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Mead Lovers Digest #0318
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #318, 19 June 1994
From: mead-lovers-request@eklektix.com
Mead Lover's Digest #318 19 June 1994
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Coordinator
Contents:
Mead History (CRAIG MILLER)
mead results (Andrew W. J. Toler)
stuck mead (IO11262@MAINE.maine.edu)
Yeast Nutrient? & 1st Mead Started (David Moore)
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------------------------------
Subject: Mead History
From: CRAIG.MILLER@ocr.com (CRAIG MILLER)
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 1994 20:25:14 GMT
From: craig.miller@ocr.com
Subject: Mead History
In "The Cat's Meow II" there is a reference in the Mead section which
says "This was part of a long series of messages posted by justcoz on
the history of mead." A couple of recipes later, I found the address
"justcoz@triton.unm.edu" but had my mail returned when trying to
contact this person.
Does anyone have the original series of messages referred to? I'd be
very interested in reading this, as I'm sure others here reading MLD
would.
I'm a new mead brewer myself. In fact, I've just tasted mead for the
very first time from the basic recipe (Cher Feinstein) I made a couple
of months ago. I have so far learned: a) what 'dry' means (I used
2 lbs/gal, & champaigne yeast) and b) to go easy on the ginger. If I
can match the taste to the smell, I'll really have something!
===========================================================================
InterNet: ocr.com Online Computer Resources
Fido : 1:161/123 2036 Columbus Pkwy #405
Voice : 1-707-552-1122 Benicia, CA 94510
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------------------------------
Subject: mead results
From: Andrew.W.J.Toler@altosax.reed.edu (Andrew W. J. Toler)
Date: 14 Jun 94 09:46:24 PDT
I just opened the last remaining bottle of a mead I made about a year and a
half
ago in New Hampshire. Some of them had been destroyed in transit, but one I
sent with a friend made it alive; she kept it in a dark, cool cupboard since
about June 1993.
The recipe:
15# Raw Clover Honey (a variety of brands local to the upper valley area)
2T Yeast nutrient
2t acid blend
2t irish moss
3-4oz Lemongrass, chopped
1 large navel orange
Red Star Champagne Yeast
Boiled in a wort, skimmed scum, pasteurized additives, pitched activated
yeast
at about 85F. Blew off for five days. Racked to secondary, which fermented
for two and 1/2 months. Bottled. On five of the bottles I had floated three
or four brandied cherries (that had been soaking approx 3 years)
The bottle of mead I tasted last night had three cherries on top.
It had a rich creamy texture, very sherry-like, and had no bite, but was very
alcoholic (and hard to get big sip). The taste was mostly pears and some
apple, with berries way in the background. It had a rosy, jasminy nose, and
a deep gold color. For a champagne yeast, I'm surprised it turned out so
sweet, but that's the way it goes I guess.
Wait a minute! I sent another bottle with a friend to Florida. I may be
visiting him soon!
-Andrew (roo@dartmouth.edu)
------------------------------
Subject: stuck mead
From: IO11262@MAINE.maine.edu
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 94 14:17:00 EDT
On the last two batches of mead that I have brewed I have had a lot of
trouble trying to get them started. The first one took 5 days and several addi
tions of champagne and montrachet yeast before it would start to slowly bubble
and the second batch is still not doing anything after one week. I was told
that raw honey sometimes has natural preservatives from the bees.. is this
true? I have made several batches of wine with sugar and one batch of
mead with store bought honey that have started off within 12 hours so the
raw honey is the only thing that I have used differently.
Glen Landry
io11262@maine.maine.edu
------------------------------
Subject: Yeast Nutrient? & 1st Mead Started
From: David Moore <72074.1740@CompuServe.COM>
Date: 18 Jun 94 16:59:54 EDT
I have a simple question. Everyone keeps referring to yeast "NUTRIENT",
but no one says exactly what they are using.
The reason I ask is; I recently read that Canada has banned the use of
nutrients containing urea because of possible carcinogenic byproducts.
The only yeast nutrient my local brewing store carries contains urea.
I started my first mead two weeks ago. Instead of the urea containing
nutrient, I used 1.5 lbs of dark raisins and 2 Thera-M multivitamin
mineral tablets. The following is my mead log to date:
---------------
Mead #1
6/4/94
Base Recipe:
15 lb. Honey. Light, unfiltered, unheated . (Magruders unknown?)
1.5 lb. Raisins
2 Multivitamin-mineral tablets (Thera-M)
5 gal. Distilled Water
Yeast Wyeast Sweet Mead #3184
The general plan is to pasteurize only an adequate starter mix. Hopefully
the combination of using distilled water and a good size starter will swamp
any remaining wild beasties in the unpasteurized honey. Also left the honey
in clear glass jars sit out in the summer sun for a week. Maybe this will
kill off some of the wildlife in the honey.
The only yeast nutrient sold in the local brew store has "urea" in it.
I'm hoping that the combination of raisins and the vitamin-mineral tablets
will suffice instead.
Popped the yeast packet at the store Friday (6/3/94) evening at 5:30. By 7:00 i
t was noticeably swollen. By 11:00
pm it was huge! I've never seen such quick activity.
Friday evening (6/3/94):
Chopped the raisins to a mud-like raisin paste.
Heated about 3/4 gallon of distilled water to 170 F. Added 2
multivitamin-mineral tablets. Added raisin paste to heated water. Added about
1.5 lb. of honey to heated water mixture. Re-heated and held the whole thing
at 170 F for 30 minutes.
Placed the mixture in the refrigerator to cool.
Added about a pint of the room temperature mixture to a tupperware container
still hot from the dishwasher. Added about a cup of distilled water. SHAKE
WELL to aerate. Added yeast and shook again.
Saturday morning (6/4/94)
Tupperware container has blown its lid loose from yeast activity!
Warmed the remaining water/raisin/honey mixture to room temperature. Rinsed
the previously cleaned carboy with cheap Vodka. Added water mix, another
quart of distilled water, and starter to carboy. Filled
water lock with Vodka and sealed.
When this shows sufficient activity I'll add the rest of the honey and water.
5:00 pm. Activity looks good. Added remaining honey and water to fill the
carboy. Aerated by vigorous shaking of half full 1 gallon plastic jugs.
Shook both before and after adding honey.
Stirred the whole mess together and siphoned enough for a specific gravity
reading. 1.110
Saturday night (6/4/94)
Activity is phenomenal. The thing looks like it's boiling! Large raisin
"glop" floated up to the top and blocked the exit. The whole stopper assembly
and about a half pound of raisin glop was blown several feet across the room.
It's a good thing I left the clamp off. I spooned raisin glop out of the top
as far down as I could reach. Cleaned up and put the stopper back on. No
clamp! Left the blow off tube open.
Sunday morning (6/5/94)
No mess! The carboy still looks like it's boiling. There's a couple of
inches of head space at the neck. I closed the blow off tube but left the
clamp off just in case.
Mead is supposedly slow. This has been positively explosive!
Wednesday night (6/15/94)
It's still a dark swirling container. I put a two cell AA maglight on the far
side and couldn't see it through the carboy. Bubbling has slowed down to a
"Glup" every 2.2 seconds. It's weird to watch it swirl under its own power
and think; "I'm going to drink that !?".
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #318
