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Mead Lovers Digest #0745
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #745, 19 June 1999
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #745 19 June 1999
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Re: Never ending krausen? (Michael Kaiser)
Re: Mead Lover's Digest #744, 8 June 1999 (Bill)
Stopping an active fermentation (Bill Benzel)
Boiling point of alcohol (m_shapiro@bigfoot.com)
D-47 Yeast (and blueberry mead story) ("Patrick Lehnherr")
1st Time Mead Person (Ernie Baker)
Re:Tea and Tannin: MLD #744 ("Jeff")
Re: D47 (MLD #744) (Myron Sothcott)
Darjeeling tea (Paul Haaf)
Aging a mead (Matt Birchfield)
honey analysis ("Chuck Wettergreen")
Commercial Mead (stevesmallman@juno.com)
Bottles (Roberlewis@aol.com)
please edit! (Mead Lover's Digest)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Re: Never ending krausen?
From: Michael Kaiser <kaiseriron2@yahoo.com>
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1999 01:22:02 -0700 (PDT)
Bill,
Did you use a powdered corriander? The powdered corriander will impart
a certian elevation of the surface tension, kinda like putting talc on
the surface of water...it just stays there. If not....then I dunno :o)
>
> Subject: Never ending krausen?
> From: Bill Murray <bmurray@execpc.com>
> Date: Sat, 5 Jun 1999 08:10:38 -0500
>
>
> Here's the deal... made a corinader metheglyn on 5/22 and to this day
> it
> still has a thick krausen (I likely spelled that wrong but can't find
> it in
> the dictionary) on top in the carboy... no sign of it even beginning
> to
> crack and fall away. The mead is still cooking away in my kitchen at
> a room
> temperature of 75 degrees which is just fine (though I must say it
> seems to
> be going on longer than any of the other batches I have made) but I
> have
> never had a krausen hang around this long... any thoughts as to why?
> Made a
> cherry melomel just three days ago and the krausen on IT is already
> breaking down and falling into the proverbial soup... this is what I
> normally experience. So fellow meadsters... what might be the issue
> here?
> Any thoughts appreciated, and my guess is that I just need to be
> patient
> and it too will go away eventually... this is just out of the
> ordinary.
> Thanks!
>
> Bill
>
> p.s. - and if I spelled "krausen" wrong, how does one spell it?
>
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Mead Lover's Digest #744, 8 June 1999
From: Bill <perimage@ripco.com>
Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 03:40:23 -0500
> Subject: Stopping an active fermentation
> From: "Brian A" <merrymead@hotmail.com>
> Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 19:21:18 PDT
>
> Hey All,
>
> It seems to me that the easiest way to naturally kill your yeast and stop a
> fermentation is to heat your mead to 160F (pasteurize). I've done this once
> for a sweet strawberry mead, and it did kill the ferment... I'm not sure if
> any of the (low to begin with) alcohol evaporated due to the pasteurization,
> but the final product was well liked by friends, and remained perfectly
> still for over a year. If I remember correctly, I syphoned the pasteurized
> mead back into a sanitized carboy, then waited a week for additional
> clearing and racked to bottles.
>
> Everything I've ever read says not to do this, that it will givee the mead a
> cooked, or burnt taste, but this was not my experience. Has anyone else
> tried this method before? Anyone know the temperature at which alcohol
> evaporates?
My Lange's Handbook of chemistry gives 78.3 degrees Centigrade (that
tells you how old I am) as the vapor point for ethanol. If my math is
correct, that would be 172 degrees F. I would guess that uneven heating
and pressure variations would cause the loss of some ethanol at 160
degrees F. 140 deg. would probably be better - enough to kill the yeast,
not enough to cause ethanol loss.
On the other hand, it would seem that choosing a yeast with the specific
alcohol tolerance you want, then feeding the must until that level is
reached, then adding more honey to achieve the finish desired, would
also work. The yeast should not start up again if the alcohol content is
high enough. I have read that winemakers use brandy to stop fermentation
when they have reached the desired level of alcohol.
Re: Sir Kenelme Digby's picture. It would appear that his jousting days
were over when he sat for this portrait. A bit chubby, you know!
Bill
- --
@====================================================================
@Motto of the _Order of the Garter_: "Honi soit qui mal y pense."
@Motto of Minsky's _Star and Garter_: "Yoni sois quay valide penes."
@ICQ: 1424-1229
------------------------------
Subject: Stopping an active fermentation
From: Bill Benzel <whb@Op.Net>
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1999 09:22:24 -0400 (EDT)
Methyl alcohol (the stuff that gives you a really bad hangover and is
considered poison) will evaporate at 148.5 F.
Ethyl alcohol (the goos stuff that we want to keep) will evaporate at 173
F.
So your 160 is perfect -- it gets rid of any methyl alcohol in the mead
and retains the ethyl alcohol.
Bill
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Subject: Stopping an active fermentation
> From: "Brian A" <merrymead@hotmail.com>
> Date: Fri, 28 May 1999 19:21:18 PDT
>
> Hey All,
>
> It seems to me that the easiest way to naturally kill your yeast and stop a
> fermentation is to heat your mead to 160F (pasteurize). I've done this once
> for a sweet strawberry mead, and it did kill the ferment... I'm not sure if
> any of the (low to begin with) alcohol evaporated due to the pasteurization,
> but the final product was well liked by friends, and remained perfectly
> still for over a year. If I remember correctly, I syphoned the pasteurized
> mead back into a sanitized carboy, then waited a week for additional
> clearing and racked to bottles.
>
> Everything I've ever read says not to do this, that it will givee the mead a
> cooked, or burnt taste, but this was not my experience. Has anyone else
> tried this method before? Anyone know the temperature at which alcohol
> evaporates?
>
> Merry Mead,
> Brian
>
------------------------------
Subject: Boiling point of alcohol
From: m_shapiro@bigfoot.com
Date: Wed, 09 Jun 1999 11:44:35 -0400 (EDT)
Brian A. asked about the evaporation point of alcohol (in reference to heating
to 160 F for pasturization).
Alcohol boils at 173 F (78.3 C), but will begin evaporating at a lower
temperature. Just as water will slowly evaporate from a puddle at room
temperature and will form visible steam well before it actually boils, alcohol
will do the same. Just how much alcohol you lost while heating to 160 F is
impossible to say. It would depend on too many factors, like how rapidly the
mead was heated to that temperature, how long it was held there, how rapidly it
was cooled down, the surface/volume ratio of the pot used, thye barometric
pressure (height above sea level), the relative humidity, and probably many
other things that I can't think of.
I read an article several years ago that had a chart showing the time needed
for killing yeast vs the temperature. As I remember it, the article claimed
that only about 3 minutes was needed at 150 F and only a minute at 155 F. If
this is correct then it seems to me that a RAPID heating to 150 F and then
equally rapid cooling (in an ice bath?) after just a few minutes should be
sufficient to eliminate any active yeast while minimizing the heating time and
maximum temperature, thus reducing any 'cooked' flavors. I have not actually
tried this, myself, however. Does anyone else have any experience with this
sort of pasturization who can pass on the results to the rest of us?
Marc Shapiro m_shapiro@bigfoot.com
Visit 'The Meadery' at:
http://www.bigfoot.com/~m_shapiro/
"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 Farm Winery
------------------------------
Subject: D-47 Yeast (and blueberry mead story)
From: "Patrick Lehnherr" <lehnherr@isd.net>
Date: Wed, 9 Jun 1999 10:42:07 -0500
A while ago, I asked about this yeast, as it was the only one the
local homebrew shop had on hand for mead.
I received some favorable replys. In my case, I made a mead with 12
pounds of clover honey in 5 gallons (w/ blueberries to be added later)
and some yeast nutrient. About 2 months have gone by. I found this
yeast to have strong, though not vigorous fermentation. I was getting
a steady bubbling in the airlock for well over a month (bubbles at
least every 15 seconds).
It finally subsided, and when I had time, I pureed 23 pints of
blueberries and racked the mead onto it. I stupidly had not
calculated teh volume of hte blueberries into the recipe, so I did not
have room in my 7.5 gallons fermentor for 23 pints of blueberries and
5 gallons of mead. I got almost 2 gallons of volume from the
strawberries.
I racked all the mead I dared over the blueberries, and had about a
gallon left over. No problem, I thought, I can drink it young. let me
tell ya...I'm glad I had that "extra" mead. At only 2 months it is very
drinkable. I had two glasses that night and went to bed with a very
nice, warm buzz.
Now I do have a question on the fermentation. As I said, I racked teh
mead on the blueberries, but I also tossed two packets of
champagne yeast in as I've heard that D-47 is less attenuative than
I'd like. Here it is, 2 days later, and I see no sign of fermentation! I
racked right off the bottom of the carboy, so plenty of D-47 yeast
should be in there, plus the 2 packets of champagne yeast. COuld it
be that the seal on teh 7.5 gallon bucket is not tight? Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Pat Lehnherr
------------------------------
Subject: 1st Time Mead Person
From: erniebaker@webtv.net (Ernie Baker)
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 07:52:26 -0700 (PDT)
I have the below recipe and since it
will be around a year before I taste it, I
want it to come out good.
7.5 # clover honey
3 oz cinnamon sticks
3 Campden tablets
1/4 tsp nutmeg
.5 oz cascade hop pellets
1/4 tsp irish moss
.5 oz yeast nutrient
bring 3 gallons of water to a boil. Add honey and boil for 30 minutes.
Add yeast nutrient 5 minutes before end of boil. Cool to 70-75 deg and
pitch yeast (Wyeast 3632 Dry). Primary 2 weeks, secondary 7 weeks. OG
1084, FG .998. This will be still Mead. Questions: Why Campden
tablets? I really do not want to use them..any problem? Should I simmer
for 15-30 minutes rather than boil?
Should I make any changes to this recipe or is it good in its present
form? It didn't say when to add the spices (secondary)?
Spices in bag, break up cinnaon sticks,
or the hops (boil = beginning and irish moss, = 10 minutes before end of
boil)?
There is a lot of experience out there in Mead Land and I would really
like to get the knowledge now rather than make
a mistake that I won't know about for a year. thanks......Ernie
------------------------------
Subject: Re:Tea and Tannin: MLD #744
From: "Jeff" <gothsqwd@exis.net>
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 21:34:16 -0700
> Subject: Tea and Tannin
> From: Dan McFeeley <mcfeeley@keynet.net>
> Date: Tue, 8 Jun 1999 09:00:12 -0500
>
> We were having a discussion on another list about Acton & Duncun's book
> _Making Mead_, and I happened to note that the authors mentioned the use
of
> strong tea as an older method of adding tannin to meads. Acton & Duncan
> stated that they prefer the use of grape tannin, as well as other
additives,
> to the older country wine techniques of adding lemon juice, Marmite, and
> epsom salts. Checking another English author, Clara Furness, _Honey Wines
> and Beers_, I saw that tea was again recommended for the same purpose.
> Patty Vargas, a U.S. writer, mentions the use of tea in her book _Country
> Wines_, but her mead recipes traditional meads that do not include tannin
> additives in any form. Other U.S. authors such as Papazian do not mention
> the use of tea, or even the need to add tannins to meads. Pamela Spence
> in _Mad about Mead_ suggests the use of grape tannin, however.
>
> The use of tea is a country wine maker's method of adding tannin, but I
was
> wondering if I was seeing a preference of English mead makers versus mead
> makers in the U.S. Is this the case, and if so, does anyone know anything
> about the historical roots of the tradition?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
>
> <><><><><><><><><><>
> <><><><><><><><>
> Dan McFeeley
> mcfeeley@keynet.net
>
I don't know about the historical facts, but I do know that you have to be very
careful using tea tannins. If you overdo it, even by a little bit, it
will leave a very noticeable astringent taste in the mead. I have a one
year old traditional that still suffers from just one cup of slightly
strong-brewed tea.
Jeff Spurlin
------------------------------
Subject: Re: D47 (MLD #744)
From: Myron Sothcott <sothcott@visi.net>
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 22:43:48 -0400
I have used D-47 in three melomels. All started with 15 lbs of honey
for a 5 gallon batch. Raspberry and Blackberry melomels used 3 lbs
of fruit puree and the Cherry melomel used 6 lbs of fruit puree.
I checked PH every two weeks and adjusted with CaCo3 to maintain at
4.0 or slightly above. Temperature 70 to 73 deg F.
Yeast starter: 1 pint water with 2 tbsp of plain light dry malt extract.
Bring to boil. Cool to 80 degrees and pitch 2 pkgs Lalvin D-47. High
Kraeusen in from 1 to 3 hours for me.
Check specific gravity at same time as PH (every two weeks). When SG
approaches 1.0 add honey. I used from 1/2 to 1 1/2 pounds per feeding.
One pound would at a time would be a good starting point.
Raspberry:
O.G. 1.113
F.G. 1.013
Total honey 16.5 pounds
Racked twice
Time to clear about 5 months
Excellent flavor. A little sweet for me, but the neighbors love it.
Blackberry:
O.G. 1.104
F.G. 1.010
Total honey 17.5 pounds
Racked twice
Time to clear about 3 months
Good flavor - could use more fruit. Sweetness just right for me
Cherry:
O.G. 1.094
F.G. 1.016
Total honey 20.0 pounds
Racked once
Time to clear about 3 months
Really wonderful! I didn't think I would like a Cherry melomel
but this one is everybody's choice.
Time to clear means the time for the must to fall completely clear.
I can read a newspaper through the carboy. To achieve this I boil
the must (with a melomel the delicate honey flavor is masked by
the fruit so I don't feel completely barbaric). When the must falls
clear I bottle. In my experience the specific gravity has always
stabilized about two to three weeks before the must clears and I
consider fermentation to have ceased at that point. I still see
little bubbles rising in the carboy but the airlock is down to
15 - 30 minutes per bubble. I bottle in 12 oz. with crown caps
or 16 oz. Grolsch bottles and have never noticed any positive
pressure when opening a bottle.
No off flavors. All are real clean tasting. I have used Premier
Cuvee, K1V-1116, and Red Star Pasteur Champaigne yeast in the
past and have experienced some very long fermentations with
them. For the present, D-47 is my choice for future melomels.
Hope this helps
Myron
>
> Subject: Re: D47
> From: Carl Wilson <carl_w@prodigy.net>
> Date: Sat, 29 May 1999 16:31:17 -0500
>
> I'm getting ready to do a batch of traditional mead today using D-47.
> I've never used it before but thought I'd give it a try. I've used
> K1V-1116 on one batch with very good success, so I thought I'd give D-47
> a try.
>
> I'll post the results here.
>
>
>> Subject: D47
>> From: Gary Shea <shea@gtsdesign.com>
>> Date: Sun, 23 May 1999 02:40:12 -0600 (MDT)
>>
>> My experience with D-47 is limited -- I have a peach mead that I pitched
>> a couple packs of D-47 into, did the pH adjustment and incremental
>> honey-adding thang while the activity was still really noticeable.
>> It has never stopped fermenting, despite reasonable pH, and I would
>> expect decent nutrients from the peaches. It's now consumed something
>> like 3 1/2 lbs of honey/gal (this is something of an estimate, as I
>> can't find all the logs for that mead just now), is too dry for me
>> (ymmv -- I like sweet meads), still has that CO2 bite to it, and I
>> don't think it's every going to stop, and it has a nasty new mead
>> flavor. Ughh. I made it about 1 1/2 years ago.
>>
>> Gary
>>
>>> Subject: Yeast Questions
>>> From: Al n Paige <alnpaige@flash.net>
>>> Date: Tue, 18 May 1999 20:51:32 -0500
>>>
>>> Has anyone had any experience using the yeast ICV D-47 by Lalvin? What
>>> was your pitching rate for a 5 gal batch? At what temperature did you
>>> ferment the mead? Were there any off flavors produced by the yeast?
>>> Stuck ferments? Any and all info would be greatly appreciated.
>>>
>>> TIA
>>>
>>> Al Franciosi
>
------------------------------
Subject: Darjeeling tea
From: Paul Haaf <haafbrau1@juno.com>
Date: Fri, 11 Jun 1999 11:06:45 -0400
Is anyone familiar with darjeeling tea? Has anyone used this in a mead?
How did it turn out? My wife was given some, mainly because it was loose
leaf, and I was thinking about using it in my next mead. TIA,
Paul
------------------------------
Subject: Aging a mead
From: Matt Birchfield <peridot@usit.net>
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 1999 09:42:18 -0400
Hello List,
Are aging meads like beer in that they need to be over a certain
percentage alcohol (~7%) to age well for years, or does the honey act
as a natural preservative in lower alcohol versions?
TIA,
Matt Birchfield
New River Valley, VA
------------------------------
Subject: honey analysis
From: "Chuck Wettergreen" <chuckmw@mcs.net>
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 11:15:49 -0500
I've found quite a lot of good info and links at The National Honey
Board, including a list of (US) honey suppliers by state. The URL
is:
www.nhb.org
One especially good article is an analysis of the components of
honey. This article says that the average composition of the sugars
in honey includes 7.2 % (7.2 g per 100 g sample) of maltose.
Since maltose is not (I believe) ordinarily fermentable by beer
yeasts, this would explain how some meads taste very sweet,
even though all sugars are completely fermented out (for
example, fermented down to a gravity of 0.995).
Chuck
------------------------------
Subject: Commercial Mead
From: stevesmallman@juno.com
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 14:56:18 -0700
I'm brand new to the list so apologize if these are common questions:
1) Where can I obtain commercial mead? I've seen one place in Idaho and
another in California, but have no current info.
2) Are there any contract brewers of mead?
3) Has anyone explored the viability of selling mead?
4) What are the legal ramifications of selling mead? Is it like wine?
Beer?
5) What percentage of mead lovers prefer carbonated? Still? Sweet?
Dry? What's your preference? What do your friends and family prefer
when you share?
6) Do you prefer to drink mead from wine glasses? Beer glasses? Other?
7) What size and shape of bottle is best for mead?
8) What's the optimal aging time?
9) What are your favorite flavors of mead?
10) How much would you be willing to pay for a 375 ml bottle of good
mead? 750 ml? 12 ounce? 22 ounce?
11) Would you drink mead at a commercial establishment?
12) What food complements mead (or vice versa)? Would you order mead
with a meal?
13) What do your friends say when you tell them about mead?
14) Anyone got any good honeymoon mead stories?
15) How important is honey type to you?
16) What alcohol level do you prefer in your mead?
17) What type of yeast do you prefer?
That's a good start....
------------------------------
Subject: Bottles
From: Roberlewis@aol.com
Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 21:41:44 EDT
I am downsizing my mead opperation since having moved in with my girlfriend.
I have a few hundred beer type bottles to dispose of all are16 oz or more.
If you live near NYC, and are interested they're yours. I'll box em up, you
just have to arrange
pickup. Please E-mail me privatly (sorry, all thel grolsh type bottles are
spoken for)
------------------------------
Subject: please edit!
From: mead@raven.talisman.com (Mead Lover's Digest)
Date: 19 Jun 99 23:45:35 MDT (Sat)
Folks - one of those periodic reminders:
Please try to edit your submissions down to the essentials. Don't quote a
large chunk of a previous article in order to add $0.02 of reply. And
PLEASE do whatever battle with your editor or mail software is required to
get the answer *after* the question instead of before. For one thing, it
is tedious to read an entire screenful of answer before finding out what
the question is. (Johnny Carson is not on the list.) For another, if your
note becomes the parent of another posting that's done in natural order, it
becomes ever-more-difficult to figure out what came first. Text should be
in chronological order top-to-bottom.
thanks, folks,
Mead-Lover's Digest mead-request@talisman.com
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor Boulder County, Colorado USA
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #745
*******************************
