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Mead Lovers Digest #0007
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #7 (October 03, 1992)
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 92 01:00:03 -0700
From: mead-lovers-request@nsa.hp.com (Mead Digest)
Mead Lover's Digest #7 Sat 03 October 1992
Forum for Discussion of Mead Brewing and Consuming
John Dilley, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Three recipes from Dan Fink (STROUD)
Aged Honey (Brewing Chemist Mitch)
Back issues ? (Brian McAllister)
Gallon jugs (Arthur Delano)
Re: Back issues ? (John Dilley)
Re: Gallon jugs (John Dilley)
Honey-Maple Mead (Joseph Nathan Hall)
Strange Gravity Readings (Brian J Walter)
Send articles for submission to the digest to mead-lovers@nsa.hp.com
Send digest addition or removal requests to mead-lovers-request@nsa.hp.com
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Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 10:14 EST
From: STROUD <STROUD%GAIA@leia.polaroid.com>
Subject: Three recipes from Dan Fink
Dan Fink (formerly of the AHA), a real meadophile, posted these recipes on
Compuserve about a year ago. He is a very strong advocate of pasteurizing, not
boiling, your mead.
*********************
The Meading of Life According to Dan Fink
OR,
"Why not take all of mead?"
<groan>
Here are three mead recipes that have served me well.
Dry Mead (5 gallons)
10 pounds fresh, raw alfalfa or clover honey
2 pounds fresh, raw wildflower (or other dark) honey
2 teaspoons Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa mead yeast nutrient
(made up to Roger Morse's formula in the book Making Mead)
2 packets Champagne Yeast (dry or liquid )
Add honey, nutrient and 2 gallons water to the brewpot. Bring
slowly to 170 degrees F and hold for 30 minutes to pasteurize. Skim
off any white scum from the surface as it forms. Pour into a carboy
containing cold water, top off with water to 5 gallons. Pitch yeast
when cooled to 80 degrees F. Ferment at 65-80 degrees F until some
clearing is evident (usually 3 months). High tempratures (up to 80
or so) won't hurt mead (unlike beer). At this point, rack to another
carboy. Bottle or keg when mead is CRYSTAL clear.
Sweet Mead (5 gallons)
15 pounds fresh, raw alfalfa or clover honey
3 pounds fresh, raw wildflower (or other dark) honey
3 teaspoons Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa mead yeast nutrient
(made up to Roger Morse's formula in the book Making Mead)
2 teaspoons acid blend (you might want more -- depends on the
honey you use)
2 packets Montrachet, Steinberger or K-1 wine yeast
(you might try Flor-sherry yeast if you like a nutty taste)
Add honey, nutrient, acid and 2 gallons water to the brewpot.
Bring slowly to 170 degrees F and hold for 30 minutes to pasteurize.
Skim off any white scum from the surface as it forms. Pour into a
carboy containing cold water, top off with water to 5 gallons. Pitch
yeast when cooled to 80 degrees F. This will take awhile due to
sugar content. Ferment at 65-80 degrees F until some clearing is
evident (usually 6 months, sometimes as long as a year). High
tempratures (up to 80 or so) won't hurt mead (unlike beer). At this
point, rack to another carboy. Bottle or keg when mead is CRYSTAL
clear. This could take awhile!
Medium Apricot Mead (5 gal)
13 pounds fresh, raw alfalfa or clover honey
2 pounds fresh, raw wildflower (or other dark) honey
7 pounds fresh frozen or fresh apricots, crushed
2 pounds fresh frozen or fresh apricots, crushed (in secondary)
2 teaspoons Great Fermentations of Santa Rosa mead yeast nutrient
(made up to Roger Morse's formula in the book Making Mead)
2 packets Champagne Yeast (dry or liquid )
Add honey, nutrient and 1.5 gallons water to the brewpot.
Crush fruit, add to brewpot. Bring the whole mess slowly to 170
degrees F and hold for 30 minutes to pasteurize. Skim off any white
scum from the surface as it forms. Pour into a fermenter containing
cold water, top off with water to 5 gallons. Since you won't be able
to shove the fruit thru a carboy neck, you'll need to use a plastic or
stainless steel fermenter. it MUST be closed! Pitch yeast when
cooled to 80 degrees F. This will take awhile due to sugar content.
Ferment at 65-70 degrees F for 1-2 weeks. Don't leave your mead on
the fruit for much longer than this to avoid spoilage! Carefully rack
mead off of fruit parts into a carboy. Ferment until clearing is
evident (usually 4-5 months). At this point, rack to another carboy.
After mead is fairly clear, pasteurize the other 2 pounds of crushed
fruit in a little water and add to must. . Bottle or keg when mead is
CRYSTAL clear. If this takes a long time, rack off of fruit parts after
no longer than a month.
**********************
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 9:08:51 CDT
From: gelly@persoft.com (Brewing Chemist Mitch)
Subject: Aged Honey
Greetings!
I posted this question a few issues back but got *no* response. Since the
MLD population has increased considerably since then, I will post it again.
Is using aged (okay, *old*) honey preferable. Honey > 2yrs. old. I have been
told by a couple of people that old honey has a different complex of sugars
or some quality that makes it more desirable than fresh honey.
What do you think?
If that evokes no response, I could always state it in the form of an opinion:
Aged honey is the only honey to use in mead !! Fresh honey will yield an
inferior product !!
So now what do you think ? ;-)
My connection has about 300 pounds of old honey (no, he was not one of the
people touting aged honey), and will unload it *cheap* if I want it. But,
do I want it ??
Cheers,
Mitch
- --
- Mitch Gelly - | We tend to scoff at the beliefs of the ancients.
software QA specialist | But we can't scoff at them personally, to their
and zymurgist | faces, and this is what annoys me.
- gelly@persoft.com - | -- Jack Handey
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Oct 92 12:14:56 -0400
From: Brian McAllister <brian@kokom.mit.edu>
Subject: Back issues ?
Having just joined this list, I missed issues 1-5, and it sounds like
I missed some good stuff already. As there is no archive mentioned in
the digest header, I was hoping one of you might be able to help me
out. So as not to flood the net (wishful thinking ?), send me e-mail
and I'll let you know if I still need them.
Thanks in advance.
- ----
Brian McAllister Internet: mcallister@mit.edu
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 12:15:13 EDT
From: Arthur Delano <ajd@itl.itd.umich.edu>
Subject: Gallon jugs
Here's a terribly mundane question for the experienced mead-brewers
out there.
How does one get gallon jugs? I've asked for them from co-workers and
friends, but nobody has any to offer. They aren't returned for deposit,
so I can't get them at the local package store, and buying juice in
gallon volumes is out of the question, as we just wouldn't be able to
drink it up fast enough to prevent waste.
Suggestions?
AjD
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Oct 92 10:17:54 -0700
From: John Dilley <jad@aspen.nsa.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Back issues ?
> Having just joined this list, I missed issues 1-5, and it sounds like
> I missed some good stuff already. As there is no archive mentioned in
> the digest header, I was hoping one of you might be able to help me
> out. So as not to flood the net (wishful thinking ?), send me e-mail
> and I'll let you know if I still need them.
I don't have an archive system set up yet. I'm also not on an
open subnet system, so nobody from outside HP can get to them via anon
FTP (I have an open system, but I'd prefer not to use it for the MLD).
Anyway, lots of you aren't directly on the Internet either. Is someone
on the MLD willing to set up a mail-based archive server? Please let me
know -- reply directly to jad@nsa.hp.com and I will inform the MLD list
when we get one set up. Thanks ...
-- jad --
PS, Brian:
Back issues 1-5 are on their way to you in a separate message. Enjoy!
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 02 Oct 92 10:23:13 -0700
From: John Dilley <jad@aspen.nsa.hp.com>
Subject: Re: Gallon jugs
> Here's a terribly mundane question for the experienced mead-brewers
> out there. How does one get gallon jugs? I've asked for them from
> co-workers and friends, but nobody has any to offer. They aren't
> returned for deposit, so I can't get them at the local package store,
> and buying juice in gallon volumes is out of the question, as we just
> wouldn't be able to drink it up fast enough to prevent waste.
Are you sure you won't drink the juice? How about if I suggest
you make cider out of it? Now will you drink it? :-)
I have been making cider only for a little while now, but find
it to be a lot of fun. Of course this means you have to wait for the
cider to ferment before you can reuse the glass. After the primary
fermentation in the bottle, though, you can bottle it in beer bottles,
so at least you don't have to wait until you drink it. Let me know if
you want a good cider recipe (or contact cider-request@expo.lcs.mit.edu
to get on a friendly cider-making mailing list).
I looked into buying 1 gallon glass bottles at a home brew shop
before, but they're actually less expensive if I buy them in the grocery
store full of apple juice...
-- jad --
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 92 18:26:22 EDT
From: joseph@joebloe.maple-shade.nj.us (Joseph Nathan Hall)
Subject: Honey-Maple Mead
OK, well, I wasn't going to forward this recipe at first, but I've
changed my mind. This stuff is really good ... but ...
..the caveat is that both batches I've made have been serious headache
producers. I get a touch of headache after about 6 oz. I get more
of a headache after that. I was going to try some different yeasts,
maybe fermenting a little cooler, but rather than report back to you
next year I thought I'd just let you folks you take your chances.
I've never had headache problems with mead or homebrew before, so
there must be something special about this mix.
Let ME know if you produce a headache-free version!
Honey-Maple Mead
(recipe for 2 gallons or maybe a little more)
2 quarts maple syrup (that hurt$, as Charlie Papazian says)
2 to 2-1/2 lbs light honey (I used clover)
acid to taste--I think I used a little less than 1 tsp of acid blend
for this batch.
Bring honey and maple syrup to boil in enough water to liquefy. Add
acid and a bit of nutrient if desired. (I don't think you *need* yeast
nutrient--the maple syrup seems to have the necessary stuff in it.)
Skim for a minute or two, enjoying the flavor of the yummy foamy stuff.
:-) Cool. Then add water to make a 1.120 SG must. Pitch with working
Pasteur Champagne yeast. Prepare for a moderately vigorous fermentation.
Rack off after primary fermentation, and once again if it isn't clear
in a few more weeks. I topped off the gallon jugs with boiled water
after the first racking--that seemed to help settle the yeast. ???
Both batches I made this summer (the first with about half this much
syrup) fermented out to almost exactly 1.000. They fermented and cleared
at 70-72F in 6-8 weeks.
The result (that's what you've been waiting for): a beautiful, crystal-
clear brilliant straw-colored liquid, slightly sweet, with a monster
alcohol palate and strong bourbon notes. Smoooooth.
I rather like it over ice. Is this heresy?
But those headaches. :-(
I'll keep trying, though!
I wonder what fermented plain maple syrup tastes like ... ?
uunet!joebloe!joseph (609) 273-8200 day joseph%joebloe@uunet.uu.net
2102 Ryan's Run East Rt 38 & 41 Maple Shade NJ 80852
- -----My employer isn't paying for this, and my opinions are my own-----
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 21:19:54 -0600
From: walter@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Brian J Walter)
Subject: Strange Gravity Readings
Howdy,
First I must say that I am quite pleased to have the likes
of the MLD gracing the phosphors of my terminal ;-) Seriously, I
love the digest and whole heartedly extend my thanks.
As for weird gravity readings, I have experienced this with
beer a few times. One time I measured the gravity on a bock, and
came up with an o.g. of 1.030!! Now, having put 9 lbs of extract in,
I knew this was wrong. Other times I have had readings that seemed
a little to high.
I attribute this to improper mixing of the wort. In the
bock case I remeber adding the hot wort to bottom of the fermenter
(it was a plastic carboy) and then adding chilled water to the top.
I did this hoping the cold water pouring on top would cool the wort
and mix up just fine (this was B.WC. (before wort chiller). Anyway
after getting the low grav reading I noticed the bottom of the carboy
looked darker, and was much hotter to the touch. Obviously the
wort was not homogeneously mixed. Looking back on this it makes
perfect sense, as the boiled wort is quite dense, it will tend to
remain on the bottom. Since then I always add the wort to the
water and get much better results. But beware, if it still is not
mixed right you can get a gravity reading that is too HIGH if you
do it the latter way.
Moral: Always mix your must (or wort) BEFORE taking a grav. The
yeasties love the O2 anyway!!
Good Day,
Brian J Walter |Science, like nature, must also be tamed| Relax,
Chemistry Graduate Student|with a view towards its preservation. |Don't Worry
Colorado State University |Given the same state of integrity, it | Have A
walter@lamar.colostate.edu|will surely serve us well. -N. Peart | Homebrew!
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest
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