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Mead Lovers Digest #0344
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #344, 30 August 1994
From: mead-lovers-request@eklektix.com
Mead Lover's Digest #344 30 August 1994
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Fortified Mead (KAREG001@aol.com)
Re: Problem with my mead (Dennis Davison)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #343,... (MEADMSTR@aol.com)
eggs and groats (Dick Dunn)
Eggs in brewing (Joyce Miller)
A Tun of Metheglin (Joyce Miller)
Eggs as hydrometers (Michael Wolter)
Raising PH (Mark Ottenberg)
Looking for fellow brewers (Peter Michael Wolanin)
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------------------------------
Subject: Fortified Mead
From: KAREG001@aol.com
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 94 16:17:10 EDT
<... if there exists a distilled version of mead...?>
Fortification is another method to produce mead with a high ethanol level
without distilling. This is how port is produced. Philip Jackisch gives a
thorough guide to this production technique in <Modern Winemaking>. He
reports that American port is made from a wide variety and qualtiy level of
red and white grapes. The must starts at 24-28 degrees Brix (SG 1.102-1.120)
and is allowed to ferment shortly to reach about 8 degrees Brix (SG: 1.029).
95% ethanol is then added to reach a final dilution of about 18% (with
adequete mixing). Fermentaion will continue for a day or two until the yeast
attenuates in the alcohol, reaching about 6 degrees Brix (SG: 1.020) or
around 10% residual sugar. The wine settles for a week, is racked, and then
again at one month. The wine is then aged for 1-3 years in oak. Total acidity
should be 0.35 to 0.60%. I don't see why this wouldn't work with honey, using
vodka or Everclear 190 proof to fortify. Unfortunately, Jackisch also points
out that it is illegal for the U.S. home winemaker to fortify wines. Philip
Wagner is quiet on the subject in <Grapes into Wine>, noting only that the
homewinemaker must use expensive, taxed spirits to fortify. I haven't
reviewed the CFR to check this out, but it might be worth doing before anyone
tries this.
Happy Brewing - Jim Karegeannes
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Problem with my mead
From: ddavison@earth.execpc.com (Dennis Davison)
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 1994 18:56:35 -0400
Joe,
| I had something odd happen with my first batch of mead. I started it on
| Jan 30,1994 with 18 lbs of honey, 2 oz of acid blend, yeast nutrients, 1 1/4 t
sp
| grape tanin and 5 campden tablets. I boiled about 4 1/2 gallons of water for
| about 20 minutes, removed it from the heat and mixed the honey in what remaine
d
| of the water and added the rest of the above ingredients. When it cooled
| I pitched 1 packed of Red Star Champagne yeast. After 4 days nothing happened
| so I pitched another packet of Red Star and it was very active the next day.
The Campden tablets killed the first packet of Champagne yeast you pitched.
The theroy is to wait at least 24 hours before pitching yeast after adding
campden.
snip..
| The question is did the yeast come back to life or did I somehow introduce a
| wild yeast that is steadily destroying my batch?
Yeast needs oxygen to reproduce as well as sugars. There is a possiblility
that there was not enough oxygen left in the must to continue fermentation.
The racking you did, may have just introduced enough to get it going again.
Another possiblility is that you picked up a malo-lactic fermentation.
Nothing to worry about on this, just let it go. What it's doing, is reduction
of the acid content of the must. The acid can be brought back later with more
acid blend, if this was the case.
Just relax, and wait.
Dennis Davison ddavison@earth.execpc.com Milwaukee, WI
Member : AHA, Chicago Beer Society, Wisconsin Vintners Association, Beer
Barons of Milwaukee, Kansas City Bier Meisters, Certified Beer Judge,
1993 Midwest Homebrewer of the Year, 1993 Midwest Invitational Winner
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #343,...
From: MEADMSTR@aol.com
Date: Sun, 28 Aug 94 21:23:58 EDT
>>Subject: Problem with my mead
>>From: schlut@cbstp2.att.com (Joseph Schluttenhofer +1 614 860 5020)
>>..... and 5 campden tablets. .Once it started everything went fine. >>It
started with a specific gravity of 1.126. I racked it on Mar 13 and >>May 23
where it had a specific gravity of 1.176
No, it probably isn't wild yeast problem.
Champagne yeast really isn't suited for high osmotic pressure musts..... (
over 16% PA , which is indicated by your SG ). Secondly, FIVE campden
tablets..... Gee .... watch out for the sulfur "nose" when you bottle it, if
you can drink it !!!
>>Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #342, 24 August 1994
>>From: Jacob Galley <gal2@midway.uchicago.edu>
>>Date: Thu, 25 Aug 94 9:42:29 CDT
>>The second technique is more intriguing. Digby seems to be >>mixing a raw
egg into the boiling must, as some sort of fining >>process.Exactly what
results are achieved by doing this?
Egg white or any albumen, acts as a protein fining agent. The mechanism of
reaction is hydrogen bonding which occurs between the phenolic hydroxyl and
peptide bonds of the protein. However, since hydrogen bonds are relatively
weak, I really question whether or not this works when boiled ( it will work
with a cool mead, however, take out the yolk !!! )
------------------------------
Subject: eggs and groats
From: rcd@raven.eklektix.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 29 Aug 94 09:53:46 MDT (Mon)
Jacob Galley <gal2@midway.uchicago.edu> asks about Digby's "hydrometer"
> Okay, so floating a hard-boiled egg in the boiling must functions as a
> hydrometer---right?...
After reading various recipes, it was not clear to me that it was measured
at boiling...in some cases it sounds like the must is cooled first, or at
least a sample drawn off, for the measurement. Joyce? Any guesses from
your reading?
>...Does anyone have a guess at the specific gravity
> indicated by "the breadth of a groat"? (A groat is apparently some
> kind of coin.)...
This is a question for numismatists, but coins that old are hard to find--
they tend not to show up in pocket change! At the time the Digby recipes
would have been gathered, a groat was a coin of about four pence in value,
but it was a silver coin, so I'd presume it was small.
[This confused me for some time--I had thought of "groat" as singular of
"groats" (kernels of grain) and was trying to envision an egg floating only
a couple mm out of the must. The use of "breadth of a sixpence" elsewhere
finally drove me to a decent dictionary to get some history on "groat".]
>...And how much does it matter that the egg is "freshly laid"?
Eggs lose moisture as they age, so an older egg would float higher.
---
Dick Dunn rcd@eklektix.com -or- raven!rcd Boulder, Colorado USA
...Simpler is better.
------------------------------
Subject: Eggs in brewing
From: jmiller@genome.wi.mit.edu (Joyce Miller)
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 10:48:03 -0400
>Okay, so floating a hard-boiled egg in the boiling must functions as a
>hydrometer---right? Does anyone have a guess at the specific gravity
>indicated by "the breadth of a groat"? (A groat is apparently some
>kind of coin.) And how much does it matter that the egg is "freshly
>laid"?
eek! No! A fresh, uncooked egg! Hard-boiled eggs don't do much of
anything. A fresh egg is supposed to "swim", i.e., reach neutral buoyancy,
at a particular specific gravity. Okay, I'm going to go home and try this
out with sugar water. Anybody else want to? We can compare gravities.
>The second technique is more intriguing. Digby seems to be mixing a
>raw egg into the boiling must, as some sort of fining process.
>Exactly what results are achieved by doing this? Does this do
>anything special to our modern, refined honey musts? I've never had a
>cloudy mead, anyway, and I always pasteurize or boil briefly.
I had thought he was using the beaten egg in a starter culture, but on
careful reading, I see that you're right. But I think that it isn't
boiling, just warm, because he says to do this "when the heat is well
slackened". If he dumped the egg in the boil, it would just coagulate
before doing anything. Note: given the Salmonella outbreaks in the poultry
industry recently, I'm not sure I'd advocate doing this.
-- Joyce
------------------------------
Subject: A Tun of Metheglin
From: jmiller@genome.wi.mit.edu (Joyce Miller)
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 11:05:01 -0400
Another recipe from Kenelme Digbie 1669:
A Receipt to make a Tun of Metheglin.
Take two handfuls of Dock (alias wild Carrot) a reasonable burthen
of Saxifrage, Wild sage, Blew-button, Scabious, Bettony, Agrimony,
Wild-marjoram, of each, a reasonable burthen; Wild thyme a Peck, Roots and
all. All these are to be gathered in the fields, between the two Lady days
in Harvest. The Garden-herbs are these; Bay-leaves, and Rosemary, of each
two handfuls; A Sieveful of Avens, and as much Violet leaves: A handful of
Sage; three handfuls of Sweet-Marjoram. Three Roots of young Borrage,
leaves and all, that hath not born seed; Two handfuls of Parsley-roots, and
all that hath not born Seed. Two Roots of Elecampane that have not seeded:
Two handfuls of Fennel that hath not seeded: A peck of Thyme; wash and pick
all your herbs from filth and grass: Then put your field herbs first into
the bottom of a clear Furnace, and lay all your Garden-herbs thereon; then
fill your Furnace with clean water, letting your herbs seeth, till they be
so tender, that you may easily slip off the skin of your Field-herbs, and
that you may break the roots of your Gardenherbs between your Fingers.
Then lade forth your Liquor, and set it a cooling. Then fill your Furnace
again with clean water to these Herbs, and let them boil a quarter of an
hour. Then put it to your first Liquor, filling the Furnace, until you
have sufficient to fill your Tun. Then as your Liquor begins to cool, and
is almost cold, set your servants to temper Honey and wax in it, Combs and
all, and let them temper it well together, breaking the Combes very small;
let their hands and nails be very clean; and when you have tempered it very
well together, cleanse it through a cleansing sieve into another clean
vessel; The more Honey you have in your Liquor, the stronger it will be.
Therefore to know, when it is strong enough, take two New laid eggs, when
you begin to cleanse, and put them in whole into the bottome of your
cleansed Liquor; And if it be strong enough, it will cause the Egge to
ascend upward, and to be on the top as broad as six-pence; if they do not
swim to the top; put more.
<end>
------------------------------
Subject: Eggs as hydrometers
From: Michael Wolter <WOLTER@dickinson.edu>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 94 14:19:54 est
>
> Okay, so floating a hard-boiled egg in the boiling must functions as a
> hydrometer---right? Does anyone have a guess at the specific gravity
> indicated by "the breadth of a groat"? (A groat is apparently some
> kind of coin.) And how much does it matter that the egg is "freshly
> laid"?
>
Since I have a flock of hens, I've picked up some trivia. Egg shells are
porous enough that moisture evaporates through them. There is an air pocket
under the shell that grows larger over time. So, the older the egg is the
lighter it gets. Of course, no store bought eggs are as fresh as what my
girls provide. ;-)
-Michael Wolter
------------------------------
Subject: Raising PH
From: Mark Ottenberg <marko@cap.gwu.edu>
Date: Mon, 29 Aug 1994 17:36:24 -0400 (EDT)
Greetings.
A few months ago I wrote about 3 stuck meads. Well, now that I've
finally gotten ph strips in the appropriate range, I find that all three
are now at a ph of about 2.6!! Gee, no wonder the besties are laying low!!
I plan to add baking soda, but would like some advise on a ph
range to shoot for. Was using Red Star Champaign, but will now use k1 or
whatever it is. (It's at home.)
So, what is a nice optimum ph for a nicely fermenting mead???
-- Mark
------------------------------
Subject: Looking for fellow brewers
From: pwolanin@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Peter Michael Wolanin)
Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 00:27:53 EDT
I'm moving to Ann Arbor to start grad school and I was wondering if
there are any mead lovers living in the area. Drop me a line
at pwolanin@phoenix.princeton.edu (only for the next couple
weeks) or call me at 313-930-2684. Thanks and happy brewing.
-Peter
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #344
