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Mead Lovers Digest #0386
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #386, 23 February 1995
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #386 23 February 1995
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Lavender Mead (Leigh Ann Hussey)
Bee trivia (Aaron Morris)
When Do I Bottle? (Ted Major)
Microwaves to heat Honey? (MR GEOFFREY J SCHALLER)
UNYHA Annual Competition (Kaltenbach@aol.com)
Mead Yeast Problem ("Steven W. Schultz")
Fifth Annual March Mashfest (Brian J Walter (Brewing Chemist)
NOTE: Digest only appears when there is enough material to send one.
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------------------------------
Subject: Re: Lavender Mead
From: leighann@sybase.com (Leigh Ann Hussey)
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 95 14:54:19 PST
Many moons ago, Kevin Schutz wrote (and just shows to go you how far behind
I am in my mead-lovers mail...):
> Can one use Lavender in a mead? I've only heard of it being used
> as a fragrance, not a "spice". If Lavender is not toxic, does anyone
> have any suggestions on quantities? I would assume that you would
> want to use a fairly light clover honey as a base.
Absolutely and positively. Here's a prize-winning lavender mead of my
own devising from some years back:
Article 649 of rec.crafts.brewing:
Path: sybase!leighann
From: leighann@sybase.com (Leigh Ann Hussey)
Newsgroups: rec.crafts.brewing
Subject: Lavender Mead
Message-ID: <22581@sybase.sybase.com>
Date: 19 Aug 92 23:07:26 GMT
Sender: news@Sybase.COM
Organization: Banshee Brewing
Lines: 28
I've had a few requests to post this recipe, so here it is, based on
H.E. Bravery's Rose Mead, from HOME BREWING WITHOUT FAILURES.
Lavender Mead, January 1992
4lb honey 1/4t citric acid
1 pint lavender flowers 1/2t tannin powder
1/2t champagne yeast 1t yeast nutrient
Boil together honey and 1/2gal water for 5 min. Put flowers with citric
acid and tannin in a gallon jug and pour the hot liquid over. Let cool
in a sink of cold water to room temperature, then add yeast and
nutrient and further water to make a gallon plus a pint. Add the
airlock. Let ferment 1 week, then strain out flowers. Set the lock on
again and ferment until all quiet. Bottle and age.
Second Ferment: 112 days
Aging (so far): 109 days and already great.
Slainte!
- Leigh Ann
Leigh Ann Hussey leighann@sybase.com
"Turkeys, heresy, hops and beer / All came to England in the one year."
What year was it?
Answer: 1520
------------------------------
Subject: Bee trivia
From: Aaron Morris <SYSAM@albany.albany.edu>
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 95 10:12:27 EST
Correction to the statement that an average forager lives 4 to 5 days.
A worker bee goes through many phases in her life from the time she
emerges from her cocoon. The first few weeks of her life are devoted to
'hive duties' such as cleaning, nursing bee larvae, hive ventilation, ...
It is not until the third week of bee life that a worker takes on
foraging duties. In summer time a forager lasts about 3 weeks, at which
time she has litterally worked her wings to tatters. However, in late
fall and winter a foraging bee does not forage much and can live through
the winter to the following spring.
Fascinating little creatures are the producers of mead's most important
raw material!
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!
------------------------------
Subject: When Do I Bottle?
From: Ted Major <tmajor@parallel.park.uga.edu>
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 1995 08:45:00 -0500
Greetings Meadmasters:
I have recently begun brewing mead. On the advice of postings to the digest,
my wife and I brewed a batch of mead without boiling. We used 2 gallons of
water, 6lbs of honey, 2.5 tsp Fermax and dried ale yeast. It has been
fermenting for almost a month and now bubbles about once every minute and
a half. When should we bottle?
Thanks,
Tidmarsh Major
tmajor@parallel.park.uga.edu
------------------------------
Subject: Microwaves to heat Honey?
From: BWEU05C@prodigy.com (MR GEOFFREY J SCHALLER)
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 15:43:47 EST
Recently, I was dealing with getting honey out of the bottom of a jar. I
din't have a tool handy to scrape or scoop it out, but I knew that heating
it would make it less thick, and I could pour it out easier. Since I was
using store-bought honey for this project (I didn't have access to good
stuff at the time), I didn't worry about quality too much. I put the glass
jar (without the metal lid, of course) in a Microwave to heat it up. Sure
enough, it was hot enough to run out smoothly.
My question is this - does any one know of any reason NOT to microwave
honey to heat it? Will it do anything to the flavor or consistency of the
homey? If not, it seems like a great method of heating a jar to make it
more liquid or to de-crystalize it. It's certainly less messy than boiling
it or something similar.
Another quick question - I was reccommended a beer/ale yeast by a store
owner called "Glen Brew's Secret Brewer's Yeast." It's a high tolerance
yeast, and I used it in my last batch, which came out VERY strong for such
a yeast (It was commented as tasting like champaigne, and people remakerd
how strong it was - it seemed to get stronger deeper in the bottle).
Anyone know anything about this yeast? There is no more information on the
package other than an address. (For the record, this was a variant of the
"Thrilla from Vanilla" on the Web site. It was a 3 gallon batch, with 6#
honey and 4 oz. Natural Pure Vanilla Extract. It's VERY good and strong
with a minimum of aging (3 months). The author of the original recipie put
in about 3-4 oz for 5 gallons, and said it needed more. I reccomend using
1.5 - 2 oz. per gallon.)
-Geoffrey
------------------------------
Subject: UNYHA Annual Competition
From: Kaltenbach@aol.com
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 1995 19:45:21 -0500
It's time to get brewing for the UNYHA 17th Annual AHA-sanctioned
Competition! It's a great chance to get some credit for brewing great
beer or mead! Prizes and high-quality certificates are awarded to 1st,
2nd, and 3rd place winners. Best of show prize is a complete home
kegging system! Send in those entries!
_______________________________________________________________________
Upstate New York Homebrewers Association
17th Annual Competition and 6th Empire State Open
Saturday, April 22, 1994
McGinnity's Restaurant and Party House
534 West Ridge Road
Rochester, New York
Doors open at 6 PM -- Judging begins at 7 PM
Admission: $5.00
Come & join the fun! Enjoy complimentary samples of homebrew!
_______________________________________________________________________
11 HOMEBREW STYLES WILL BE JUDGED:
British Ale Light Lager Porter & Stout
North American Ale Amber Lager Belgian
Brown Ale Dark Lager Specialty
Mead Looks Like "Saranac Pale Ale"
No entries will be accepted after April 12.
Contest entries may be entered at homebrew shops in Rochester, Buffalo,
Syracuse, Utica, Ithaca, Binghamton, Albany, and the Hudson Valley
-or- they may be shipped. Send email request to address below for more
information.
Prizes:
* Prizes are awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in all categories
* For all categories (except Looks Like): Malt extract or other brewing
supplies (honey for Mead category)
* For Looks Like "Saranac Pale Ale": Prizes awarded by F.X. Matt's
Brewery
Prizes For Best of Show:
1st Prize -- Complete home kegging system
2nd Prize -- $50 gift certificate for homebrew supplies from The Wine
Press & Hops
3rd Prize -- $25 gift certificate at Rohrbach Brewing Company
(All categories except Mead and Looks Like "Saranac Pale Ale" compete
for best of show.)
*** Contest Sanctioned by the American Homebrewers Association ***
For more info about our competition, email me at the address below:
========================================================================
Tom Kaltenbach Member, Upstate New York Homebrewers Assoc.
Email: kaltenbach@aol.com Rochester, New York, USA
========================================================================
------------------------------
Subject: Mead Yeast Problem
From: "Steven W. Schultz" <swschult@cbda9.apgea.army.mil>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 95 13:31:48 EST
I am hoping that the collective wisdom of our readership can help
me with a yeast problem:
I've made a lot of beer, but never mead... until this past
weekend: I made my first mead on Saturday (2/18/95) and pitched my yeast
starter the next day (Wyeast Sweet Mead). Nothing happened, despite my
determined efforts to RDWHAHB. This morning - 48 hours after pitching my
yeast - I couldn't take it any more... I pitched what I thought was the
most appropriate yeast I had on hand: Yeast Lab California Lager (not
from a starter).
I thought if I waited much longer, the near-certainty of having
contaminated brew was a greater evil than using a less-than-optimum yeast.
I also thought that if fermentation begins, and later poops out due to the
California Lager not being able to deal with the high alcohol percentage,
at that point I could again pitch mead yeast.
Data point: the Wyeast packet did swell up properly. For my
starter, I boiled some honey and water for a few minutes, then added the
yeast after it had cooled. I'm pretty sure I cooled the wort enough prior
to adding the yeast; but, the airlock never moved at all.
Any answers/suggestions would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Steve Schultz - would-be mead maker
------------------------------
Subject: Fifth Annual March Mashfest
From: walter@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Brian J Walter (Brewing Chemist))
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 1995 11:36:06 -0700 (MST)
Second (and last) Request for Entries and Judges
For The
Fifth Annual March Mashfest
An
AHA Sanctioned Homebrewed Beer and Mead Competition
Run By
The Mash Tonuges of Fort Collins, CO
Entries Due: 27 February to 10 March 1995
Judging: Friday 17 March and Saturday 18 March 1995
If you would like more info please contact:
Brian J Walter
618 Tyler Street
Fort Collins, CO 80521-3122
303.493.2586
walter@lamar.colostate.edu
Send USMail address for formatted copy of entry packet,
or email address for ascii version
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #386
