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Mead Lovers Digest #0364
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #364, 16 November 1994
From: mead-lovers-request@eklektix.com
Mead Lover's Digest #364 16 November 1994
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Still Mead ("Luigi P. Bai")
Dissolved CO2 in Mead (BrewerLee@aol.com)
priming rate for sparkling mead (John DeCarlo)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #363,... (MEADMSTR@aol.com)
sack attack (BURNELLT)
Kiwi mead! (My hands and feet are mangoes!)
re: Plastic fermenters, liquid yeasts, etc. (Dick Dunn)
Lavender , another viewpoint (BrewerLee@aol.com)
early mead (Mark Raker)
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------------------------------
Subject: Still Mead
From: "Luigi P. Bai" <lpb@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 04:00:44 -0600 (CST)
Fellow brewers,
I am a predominately beer brewer with two batches of mead
"under my belt", each of which turned out sparkling without
any added bottling sugar. Each of the batches sat in 1ary
and 2ary fermentation for a total of 2 months, after which
we finally noted a cessation of airlock activity. The finished
meads, six months after bottling (and even now, a year later)
are dry and sparkling.
Is there any way to halt the fermentation after a certain
time to force a sweet, still mead? Perhaps we are using yeast
that is far too hardy - any suggested "wimps" to use that
will poison themselves fairly soon but leave few alternate
flavors?
I read the FAQ and noted a lot of good information but none
to offer suggestions in this area;
Thanks!
Luigi
-------------------------------------------------------------
Luigi P. Bai Focal Point Software, Inc.
lpb@focalpoint.com 3907 Richmond, Suite 188
Oh boy! Right ... again! Houston, TX 77027-5803
(713) 668-0350
------------------------------
Subject: Dissolved CO2 in Mead
From: BrewerLee@aol.com
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 07:37:33 -0500
Greetings all. Sean Cox in the digest #363 asks about dissolved CO2 in his
mead. I found this table (and I liberally edited it):
********************************************************
Extracted from file: C:\BREWING\HBD1540.TXT
********************************************************
Date: Wed, 28 Sep 1994 17:49:55 +1200 (EST)
From: HIBBERD Mark <mfh@dar.csiro.au>
Subject: A primer on priming (pt 1)
Green beer, i.e. beer that has finished fermenting and is ready for bottling,
is saturated with carbon dioxide because it has had CO2 bubbling through
it continuously during fermentation. This amount of CO2 can be estimated
from the accompanying graph. It shows that the CO2 level depends on the
temperature (at which fermentation was completed) and explains why a
sample taken from a secondary fermenter at 2 degC tastes much brighter than
a sample from an ale fermenting at 20 degC. For the following example, we
will assume an initial 0.9 volumes CO2.
Temp (degC) Vol. CO2 Temp (degC) Vol. CO2
----------- -------- ----------- --------
0 1.7 12 1.12
2 1.6 14 1.05
4 1.5 16 0.99
6 1.4 18 0.93
8 1.3 20 0.88
10 1.2 22 0.83
***************************************
So as you can see, a green beer has a certain amount of CO2 in it and thus a
mead would be expected to have a like amount as long as it hasn't been bulk
aged too long.
Hope this helps.
-Lee C. Bussy
Wichita, Kansas
BrewerLee@aol.com
November 14, 1994
6:17 am
------------------------------
Subject: priming rate for sparkling mead
From: John DeCarlo <jdecarlo@homebrew.mitre.org>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 94 08:15:14 EST
From: FLATTER%MHS@mhs.rose-hulman.edu
>Can anyone tell me how to prime a sparkling mead or melomel? I have an
>idea for a sparkling mead, but have no idea how much it will take to
>naturally carbonate it.
Well, let me say that I fermented a mead for about 14-16 months and then
bottled, wanting a sparkling mead. I used 1 cup of honey for 5 gallons of
mead. Many told me this was too much, and I sort-of agree. It is pretty
highly carbonated--like champagne. You can't pour a full glass at once, you
have to let the foam settle first.
Most people recommended closer to 3/4 cup of honey for 5 gallons, and you may
want to try that. I just wanted to point out that you may not have any
problems going a little higher than that if everything has fermented out
already. (No exploding bottles)
John DeCarlo, MITRE Corporation, McLean, VA--My views are my own
Fidonet: 1:109/131 Internet: jdecarlo@mitre.org
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #363,...
From: MEADMSTR@aol.com
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 09:15:02 -0500
>>Subject: priming rate for sparkling mead
>>From: FLATTER%MHS@mhs.rose-hulman.edu
>>Date: Fri, 11 Nov 1994 22:27:14 -0500 (EST)
>>Can anyone tell me how to prime a sparkling mead or melomel? I >>have an
idea for a sparkling mead, but have no idea how much it >>will take to
naturally carbonate it.
for the secondary fermentation in order to produce a sparkling mead, you
must know the final sugar content of the mead. This does not mean the final
gravity. To do this accuratelly ( and to not have your bottles blow up ) you
need a CLINITEST blood glucose kit.
Once this is established, typical sugar levels for a sparkling mead is 1
5/8 %.
Wassail
------------------------------
Subject: sack attack
From: BURNELLT <BURNELLT@ropt1.am.wyeth.com>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 11:57:13 -0500 (EST)
Sean,
I'd guess your mead is still fermenting. I'd store those bottles
somewhere that cleanup would be easy. I'm not sure where a sack
finishes for final gravity, but a gravity of 1.073 just can't be
finnished. The reason fermentation probably stuck was due to the
high alcohol, and your bottling may get it going again. Does anyone
have any experience with such a heavy mead? This may be a messy
situation and you should be careful when opening these babies.
------------------------------
Subject: Kiwi mead!
From: My hands and feet are mangoes! <STU_GJCARRIE@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 1994 14:17:55 -0500 (EST)
Anyone ever made kiwi mead? Well, I have now...it's in the primary. Think
it'll be good? Has anyone used kiwis before? Here's my recipe if anyone's
interested...
15# light clover honey
10# kiwis
1 T corriander
Wyeast Sweet Mead yeast
Plus some acid blend and gypsum...think I might add some nutrient too...
Take it easy all...
*********************** We gotta get on the road *****************************
* Gregg Carrier (aka Uncle Zany, the guy in the floppy green hat) *
* 332 Old S. High St. stu_gjcarrie@vax1.acs.jmu.edu *
* Harrisonburg, VA 22801 (703) 434-8214 *
*************************** Destiny Unbound **********************************
------------------------------
Subject: re: Plastic fermenters, liquid yeasts, etc.
From: rcd@raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 14 Nov 94 21:54:15 MST (Mon)
<STU_GJCARRIE@VAX1.ACS.JMU.EDU> writes:
> Is it safe to ferment mead in plastic? Will it produce off flavors?
There's not a lot to go on; the plastic carboys you're likely to find
are designed for water. It's not that they're known to be safe (more to
the point, known to contribute no off-tastes) or known otherwise; it's
just hard to get any useful information. One thought is that plastics
likely to be used for a container like this are often rather permeable to
oxygen. "Conventional wisdom" for homeBREWers is that it's OK to do the
primary fermentation in plastic (because it's fast and the yeast still use
oxygen then), but switch to glass for secondary.
> Has anyone tried liquid mead yeast? I'm not sure if it's wyeast or not...
There are two common sources for liquid cultures of "mead yeast": Wyeast
and Yeast Labs. I've used the Wyeast in the past; I'm not crazy about it.
I'm currently experimenting with the Yeast Labs cultures and so far they
show more potential. (Wyeast is the gold plastic pouch-within-a-pouch.
Yeast Labs is a plastic cylinder with a green cap.)
The Wyeast (3184 Sweet Mead and 3632 Dry Mead) seem to be rather slow and
unenthusiastic fermenters. The starter medium in the packet is quite
dark--dark enough to add noticeable color to a pale must, and that seems
both a bad idea and unnecessary. Moreover, although the packets start
quickly (ferment and bulge) if they're fresh, they don't seem to take hold
in the must very quickly. Let me offer a raw, unsubstantiated conjecture:
the culture medium inside the packet may be pretty rich for the yeast--
hence the dark color and fast start--but the yeast may adapt poorly to the
change to a mead must. I wish I knew.
As I said, I'm only now starting to experiment with the Yeast Labs
cultures (M61 Dry Mead and M62 Sweet Mead). By comparison with Wyeast,
the YL culture medium in the package is pretty pale, so it won't add un-
wanted color to your mead. They have a bit of lag starting compared to a
dry yeast, but they started much faster than the Wyeast. So far they
seem to be fermenting well and I don't notice any odd character...but this
is still "work in progress" and not enough to go on. Yeast Labs is cheaper
than Wyeast--around here, Wyeast is $4.25-4.50 and Yeast Labs is $3.
I'd like to think the liquid cultures offer something the dry yeasts
don't--say, cleaner character, faster fermentation, or some such. So far
with the Wyeast, I haven't found anything to justify the ~8x price differ-
ence. Wyeast isn't even forthcoming (as far as I've been able to find)
with any identification of the strains of yeast they're using; I've heard
that Yeast Labs will provide some such info.
[ALL the yeasts we use need better labeling!!!]
> ...Is champagne yeast the reason for my present mead's long ferment?
> Nutrient?...
Champagne yeast _per_se_ isn't going to give a really long ferment. It
won't be blazingly fast like an ale yeast or a couple others, but it should
not drag on too long. Lack of nutrient is often a suspect in mead.
> Any opinions on how to get a faster ferment/clearing?
There's a handful of factors to think about: nutrient (not enough gives
slow ferment; too much will leave residual taste); fermentation temperature
(too cool makes it slow; too warm will ferment quickly but may make the
yeast produce odd-tasting esters); acid balance (mead musts tend to need
acid and have poor buffering ability).
---
Dick Dunn rcd@eklektix.com -or- raven!rcd Boulder, Colorado USA
...Simpler is better.
------------------------------
Subject: Lavender , another viewpoint
From: BrewerLee@aol.com
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 1994 01:59:51 -0500
With the discussions going on about Lavender, I decided to ask some of the
members on the discussion group I moderate about it. I have a pretty diverse
group as you can see by the headers and taglines which I have left intact.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
#97/100..... Lavender...
Name........ Morgana #1 @13609
Date........ Sun Nov 13 02:34:58 1994
From........ WWIVLINK - Avalon [PIN] [306-652-7252]
Location.... Saskatchewan, Canada
RE: Lavender and other "herbs"
BY: Father Figure #18 @13651
/I know there are some winemakers out there with experience in some of the more
/esoteric ingredients. I think we also have some wiccans (is that the correct
/term) and some SCA members out there who may have some experience. I'm
/particularly interested in the medicinal effects (if any) and any dangerous
/herbs that might be used.
According to my source, The Complete Illustrated Book of Herbs -Their medicinal
and culinary uses. Lavender, among other things, has mild sedative properties
and herbalists have used it internally for relief of Headaches, nervous
disorders, insomnia as well as a cough surpressant and ....flatuence.
While I do not have any recipes for Lavender Wine, I have one for Lavender
Liqueur....
****************************
***** Lavender Liqueur *****
****************************
Categories: alcoholic liqueur herbal
Calories per serving: Number of Servings: 20
Fat grams per serving: Approx. Cook Time:
Cholesterol per serving: Marks:
INGREDIENTS ------------------------------------------------------------
5 oz lavender flowers
3 tsp aniseed
3 tsp peppercorns
32 oz brandy
12 oz sugar
DIRECTIONS ------------------------------------------------------------
Put flowers, herbs, and brandy into a preserving jar or bottle and
seal. Allow to stand for 6 weeks.
Filter and add sugar, stirring until completely dissolved. Bottle and
seal
Source: How to Make Liqueurs
*** Recipe Via Compu-Chef (tm) ***
****************************THE HOLY ISLE OF AVALON***************************
****WWivlink\GPNnet @13609***WWivnet @20759***Meshlink @3601*****APEX
@15*****
**Pagan Oriented Subs/Files ** 1200 - 14.4 Baud ** 24 hours **(306)
652-7252**
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
-Lee C. Bussy
Wichita, Kansas
BrewerLee@aol.com
November 14, 1994
11:03 pm
------------------------------
Subject: early mead
From: Mark Raker <mraker@mrj.com>
Date: Tue, 15 Nov 1994 17:08:15 -0500 (EST)
FIRST MEAD!!
I've got a two week old mead, 11# honey, 1.5 corn sugar, that has gone
from 1.080 to .995 in two weeks (1 week primary, 1 week secondary).
Still very cloudy and about 1/2 inch sediment in secondary carboy.
I need some guidance???
When do I bottle? I heard mead will clarify and age better in large
volume, is this true? How often should, and for how long should I
rack?
I can't imagine that too much more, if any, fermentation will occur.
So, I suppose that if I want some of it sparkling, i'll have to add some
priming sugar? About 3/4 cup for 2.5 gallons, yes? (This should
allow me to make 2.5G still, and 2.5G sparkling.)
What quantity and strength for a tea-adjunct is appropriate. I have a lot
of lemongrass tea that I thought I would add - maybe not to the whole
batch but to part of the sparkling portion. I'm not trying to make this
too complicated, but I would like a variety for comparison.
Thanks in advance,
M
!*****!*****!*****! !*****!*****!*****! !*****!*****!*****! !*****!*****!****
Mark A. Raker My opinions are solely those of my S.O.
email: mraker@mrj.com
!*****!*****!*****! !*****!*****!*****! !*****!*****!*****! !*****!*****!*****!
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #364
