Ken Schramm and Daniel McConnell give us an in-depth analysis of meadmaking, breaking it down into components, and addressing each in turn, giving a very technical but fascinating look at the inner workings of mead.
The article has a dazzling array of tables and in-depth study info that will take you beyond casual mead-making. If you've a yen for technical details, or just want to delve deeper into mead and wine-making, this is a must-read. McConnell and Kenneth D. From the bonny bells of heather, They brewed a drink long-syne, Was sweeter far than honey, Was stronger far than wine. They brewed it and they drank it, And lay in blessed swound For days and days together In their dwellings underground.
Stevenson Heather Ale. For the purposes of brevity, when we discuss the values of honey, those values are based on averages determined in an analysis of samples of honey conducted by the Honey Investigations Unit of the Plant Products Laboratory of the U. This information was collected and published by Dr. Jonathan W. White[1,2], who was the chief of the Plant Products Lab, and to whom we owe credit for most of the information here. Certain floral varieties of honey may differ markedly from these averages, and we will make an effort to note when those differences should have noticeably good or bad effects on your mead making efforts.
Honey is obviously the product of the collection of nectar by honeybees. Not much is known about nectar. Perhaps the government does not think that it is worth the effort to collect it the way it pretty much has to be collected: one bee-full at time.
Nectar is a complex sugar blend consisting primarily of sucrose, as well as levulose and dextrose. The bees add enzymes, and transfer the nectar to a honey stomach from which it is regurgitated into cells in the comb when they return to the colony.
