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Mead Lovers Digest #0448
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #448, 14 December 1995
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #448 14 December 1995
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
New to Brewing/Mead (Scott Dexter)
First mead questions ("Jeremy D. Pike")
Pear melomel (Douglas Thomas)
Sweetness, new book, heating before bottling, filtering (Torben Andersen)
Question on Cyser (Bartothian@aol.com)
Mead Flavors (Tom Nickel)
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Subject: New to Brewing/Mead
From: Scott Dexter <scottder@conan.ids.net>
Date: Sun, 10 Dec 1995 17:57:33 -0500 (EST)
Well, As the topic implies I am new to both brewing and Mead. I am very
interested in breing mead and was hoping some more experienced mead brewers
could help me out. Any suggestions for a good 'First' Mead....(I would
imagine a Traditional Mead would be best to start).
Any and ALL suggestions would be helpful.
-Scott 'The New Mead Guy'
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Subject: First mead questions
From: "Jeremy D. Pike" <jpike@moose.uvm.edu>
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 12:42:48 -0500 (EST)
Hello, I am a newbie to all kinds of brewing(3 beers) and have started my
first mead: 3lbs honey
1tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 pak Muntons ale yeast
Simmered and skimmed honey and additives, cooled and brought up to 1
gallon, Pitched yeast and let go under airlock OG=1.100 SG after rackin
at 1 month=1.01. I tasted it at racking and it tasted like a very dry
white wine ( not what I wanted, I should have added more honey, oh
well) and it was crystal clear. After about 3 weeks in the
secondary, it has stopped bubbling and has a very thin layer of sediment
on the bottom. My question is this: I would like to add honey at
bottling for a slightly sweeter and sparkling mead. CCan I do this
without worrying about glass grenades? Or should I just bottle with a
little corn sugar and let it age longer before I enjoy it?
Thanks!!
=============================================================================
Jeremy Pike | It's easy to find good beer, but it's even
220 Stafford BLDG | easier to make it:
University of Vermont | JUST HOMEBREW IT!!!
Ph: (802) 656-8023 |
E-mail: jpike@moose.uvm.edu|
FAX: (802) 656-8749 |
=============================================================================
------------------------------
Subject: Pear melomel
From: Douglas Thomas <thomasd@uchastings.edu>
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 1995 16:17:11 -0800 (PST)
My first batch of perrymel (an all juice pear melomel) went still about 1
month ago and shows no sign of clearing. I have racked once and fined
once with gelatin. This treatment usually gets things going for me but
it seems to not be working this time. For five gallons of juice it only
required 7 1/2 lbs of blue curl honey to put it at 12.5% potential
alcohol. All the honey was boiled in water for 10 minutes. Any ideas?
I am also looking for a good recipe for rhubarb/strawberry melomel. If
any are out there, please let me know.
Thanks all
Doug Thomas
thomasd@uchastings.edu
------------------------------
Subject: Sweetness, new book, heating before bottling, filtering
From: tanderse@eso.org (Torben Andersen)
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 95 08:17:03 +0100
1. Control of sweetness/dryness is one of the most difficult tasks in
mead-brewing. A Danish commercial mead-supplier reports to overcome the
problem using the Portwine method. When fermentation has reached such a
level that the sugar content is appropriate (i.e. gravity OK), pure alcohol
is added to obtain an alcohol level of 18-20%. This stops further
fermentation. Result: A strong mead with exactly the desired sugar content.
Has anybody tried this?
2. For those who read German, there is a new book on mead brewing: Karl
St=FCckler: Met, Honigweinbereitung leicht gemacht; Leopold Stocker Verlag,
Graz, Austria, 1995, ISBN 3-7020-0721-0. The author advices to control the
sweetness in the following way. The must is fermented all of the way to
obtain a dry mead with an alcohol content of some 12%. Thereafter the
necessary amount of honey is added to obtain desired sweetness. To avoid
further fermentation, the mead is heated to 55 deg C (131 deg F), This is
supposed to kill the yeast. Thereafter the mead is bottled. Has anybody
tried this? Any comments?
3. The same author proposes to clarify mead with a special filter that is
normally used for "schnaps" (liqueur). It takes a special pump to get the
mead through the filter. Is such a filtering a good idea? Will the filter
remove some of the taste but not the proteins that may sediment at a later
time after bottling?
Torben
------------------------------
Subject: Question on Cyser
From: Bartothian@aol.com
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 14:52:43 -0500
My question is this:
My cyser is in the secondary ( it's been there 3 months ), and a slight "scum
has formed on the top with what looks like a couple of white spots of mold.
I'm not sure if this is what it is , and if so will it ruin the cyser or can
I just rack to bottles with out disturbing the top layer and all will be well
???
Barto
------------------------------
Subject: Mead Flavors
From: tnickel@connectnet.com (Tom Nickel)
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 1995 16:51:05 -0800
Hello again from San Diego,
I am wondering if anyone out there has information on flavor standards for
mead. I work at a homebrew store and we just recently had a tasting here
at work. We are trying to develop some taste examples for different
flavors that are present in mead, the way you can "flavor wheels" for wine,
or different esters and malt tastes in beer. If anyone out there has
information or opinions on flavors and aromas you can find in mead, please
write me at tnickel@connectnet.com.
Some of the ones we have found include apple, pineapple, camimbert cheese,
sherry, walnut, yeasty, etc...
If anyone has or would like to forward info and comments on commercial
meads, these would also be helpful. Thanks,
Tom Nickel
Home Brew Mart
731 S. Hwy 101
Solana Beach, CA 92075
619-794-BREW (2739)
brewmart@connectnet.com
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #448
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