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Mead Lovers Digest #0373
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #373, 14 December 1994
From: mead-lovers-request@eklektix.com
Mead Lover's Digest #373 14 December 1994
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Meadery recap (Louis K. Bonham)
RE: Is my mead safe to drink? (John T Faulks)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #371, 12 December 1994 (Spencer.W.Thomas@med.umich.edu
)
Newbie Solicits Opinions About Yeasts (CLAY@prism.clemson.edu)
Dissolving the honey (Sam Shank)
Sources for honey? (Kirk K Williams)
Song parody (Lynn Gold)
NOTE: Digest only appears when there is enough material to send one.
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------------------------------
Subject: Meadery recap
From: lkbonham@beerlaw.win.net (Louis K. Bonham)
Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 22:09:06
Thanks to all who responded to my inquiries regarding commercial
meaderies in the U.S. As it turns out, the American Mead
Association publishes a "Meaderies Across the United States"
section in each issue of *Inside Mead* (published quarterly), as
well as sections listing foreign meaderies and domestic supplies for
exotic honeys and other mead supplies.
According to the latest issue, there are 14 commercial meaderies
operating in the U.S.:
Meadery at Greenwich (upstate NY)
"As You Like It" Meadery (Mass.)
Lakewood Mead (upstate NY)
Little Hungary Farm Winery (W. Va.)
Berrywine Plantation (Maryland)
Oliver Winery (Indiana)
Pirtle Weston Vineyards (Missouri)
Life Force Honey and Winery (Idaho)
Mountain Meadows Mead (N. Cal.)
HoneyRun Honey Co. (Chico, Cal.)
Roy Rudemnbusch (Sacremento, Cal.)
Bargetto Winery (Central Cal.)
Julian Bochantin Winery (So. Cal.)
Volcano Winery (Hawaii)
Complete information can be found in *Inside Mead*, a nice little
publication that's well worth the $15 to become an AMA member.
The AMA can be reached at 1-800-693-MEAD.
BTW, the latest issue also had a thought-provoking article
writing up the results of a test on an alternative method of mead
production; namely, ultrafiltration of the mead must. This
technique (involving a polysulfone hollow fiber ultra-filtration
membrane with a molecular cutoff at 50K and about 20 psi pressure)
was done in lieu of heating or boiling. A batch was split three
ways, with one must boiled, one flash-heated, and one
ultrafiltered. Each was then pitched with the same yeast starter
and allowed to ferment side-by-side. Acidity and pH were virtually
identical, but the ultrafiltered mead fermented cleaner and fell
clear faster than the other two. When tasted after one year, in
blind comparisons, the ultrafiltered mead was given a "good" rating
by 90% of the judges, as opposed to 10% for the boiled mead and
50% for the flash-heated mead. More interestingly, the
ultrafiltered mead retained more of the honey volatiles and
matured in a matter of months. (One author of the article, Robert
Kime [of Cornell U.] took best Melomel at the 1994 Mazer Cup
Competition with a mead prepared with this technique, so it
doesn't appear to be just hype.)
Anybody had any experence with this technique?
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Is my mead safe to drink?
From: faulks@bng.ge.com (John T Faulks)
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 07:37:14 -0500
Kaura Ford writes:
>My first one-gallon batch was bottled before it cleared (I now have " a
>clue " on what clearing is). There is quite a lot of sediment on the
>bottom. Will this still be drinkable, or should we even try? I have left the
>bottles undisturbed and would decant into a pitcher if I were to serve
>it. If it is drinkable, should it be consumed as soon as possible, or
>can it wait until the New Year (I have a feeling it will not age well due
>to the sediment).
You mead should be drinkable.
Sediment may alter the flavor a bit, but in my experience, it takes a long
time - many months to a year before you need to even start worrying.
You could decant to leave the sediment behind. You can also pour directly
into glasses if you line em up for one continuous pour (lose less bubbles if
it is gassed). And don't worry if a little sediment gets into the last glass
- aside from some visual cloudiness, the taste will be the same (try it).
Good luck
John Faulks
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #371, 12 December 1994
From: Spencer.W.Thomas@med.umich.edu
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 94 10:11:02 EST
pec@tmc.astm.cmri.cmu.edu wrote about Re: Mead Lover's Digest #371, 12 December
1994:
> it also seems as tho there should be more digby on the beer page. How
> many have you typed in Joyce?
Yes. I've got some stacked up that I haven't had time to convert to
HTML. Work intervenes.
=Spencer in Ann Arbor, MI
------------------------------
Subject: Newbie Solicits Opinions About Yeasts
From: CLAY@prism.clemson.edu
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 10:35:33 -0500 (EST)
Local opinion holds that Epernay, Red Star, Cotes de Blanc, "any good ale yeast
you like," "the liquid stuff that Josh sells," and "whatever it is that Williams
ships with their mead kit" are all "just great." If those with more experience
would like to provide opinions on flavors, flocculation, aging, etc. with
respect to the above critters (the identifiable ones, at least) I'd appreciate
it. I can control fermentation temperature (with 'fridge, mind you, not like
Merlin or anything ;-)) so would welcome suggestions there as well.
Thanks in advance,
Cam Lay
James Island, SC
CLAY@clust1.clemson.edu
P.S. If there's a faq I've missed pls feel free to point the flaming sword in
that direction...
------------------------------
Subject: Dissolving the honey
From: sammy@biochemistry.BIOC.cwru.edu (Sam Shank)
Date: Tue, 13 Dec 1994 11:28:04 -0700
There has been a boil/no boil thread going on for a while...
My question is how do you people that don't boil your honey dissolve it in
the water? I can't imagine dissolving 18lbs of honey in a few gallons of
water without taking hours...
Thanks,
Sam sammy@biochemistry.cwru.edu
------------------------------
Subject: Sources for honey?
From: williams@dracaena.lanl.gov (Kirk K Williams)
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 94 11:55:40 MST
Im looking for a source that handles different kinds of honey.
Of what kinds, i dont know, i dont know really what kinds are
available. for instance, i know i can get wildflower, clover,
alfalfa, orange blossom, and mesquite, as well as local wildflower
of varying degrees of "darkness". i have heard of blueberry,
eucaliptus (sp), cactus, etc. honeys....
Anyone know if there is a "broker" of honey?
Im suprised that this has not come up before. at least ive not seen
it here before.
Thanks in advance!
k.
------------------------------
Subject: Song parody
From: figmo@netcom.com (Lynn Gold)
Date: Wed, 14 Dec 1994 12:24:34 -0800
This isn't exactly about mead-making, but I thought it was relevant
enough to the list to share:
From: markb@cimage.com (Mark Bernstein)
Subject: Christine Lavin parodies
Date: Mon Dec 12 07:21:08 PST 1994
Joel Polowin (Joel.Polowin@p4.f107.n249.z1.fidonet.org) wrote:
: How many different parodies of Christine Lavin's "Good Thing He
: Can't Read My Mind" are there? I think I know of about four,
: including Mark Bernstein's.
Well, mine is more of a one-verse obnoxious pun than a full parody.
[Much text of its origin deleted. --Lynn]
True story: The last time I saw Christine at the Ark, I mailed her a
copy of my parody, care of the Ark, a week before the show. At the show,
she pulled out my letter and performed the parody. That pun is now the
only thing I've ever written that's been performed professionally. :-)
For those who haven't seen it:
My neighbor is a brewer, an amateur home brewer
A fanatical home brewer, and he drives me mad
His latest love is liquors made from fruits and made from honey
And every single one of them tastes really bad
This morning he ran out of fruit, went rooting through my garbage
For any scraps of oranges or grapefruit he could find
He's back inside his house now, and the smell is something awful
I wish he wouldn't mead my rind
--
Mark Bernstein
markb@cimage.com
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #373
