Mead Lovers Digest #0122

eZine lover (@eZine)

Published in 

Mead Lovers Digest

 · 7 months ago

 

Mead Lover's Digest #122                            Fri 30 April 1993 

 
        Forum for Discussion of Mead Brewing and Consuming 
               John Dilley, Digest Coordinator 

 
Contents: 
  Re: Dandelion wine (Kelly Jones) 
  A few questions... (Kelly Jones) 
  Cloying mead... (aderr) 

 
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Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 08:08:54 -0600 
From: Kelly Jones <k-jones@ee.utah.edu> 
Subject: Re: Dandelion wine 

 
It was written: 

> -pick young, unblemished leaves, BEFORE the flower begins to form. 

Of course, you don't use the leaves at all but rather the fresh flower 
heads.  I believe Anderson & Hull have a recipe; I'll check for it when 
I get home tonight. 

Kelly       <k-jones@ee.utah.edu> 

 

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Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 08:10:47 -0600 
From: Kelly Jones <k-jones@ee.utah.edu> 
Subject: A few questions... 

 
A few questions from a beginner... 

In Cat's Meow, I have seen a few recipes which call, for example, for 
"1/2 cup jasmine tea".  Is it correct to assume that this means 1/2 cup 
of dried tea leaves, and not 1/2 cup of prepared (liquid) tea? 

My local bulk/natural foods store sells whole vanilla beans. Has anyone 
tried this as a flavoring agent in a mead or metheglin? Would this 
possibly be overpowering or artificial tasting? How much would be a 
reasonable amount to use? 

Does anyone have an approximation for the amount of honey to add to one 
gallon water to achieve a given specific gravity? How much will this 
vary from honey to honey, especially as moisture content of the honey 
changes? 

Thanks for any help, 

Kelly 

<k-jones@ee.utah.edu> 

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Date: Thu, 29 Apr 93 11:22:10 -0400 
From: aderr@BBN.COM 
Subject: Cloying mead... 

 
Late last fall I brewed a recipe that I thought would be a good idea. 
Here was the starting recipe:  

               Blueberry-Jasmine Mead (5 gal) 

        10 lb clover honey (basic, grocery store variety) 
        2-12oz bags of frozen Maine wild blueberries 
        1/4 c jasmine tea 
        pectic enzyme 
        yeast nutrient 
        Red Star Champagne yeast 

        The honey and blueberries were added to about 2 gal. of water 
        and raised and held at 170F for 25 minutes. I squished the 
        blueberries and strained them about halfway through the 
        heating process. This mixture was then poured into a carboy 
        with water to make a bit less than 5 gal. The yeast nutrient 
        and pectic enzyme were added to the water before heating.  
        I then boiled about 2 cups of water, steeped the tea for 
        several minutes and strained it into the carboy.  
        When cool, I pitched the dry yeast. (I know, I should know 
        better...) 

OK. Time passes. Fermentation happens. It stops. I taste the result. 
The jasmine was a bit too heavy, but I figure it will probably mellow 
with age. The blueberry smell, flavor, and color was kind of 
underwhelming. The main problem was, the resulting mead was thin-bodied 
and dry as a bone. Now I want a fairly dry mead, but this WAY too much so. 

So next, I heated another 2 lb of honey, some more yeast nutrient, and 
another 12oz of wild blueberries in a quart or so of water, squished 
and strained, and added this mixture to the carboy.  

Fermentation started again (slowly) and has continued for the past 
couple of months. It is now crystal clear, has a beautiful purple color, 
nice blueberry and jasmine aromas, and a very nice mouth feel (not to 
mention a fairly high alcohol content!). However, it's a bit sweeter 
than I was aiming for and has a cloying quality I normally associate 
with Mogen David wines. 

FINALLY, my question: What is the best way for me to add some acidity 
to balance the sweetness? I have some powdered citric acid, is there 
a good way to add some of that? Will citric acid leave the mead with 
that aspirin-in-the-back-of-your-mouth feel that some citric acid 
fortified herbal teas have? Is there a better way? Add lemon juice? 
Lactic acid? Help! 

Thanks (and sorry if this was a bit too long), 
Alan Derr  
(aderr@bbn.com) 

 
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End of Mead Lover's Digest 
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