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Mead Lovers Digest #0522
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #522, 6 January 1997
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #522 6 January 1997
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
re: crazy in the kitchen mead experiment (Terry Estrin)
mead recipe (EEleasari@aol.com)
Definitions (Susan Ruud)
?? Yeast starter; acid (JOSEPH GREENE)
sparkling meads (lprescot@sover.net)
Re: #520 - grape infection inquiry by P. Miller (MKoop1@aol.com)
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Subject: re: crazy in the kitchen mead experiment
From: Terry Estrin <estrin@sfu.ca>
Date: Tue, 31 Dec 1996 20:00:04 -70400 (PST)
Sounds "interesting!"
Well, you never know. I've got winemaking books that insist you can
make a decent wine from orange juice concentrate. As for it tasting terrible
at the first racking, that in my experience is how *all* of my meads taste
early on. It seems like the magic time frame is 18 months, at which point the
mead miraculously becomes wonderful. Even Papazian's Barkshack Ginger Mead,
which is supposed to be drinkable in one year, seems to require 18 months.
So my friend, be patient and let us know what it tastes like a year from now!
cheers,
Terry Estrin
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Subject: mead recipe
From: EEleasari@aol.com
Date: Wed, 1 Jan 1997 16:57:25 -0500
For submission on your web page. This is a delicious mead that won an
award.
Thai Mead:
1 gallon clover honey (other light flavors will do)
3 stalks chopped lemon grass (oriental markets)
2 tsp Scwession (?) peppercorns
3 or 4 whole cayenne peppers cut into strips & seeds
2tsp acid blend
2tsp yeast neutrient
boil 20minutes. Prisse de Mousse yeast. Rack after 2months. Rack again
after 1 month. Bottle after 3months. Let age an additional 3 to 6
months. Then enjoy
Mark
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Subject: Definitions
From: Susan Ruud <sruud@badlands.nodak.edu>
Date: Thu, 2 Jan 1997 12:33:36 -0600
Hi, I am fairly new at making meads, in fact I have only attempted one and
it is still fermenting so I can't give any results. What I wanted to know
was how to define my mead. I am letting it ferment with just honey for a
few months and now I am adding fruit (not apple or grape) and letting it
ferment again. Is this a flavored mead or a melamil. Also I have a friend
who said she made an unhopped braggot with ginger tea. Wouldn't this be
considered a Metheglin? I thought a braggot was defined as a mead with hops
added. Also since it was Ginger tea and not just spice I didn't know if
this would be considered a Metheglin. Can anyone help me out here. This is
all very confusing.
Thanks Tons
Never Thirst,
Susan
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Subject: ?? Yeast starter; acid
From: jgreene@theonramp.net (JOSEPH GREENE)
Date: Sat, 4 Jan 1997 16:44:01 -0500
I am preparing to make my first batch of mead and have a couple questions.
1) I plan on using Wyeast Sweet Mead. When brewing beer I always make
starters with Wyeast. Should I do the same for mead? If so, how long
should I plan on starting the starter before brewing?
2) Some recipes I have seen call for acidifying the must, especially with a
sweet mead. Is this necessary? Why or why not?
Thanks in advance.
Joe Greene
Mansfield, OH
jgreene@theonramp.net
------------------------------
Subject: sparkling meads
From: lprescot@sover.net
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1997 07:52:30 -0500 (EST)
After years of still wines, I'm going to make my first
sparkling mead. I've read as much as I can find around here on
the subject, but wanted to run my conclusions by here to see
what others think.
My take is that I'm going to start with five gallons of an
absolutely dry mead, in this case a cherry melomel. I will
pitch into it a packet of champagne yeast and three quarters of
a cup (is this the right amount?) of sugar, and bottle it in
champagne bottles, stoppers and wire racks.
My questions are:
1) without disgorging, how much sediment will the finished
product have?
2) Since I'll be using plastic cork-like stoppers, How long can
I reasonably expect the wine to last
3) Is this the right amount of sugar?
4) anyone more experienced have tips on making a sparkling
champagne?
Thanks in advance!
David Prescott, Shaftsbury, Vermont
------------------------------
Subject: Re: #520 - grape infection inquiry by P. Miller
From: MKoop1@aol.com
Date: Sun, 5 Jan 1997 14:34:09 -0500
I had mentioned making a muscadine pyment (muscadines are a wild grape which
grows in the southeast U.S.), and Peter Miller had inquired about vinegar
like infections from the grapes. I racked the pyment in question a couple of
days ago. There was absolutely no sour or vinegar flavor at all. It was
still a bit sweet, to be expected, with a wonderful muscadine taste and
aroma. The muscadine has a rather distinctive, and for me impossible to
describe, flavor. My wife and I had originally frozen the collected fruit,
and at brewing time we pasteurized the fruit and honey. I did not monitor
temperature accurately, but rather maintained the heat below boiling for
approximately fifteen minutes. I had read in the MLD archives that
temperatures above 140 F will kill wild yeast. As for killing bacteria, I
suspect there is quite a wide range of temperature tolerances for the various
species. I am certain, though, that one of the microbiological subscribers
would be better imformed than I.
I intend to experiment through the year with variations of pyments using
grape juice concentrate for wine making, organic grape juice and wild grapes,
as well as some combinations. I will report back any interesting results.
Any one out there with a truly extraordinary pyment recipe, would you please
post it?
Mark Koopman
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #522
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