Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Mead Lovers Digest #0256
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #256, 16 January 1994
From: mead-lovers-request@eklektix.com
Mead Lover's Digest #256 16 January 1994
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Commercial meaderies and honey bee list, an answer (Aaron Morris)
Digby ("rick (r.) cavasin")
re: Inspiration ("Dave Polaschek")
Yeast nutrient ("Dave Polaschek")
more questions (Jim Sims)
yet_another ??? (Jim Sims)
[Mead list is on semi-autopilot for a few days; please be patient.]
Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead-lovers@eklektix.com.
Use mead-lovers-request@eklektix.com for subscribe, unsubscribe, and admin
requests. When subscribing, please include your name and a good address
in the message body unless you're sure your mailer generates them.
There is an FTP archive of the digest on sierra.stanford.edu in pub/mead.
If you have email access but not ftp, it will accept "listserv" requests.
Send email with message "help" to listserv@sierra.stanford.edu.
------------------------------
Subject: Commercial meaderies and honey bee list, an answer
From: Aaron Morris <SYSAM@albany.albany.edu>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 15:08:50 EST
Jim Sims asked a lot of questions. Two answers (or partial answers):
There is a commercial meadery in Greenwich, New York appropriately
called "The Meadery", but I'm not sure of their number. Call area code
518 555-1212. There is a listserv list supported at ALBNYVM1 called
BEE-L which is devoted to the discussion of bee biology.
------------------------------
Subject: Digby
From: "rick (r.) cavasin" <cav@bnr.ca>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 16:49:00 +0000
From the mead-lovers-digest FAQ:
The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby, Knight, Opened, edited by Anne MacDonell,
1669, 1910, Philip Lee Warner, Publisher.
Digby worked for Queen Elizabeth I in her kitchen as, among other
things, her mead maker. This is a collection of over 100 recipes from
the time. This book may be ordered from the International Bee Research
Association:
International Bee Research Association (IRBA)
18 North Road
Cardiff, Wales, CF1 3 DY, UK
Copies may also be obtained from the Society for Creative Anachronisms
(SCA) in the states. You might try rec.org.sca for pointers.
I believe someone in the SCA is selling reprints. I have a photocopy
of one.
Cheers, Rick C.
------------------------------
Subject: re: Inspiration
From: "Dave Polaschek" <DAVEP@county.lmt.mn.org>
Date: 13 Jan 1994 17:40:44 CST
This is to Ralph Snel, but others can feel free to comment:
Sounds like you've got all the stuff you need. Here's a recipe off the
top of my head (based on the Crazy-Good Mead recipe I posted a month
or so back)
Inspiration Mead
----------- ----
(To make 5 gallons)
Ingredients:
8 lbs honey
3 lbs raisins
1 to 1.5 gallon pasteurized unpreserved apple cider
Herbs to taste (frankly, I don't know if I'd use any at all)
(optionally) 1/2 to 1 oz Saaz hops
1 tsp Irish Moss
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
Directions:
Bring about 3 gallons of water to a boil
Add 1 tsp yeast nutrient
Add 1 tsp irish moss
Add honey
Bring back to a boil (yes, a full boil, which will almost certainly
carmelize some of the honey, which will make for a little bit of nice
residual sweetness)
Turn down the heat and let the temp drop back to about 170F
add raisins (ideally in a hop/grain boiling bag, so you don't have
to fish out the skins later)
Tet the raisins steep in hot must/wort for about a half hour,
maintaining temp in the 170-180F range.
Optionally add 1/2 - 1 oz saaz hops (some don't like 'em. I do.
Using Saaz hops will make for fairly minimal bittering)
Put cold cider in sterilized, rinsed carboy.
Pour in the hot stuff
Add water to bring total to 5 gallons
Wait for it to cool to 70F and pitch 2 packs yeast. I recommend either
a) Red Star Champagne or
b) Wyeast liquid champage yeast
about equally. The Red Star is cheaper and provides me with good
results. I double up on the yeast because when I only pitch one
pack, I've had some slow starts, but never with two packs.
When S.G. has dropped below 1.000, rack and bottle.
If you add no priming sugar, this will end up very lightly carbonated.
At an age of 3 months after bottling, this should be very drinkable.
At a year after bottling, it should do well in contests. The main
change between this and the Crazy-Good Mead recipe I posted is
that one had blueberries and this one has raisins. More than 3 lbs
of raisins in a 5 gallon batch will be too winelike for my taste.
Earlier in its life, the fruit flavors will be stronger. They mellow
with age. Depending on the color of the raisins, you should end up
with something pink, from almost clear to white-zin color.
As I said, this is off the top of my head and I've never made it,
but I bet I make a batch using this recipe after my current batches
of beer complete. Check with me after May Day to see how mine came
out.
(And to Jim Sims, my recommendations for nutrient and clarifying are
just what you've been using. The idea of freezing the fruit first to
make it easier to mush up sounds good. I sterilize fruit by steeping
it in hot (170-180F) wort, just like I do hops in beer. Had no problems
yet. Just don't be too hot, or you'll get jelly)
davep@county.lmt.mn.org----------------------------Dave Polaschek, software guy
AppleLink:LASERMAX-------------------------LaserMaster Corp.,7156 Shady Oak Rd,
ATTNet:6129439204------------------------------------Eden Prairie, MN 55344 USA
------------------------------
Subject: Yeast nutrient
From: "Dave Polaschek" <DAVEP@county.lmt.mn.org>
Date: 14 Jan 1994 8:45:27 CST
One thing I remembered last night was that people at a couple of the
local homebrew shops have said that egg white makes a good yeast nutrient.
Haven't tried it, myself. I imagine you'd want to add it after things
have cooled so you don't cook it.
davep@county.lmt.mn.org----------------------------Dave Polaschek, software guy
AppleLink:LASERMAX-------------------------LaserMaster Corp.,7156 Shady Oak Rd,
ATTNet:6129439204------------------------------------Eden Prairie, MN 55344 USA
------------------------------
Subject: more questions
From: sims@pdesds1.scra.org (Jim Sims)
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 94 11:41:57 EST
(garbled last time)
I'm trying to find this email list - anyone nkow if it still exists?
- Honey Bee Growers Digest: hbg-request@jpunix.com
thanks,
jim
------------------------------
Subject: yet_another ???
From: sims@pdesds1.scra.org (Jim Sims)
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 94 12:24:23 EST
Dose anyone have the phone number ofr the American Mead Assoc? I heard
they were in Denver but the 800 and 303 directoies dont find them...
jim
[Moderator's Note: The AMA was in Boulder, has now moved to Grand
Junction. I've been in touch with the person running it; I'll be
providing some info from her about the AMA sometime within the next
couple issues of this digest. -Dick]
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #256
