Influence of different types of honey on mead production

Namen magistrske naloge je bil ugotoviti vpliv različnih vrst medu na potek alkoholne fermentacije in ovrednotiti fizikalno-kemijsko sestavo ter senzorične lastnosti pridelanih medic. V eksperimentalnem delu naloge smo pripravili šest vzorcev medenih raztopin s sladkorno stopnjo 20 °Brix, ki smo jim nato dodali hranila, kislino in kvasovke. S pomočjo gravimetrije smo spremljali alkoholno fermentacijo medenih raztopin, pripravljenih z različnimi vrstami medu. Alkoholna fermentacija je bila zaključena po 19 dneh. Vse pridelane medice so imele različno fermentacijsko kinetiko. Sestavo vzorcev pred in po fermentaciji smo analizirali s pomočjo WineScan␢. Medice so se kljub enaki začetni sladkorni stopnji razlikovale v vsebnostih alkohola, glukoze, fruktoze in kislin. Pri analizi vrednosti pH medene raztopine in medenega vina smo ugotovili, da se je ta med alkoholno fermentacijo pri vseh medicah znižala. Po zaključeni fermentaciji smo izvedli tudi senzorično analizo, s katero smo želeli preveriti všečnost in senzorične lastnosti pridelanih medic. Medice so se razlikovale v senzorični sprejemljivosti. Skoraj vse medice so bile senzorično sprejemljive, z izjemo medice pridelane iz kostanjevega medu. Najbolj všečni sta bili medici, pridelani iz gozdnega in smrekovega medu. Najslabše ocenjena je bila medica, pridelana iz kostanjevega medu, zaradi neprijetnega grenkega okusa. Z metodo hitrega profiliranja so preskuševalci sami izbrali opisnike, od katerih so prevladovali aroma po cvetlicah, aroma po bezgu in okus po grenkem. S statistično obdelavo podatkov smo dokazali, da se medice med seboj razlikujejo v vonju, okusu in aromi.The aim of the Master\u27s thesis was to determine the influence of different types of honey on the alcoholic fermentation and to evaluate the physicochemical composition and sensory properties of the produced meads. In the experimental part we prepared six samples of honey solutions with a sugar level of 20 °Brix, to which we added nutrients, acid and yeast. With the help of gravimetry we monitored the alcoholic fermentation of honey solutions prepared with different types of honey. Alcoholic fermentation was completed after 19 days. All produced meads had different fermentation kinetics. The composition of the honey solutions before fermentation and the processed meads was analysed using WineScan␢. Despite having the same initial sugar content, the meads differed in contents of alcohol, glucose and fructose, and acidity. The pH value had decreased in all meads during alcoholic fermentation. Finally, we also performed sensory analysis to determine the sensory acceptability and sensory characteristics of the processed meads. Meads differed in sensory accepting. Almost all meads were sensory acceptable except for mead made from chestnut honey. The most acceptable meads were those made from forest and spruce honey. The least acceptable was mead made from chestnut honey because of its unpleasant bitter taste. Using the flash profiling method, the assessors selected descriptors for meads by themselves. Floral aroma, elderberry aroma and bitter taste were predominant descriptors. With the statistical analysis of obtained results, we were able to prove that meads differ in odour, taste and aroma