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Mead Lovers Digest #0616
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #616, 22 November 1997
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #616 22 November 1997
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
soy mead? (Charles Hudak)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #615, 18 November 1997 (Bob Tisdale)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #615, 18 November 1997 (Myron Sothcott)
First mead (Matthew Arnold)
Bee's Lees Part II Recipe Collection (Sheryl Nance-Durst)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #613, 11 November 1997 (Michael P Newton)
strong alcohal taste (L)
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Subject: soy mead?
From: Charles Hudak <cwhudak@mail.adnc.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 11:57:12
Nathan writes:
> My question is this. Should I use
>this honey (probably soybean by variety) for a straight dry mead or sweet
>mead? Will I be disappointed with a "bland" product? I think it might
>work for a sweet mead, because the honey tastes great. How about a plain
>sparkling mead? Would it be worth using this great, but light, honey?
>
And yet another postitive use for that great bean....Sweet or dry? Why not
try both? I find that light honeys make great plain meads due to their
subtle characters, much like a fine sauvignon blanc. You probably will want
to add acid at bottling to add dimension but I think that you'd have great
luck with any of the styles that you mentioned. Have a bunch? Why not try
all three.
It's been a great fall and summer. I have 6 full carboys of wonderful
nectars. A grapefruit mel from the spring, a sour cherry mel from the
summer, a plain mead from the fall, an early press cyser and cider and a
late press cider. Can't wait till they're in the bottle. I'm giving a talk
on mead at my homebrew club tonite--trying to make some converts. I'll
probably hand bottle a few of the young ones still in quaternary that are
very clear and pull some of my old stash for tasting. Wish you could be
there to taste them!! If you're ever in the San Diego area.....
Wassail!
Charles
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #615, 18 November 1997
From: rtisdale@entomology.msstate.edu (Bob Tisdale)
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 13:03:18 -0500
Anne T wrote a line on making traditional mead without pasteurizing or
using sulfites. As a P.S. she added:
p.s. - When using large yeast pitching rates, don't use nutrient - the
yeast won't utilize it and that taste stays in your mead - yuck!
Can this be right?
Cheers,
Bob Tisdale
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #615, 18 November 1997
From: Myron Sothcott <sothcott@visi.net>
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 19:14:06 +0500
On 18-Nov-97, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
>Boy, I'd hoped that would grab your attention. Anyhow, I have plenty of
>honey to work with. I don't really care to waste any.
>I have what I will call "virgin" honey. The hives are brand new this year.
>Most of the efforts of the bees were directed at building the comb. As a
>result, none of the comb is old and oxidized and nasty. The honey I have
>is very light in color and tastes great. I have a blueberry melomel going
>right now and it tastes fine so far. My question is this. Should I use
>this honey (probably soybean by variety) for a straight dry mead or sweet
>mead? Will I be disappointed with a "bland" product? I think it might
>work for a sweet mead, because the honey tastes great. How about a plain
>sparkling mead? Would it be worth using this great, but light, honey?
>Thanks.
>Nathan in Frankenmuth, MI
Nathan,
Why are you asking questions and not brewing? ;)
It's a little difficult to tell what you have from 'tastes great' but I
assume that it does not have a distinctive flavor or you would mention
it.
Lets assume then, a very light, sweet, neutral flavored honey. For me
that would recommend a nice light sparkling pyment.
Since it appears that you will have access to this honey over a period of
time (are they your hives) you have an opportunity to develop the taste you
want by experiment.
Here is what I would try for a starting point.
- ------------------
For 5 gallons:
5 to 7 lbs honey
30 oz concentrated grape juice - from Brew or Winemaking shop
(I have used both Chablis and French Columbard)
Champagne yeast
- ------------------
A very simple recipe but it makes a delightful, champagne-like, sparkling,
dry mead.
I boil and skim (never had a cloudy mead), cool, pitch, rack after a week,
and bottle when it is clear and fermentation as virtually stopped (4-5 more
weeks). I use 3/4 cup of corn sugar to prime (out of habit). It doesn't
add anything to the taste and it gives me a nice full carbonation.
Taste tests.
1 month - ughhh!
3 months - sweet, nice sparkle
6 months - very, very dry
9 months - less dry (grapes aging?) nice.
1 year - mellowing out nicely, very bubbley
I wouldn't plan on less than a year for this mead.
Myron
------------------------------
Subject: First mead
From: mra@skyfry.com (Matthew Arnold)
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 03:59:41 GMT
Dear collective,
I have been brewing beer for about a year, so I decided to take the big plunge
into this fermented honey stuff. I have begun my first ever mead, a one gallon
cyser batch based on "Hangover Cyser" from "Mead Made Easy." One question: does
anyone know what the fermentation temperature range is for Red Star Pasteur
Champagne yeast? I'm wondering how warm I'm going to have to keep it here in
the frigid Midwest.
Also, I was wondering if it would be safe just to sanitize my hydrometer and
put it in the gallon jug in several weeks when I may consider bottling it. My
theory would be that the high alcohol content (it is supposed to have an O.G.
of ~1.120) would inhibit any critters that might sneak in there. If I siphon
enough off for a hydrometer reading, it will seriously cut into this batch! Any
thoughts? I assume I should expect a F.G. of about .995, is that correct?
Thanks,
Matt
------------------------------
Subject: Bee's Lees Part II Recipe Collection
From: Sheryl Nance-Durst <sherylnd@sound.net>
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 16:55:22 -0600
That's right -- The Bee's Lees, Part II! Inspired by Joyce Miller's
Bee's Lees collection, I've had a project going for a while to collect
recipes posted to the Digest since the original was created in 1994.
It's finally done. I kept the collection limited to recipes that the
poster specifically stated had resulted in meads that were at least
"pretty good". Anyway...It turned out to be almost 100 Kb (40Kb
zipped) in a text file. I know it's too big to post to the Digest
& it would take too long to send it to everyone by individual e-mail.
Anyone want to volunteer to post it on their Web site for download?
How about the moderator sending to the archive? Suggestions, anyone?
I've already posted it to the rec.craft.winemaking newsgroup.
Sheryl Nance-Durst
sherylnd@sound.net
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #613, 11 November 1997
From: melc2newton@juno.com (Michael P Newton)
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 18:49:47 EST
I recently recieved a copy of _The Domostroi: rules for russian
Households in the time of Ivan the Terrible_, translated by Carolyn
Johnston Pouncy. There are several recipes for meads in this book, but
most of them call for hops. (i.e. Honey mead. To distill honey mead, take
five parts honey to one part warm water and strain it until it is clear.
Place it in a jar and add three maesures of hops. Ferment it with yeast.
When it is ready, strain the yeast from the mead with a fine sieve until
the mixture is clear. When you are done, pour it into a cask.)
Has anyone ever made a mead flavored with hops, and if so, what recipe
did you use?
In addition, does anyone know when hops were first used in Russia?
Elizabeth Newton
------------------------------
Subject: strong alcohal taste
I just finished a batch of methyglyn and it has a real sharp alcohal
taste to it that I am not sure if I like. Will aging this mead improve
its flavor or do I have to tolerate it??\
Thank you
Sean Sheedy
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #616
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