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Mead Lovers Digest #0668
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #668, 11 May 1998
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #668 11 May 1998
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Wyeast Sweet Mead (RBarnes001)
RE: Mead Lover's Digest #667, 4 May 1998 ("Burnette, Ollen--G3")
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #667, 4 May 1998 (Czesp)
Sweet Mead yeast ("Mr. Warren Place")
Recycled Yeast (Donellan)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #666, 27 April 1998 (blood@teleport.com)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #663, 10 April 1998 (Gary Shea)
yeast-comparison experiment (Edme, Vierka Mead, Vierka Sherry) (Gary Shea)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Wyeast Sweet Mead
From: RBarnes001 <RBarnes001@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 06:59:36 EDT
> I used Wyeast's sweat mead liquid yeast.
I think you're experience is generally normal for Wyeast Mead yeasts
I believe it's essential to pitch wyeast into a starter if you're going to get
any real good results. I'm not saying wyeast is bad, I use it exclusivley,
but there's just not enough yeast cells in that pack to do the job.
------------------------------
Subject: RE: Mead Lover's Digest #667, 4 May 1998
From: "Burnette, Ollen--G3" <BurnetteO@hood-emh3.army.mil>
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 09:22:40 -0500
> Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #666, 27 April 1998
> From: davep <davep@mpls1.mn.uswest.net>
> Date: Mon, 27 Apr 98 16:58:42 -0500
>
> >Is there a "general" rule of thumb for comparing volume to weight for
> honey?
>
> I usually figure that a gallon is right about 12lbs, which comes from
> when I bought my 5 gallons of honey a couple years back. It came in at
>
> exactly 60 lbs, and the 5 gallon bucket was a little less than full. 5
>
> quart ice cream pails generally sell as 12 lbs, but they're seldom
> full
> to the top.
>
> - -DaveP
>
>
>
12 pounds to the gallon is a good average, but honey varies quite a bit.
I always sell honey by weight, not volume since I have produced honey
which weighs anywhere from 59.5 to 63.2 pounds for a five gallon bucket.
All of these were wildflower honeys. Generally, in my area, honeys
produced later in the year (mid summer to early fall) are darker, more
flavorful and heavier than early spring honey.
Chip Burnette
Belton, TX
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #667, 4 May 1998
From: Czesp <Czesp@aol.com>
Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 14:40:56 EDT
Frank Colombo asks how he can stop mead fermentation in order to get sweet
mead. Your problem was probably an error in reading the specific gravity.
Assuming that you used 5 gallons of cider with SG of 1.08 and 5# of honey (0.5
gal), your must should have SG of 1.105 (24.9 Brix), and your mead should be
very sweet when fermented with champagn yeast. However, it is very unlikely
that SG of your cider was 1.08. That would be 1.74# of sugar per gallon of
cider. The SG of apple cider is usually 1.04 to 1. 05. Assuming the SG of
1.05, your cider contained 1.086# of sugar per gallon, and your total sugar
content was 1.886# per gallon (20.8 Brix). This would produce a dry mead.
Your SG reading was probably too high because of the presence of pulp in your
cider.
Keep on fermenting. Czes Perun
------------------------------
Subject: Sweet Mead yeast
From: "Mr. Warren Place" <wrp2@axe.humboldt.edu>
Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 17:21:24 -0700 (PDT)
I can tell you exactly what to expect. You'll get an overly sweet
mead. I tried a few different things to ameliorate the condition of my
mead but none worked. Adding water only dilutes it till you get something
tasting like cream soda. (Not bad I might add, but you won't need more
than a gallon of it). Adding acid blend just creates something that
tastes like sweet and sour sauce. The best thing to do is pitch some wine
or ale yeast. Champange yeast will make the mead very dry. You might
also try adding the water to try and restart fermentation. My mead had
sat for several months before I added the water.
Warren Place
wrp2@axe.humboldt.edu
www.humboldt.edu/~wrp2
> Will this yeast eat some more of the sweetness, or should I add some
> champagne yeast to it. I figured that with only 12# of honey in 5 gal of
> water, that it would turn out semi-sweet at best.
> Tim Green
> timgreen@ix.netcom.com
------------------------------
Subject: Recycled Yeast
From: Donellan <Donellan@aol.com>
Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 20:39:35 EDT
Hi All, I recently tried an experiment with the sediment that had fallen out
of a traditional mead using ale yeast. I stained the sediment through a coffee
filter and let it dry on the range top for a week or so,today I made a simple
starter with sugar water and a bit of OJ ,put a couple chunks of the dried
sediment in and it took right off in about an hour .OK so this tells me I can
reuse the yeast,my questions are, what would be the proper way to remove the
yeast,dry it and store it for an extended period of time ?What are the pro's
and con's of this method ?
TIA, Jon
PS sorry about that PB&J post,didn't mean to insult anyones intelligence.
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #666, 27 April 1998
From: blood@teleport.com
Date: Fri, 8 May 1998 21:09:09 -0700 (PDT)
At 9:14 AM 4/27/98, mead-request@talisman.com wrote:
>Subject: Re: Maple Mead
>From: Alex Flinsch <druid@princeton.crosswinds.net>
>Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 17:10:34
>
>At 11:47 AM 4/20/98 MDT, you wrote:
>
>>
>>Subject: Looking for a Maple Mead Recipe
>
>>I've picked up 32 oz of grade A maple syrup.
>>I would like a small maple mead recipe or a recipe that I can scale down.
Apologies for this quite belated response. Here is a maple mead I made
which can be done in a one gallon batch. Give it at least 6-8 ms. of aging
in order for the maple flavor to really come into presence. After that
point it is really quite good...
Ceremonial Maple Mead
(brew in 1 gal container)
1 lb. organic maple syrup
2 lbs. clover honey
1 package Vintner 'Dry Mead' Yeast (liquid yeast from Wyeast Labs)
1/4 tsp. Irish Moss
1/4 tsp. Tannin
3 1/2 tsp. Acid Blend
1 tsp. Yeast Nutrient
Water to fill container.
Bring syrup and honey to just under a boil, cool and add Irish Moss
(rehydrated), Tannin, Acid Blend, and Yeast Nutrient. Let cool to room
temp, place in brewing container, add water to fill, pitch yeast. Follow
normal mead fermentation/racking/bottling procedures.
Wassail,
Michael
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #663, 10 April 1998
From: Gary Shea <shea@gtsdesign.com>
Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 21:38:16 -0600 (MDT)
Today I used a small press to crush 150 lbs of grapes I harvested
last fall from various back yards here in SLC. All table grapes of
various sorts, I assume. There were some Concords (grape kool-aid)
grapes in there too. I picked them last year, and I would advise
anyone considering freezing grapes to NOT do it. Uck. They tasted
all wrong. The yield was about 6 gallons, which seems a little high --
probably rinse water.
Pitched a starter cooked up in a half-gallon bottle -- waited
for the starter to start settling, I've been told that's when the
yests are ready to go into a reproducing frenzy again, as opposed
to simply continuing to do that fermentation thing, whatever it is.
I need a reference on yeast metabolism... hints?
By themselves, the grapes had a s.g. of 1.066, ph of about 4.2; added
5 lbs of honey (and about another 3/4 gallon of juice I hadn't
expected to use in the mead), final s.g. 1.088, ph 4.0.
Gary Shea
shea@gtsdesign.com
SLC UT
------------------------------
Subject: yeast-comparison experiment (Edme, Vierka Mead, Vierka Sherry)
From: Gary Shea <shea@gtsdesign.com>
Date: Sat, 9 May 1998 22:43:14 -0600 (MDT)
I've got an interesting little yeast experiment going. Wanted
to check out Vierka yeasts, so I mixed up about 3.5 gallons of a
raspberry melomel must, and split it into three buckets. Used
two packets each of Edme Ale (my usual...), Vierka Mead, and
Vierka Sherry (currently the only sherry yeast I can find -- my
supplier says Red Star Flor Sherry is no longer available).
The must had 9lbs of a spicy wildflower honey, initial s.g.
1.082 @ 85F, ph about 3.8. Started 3/2/98.
The Edme showed good activity the next day; the Vierka yeasts
took about 6 days to get going. The Edme slowed to a virtual
halt on 3/4; measured ph of about 3.4; added about 3gm CaCO3
to get the ph back to about 3.8.
On 4/5 the Edme had s.g. 1.004, ph 3.8, and had stopped bubbling.
Clearing but not there, very alcoholic bite; added 1.5 gm CaCO3,
ph 4.0-4.2. Vierka Mead still active, s.g. 1.006, ph 3.4, some
initial mouthwash flavor, medical/alcoholic nose; added 4gm CaCO3,
ph 4.0-4.2. Vierka Sherry still active, s.g.. 1.004, ph 3.4-3.6,
alcoholic bit but distinctly clean; no finish flavors at all;
added 4gm CaCO3, ph 4.0-4.2
On 4/26 all three had slowed to a virtual halt, a bubble every
20 seconds or more. The specific gravities were all below
1.000. The Edme had a butterscotchy note that I've never
noticed before, maybe I'm imaginging it? The Vierka Mead
still has the medicinal/listerine flavor/nose, and the sherry
is still amazingly clean, and maybe tastes less alcoholic.
That's the end of the controlled part of the experiment, because on
5/2 when I went to add another pound of honey to each, I got goofed
up and added close to 2lbs to the Vierka Mead, and roughly
a pound to each of the others.
This is one of my first experiments with the ph-management
approach to mead making, and it impresses me that all three of
these meads were crystal clear on 5/2, after about 60 days.
However, before getting too excited, please note that I have 4 gal.
of a peach mead which was pitched (Lalvin D47) 9/22/97, s.g. 1.112
(I doubt this number, my notes say PA 15, but I bet I read the wrong
scale and it was Balling 15 which is about 1.060 and fits much
better with the 2.5lbs/gal of honey in the must).
I added 4 lbs honey 1/4/98 and racked to glass. On 3/2 it showed s.g.
1.006 and ph 3.6; adjusted ph to 4.0. It has showed no signs of
clearing since then, although it slowed down quite a bit. I just
added 2 more lbs honey in hopes of getting to be at least a little
bit sweet. Lalvin D47 seems like a very attenuative yeast...
Gary Shea
shea@gtsdesign.com
SLC UT
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #668
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