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Mead Lovers Digest #0243
Mead Lover's Digest #243 9 December 1993
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
botulism (Dick Dunn)
Re: Low Alcohol Yeast (milton@cc.umanitoba.ca)
Cranberry Mead (COYOTE)
Champagne Wyeast (is a starter necessary) (Philip J Difalco)
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Subject: botulism
From: rcd@raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 9 Dec 93 00:38:43 MST (Thu)
I think the first question we could ask is "Do we have to worry about
botulism in mead?" The answer is clearly "no"...given that mead has been
made over five millenia, and we don't have any existing cautions in our
recipes to prevent botulism, it can't be a problem. (Botulin is so deadly
that if there were any danger of creating it, we'd know it!)
The second question is "Why not?" I wish I had a canned (sic) answer to
this one. I can offer these thoughts:
- Fermentation is not really anerobic to the extent of producing
conditions favorable to the bacteria. (Botulism becomes an issue
in home canning because the canning process is designed to drive
out most of the available oxygen.)
- Honey, mead must, and fermenting mead are all acidic; the
bacteria need a low-acid environment.
- Presumably, alcohol doesn't do the bacteria any good.
I'd like to get a good answer on the mechanism from somebody who knows a
bit about microbiology, but in the meantime the answer to the main
question is "Don't worry."
Note that killing botulism spores requires a temperature of at least 250 F.
You're unlikely to reach this temp by boiling your honey/water...if you
make candy at home, this is what you'd call "hard ball" stage. Translation:
If you cooked honey/water in an open kettle up to this temp, then cooled
it, you'd have about the consistency of a caramel. (When I looked up that
candy temp, I also wandered off into a note in the cookbook that suggests
not heating honey above 160 F, to avoid adverse effects on flavor.)
---
Dick Dunn rcd@eklektix.com -or- raven!rcd Boulder, Colorado USA
...Simpler is better.
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Subject: Re: Low Alcohol Yeast
From: milton@cc.umanitoba.ca
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 93 8:40:35 CST
> leonard zimmermann <zarlor@rs5.tcs.tulane.edu> writes:
> I may be allergic to alcohol. (I tend to get migrains from
> drinking more than a glass in any 8 hour period, not fun).
It may not be the alcohol you have an allergy to. In many cases the
sulphite content of wines (and many beers) is quite high. It is below
the flavour threshold but is sufficient to cause some pretty severe
headaches if you are sensitive to it. This is one of the main reasons
I brew my own mead, wine, and beer. Both myself and my wife are
sensitive to suphites (check out a restaurant salad bar some time) and
can only drink limited quantities of the commercial stuff.
--
David Milton <David_Milton@UManitoba.CA> (204) 474-6986
Computer Services - Network Support, U of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
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Subject: Cranberry Mead
From: COYOTE <SLK6P@cc.usu.edu>
Date: Thu, 09 Dec 1993 10:31:22 -0600 (MDT)
Over a year ago (10/17/92) I brewed up some cranberry mead.
I have one bottle which will dissapear with my folks at x-mas.
It is very sweet, and tasty. Nicely balanced. It has become lightly
carbonated- even though it's corked. Nice touch though.
Here's the recipe:
2 Gallons Cranberry Mead.
1 gal Oceanspray cranberry juice. (good jug too!)
5 lb vernal honey (clover-alphalpha...)
Handful raisins, chopped.
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp acid blend.
Champagne yeast.
Heat the honey with some water (1:1 is fine) Pasteurize or boil.
I campden treated the juice. Shouldn't really need it though.
Add the rest of the good, divide the juice between two gallon jugs.
Divide honey mixture. Pitch yeast, bring up to a full gallon.
I fermented one in a closet upstairs (60's) and one in the basement
at lower 50's. They both fermented forever.
In january I transfered to a secondary- 1.010. Added 2 cups sugar
to top it up (dissolved first)
The upstairs one was bottled 1/31. It was and is still cloudy.
The downstairs one was bottled 7/5. It was clearer. Sweet and strong.
It did finally clear. and was significantly better than the first.
I have a bunch of cranberries in the freezer, and have considered (planned)
on doing a batch again, with fresh cranberries. I'm not sure how many
it requires, and what is best to do to treat them. Chopped in cuisinart
is my plan/guess.
If anyone has exerience with whole berries- please share it.
Good luck. Brew on.
John (the Coyote) Wyllie
SLK6P@cc.usu.edu
------------------------------
Subject: Champagne Wyeast (is a starter necessary)
From: Philip J Difalco <sxupjd@fnma.com>
Date: Thu, 9 Dec 93 13:25:17 -0500
I just bought a package of Champagne Wyeast that I plan to use for my next
batch of Cider. Prior to this, I've only used dried champagne yeasts.
In the past I've made starters for my liquid yeasts - but for this cider,
I just plan on popping the packet, and after swelling to over an inch
(the packet that is) I plan on pitching.
If you'd recommend making a starter for a Champagne Wyeast, what should my
medium be composed of? Is a quart (or so) of unpreserved cider an
adequate medium for a champagne wyeast starter?
I'd appreciate responses from anyone who has had experience with this
variety of Wyeast.
Thanks.
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #243
