that, different. Ageing helps to settle down the mead and bring the flavors of honey - and whatever else you have added - forward while mellowing out the alcohol flavor and aroma, and gets all the different parts of your mead to work together to create a truly tasty beverage.

Our next article will be about the different ways of filtering lees out of your brew, and different ways of "reclaiming waste mead" from the lees.

Stay safe and remember to love one another!

~ The Forge Meadery