# Mead aching heed!



## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

Does anyone have any special tips for low-hangover mead. 12 oz of some meads is roughly equal to a shot of sterno as far as headaches go. I age my stuff quite a bit too!


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## buz (Dec 8, 2005)

Never heard of it.


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## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

1. No sulfites
2. No potassium sorbate
3. Don't drink as much
4. Let it age longer

If you know what sterno tastes like....


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## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

<<<I will recommend keeping some hives of each race just for the variety. That's the type of thing that interests me.>>>

I didn't specify an amount!


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## Aspera (Aug 1, 2005)

Sorry, that should've read:

<<<3. Don't drink as much>>>

I didn't specify an amount!


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## ainsof (Dec 27, 2005)

<special tips for low-hangover mead>

Hi,

Hangovers are generally caused by an excess of fusel oil and other congeners present in your brew. 

Sulfites are okay to use in bare minimal working dilution, and rinse your containers after treatment. I've had more success using Potassium Metabisulfite instead of Sodium.

If aging in/on charred wood (american oak is nice), many of these compounds will be absorbed in favor of the more 'body tolerant' vanillins and esters, however, filtering through activated charcoal will wipe out all the flavoring compounds. 

What yeast strain are you using? Some strains are known for producing higher degrees of such substances (like fusel oil), especially when fermenting at the higher limits of it's temperature tolerance range. Stay away from using brewers or bread yeasts. 

On the subject of temperature, consider starting your primary no higher than 75F for the first 24 hours, then move it to a cooler locale for the duration of fermentation (my basement stays a nice stable 62F year round.) The results are worth the effort.

Hope this helps.


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

I've also read several more modern refutations of the fusel/higher alcohol (chemically higher, not higher in ABV) hangover association, which I held as gospel for years with the rest of the HB community since Papazian first professed it in NCJHB. Certainly in poorly-distilled liquors fusels can be concentrated and become toxic, the effects of which would be similar to hangover (headache, nausea, et. al.) 

Medically your best bets from what I've heard are sufficient hydration, moderation, and perhaps "shooting the plug". This is the practice of, after decanting the mead off the lees in the bottle, swirling the yeast up in the last inch or so and downing it. Yeast has a lot of B-complex vitamins, the deficiency of which is associated with, you guessed it, overconsumption and hangover.


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