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Mead Lovers Digest #0582
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #582, 6 August 1997
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #582 6 August 1997
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Chillin' (Di and Kirby)
Metheglin and molasses (nkanous)
SUMMER DRINK (MicahM1269@aol.com)
Re: mead ale (Robert Hook)
First meads (John Wilkinson)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #579, 28 July 1997 (MicahM1269@aol.com)
new to this craft ("Kim Christensen")
sugars control (Unlisted)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Chillin'
From: Di and Kirby <trillium@magibox.net>
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 1997 23:38:54 -0500
I used to just serve it at room temperature, but it just recently
occurred to me to try chilling it a bit. I've only tried a buckwheat
mead this way, but it was very nice out of the refrigerator. It is a dry
mead, and I think the cold went nicely with the crispness of it-- made
it taste less sharp, a bit more mellow. Also, since we're used to fruity
things tasting cold, I'd try chilling a melomel, too. But a very sweet,
still mead, I think I'd keep at room temperature to keep it from being
to fru-fru. Maybe tho', it's just that this was the first few types of
meads that I ever tasted, and at primitive camp-outs at that. It could
just be nostalgia speaking here. ;)
Since originally when mead was made, there was no refrigeration
available, I think I would say that a mead *ought* to taste good at room
temp, but some cooling might bring out different characters as per
others' posts. This is an interesting parameter for experimentation!
I've also heard chilling helps to clear it, tho' the mead I tried cold
was already clear.
Cheers!
Diana
------------------------------
Subject: Metheglin and molasses
From: nkanous@tir.com (nkanous)
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 1997 12:58:05 -0400 (EDT)
Greetings,
A couple of things. Many of the "traditional" recipes for metheglin include
ginger, cloves, cinnamon, and a few others. I'm curious as to how much of
each of these spices will impart enough flavor and aroma? Yes, individual
tastes do influence this, I realize. Also, do most people place the spices
in the must during pasteurization, or add spices to the fermenter (primary
or secondary)?
Second (or maybe third), most of these spices are similar to what is
included in one of my personal favorites, molasses cookies! Anybody
experimented with molasses in meads / metheglins? Thanks
Nathan in Frankenmuth
------------------------------
Subject: SUMMER DRINK
From: MicahM1269@aol.com
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 1997 22:46:06 -0400 (EDT)
I thought that I would share with you all a enjoyable application of
excess mead. By excess mead, I mean, a while back I was bottling some
buckwheat mead and ran out of bottles. I put up the excess in a recently
emptied wine bottle and corked it. After laying in the frig for a month, the
wife ' discovered' it. The mead was bottled in less than ideal sanitary
conditions for the long life of a buckwheat mead. So we had to get rid of it.
As it is incredably hot and humid in MO. Serving over crushed ice is a must
( no pun ). That was good, so we added a cinnamon stick, that was better. We
then added a small amount of pinapple juice, that achieved prefection.
mead the drink of the cool gods
micah millspaw - brewer at large
------------------------------
Subject: Re: mead ale
From: Robert Hook <rhook@gil.com.au>
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 1997 10:45:19 +1000
>Has anyone tried to make Mead Ale? I have a recipe from the "Making Mead" book
>that I just tried, in another week or so I'll get my first taste.
>
I don't know whether it's the honey I used, or a poor choice of malt, but
all the braggots I've made based on the recipe in that book - which are
basically the same as the Mead Ale recipe, without hops - have wound up
incredibly tart. I'm not too sure that you wouldn't want to use a very dark
malt and a lot more honey than the recipe suggests. I'll be curious to hear
how it turns out for you, though.
- ----
Remember, the Oxen are slow, but the Earth is patient.
mailto: rhook@gil.com.au
http://www.gil.com.au/~rhook/rah.html (source PGP signature from here)
Robert Hook
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
------------------------------
Subject: First meads
From: jwilkins@imtn.tpd.dsccc.com (John Wilkinson)
Date: Tue, 5 Aug 97 09:44:28 CDT
I have been homebrewing for a couple of years but only just started making
mead. I tried two small batches of about 2.5 gal. each using bulk honey
from a local organic food store. One I poured onto the dregs from an ale
secondary and the other on the dregs of a red wine secondary. The ale yeast
mead stopped at about 1.040, I suppose because of alcohol content. Starting
gravity of each batch was about 1.100. I pitched rehydrated wine yeast into
the stopped ferment and am waiting for it to complete. The batch on the
wine dregs finished at about 1.000 so I racked it to a secondary. It tastes
fairly good, light honey flavor and a bit alcoholic. I am waiting for it to
clear and will bottle it. I currently have a white wine finished in a primary
and am thinking of making another batch to pour on its dregs. I was thinking
of doing something a little different but don't want to leap before I at
least glance, if not look. I boiled the previous batches but have seen it
recommended that the honey not be boiled to prevent driving off too much
flavor. I will probably try this. How about fruit? I understand that I
may have problems clearing. Do I use pectin or some enzyme to help reduce
the pulp? I haven't used any additives yet and am hesitant to mess up my
mead with additives. I am not an organic freak by any means, but don't know
enough to be adding things willy nilly to my mead. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
John Wilkinson - Grapevine, Texas - jwilkins@imtn.dsccc.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #579, 28 July 1997
From: MicahM1269@aol.com
Date: Wed, 6 Aug 1997 07:36:20 -0400 (EDT)
In a message dated 97-07-28 15:35:45 EDT, you write:
<< Subject: Sage honey???
From: Jonathan Nail <jnail@clea.qualcomm.com>
Date: Fri, 18 Jul 1997 11:15:26 -0800
Has anyone used Sage honey before to make a mead? Is it considered a mild
or light honey? Or does it tend towards the darker side of honey?
Thanks,
Jonathan >>
Sage Honey is very, very delicate. It can be used to make very light meads.
Fermented out it can be almost as light as water in colour. It does not taste
like the spice sage.
micah millspaw - brewer at large
------------------------------
Subject: new to this craft
From: "Kim Christensen" <gyrefalcon@mindspring.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 1997 09:46:29 -0400
Greetings to one and all!
I am getting ready to do my first actual fermented batch of mead. I
have played around with Horilkas doing the quick version
(which is not fermented), so the cooking and mashing and straining, etc I
am familliar with but a few things still confuse me.
1) I have seen several references to a yeast "starter". I have a package
of dry champagne yeast and I was planning on just
rehydrating it. Do I need to use a yeast "starter"? What are the
pros/cons? How do you make one?
2) I live in S. FL. and am worried about the temperature during
fermentation and aging. Any suggestions on keeping things cool
without having an outlandish power bill? I know of one person on the
digest that used to live down here (Hi Alexander!!! members
of Farflung say "HUGS") and would love to know the best temps. for
fermenting and aging. Would getting an old fridge and keeping
the stuff in there be the best?
3) I see a lot of references to some numbers that say starting and ending?
I believe it has to do with the sugar content...
How important is it to have accurate measurements of this.... If I'm just
starting do I really need to worry about it?
Any other helpfull tips for someone starting off would be appreciated...
I am chomping at the bit to try some of the recipies that
I have read in the archives and my friends are ready to lock me in my
kitchen to get me going on this!!! <evil grin>
Thanks a bunch,
Kim
Snuggle is sex for the Soul...
Kim L. Christensen
gyrefalcon@mindspring.com
------------------------------
Subject: sugars control
From: Unlisted <THYME@OREGON.UOREGON.EDU>
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 1997 14:54:04 -0700 (PDT)
i'm interested in some experienced commentary on this subject...
the first successful batch of mead that i made (straight, basic mead) was
bottled early after a stuck fermentation therefore it wasboth effervescent and
way too sweet (i like dry chardonays, and would like to approximate this
dryness in my meads). the next batch i made fermented completely to dryness
and has NO residual sugars by taste (i still haven't determined the specific
gravity yet). how do i gain better control over residual sugar content of my
final product? i was expecting that i could simply start with more sugar/gal
of mead and the yeast would die out at similar alcohol concentrations as my
last batch. however it's also possible that the beasties will keep on
fermenting out all that extra honey as well. i'm also trying to minimize the
alcohol levels of the final product; i'm a lightweight and would like to enjoy
a glass of my mead w/o getting toasted!
i'm thinking that i need to both raise the honey content of my mead, and
switch to a yeast that dies out at lower alcohol concentrations(ie from a
champagne yeast to a wine yeast. recommendations?). any thoughts?
thyme
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #582
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