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Mead Lovers Digest #0609
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #609, 4 November 1997
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #609 4 November 1997
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Carbonating Mead (John Richardson)
Lalvin K1-V1116 (RBarnes001@aol.com)
Re: Yeast Starters (Catherine_Schussler@SMTP.NYNEX.COM)
Re: Temperature Question (and Starting Gravity) (Marc Shapiro)
Re: Doctoring a dry mead (Marc Shapiro)
Adddition to the family (chudson@thor.unm.edu)
Re: Bee Pollen/yeast nutrient (Kirk Jones)
More on Pollen as Nutrient (Kirk Jones)
novice questions... ("Kurt Hoesly")
NOTE: Digest only appears when there is enough material to send one.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Carbonating Mead
From: John Richardson <shrink1@mindspring.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 04:57:04 -0600
Group,
I have two meads in carboys. One is a Cyser, the other a spiced mead.
These have both been in carboys for 9-12 mos. Now they are clear enough to
carbonate, but I have two questions:
1) Honey or corn sugar, and how much (5 gal.)?
2) Is there enough yeast in suspension to carbonate, or do I have to dose
it with fresh yeast? How?
Thanks!
John
mailto:shrink1@mindspring.com
------------------------------
Subject: Lalvin K1-V1116
From: RBarnes001@aol.com
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 06:48:20 -0500 (EST)
> > instead of extract. I also intend on using Lalvin K1-V1116.
> No local shops carry this yeast regularly, so I usually special order
Would you mind telling me where? :)
I've heard of this yeast, but I've never seen it
Thanks!
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Yeast Starters
From: Catherine_Schussler@SMTP.NYNEX.COM
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 06:43:20 -0400
From: Catherine Schussler on 10-31-97 06:43 AM
I have had great success with water and table sugar. I take a
sterilized Tupperware type container, add a cup & a half of warm tap water
and 6 -8 tablespoons of Domino, add my packet dried yeast, cover, shake,
and place on the back of the stove while I cook the must. Over the next
couple of hours the yeast will take off and eventually pop the top a couple
of times. Each time I reseal the lid and by the time the must is cool and
in the carboy I've got a dandy batch of happy yeast just waiting to chew
through all of that yummy honey. I've never had a problem with foreign
yeast contamination, or failure to ferment. The measurements stated are,
of course, for a 5 gal. batch and should be adjusted to the size of the
batch you're putting up (i.e. 5 gal carboy vs. 15 gal demi-john).
kate.
Signature Illegible.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Temperature Question (and Starting Gravity)
From: Marc Shapiro <mn.shapiro1@mindspring.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 13:23:47 -0500
> Subject: Temperature Question
> From: Chris Stankaitis <cstank@globalserve.net>
> Date: Thu, 30 Oct 1997 21:38:58 -0500
A starting gravity of 1.160 is extremely high! My hydrometer does not
go that high (I don't think -- it is packed for moving!), but my
calculations put that at a potential alcohol of nearly 22%. I would
sugest diluting the must when you rack it. Even though the fermentation
seems to be OK now, it is probably a good idea to make up a new yeast
starter and add that after the must has been diluted. The reason for
this is that the osmotic pressure on the yeast from such a high initiial
SG is likely to have been detrimental to the yeast and might cause them
to stop prematurely even with dilution. A healthy starter added after
dilution should avoid that problem.
Concerning temperature changes: How much does the temperatured drop
overnight? If it is not real exteme then you can probably just wrap the
carboy in a blanket. This will help to slow the temperature shifts and
could be sufficient. Otherwise, a heating pad set on low set under the
carboy with a towel between it and the carboy (and the blanket wrap)
should do the trick. Experiment cautiously with the heating pad,
though, to make sure that you don't increase the temperature while
trying to prevent a decrease.
Marc Shapiro http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1265/index.html
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Doctoring a dry mead
From: Marc Shapiro <mn.shapiro1@mindspring.com>
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 13:08:43 -0500
> Subject: Doctoring a dry mead
> From: Jeffrey Rose <jeffrey_rose@eri.eisai.com>
> Date: 30 Oct 97 10:40:25 -0500
If you sweeten it up just a bit that should also bring out the fruit
flavor some. I have made strawberry wine several times and it goes dry
like you have described, as well. I usually sweeten it in three
batches: the first, just enough to bring out some of the fruit flavor;
the next, still dry, but not bone dry; and the last with noticable
sweetness for those of my friends who prefer it that way.
HTH
Wassail!
Marc Shapiro http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1265/index.html
"If you drink melomel every day, you will live to be 150 years old,
unless your wife shoots you."
- --Dr. Ferenc Androczi, Winemaker of the Little Hungary Winery
------------------------------
Subject: Adddition to the family
From: chudson@thor.unm.edu
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 20:18:23 -0700
Today at 1127 am MST 31 Oct 1997 Jacob Elliot Hudson was born and one day
soon will join the ranks in fermenting that nectar of the druids mead so
please join me and was your glasses in a toast to My new son Jacob!
Wassil!!!
Chuck, Christine and Jacob
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Bee Pollen/yeast nutrient
From: b-man@aliens.com (Kirk Jones)
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 10:19:49 -0400
>The October issue of the American Bee Journal included an article by Dr.
>Robert Berthold, Jr., recommending the use of pollen as a yeast nutrient in
>mead making - 5 tablespoons per gallon. Anyone out there ever try this?
Yes, I have made mead in 50 gal. barrels with bee pollen as a yeast
nutrient and it seemed to work well. I can't give a scientific analysis.
I used one of the pollens that we trap off our bees that is quite sweet and
orange colored from Staghorn Sumac. The berries off this species can be
used for a citrus like tea.
We will soon have some for sale in 5# baggies. As soon as we get our bees
back south for the winter we will start processing the pollen.
*Kirk Jones/ Sleeping Bear Apiaries /971 S. Pioneer Rd./Beulah,MI 49617
*Sharon Jones/ BeeDazzled Candleworks /6289 River Rd./ Benzonia, MI 49616
e-mail b-man@aliens.com
------------------------------
Subject: More on Pollen as Nutrient
From: b-man@aliens.com (Kirk Jones)
Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 19:05:15 -0400
>Subject: Pollen as a yeast nutrient
I think I forgot to mention that I used 1 heaping Tablespoon per gallon.
Bee sure the pollen is *sweet* to the taste. Many pollens are somewhat
bitter.
*Kirk Jones/ Sleeping Bear Apiaries /971 S. Pioneer Rd./Beulah,MI 49617
*Sharon Jones/ BeeDazzled Candleworks /6289 River Rd./ Benzonia, MI 49616
e-mail b-man@aliens.com
------------------------------
Subject: novice questions...
From: "Kurt Hoesly" <hoesly@hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 02 Nov 1997 13:56:32 PST
Hello, all...
I have a couple of questions that will probably seem pretty simple to
those of you who have been brewing for a while...
I currently have two batches of mead brewing, one a plain mead (started
13 Oct), the other a citrus mel (started 18 Oct). There are a copule of
differences in how they're behaving, so I thought I'd check here to see
if there's something I have missed, or if they are acting normally.
Brew #1 is a 2.5 gallon batch, made with ~4 lbs. filtered honey. The
yeast I used is Premier Cuvee. It has been racked off the sediment once
(about a week ago), but is still extremely cloudy. There is activity in
the fermentation lock every 45-55 seconds.
Brew #2 is also 2.5 gallon, made with ~3.5 lbs. raw honey. The yeast
used in this batch is a Pasteur Champagne. The peel and meat from a
medium-sized lemon and half a lime were in the mix for 4 days before
racking. As of a couple days ago, the mead has become nearly
crystal-clear, with a layer of stuff on the bottom of the carboy. The
fermentation lock bubbles every 2 minutes or so.
(Both carboys are in a somewhat darkened room where the temp is in the
mid-60's.)
Question #1: Is the cloudiness difference due mainly to the different
strains of yeast used, or more likely from using filtered vs. raw honey?
(The honey in both batches was boiled briefly (less than 5 minutes) with
as much of the scum/foam being skimmed as possible.)
Question #2: Should batch #2 be racked again, or would I be better off
leaving it on the lees for a while longer? Does the relative inactivity
of the fermentation lock mean that the yeast is done, and it
could/should be bottled?
As with my previous questions, any advice is welcome, since these are my
first attempts at brewing.
Ad(thanks)vance!
- -kurt
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #609
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