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Mead Lovers Digest #0771
Subject: Mead Lover's Digest #771, 5 December 1999
From: mead-request@talisman.com
Mead Lover's Digest #771 5 December 1999
Forum for Discussion of Mead Making and Consuming
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor
Contents:
Dark Honey Meads ("Stevenson, Randall")
RE:yeast OD (Gregg Stearns)
Re: Rose hips (Peter Miller)
Re: Tamarind Melomel (Myrriah Lavin)
First Attempt at Mead ("Eric Bonney")
Re: tamarind (Carl Hensler)
re: Is it legal? (Jeff)
Cranberry Melomel (David Johnson)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Dark Honey Meads
From: "Stevenson, Randall" <rstevenson@LDI.STATE.LA.US>
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 15:32:50 -0600
I recently purchased some bulk honey from a beekeeper. This honey is as
dark as tar but quite tasty as my children can attest -- they acted like
three little Pooh Bears. My question is about determining when the mead is
ready. I have always used lighter honeys and knew that the fermentation was
finished when the must fell clear. With this dark nectar I was hoping for
some guidance ... any ideas?
This batch is meant to be a fast sweet mead and is destined to be drunk warm
at Christmas (I hope).
The contents are as follows:
3 quarts of honey
2 gallons of water
a few (4- 1") sprigs of fresh rosemary (directly from my garden)
2 small sliced fresh ginger roots (also directly from my garden)
2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon
about 12 cloves
zest and juice of one lime
The spices were boiled separately two or three times in one quart of water
and the water strained onto the honey. Then the spices were added to the
honey and the honey was pasteurized at 180 F for about 30 minutes. After
the must cooled, I added an ale yeast. OG 1.103 If it tastes anything like
it smells through the airlock, I will be most pleased. I dubbed this
concoction "Merry Meglathin."
Wassail !!!
Randall
"Dogma is like French perfume -- meant to be sniffed, not swallowed."
------------------------------
Subject: RE:yeast OD
From: Gregg Stearns <gstearn2@bigred.unl.edu>
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 14:06:25 -0600
Using a whole packet of yeast for a 1 gallon batch has pros and cons.
The pros being you're gonna have plenty of yeast, so you should get a
nice vigorous fermentation from the beginning.
Cons would be needing to rack it and let it settle for a bit, as you're
going to have more dead yeasties in the bottom, proportionally, than a 5
gallon batch.
Also, it might take longer for some of the yeast flavors to age out.
Since dry yeast is fairly cheap, you could opt to use a 1/2 packet of
yeast when doing smaller batches if you're terribly concerned.
Happy brewing.
> Hi! I'm a mead newbie -- I've done all of two batches in
> my spaghetti pot and pop bottles in my student apartment.
> I'm learning, slowly, but I have a question that I hope
> someone here can help me with.
>
> The champagne yeast that I have has instructions on it
> that say '1 package for 5 gallons (6 US gallons)'. What
> happens if I put the package into less than what it
> recommends? Is it possible to put too much yeast into a
> must? How can you tell what's too much vs. not enough?
>
> Hilary Doda.
- --
Gregg Stearns | gstearn2@bigred.unl.edu
Online Editor | The Daily Nebraskan
http://www.dailyneb.com
http://mall.dailynebraskan.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Rose hips
From: Peter Miller <peter@perpetualocean.com>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 99 09:47:26 +1100
>Successful recipes have been (but I don't have any details with me at the
>moment): rosehip and thyme - at least 5 years ion the bottle before
>drinkable,
>but brilliant in the end ( although there is another on this list who might
>offer a differnt opinion)
Cat's Bum Wine, as I recall... my mouth is still puckered.
P.
peter@perpetualocean.com www.perpetualocean.com
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Tamarind Melomel
From: Myrriah Lavin <madstone@ctc.net>
Date: Wed, 01 Dec 1999 19:24:37 -0500
Scott Murman wrote:
>
> tried searching the digest, but couldn't find any info. i'm going to
> try making and tamarind mel, and was looking for an idea of how much
> tamarind per gallon. my procedure is to freeze the fruit overnight,
> thaw and smash it up, then pasteurize and ferment with the honey.
I haven't tried a tamarind melomel, but I do have a recipe for tamarind wine:
6 oz. tamarind pulp
2 lb. sugar
1 tsp. pectic enzyme
1 tsp. yeast nutrient
wine yeast
Simmer the tamarind in 1/2 gallon of water for five or ten minutes, strain.
Into the liquid, stir the sugar and nutrient. Cool and the add pectic enzyme
and yeast. Top up with water to make one gallon. (From _Worldwide Winemaking
Recipes_)
I know that sugar and honey quantities aren't interchangeable, but I can't
find the conversion info at the moment. Hope this helps anyway.
Myrriah Lavin
=========================
<mailto:madstone@ctc.net>
=========================
------------------------------
Subject: First Attempt at Mead
From: "Eric Bonney" <ebonney@fuse.net>
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 20:23:53 -0500
Ok, I first tried this mead and started it back on Oct. 12th. This was my
first attempt at a mead and my aim was a sweet mead. I had a few questions
that I have posted elsewhere on the Homebrew Forum and have received great
responses, but I wanted to see what others felt.
Ingredients
9 lbs of clover honey
5 lbs of frozen blueberries
3 tsp of ground cinnamon
3 3" cinnamon sticks
Some amount of vanilla extract (not sure how much)
Brought about 2 1/2 gallons of water to a boil. Removed from heat,
added the honey, ground cinnamon and 2 1/2 lbs of blueberries and let simmer
for 45 minutes. Transferred all this, berries and all into a 6 gallon
plastic bucket. I cooled with an immersion chiller to between 70 - 80 F. I
pitched Wyeast #?? - Sweet Mead Yeast. This yeast was so active that the
package literally burst at the seams only after about 8 hours after I
smacked it! I actually had to put the yeast packet back in the fridge
overnight to stop it from exploding the night before. I didn't make a
starter. The S.G. reading was around 1.083 at first. I let this ferment
for 10 days then preceded as follows. Boiled 1/2 gallon of water. Removed
from head, added last 2 lbs of honey, 2 1/2 lbs of blueberries and the 3
sticks of cinnamon. Let this all simmer for 30 minutes and then put into a
3 gallon carboy and added 3/4 tsp of yeast nutrient, then racked the
original must into this carboy. I never did take a reading at this point
but I have had people tell me that the O.G. should be ball parked at
somewhere around 1.076 - 1.100 including the fruit. I let this set in the
secondary for about 14 days and had very active fermentation. At one point
I was worried that the airlock was going to explode out of the carboy.
After 14 days I racked to a third carboy and left about 1/2 gallon of space
in the carboy after the racking because of the blueberries in the secondary.
Questions, I still had slow fermentation in the third fermented and my
worry was will I have to be worried about oxidation at all. It was
transferred to the third carboy on 11/15 with a gravity reading of 1.052.
What should I expect the final gravity to finish out at if I am hoping
for a sweet mead?
The mead that I have tasted after each gravity reading has been great,
considering I have never had any mead until now. Well thanks for the help.
Any other suggestions or comments are welcome.
- -Eric A. Bonney
Prejudism is a learned trait, what are YOU teaching your children?!?!
------------------------------
Subject: Re: tamarind
From: Carl Hensler <Carl.Hensler@eng.sun.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Dec 1999 18:18:07 -0800 (PST)
Scott Murman wrote:
> tried searching the digest, but couldn't find any info. i'm going to
> try making and tamarind mel, and was looking for an idea of how much
> tamarind per gallon. my procedure is to freeze the fruit overnight,
> thaw and smash it up, then pasteurize and ferment with the honey.
Some time ago I suggested a tamarind mead on the digest but I've never
made one. I regularly make tamarindo, a Mexican drink, from tamarind I
buy in a Mexican market in Watsonville, CA.
I have seen and used tamarind in two forms, the entire pod with shell,
and blocks of the shelled and seeded fruit. I get the entire pod at my
Mexican market. The blocks of ready-to-use fruit can be found in Asian
markets, and are a lot easier to use.
If you have the entire pod, you should crack, remove and discard the
shell. Don't put the shell in your mead. Boil the fruit with your must
to extract the flavor. I suggest removing the seeds before fermentation
to avoid strange flavors.
Sorry I can't help with quantities. Tamarind is very sour and flavorful,
so it shouldn't take a lot. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Carl
------------------------------
Subject: re: Is it legal?
From: mcnallyg@gam83.npt.nuwc.navy.mil (Jeff)
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 1999 09:42:00 -0500 (EST)
Hi All,
In MLD #770 Ken Mason wrote:
>HEY! I just found out that it's illegal (in the U.S.)
>to distill your own alcohol. What about
>recrystalization?
Removing the alcohol from the mead/beer/wine is illegal, but
removing frozen water to concentrate the alcohol is not (per
US Federal law).
This subject was debated heavily in the Home Brew Digest (HBD)
back in '97, and has popped up here in the MLD also. During
the debate in the HBD, one of the posters contacted the BATF
to get an answer straight from the people who know. Here is
what he got back:
TO: Ian WIlson
August 1, 1997
The story of eisboch is obviously lost to time although a few German
brewers continue to produce the style. More recently, American Brewers
"discovered" the style in Canada; Labatt claims to have invented it
although the Niagara Falls Brewery apparently produced it before anyone
else in recent times in North America. I have seen evidence that this
type of beer was produced by local brewers in the 1930's and 1940's.
Hard cider has been produced throughout the east by this method since
colonial times.
Because of the uncanny resemblance to a concentrate made from beer, the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms has written a formal ruling on
"ice beer." Essentially, it states that if a brewer superchills beer
and removes ice or water, the product will be considered to be ordinary
"beer" if the volume of material removed is not more than 1/2 of 1% of
the original volume, and if the resultant product resembles "beer."
This ruling was issued to prevent brewers from producing an "ice beer"
which is seriously concentrated by the removal of water or ice. Classic
beer concentrates often are 15% alc/vol or more and may have only 1/4 of
their original volume. These products are taxed as distilled spirits if
they are removed from a brewery or imported without being reconstituted
with water.
The eisbock or ice beer method of production would be considered as
ordinary home beer making and home brewers could use the method if they
wished. ATF's primary interest would be, as usual, to ensure home
brewers were not selling the beer they make.
Contact me if you have any other questions:
<cnbacon@atfhq.atf.treas.gov>.
Charles N. Bacon
Wine, Beer, and Spirits Regulations Branch
ATF Ruling 94-3 follows.
<snip>
Of course, this is only applicable at the federal level. Individual
states can make their laws more strict than the federal laws. To find
out if this practice is legal in your particular state, you would need
to contact your state's alcohol/liquor control board.
Hoppy brewing,
Jeff
==========================================================================
Geoffrey A. McNally Phone: (401) 832-1390
Mechanical Engineer Fax: (401) 832-7250
Naval Undersea Warfare Center email:
Systems Development Branch mcnallyg@gam83.npt.nuwc.navy.mil
Code 8321; Bldg. 1246/2 WWW:
Newport, RI 02841-1708 http://www.nuwc.navy.mil/
------------------------------
Subject: Cranberry Melomel
From: David Johnson <dmjalj@inwave.com>
Date: Fri, 03 Dec 1999 10:48:17 -0600
'Tis the season.... I also just bottled my first cranberry melomel. I
was also concerned about fermentation with cranberries having read the
same discussion Dan refers to. My thinking was that it is hard to stop a
fermentation that is going at good speed and fruit flavor is best
preserved when added to the secondary anyhow. Thus, I planned to put the
fruit in the secondary and rely on the momentum of the active
fermentation to overcome the possible preservative effect of the
cranberries. It went fine and I bottled my mel last weekend. It tastes
great and I hope to enter it in the next Mazer cup.
The details:
3 gal apple juice (I suppose this technically makes this a cyser but I
detect no apple character. I feel using commercial apple juice gives a
mel with more "structure" and there isn't enough apple character from
"Wilderness apple cider" to call it a cyser IMHO.)
10lbs Clover honey
Heat to dissolve and pasteurize at 160 deg for 30 min.
Lalvin D47 wine yeast
OG 1.135
At one month fermentation was still quite active but had slowed a
little. I racked to a plastic bucket containing 8.5 lb. of cranberries
that had been frozen then crushed (I got these free when they were
leftover from a church project baking cranberry bread) and 5 lb. clover
honey and 3/4 gal cider. I estimate this would have raised my OG to
about 1.142-1.148. Gravity at racking was 1.032. I left it on the
berries for 5 days before racking back to a carboy. Taste was great at
this point with a strong cranberry flavor.
Gravity at 3 months was 1.039. I bottled at 5 months with a gravity of
1.036. Between the last 2 readings I broke my hydrometer and the reading
of the new one is 3 points lower than the original when taken in
distilled water.
Feel free to comment!
------------------------------
End of Mead Lover's Digest #771
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