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Mead Lovers Digest #0212
Mead Lover's Digest #212 Wed 22 September 1993
Forum for Discussion of Mead Brewing and Consuming
John Dilley, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
about aging (Ralph Snel)
Unsubscribe me. (Mark Witherspoon (15158))
Re: Staying away from mead (Joyce Miller)
Persimmons (Chuck Stringer)
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Date: Tue, 21 Sep 93 11:38:36 METDST
From: Ralph Snel <ralph@astro.lu.se>
Subject: about aging
Hi There!
I've noticed several people out there with ideas to drink mead when
it is not at least 3 months old.
My advice: Don't do it.
If your mead is almost ready, only bubbling once a minute and it tastes
great, imagine how it will taste after a year...
If you can get your hands on one, try get a oak barrel (I have a 2 gallon
one) and mature your mead in there for a few months (depending very much
on the age of the barrel. A new barrel is too 'woody').
After that, let it age as long as you can keep your fingers away from it.
I still have mead from spring '91, and it's still getting better.
The first 6 weeks or so are most important. A lot of the fermentation
products will form esters that make the mead smoother and make it smell
a lot better.
The trick to let mead age is very simple. If you're used to making 5 gallon
batches, make a 10 gallon batch instead, take half of it and put it in your
cellar and forget about it for a year, while drinking the other half.
Make some wine or cider or beer to drink while your mead is maturing.
Especially beer and cider can be drunk as soon as they stop fermenting.
I always get so sad if someone proudly offers me some of his mead and
I can't even see the other side of the glass through the mead...
'It still tastes a little bit yeasty...'
(and the alcohol content is higher in the last sip, you can feel it
bubble away in your stomach)
Ralph
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Date: Tue, 21 Sep 93 08:00:10 EDT
From: mwithers@clpd.Kodak.COM (Mark Witherspoon (15158))
Subject: Unsubscribe me.
I am moving companies, so unsubscribe me. I will re-subscribe at
my new location.
Mark Witherspoon
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Reply to: mwithers@serum.kodak.com # own, not of my employer... #
Phone : 716/781-5158 # ... this sig will self destruct in #
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Date: Tue, 21 Sep 93 08:58:08 -0400
From: jmiller@genome.wi.mit.edu (Joyce Miller)
Subject: Re: Staying away from mead
> Somewhere around the end of June/beginning of July (forget which), I
>came into posession of 12# of clover honey and decided to make a mead. Well,
>it has been bubbling away quietly in my closet and something happened last
>night. As my boyfriend and I were putting an Oatmeal Stout to rest next to
>the mead, I got the bright idea to give it a quick taste. Just to see how
>it was doing, ya know? Well, we pulled about 1/4 cup out of the 5 gallon
>carboy and *WOW*! This stuff is *GREAT*! Now, it is still bubbling at a
>rate of ~1/30 seconds and I was wondering if I can put it in the bottle now
>and have some nice sparkling mead ready for mid-winter. A friend is being
>exceptionally nice and passing on 4 or 5 champagne bottles, but the rest
>would have to go in some of my nice Grolsch bottles. What do you all think?
>I would really like to do this soon so that I can have another carboy open
>for beer brewing. With the cold weather coming to the mid-west, I will soon
>be able to turn the back bedroom into a lagering room!
Several times now, I've found that a mead tastes great when it's not quite
done yet, and then gets a bit harsh when it _is_ done. Unfortunately, I
really don't know how to "hold" it at that stage. It makes me wonder if,
in the Middle Ages, some meads were meant to be drunk "young".
>Anxiously awaiting replies (and trying not to drink all the mead now ...)
>Diane Palme
Yea, I generally brew beer to keep myself away from the meads while they're
aging.
- -- Joyce
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joyce Miller jmiller@genome.wi.mit.edu
Whitehead Institute / M.I.T. 617-252-1914 (phone)
Center for Genome Research 617-252-1902 (FAX)
1 Kendall Square, Bldg. 300
Cambridge, MA 02142 "Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed."
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Tue, 21 Sep 1993 15:18:27 -0500 (EST)
From: Chuck Stringer <cstringe@nickel.ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Persimmons
Ok, since the grapefruit question came up, I don't feel to bad about
asking this. Has anyone used persimmons in a mead recipe? The little
buggers are in season here and available everywhere. Mitchell,
Indiana, is currently engaged in their annual Persimmon Festival
(seriously). So I thought I'd try a persimmon mead. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Chuck Stringer
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End of Mead Lover's Digest
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