The Best Mead Resource for Home Brewers: The Compleat Meadmaker
The Compleat Meadmaker by Ken Schramm is an exhaustive guide for the home brewer that enjoys making mead. It is an extensive collection of data and information on every aspect and ingredient in the mead brewing process. While most other books set aside a few pages or a chapter to mead making, The Compleat Meadmaker is a rare book written exclusively for brewing meads in the home.
Section 1: Background
This first part is an overview of the mead making process. Its history and presumed discovery by our ancestors. Also located here is a description of the different names for mead. It is a short section but gives a good overview of mead in general.
Section 2: Process
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The second part of the book discusses the procedure for home brewing mead. A few starting recipes are presented as well as a review of the equipment that will be needed to make a first basic batch. Explanations in the usage of yeast follows with a list of yeast and their characteristics that they pass on to the mead that the make. Honey is missing several key minerals and nutrients needed for yeast to thrive in. Ken Schramm gives good amount of attention to the correct nutrients and their amounts. He also talks about each of the stages of growth that yeast will go through in the fermentation process. This section is pretty important for those who have had a batch of mead stuck during fermentation before it was finished. The chapter finishes with a discussion on oak and aging your mead to improve mouth feel and taste.
Section 3: Ingredients
This chapter of the Compleat Meadmaker begins with the most important of ingredients, honey. Ken covers multiple aspects of honey including it’s the amount of sweetness, and which minerals are missing from honey. Honey is notorious for giving yeast a hard time so special attention to nutrients in honey is a necessity. By knowing which type of honey is lacking what, the home brewer can help out the yeast and insure a strong and quick fermentation.
Most impressive is the over 3 dozen types of honey, measured across over a dozen types of aspects. This truly gives the home brewer to fine tune a batch of mead to any desired flavor trying to be reached.
Next the author covers in great detail fruits to be added to meads to make a melomel. Pros and Cons are listed for various fruits and a very handy quick reference table is included to cover mild, medium, or strong fruit tones. This will save the hobbyist much time desiring to create new tastes. This part ends with a discussion of metheglins; mead with spices added.
Section 4: Recipes
The book ends with covering many recipes for various types of meads from dry, medium, and sweet flavors in melomels. I was pleased that an example of several different styles of mead was given. Too many mead resources only have sweet and not-so-sweet examples. The section and book ends with online honey ordering resources that will open up new possibilities.
Conclusion
Ken Schramm has covered every aspect in mead making and kept the home brewer in mind. It’s the perfect source of information for any wishing to test and experiment with mead or with home brewing in general.
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