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Mead Lovers Digest #0349
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #349, 20 September 1994
From: mead-lovers-request@eklektix.com
Mead Lover's Digest #349 20 September 1994
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
newbie seeks mentoring (Jay Weissler)
DIgby: Metheglin composed by my self out of sundry receipts (Steve E. Mercer)
Filtered Mead (Paul Foster)
Prickly Pear Cactus Mead ("Jeff Miller")
pectic enzyme in mead? (stave@apollo.hp.com)
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------------------------------
Subject: newbie seeks mentoring
From: jay_weissler@il.us.swissbank.com (Jay Weissler)
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 16:20:31 -0500
I drank my first truly excellent mead the other day. Now, after years
of saying long ferments are not for me (I'm a long time beer brewer)
, I feel that I MUST make a mead! I want it to be a very good mead
and I'm willing to do some work. I've read Bees Lees, the FAQ, Cat's
Meows recipes and a bunch of back issues of Mead Lovers.
My idea is to make a 5 gallon batch from honey purchased at a local
road side stand, I plan on NOT boiling, skimming foam (I read you
should skim white foam, but can't remember what to do about yellow
foam, can someone here help?). At bottling time I would like to split
the batch up between dry & sweet, still & bubbly, plain & spiced
(maybe sour orange peel, twinnings tea, ???).
My questions
1) Am I planning too many different styles? Are there some
combinations of the above that sound bad and should be eliminated.
2) What sort of honey will work with all of the above? Will wild
flower work? How about alfalfa? How many lbs?
3) What sort of yeast should I use?
4) Can I ferment in stainless steel?
5) Is there any one out there who wants to say "YOU FOOL YOU, forget
that noise and do the following and you will be happy with the
result" and take my mentoring on as a project? (Or supply a few tried
and true newbie recipes)
TIA
jayw
------------------------------
Subject: DIgby: Metheglin composed by my self out of sundry receipts
From: mercese@anubis.network.com (Steve E. Mercer)
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 94 18:29:29 CDT
<intended for digest 349>
Joyce Miller is on vacation, and has asked me
to provide Digbie recipes while she is gone.
Note to Archivists:
This recipe comes after "Sack with clove-gilly flowers"
which is part of "My own considerations for making meath".
Those sections were supposed to have been transcribed
by Joyce and sent in to Digest #348. My copy of #348
did not include them, so we will have to deal with that
later.
This recipie is from the 1910 reprint of Digby.
I have tried to retain the book's spelling,
punctuation, and line breaks.
Notes: "...hang it in a bag...", This is what Digbie says,
but I believe he meant to say, "..hang in it a bag...".
---BEGIN---
METHEGLIN COMPOSED BY MY SELF
OUT OF SUNDRY RECEIPTS
In sixty Gallons of water, boil ten handfuls of
Sweet-bryar-leaves ; Eyebright, Liverwort, Agri-
mony, Scabious, Balme, Wood-bettony, Straw-
berry-leaves, Burnet, of each four handfuls ; of
Rosemary, three handfuls ; of Minth, Angelica,
Bayes and Wild-thyme, Sweet-Marjoram, of each
two handfuls : Six Eringo-roots. When the water
hath taken out the vertue of the herbs and roots,
let it settle, and the next day pour off the clear,
and in every three Gallons of it boil one of honey,
scumming it well, and putting in a little cold
water now and then to make the scum rise, as
also some whites of Eggs. When it is clear
scummed, take it off, and let it cool ; then work it
with Ale-yest ; tun it up, and hang it in a bag,
with Ginger, Cinamom, Cloves and Cardamom.
And as it worketh over, put in some strong honey-
drink warmed. When it works no more, stop it
up close.
In twenty Gallons of water boil Sweet-bryar-
leaves, Eye-bright, Rosemary, Bayes, Clove-gilly-
flowers of each five handfuls, and four Eringo-
roots. To every two gallons and a half of this
decoction, put one gallon of honey ; boil it, &c.
When it is tunned up, hang in it a bag containing
five handfuls of Clove-gillyflowers, and sufficient
quantity of the spices above.
In both these Receipts, the quantity of the herbs
is too great. The strong herbs preserve the
drink, and make it nobler. Use Marjoram and
Thyme in little quantity in all.
---END---
Transcribed by Steve Mercer <steve.mercer@network.com>
---
Steve Mercer
steve.mercer@network.com
------------------------------
Subject: Filtered Mead
From: Paul Foster <73551.1056@compuserve.com>
Date: 16 Sep 94 22:32:50 EDT
My wife and I started about five years ago making beer. We
switched to making mead because the honey was easier to obtain
than the malt. Recently, our one vat sprang a leak, requiring us
to leave the wort in the kettle used for heating the mixture.
The new vat did not arrive for three days. We went ahead with
the fermenting, transferring and the bottling. When we went to
taste it though, the metal flavor of the kettle came through
strongly. We were watching TV, and saw this crazy man
advertising a water filter pitcher that takes out a metal taste.
Great let's get the metal taste out of the mead. So, we bought
one of those water filter pitchers. We poured the mead through
the filter per the directions. This was not quite legal
(federal law prohibits use other then as directed...) The metal
taste was gone, and any flavor of mead. I think I even filtered
away the alcohol. Though possibly premature, I gave up and
dumped it. This may point to a solution to off taste, if it
leaves the mead.
------------------------------
Subject: Prickly Pear Cactus Mead
From: "Jeff Miller" <jmiller@indy1.network.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Sep 1994 11:21:07 -0500
Hi all,
Charlie had a recipe in Zymurgy for a prickly pear cactus mead that used
mesceate(?) honey quite a few years ago. I am hopeing that I might still
have the issue and if anybody has an idea on which issue or even a copy of
such a recipe I'd appreaciate any and all pointers.
Thanks,
Jeff
--
Jeff Miller Network Systems Corporation
Advanced Development 7625 Boone Avenue North
jmiller@network.com Minneapolis, MN 55428 (612) 424-1724
------------------------------
Subject: pectic enzyme in mead?
From: stave@apollo.hp.com
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 94 9:03:58 EDT
One of my books mentions using pectinase (pectic enzyme) to help break
down any leftover wax and pectin in a mead. In the experience of
people on this list, is this the case? Is there pectin in honey, and
why would pectinase break down wax? Do other people on this list use
pectinase in your meads?
I noticed that my strawberry melomel (to which I added pectinase)
cleared *much* faster than either of my other batches of mead (which
were started before the melomel) would the pectinase be the reason?
Thanks in advance for any information.
Joel Stave
stave@apollo.hp.com
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #349
