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Mead Lovers Digest #0638
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #638, 27 January 1998
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #638 27 January 1998
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #637, 23 January 1998 (dennis key)
Re: Rosewater (Tidmarsh Major)
Re: Alcohol (Scott Murman)
Help with Cherry Mel, please! (JKostalot)
OK..so I read the FAQ... (Mark A. Boughter)
NOTE: Digest only appears when there is enough material to send one.
Send ONLY articles for the digest to mead@talisman.com.
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Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #637, 23 January 1998
From: dennis key <dione@unm.edu>
Date: Sat, 24 Jan 1998 13:07:34 -0700 (MST)
Concerning labels: I find I can produce some very nice labels using
Microsoft Word. I use Avery brand Glue Stic to stick them to the bottle.
If you have a laser printer, you can use a wide variety of papers for your
labels.
Never Thirst,
Dione
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Subject: Re: Rosewater
From: Tidmarsh Major <tmajor@parallel.park.uga.edu>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 11:06:25 -0500 (EST)
Myriah Lavin asks about a rosewater rhodomel. I indeed posted about it
awhile back, but never got around to making it.I bought a bottle of
rosewater (found it at the local pharmacy, with or withouot glycerin; I
chose without), but never made a full batch, so I don't know how much to
add to, say, 5 gallons. I did a couple of experiments, though, and found
that a drop or two in 12 ounces of sparkling traditional mead adds a nice
aroma. If I ever get back to that one, I'll use my old standby 14th C
recipe:
1 gallon honey (I'm very partial to sourwood)
4 gallons water
yeast cake from a batch of ale
Boil honey and water 15 mins or so, skimming froth. Chill and pitch onto
dregs from batch of ale (I've also done this with a lager yeast, and it
turned out nicely).
I'd then add the rosewater at bottling, and ounce or two to taste, and
prime with 1/2 cup of corn sugar for a light carbonation.
As I said, I haven't worked out proportions for a full batch, but tests on
individual servings were promising.
Tidmarsh Major
tmajor@parallel.park.uga.edu
Athens, Georgia
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Subject: Re: Alcohol
From: Scott Murman <smurman@best.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 10:42:33 -0800
> Ralph Snel (ralph@astro.lu.se) wrote: A quite simple way that will
> give accuracy up to 0.1% is to boil off all the alcohol and substitute
> by water.
Unfortunately, this commonly touted method doesn't really work. The
problem is that water will be driven off along with the alcohol, so
that when you're done you'll still have alcohol left in your sample.
You'd need to drive off *all* of the liquid in order to drive off all
of the alcohol.
The formulas used in many recipe formulation programs are usually very
simplified, and only accurate for a narrow range of OG, and usually
these are relatively low OG.
Predicting the alcohol content for wines is actually a tricky litle
endeavor. I'd say you'd be just as well to take a guess based on the
OG and SG, as any other method. The result will probably be just as
close (or far removed) from the actual alcohol content as any
apparantly more rigorous method.
SM
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Subject: Help with Cherry Mel, please!
From: JKostalot <JKostalot@aol.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 21:12:40 EST
I would appreciate some feedback on my current project. I started a melomel as
follows:
Boiled 2.5 US gal. of spring water (Ozarka) removed from heat.
Added 2 tsp of yeast food.
Added 7 lbs. raw wildflower honey and let stand 20 minutes.
Cooled in ice bath for 30 minutes which made it about 100F.
Placed 1.5 lbs frozen (nearly defrosted by then) cherries in 5 US gal. carboy.
Poured must on top.
Added 1 pckt. Cotes de Blanches dry yeast that had been rehydrated in 1/4 cp.
previously boiled and cooled spring water.
Airlocked and waited... and waited... 13 hours later no activity at all. If
fact some suck back on the vodka in the airlock due to cooling. So I added
another packet of the same yeast directly (DRY) to the must. Fermentation
began
in about an hour. In fact, it is quite active now and it is now 48 hours since
the second packet.
Other observations, OG was 1.095 at 71F before adding to the cherries. The
firstpack of yeast smelled very different from the second. It smelled kind of
old and dirty (moist wood). It was dry, but dark looking also.
My concern is with the funny smell coming from the carboy. It a kind of yeasty
maybe slightly sulphury smell. It was stronger, but has faded a bit. It came
back shortly and then faded some more. If anyone cares to speculate, I would
really like some ideas about what is happening in there. Please e-mail me at
kostelacj@hotmail.com or respomd to the group. Thanks.
John
------------------------------
Subject: OK..so I read the FAQ...
From: Mark A. Boughter <funch@hto.net>
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 1998 22:37:04 -0500
Legality
In the USA, mead is classified as a wine. A brief, informal (not legal
advice!) synopsis: Federal regulations allow an adult to make up to 100
gallons a year, or 200 gallons per year per household of two or more
adults, for personal or family use, with no tax or license required. It
may not be sold. Concentration (including but not limited to distilla-
tion) is prohibited. State and local laws may impose additional restric-
tions, so check first. The usual situation is that home mead-making is
allowed in any locality where commercial wine can be sold. Repeat: this
is NOT legal advice.
Does the statement "It may not be sold" apply to all mead or just mead not
taxed? Is a license available for such sales...I am not trying to start a
business its just that there is a convention around town once a year where
people dress up like they are playing Dungeons and Dragons and they act a
little goofy and I think I could provide them a service...
:)
any help is greatly appreciated.
Mark
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End of Mead Lover's Digest #638
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